Fish Fry – Page 58

December 2, 2011

If anyone tells you that EE can’t be funny, you send ’em my way! In this week’s Fish Fry, I interview Chris Turman, one of the funniest engineers in the business, about how the culture at Lattice Semiconductor has allowed him the freedom to have fun and make people laugh about FPGAs. Yes, really. Also this week, I check out the new pico-projector from Texas Instruments and Brookstone and report on why it may be fantastic and problematic at the same time.

… Read More → "The Humorization of EE"

Turning Up The Volume To 11

Supercomputing Gets Even Cooler

by Amelia Dalton

November 18, 2011

In this week’s Fish Fry, I have a couple of super-cool supercomputing super-stories for you. I look into the Blue Waters Project that aims to solve the world’s most complex problems through petascale computing. I also interview Stefan Mohl (Mitrionics – CTO) about how Mitrionics has reorganized this year, how they are shifting the focus of their supercomputing FPGAs to the HPC market, and how Mitrion-C is facilitating that new focus.

I have a super awesome new nerdy giveaway to throw your way this week, but you’ll have to tune in … Read More → "Turning Up The Volume To 11"

ARM TechCon Redux

by Amelia Dalton

November 9, 2011

This week in part two of my 2011 ARM TechCon coverage, I chat with Will Tu from ARM about the development of ARM’s new Embedded Software Store and his impressions of the show this year. I also chat with Jake Alamat (Director of Product Marketing for Sitara ARM microprocessors at Texas Instruments) about their new line of $5 ARM® Cortex A8 microprocessors, and try to find out what the heck they were thinking with that price point.

I’ve got another Spartan-6 SP-01 Evaluation kit to give away this … Read More → "ARM TechCon Redux"

ARM TechCon Shakedown

Tools, IP and Processors, Oh My!

by Amelia Dalton

October 28, 2011

ARM TechCon was a hip and happenin’ show this year and I’ve got the interviews to prove it. This week I interview Tony Xia and Amit Bhojraj from NXP Semiconductor about their new 49 cent 32-bit microcontroller and why they were encouraging designers to dismantle, maim and otherwise destroy their old 8- and 16-bit development boards. From the tool side of the ARM community, I also interview Thomas Sporrong from IAR Systems about the newest version of the IAR Embedded Workbench and how IAR’s acquisition of Signum Systems expanded their already wide range of … Read More → "ARM TechCon Shakedown"

Speak Softly and Carry Some Big Code

How Dennis Ritchie Changed the World

by Amelia Dalton

October 20, 2011

What would our world look like without C, or UNIX? In this week’s Fish Fry, I look at the remarkable life of computer science pioneer Dennis Ritchie, the challenges he faced in creating some of the most widely-used software in history, and the far-reaching impact of his elegant code – as well as how his vision of an engineering community openly sharing knowledge inspired the open source movement of today.

I have a Spartan-6 SP01 Evaluation Kit to give away this week, but you … Read More → "Speak Softly and Carry Some Big Code"

Making The Pieces Fit

Distribution Series Part I

by Amelia Dalton

October 14, 2011

In the first of a series of distribution-focused Fish Fry episodes, I interview Alex Iuorio and Jeff Ittel from Avnet Embedded about how Avnet used a start-up mentality to get this new embedded division up and running. They discuss, among other things, how they see distribution playing a vital role in each step of the electronics design and supply chain. Then, in keeping with the distribution theme, I look into the ramifications of counterfeit chip production and highlight three overall challenges we face in protecting ourselves from counterfeit components.

Also, I check … Read More → "Making The Pieces Fit"

Rockin’ and Rollin’ EE Style

Vennsa’s Debug Technology and Fish Fry Secrets Revealed

by Amelia Dalton

October 7, 2011

In this week’s Fish Fry, I interview Andreas Veneris (CEO – Vennsa Technologies) and Sean Safarpour (CTO – Vennsa Technologies) about the history of debug and how exactly Vennsa fits into the big picture of design automation. I also investigate how the University of California Riverside is looking to re-invent electronic computation, and I reveal five things you may not know about Fish Fry.

I also have another Amazon.com gift certificate to give out this week, but you’ll have to listen to find out how … Read More → "Rockin’ and Rollin’ EE Style"

A Bear, a Transistor and a Process Node Walk Into a Bar

by Amelia Dalton

September 23, 2011

In this week’s Fish Fry, I interview James Wang (SmartBear Software – Vice President) about the age old gap between hardware and software designers and how SmartBear’s tool suite can help bridge that divide.

Also this week, I check in on Samsung’s progress on 20nm process node and investigate how the National Science Foundation is trying to make the transistor obsolete.

Nuts and Bolts

From Microcontrollers to Open Source

by Amelia Dalton

September 16, 2011

In this week’s embedded design themed Fish Fry, I interview Alf Bogen (Co-inventor of the AVR Microcontroller – CMO at Atmel) about what helped initiate the original development of the AVR core and how it fits into the grand scheme of electronic design today. In another embedded design related story, I investigate how Ford Motor Company is teaming up with open source hardware and software company Bug Labs to allow you to create your own custom-made electronic car accessories.</ … Read More → "Nuts and Bolts"

All You Can Eat: A Bountiful Buffet of EE

Ivo Bolsens Talks Programmable Platforms, Kilopass v. Sidense, and The World's Smallest Motor

by Amelia Dalton

September 9, 2011

In this week’s Fish Fry, I’ve got a bountiful buffet of EE beauty for you to sink your teeth into. I interview Ivo Bolsens (CTO and Senior Vice President – Xiinx) about the changing nature of FPGA design wins and why Xilinx is banking on its Zynq platform to transform the industry as we know it.

Also this week, I check in on the recent rounds of litigation between non-volatile memory IP … Read More → "All You Can Eat: A Bountiful Buffet of EE"