Articles – EEJournal

A Deeper Dive into Efinix with VP of Marketing Mark Oliver

March 10, 2025

The FPGA community is tiny. You can count the number of FPGA vendors on one hand, if you neglect to count the three or four vendors in China who are dedicated to their domestic market. Anyone familiar with the FPGA market can likely name AMD (the FPGA company formerly known as Xilinx), Altera (the FPGA company formerly known as Intel PSG, which itself was previously known as Altera), Lattice Semiconductor, and Microchip (which fell into the FPGA market by buying Microsemi, the original purchaser of FPGA maker Actel). If you’re a real student of the FPGA … Read More → "A Deeper Dive into Efinix with VP of Marketing Mark Oliver"

Zero-Code Smart Camera and Robot Controller

by Max Maxfield

March 6, 2025

I can’t believe how fast things are moving in artificial intelligence (AI) space (where no one can hear you scream). As one example, I just saw a video of a high school student called Benjamin Choi who built a prosthetic arm that he can control with his mind using AI.

As reported by Smithsonian Magazine, Benjamin built this low-cost manipulator using his sister’s 3D printer. He employs only two non-intrusive sensors (one on his ear and the other on … Read More → "Zero-Code Smart Camera and Robot Controller"

Want to know the future of new memories (MRAM, FRAM, PCM)? Tom Coughlin and Jim Handy make predictions

by Steven Leibson

March 5, 2025

I’ve been following alternative and persistent memory technologies for 40 years. Back in the 1980s, all we had for semiconductor memory was SRAM, DRAM, EPROM, and {non-Flash) EEPROM. During the late 1980s, when I first transitioned from working as an engineer to an editor for an electronics publication, I wrote about nascent, low-capacity, persistent memories offered by two companies located in Colorado Springs: ferroelectric memory (FRAM) made by Ramtron, and SONOS Flash memory with an SRAM shadow memory array from Simtek. Ramtron’s gone, but FRAM is still kicking, and Cypress bought Simtek in 2008. (Infineon bought Cypress … Read More → "Want to know the future of new memories (MRAM, FRAM, PCM)? Tom Coughlin and Jim Handy make predictions"

Disrupting AC-DC and DC-DC Power Delivery from Data Centers to the Edge

by Max Maxfield

March 4, 2025

Believe it or not, I have been known to waffle just a tad before getting to the point. So, suppose we flip things round. What would you say if I told you I was just introduced to AC-to-DC and DC-to-DC converters that dispense with things like bridge rectifiers, electrolytic capacitors, and inductors, and replace everything with small, cost-effective solid-state equivalents?

Now that I have your attention… back to the waffle (cease your moaning, groaning, whinging, and whining… you knew it was coming).

Increasingly, the subject of power seems to … Read More → "Disrupting AC-DC and DC-DC Power Delivery from Data Centers to the Edge"

30 minutes with Altera CEO Sandra Rivera discussing the Past, Present, and Future of a major FPGA vendor

by Steven Leibson

March 3, 2025

FPGA maker Altera declared independence from Intel on February 29, 2024 – Leap Day – and reclaimed its original, storied name in the process. The intended and explicit symbolism was that Altera was making a great leap forward by becoming independent. Intel purchased Altera at the end of 2015 for $16.7 billion and renamed the organization. It became the Intel Programmable Solutions Group (PSG). The acquisition did not turn out to be a marriage made in heaven due to the mismatch between Intel’s top priority, introducing and shipping CPUs, and Intel PSG’s mission: introducing and shipping FPGAs. I worked for Intel … Read More → "30 minutes with Altera CEO Sandra Rivera discussing the Past, Present, and Future of a major FPGA vendor"

We Haven’t Got a Plan, So Nothing Can Go Wrong!

by Max Maxfield

February 27, 2025

As one gets older, one becomes ever more set in one’s ways, and one increasingly uses words like one to refer to oneself. One manifestation of this is that I often find myself responding to things with “canned” replies, as if flying on conversational autopilot mode.

Take, for example, when someone says, “So, that’s the plan.” My default retort is, “Let’s call it ‘Plan A’ so no one gets confused.”

Alternatively, I might trot out the old chestnut, “If we … Read More → "We Haven’t Got a Plan, So Nothing Can Go Wrong!"

Doug Sparks Takes a Raw and Honest Look at the Chinese Semiconductor Industry

by Steven Leibson

February 24, 2025

After working in and around China’s semiconductor industry for a decade, Doug Sparks wrote a book about his experiences. The book’s title, “A Decade in the Chinese Semiconductor Industry: An American’s Story,” says it all, while only vaguely describing the 377-page book’s contents. That’s because only a small fraction of the book focuses on the state of China’s semiconductor industry. Instead, the book has a much broader theme that looks at the current and evolving political, economic, social, and cultural climates in China. The book then positions China’s semiconductor industry … Read More → "Doug Sparks Takes a Raw and Honest Look at the Chinese Semiconductor Industry"

Meet the SiPhOG, Its Creators, and Its Offspring

by Max Maxfield

February 20, 2025

I learn something new every day, which can be good news or bad news depending on what that thing happens to be. Thankfully, in the case of this column, I’m happy to report that I’ve learned something that’s both interesting and useful, which (sadly) isn’t always the case.

Before we start, just to make sure we’re all tap-dancing to the same skirl of the bagpipes, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is a broad term that generically refers to all satellite navigation systems worldwide. It includes multiple satellite constellations … Read More → "Meet the SiPhOG, Its Creators, and Its Offspring"

“H” is for Heathkits and Hams: Part 5 – Reasons for Heath’s Success in Amateur Radio

by Steven Leibson

February 19, 2025

This final installment in this 5-article series about the Heath Company takes a retrospective look at why the company succeeded in the amateur radio kit market. This article series is based on a presentation by Chas Gilmore, who worked at the Heath Company for more than two decades, eventually becoming EVP and General Manager.

Chas Gilmore: What made Heath such a success? Certainly, for the first couple of decades of its life, the savings realized through kit building were very important. There was a tremendous interest in electronics. Heath started its … Read More → "“H” is for Heathkits and Hams: Part 5 – Reasons for Heath’s Success in Amateur Radio"

Multiplying the Power of Artificial Intelligence with Artificial Bodies

by Max Maxfield

February 18, 2025

So many things are currently going on in the artificial intelligence and artificial body spaces that my head is spinning like a top. For example, AIs are being used to design chips and systems for other AIs to run on, and an AI running on one of those systems can generate synthetic data that can be used to train another AI, and… then things start to get complicated.

Now, before we jump into the fray with gusto and abandon (and aplomb, of course), I have exciting news. This news … Read More → "Multiplying the Power of Artificial Intelligence with Artificial Bodies"