I have a friend called Bob (spelled the usual way and pronounced with a silent ‘q’). In fact, as fate would have it, I’ve been blessed with an abundance of Bobs (and that’s not something most people expect to hear themselves say on a daily basis).
In order to distinguish between members of this bodacious bunch of Bobs … Read More → "Eeek! 100 Captivating Columns and Counting"
There are a lot of books available to tell you all about the theoretical side of designing and building embedded systems, but not so many that tackle the nitty-gritty details involved in developing embedded systems that actually work and keep on working, until now…
When I was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed young lad poised to spend the next four years of … Read More → "A Hands-On Guide to Designing Embedded Systems"
Part 1 of this article discussed the similarities and differences between the well-known processor memory hierarchy and the FPGA memory hierarchy. Although similar, the FPGA memory hierarchy lacks the multiple cache levels now common in microprocessor design. Similarly, the processor hierarchy lacks some of the more specialized memory structures and interfaces developed to satisfy an FPGA’s … Read More → "You Must Remember This: A Bit is Just a Bit, A Byte is Just a Byte – Part 2"
One simplistic way to think about FPGA anatomy is to split everything inside of the FPGA into two categories: resources that do stuff (process bits) and resources that remember stuff (store bits). The resources that do stuff include the programmable logic, the DSP slices, embedded math blocks, and even the serial transceiver ports. The resources that store stuff include the flip-flops embedded in the programmable logic … Read More → "You Must Remember This: A Bit is Just a Bit, A Byte is Just a Byte – Part 1"
OMG! I only just got used to the idea of USB 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2, and now I find that something called USB4 is barreling our way like a runaway freight train. USB4 supports signals with such high speeds that they need a special form of conditioning called ReTiming. Fortunately, the folks at Kandou have … Read More → "Using USB4? Require ReTiming? Kandou Can-Do!"
For someone who really believes in using quality tools, I buy far too many cheap ones. Case in point: I just bought a 6000-count Tilswall FY8233X multimeter from Amazon for the amazingly low price of $6.99. That’s right, I bought a multimeter with test leads, a carrying case, and batteries for less than the cost of a Burger King Whopper Meal Combo for two deal. … Read More → "Is a $6.99, Tilswall 6000-count Multimeter from Amazon a Tool or a Toy?"
