18/04/2018
Here, Rich Miron, Applications Engineer at Digi-Key Electronics explores the operation of switch mode power supplies and explores make Vs. buy decision process for power supplies. Miron also investigates the design of a single output supply utilising flyback topology and provides a sample design using readily available parts and components.
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11/04/2018
Now more than 30 years old, the field-programmable gate array has evolved from a glue-logic device that made it possible to customise boards easily to a complete configurable system-on-chip (SoC). Hardwired 64bit processors, digital signal processing (DSP) engines and dedicated memory arrays have helped overcome the FPGAs density handicap versus fully custom silicon even for projects that expect to move into high volume.
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16/03/2018
While the debate about VME’s future continues, companies are developing new VME products and customers are still specifying the standard.
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14/03/2018
The intelligent connected world needs adaptable accelerated computing. As a result, more engineers are turning to FPGA as a Service providers via the cloud.
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14/03/2018
The search for a breakthrough display technology that addresses the needs of next generation products could be over.
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23/01/2018
Trojans aren’t restricted to the software domain; in some instances, hardware Trojans could even open backdoors in custom silicon.
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15/11/2017
As the deployment of Industrial IoT systems continues to proliferate, the streams of data transferred to the cloud skyrockets, drastically increasing the cost for cloud computing.
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11/10/2017
Tired of the countless articles talking about the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)? Surely all of the pundits, industry-leading companies, and technology providers excited to share their perspective on the growing impact of the IIoT have exhausted the topic. Instead of focusing on what the IIoT is, this article takes the opposite approach and talks about what the IIoT isn’t. Let’s be honest, the IIoT isn’t defined. It isn’t a known target with a clear set of parameters and rules. But there’s one thing we do know—as we build and define the IIoT, it’s critical that providers overdesign their technology offerings for flexibility.
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27/09/2017
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deep learning is the future of computing. Intelligent machines that understand the world as humans do, interpret our languages and learn from data will habitually be used to resolve problems too complex for the human brain.
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27/09/2017
Chipmakers are set to break the 10nm barrier as they move from the test-chip stage to full production on 7nm processes. The move marks another extension of a lithography technology that was meant to be phased out 15 years in favour of so-called next-generation lithography.
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01/08/2017
The traditional development flow of an all programmable Zynq SoC segments the design between processor system and programmable logic. The Zynq is a complex heterogeneous system which combines advanced ARM dual core Cortex-A9 processing systems with programmable logic. This programmable logic provides not only the traditional Flip Flops and Look Up Tables but also block RAM and distributed RAM, DSP Slices, PCIe endpoints and multi-gigabit transceivers. Users need a development environment which enables them to exploit the capability provided by both the processor and the programmable logic.
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27/06/2017
The latest ‘buzz phrases’ to emerge into general use are ‘machine learning’ and artificial intelligence, or AI. Both techniques have wide application, so it’s no surprise to find technology companies all of types pursing the opportunities.
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12/04/2017
Device developers have always looked to provide some degree of programmability in their products. But, with the exception of FPGAs and a few other parts, the components which developers have available to them offer fixed functionality.
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29/03/2017
FPGA technology has seen a significant change in the last two decades. From relatively simple devices used mainly as glue logic and for last minute board fixes, FPGAs have evolved into highly complex parts.
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19/01/2017
The application areas for embedded GPUs have expanded from smartphones and tablets, via TVs and vehicle infotainment systems, to sectors such as the IoT, wearables, VR/AR and servers.
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14/12/2016
While there’s nothing new about the use of FPGAs in electronics products, many engineers are only just beginning to explore how the devices could help to improve their designs.
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22/11/2016
FPGAs are rarely out of the news, but the acquisition of Altera by Intel in 2015 pushed the technology firmly into the headlines. Intel’s main reason for buying Altera was to provide a way to accelerate the performance of its Xeon processors, used widely in data centres. But Intel hasn’t been the only company turning its attention to the use of FPGAs in such applications; earlier in 2015, Microsoft said that Project Catapult used Altera’s Arria 10 FPGAs to boost data centre power/performance.
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22/11/2016
As the landscape of distribution continues to change with the prospect of further mergers and acquisitions, the rise of the Maker movement and megatrends such as the IoT, distributors are re-assessing how they interact with design engineers.
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11/10/2016
Systems on a Chip for wearable devices offer an astounding level of integration. Advanced manufacturing processes give SoC and MCU developers plenty of transistors to work with and these devices can integrate multicore processors, wireless connectivity, memory and graphics controllers.
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09/08/2016
Silicon photonics is a technology which has been under development for quite a few years, but has yet to make its presence felt in the market. But circuits and modulators based on the approach are beginning to appear as demand grows.
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28/06/2016
Speaking in 2012, Danny Biran – then Altera’s senior VP for corporate strategy – said he saw a time when the company would be offering ‘standard products’ – devices featuring an FPGA, with different dice integrated in the package. “It’s also possible these devices may integrate customer specific circuits if the business case is good enough,” he noted.
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12/05/2016
The history of the semiconductor industry has shown consistently a cyclical swing between programmability and fixed function – also known as Makimoto’s wave, see Figure 1. If this pattern is to continue, we are about to see a swing back to programmability.
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12/04/2016
Eight years ago, a New Electronics article about digital signal processors started: ‘Jump back a decade or more and there was little difficulty identifying just what digital signal processing was. Neither was there any problem in identifying a DSP. But times change. Today, DSP as a technique is beginning to disappear from view, hidden within applications. Whilst DSPs are still being produced, they are beginning to evolve into different types of device’.
You could argue that statement still has validity. So what is the ‘state of the DSP nation’?
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08/03/2016
A panel session at last year’s Electronics Design Show Conference addressed the question of whether engineers select the best technology for their next design or fall back on something with which they are familiar.
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08/03/2016
Those architecting the so called ‘mega datacentres’ are on red alert, according to Dr Andrew Rickman, CEO of Rockley Photonics. “The industry is on a mad path,” he contended. “Moore’s Law is proving difficult and costly but, with the right combination of elements, we can break the cycle.”
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