Articles – Page 6

GOWIN’s “Golly Gosh” Low-Cost High-Performance FPGAs

August 22, 2024

I remember when the first FPGA waved a cheery hello to the world back in 1985. (I know I’ve talked about this before, but there are always new members to the EE Journal Community who weren’t around when many of the technologies we now take for granted originally appeared on the scene.) This little scamp was the Xilinx XC2064, which boasted an 8×8=64 array of configurable logic block (CLB) “islands,” each containing two 3-input look-up tables (LUTs), all presented in a “sea” of programmable interconnect.

Just to make things fun and interesting, users … Read More → "GOWIN’s “Golly Gosh” Low-Cost High-Performance FPGAs"

Silvaco’s Fab Technology Co-Optimization (FTCO): From Atoms to Systems

by Max Maxfield

August 20, 2024

I was just taking a trip down memory lane, remembering how things used to be when I was but a lad. Since the dawn of time, all the way through to the end of the 1960s, for example, electronic circuit diagrams (schematics) were captured by hand using pencil and paper. Similarly, circuit layouts at both the board and silicon chip level were largely handcrafted.

It wasn’t until the early 1970s that companies like Calma, ComputerVision, and Applicon started to create special computer programs that helped people in the drafting department transfer hand-drawn … Read More → "Silvaco’s Fab Technology Co-Optimization (FTCO): From Atoms to Systems"

Microchip unveils PIC64 family of RISC-V multicore processor chips for Earth and for space

by Steven Leibson

August 19, 2024

Literally the day after writing the article about the Microchip PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit based on the company’s PolarFire SoC FPGA, Microchip gave me a preview of two closely related products. The new products, announced last month, are the company’s PIC64GX microcontroller and a development board for this microcontroller called the PIC64GX Curiosity Kit. The PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit discussed in my previous article is based on Microchip’s PolarFire SoC FPGA, which melds the software programmability of five 64-bit RISC-V processors with a fair-sized chunk of FPGA fabric. (See “Read More → "Microchip unveils PIC64 family of RISC-V multicore processor chips for Earth and for space"

Welcome to Silicon-to-Systems Space (Where No One Can Hear You Scream)

by Max Maxfield

August 15, 2024

I’m not sure if I’m growing to be incredibly old, or if it’s just that everyone around me is getting to be incredibly young. The reason I’m ruminating over this is because a young engineer recently asked me why I occasionally add “where no one can hear you scream” after using the word “space.” When I replied “Alien” in a dark, foreboding, and meaningful way (where the “obviously” was obviously silent), all I received was a vacuous, uncomprehending look in return.

Now, I can understand younger … Read More → "Welcome to Silicon-to-Systems Space (Where No One Can Hear You Scream)"

The strange case of the Recalcitrant Roku 3 and the microSD card

by Steven Leibson

August 14, 2024

I’ve been pretty hard on HP Inc. regarding my misadventures with that company’s inkjet printers, so I thought I’d go hard on another consumer product for a change while making some relevant design observations. While visiting my daughter in Silicon Valley recently, I noticed that her ancient Roku 3 media streaming box was behaving badly. It was responding very slowly. I got the Roku purple screen of death when exiting the YouTube app. I’d seen these symptoms before and suspected that the Roku needed more storage for the various channel apps so that it … Read More → "The strange case of the Recalcitrant Roku 3 and the microSD card"

Microchip’s PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit provides low-cost access to a powerful SoC FPGA development platform

by Steven Leibson

August 12, 2024

Nearly every new electronic system needs some sort of microprocessor or microcontroller. Modern microprocessor hardware is just too useful and too inexpensive not to include some amount of software programmability in any new product. In fact, my design recommendation for the past two decades, even immersed as I was in FPGAs, has been: If you can possibly use a processor to solve your problem, you absolutely should because it’s the simplest solution and the path of least resistance. Today’s processors are pretty darn fast, and they can sip tiny amounts of power if you put … Read More → "Microchip’s PolarFire SoC Discovery Kit provides low-cost access to a powerful SoC FPGA development platform"

AI + Robotics + Vacuum Tube (Valve) Amplifiers = AWESOME

by Max Maxfield

August 8, 2024

Way back in the mists of time we used to call the late-1970s, when I was a student at Sheffield Hallam University (or Sheffield Polytechnic as it was known back then), I was a member of the Joe Cool Road Show. In addition to providing the sounds and lights for on-site discos and visiting bands, we also provided support for local bands in various venues around the city.

One such band was the English synth-pop band called Read More → "AI + Robotics + Vacuum Tube (Valve) Amplifiers = AWESOME"

Nuvoton’s One-Arm M2L31 Microcontroller Uses ReRAM (Memristors) for On-Chip, Non-Volatile Storage

by Steven Leibson

August 7, 2024

Today’s world overflows with advanced multicore microcontrollers capable of running Linux and connecting over multi-Gigabit Ethernet. In such a world, Nuvoton’s 32bit NuMicro M2L31 microcontroller with its single core, 72MHz Arm Cortex-M23 processor and no Ethernet support stands out as a unique offering that harkens back to earlier days when microcontrollers were used in the design of embedded devices that were not connected to Ethernet or Wi-Fi networks. Even in today’s world, these sorts of applications still exist. Hence the need for these microcontrollers. Nuvoton has positioned these microcontrollers for embedded applications including … Read More → "Nuvoton’s One-Arm M2L31 Microcontroller Uses ReRAM (Memristors) for On-Chip, Non-Volatile Storage"

Weaving State-of-the-Art Chiplet and SoC Fabrics

by Max Maxfield

August 6, 2024

Are you familiar with a bird called the baya weaver (Ploceus philippinus)? These little beauties are to be found across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Baya weavers are renowned for weaving unique and intricate hinging nests from different materials. These nests are robust and safe while also being extremely lightweight and efficient.

The reason I mention this here is that I was just chatting with Nandan Nayampally, who is the Chief Commercial Officer at Baya SystemsRead More → "Weaving State-of-the-Art Chiplet and SoC Fabrics"

Little Printers – HP Inc Strikes Again

by Steven Leibson

August 5, 2024

Back in March, I wrote about an over-the-air software update to my wife’s OfficeJet Pro 6978 printer that locked out some 3^rd-party ink cartridges that I had already purchased. (See “HP Inc tries to brick my wife’s printer. CEO approves and calls people like me “bad customers” on CNBC.”) In that situation, the 3^rd-party ink supplier, LxTek, saved the day by supplying a replacement ink cartridge with an updated … Read More → "Little Printers – HP Inc Strikes Again"