More “toddlers” innovating on the IoT

More “toddlers” innovating on the IoT
by Don Dingee on 05-01-2014 at 8:00 am

As the PC Era took shape, Tom Peters predicted the shift away from “where all the cars are parked”. He foresaw that large, established companies would no longer be the economic engine, or the dominant force in innovation. Smaller firms, even individuals, would rise to prominence in a new, technologically-driven economy.

That … Read More


More knowledge, less time in FPGA-based prototyping

More knowledge, less time in FPGA-based prototyping
by Don Dingee on 04-29-2014 at 4:00 pm

I recently published a post on LinkedIn titled “Sometimes, you gotta throw it all out” in reference to the innovation process and getting beyond good to better. A prime example has crossed my desk: the new ProtoCompiler software for Synopsys HAPS FPGA-based prototyping systems.

Last week, I spoke with Troy Scott, product marketing… Read More


Calling all makers for new #8bitideas

Calling all makers for new #8bitideas
by Don Dingee on 04-27-2014 at 7:00 pm

The maker community and the learn-to-code movement is growing with many ideas built on small, power-efficient, easy-to-use 8-bit microcontrollers. If you want to be one of the next famous makers and maybe win some cash in the process, Atmel has a contest open until September 30, 2014 – here are tips on getting your #8bitideas in … Read More


You didn’t say it has to work

You didn’t say it has to work
by Don Dingee on 04-22-2014 at 8:00 pm

“Failure to plan is planning to fail.” If that is true – and it has been quoted verbatim or slightly modified so many times throughout modern history, there has to be some truth – why does most of the engineering community seem to detest planning so much?

Engineering planning doesn’t mean whipping out a block diagram or pseudo code,… Read More


NVM central to multi-layer trust in cloud

NVM central to multi-layer trust in cloud
by Don Dingee on 04-21-2014 at 4:00 pm

Pop quiz: Name one of the hottest applications for non-volatile memory – A) processor and code configuration; B) RFID tags; C) secure encryption keys; D) all the above. The answer is D, but not in the way you may be thinking; a new approach is using all these ideas at once, combined in SoC designs targeting advanced security … Read More


Sensor clusters at edge call for NoCs nearby

Sensor clusters at edge call for NoCs nearby
by Don Dingee on 04-17-2014 at 6:30 pm

In his recent blog on EETimes, Kurt Shuler of Arteris took a whimsical look at the hype surrounding the IoT, questioning the overall absence of practicality and a seemingly misplaced focus on use cases at the expense of a coherent architecture. I don’t think it is all that bleak, but when it comes to architecture, Kurt is right, and… Read More


What, SD doesn’t have enough pins?

What, SD doesn’t have enough pins?
by Don Dingee on 04-16-2014 at 6:00 am

I was in a Twitter conversation over the weekend with some very smart people, and one of the discussion points was how slow and painful the formal standardization process can be. One suggestion was that IoT companies should “just do it”, creating specification-by-implementation. … Read More


4G shalt thou not count, neither count thou 2G

4G shalt thou not count, neither count thou 2G
by Don Dingee on 04-11-2014 at 9:00 pm

Five years from now, what will be the leading mobile connectivity standard? If you said 4G, please report to the brainwashing remediation center nearest you immediately. 3G is not only here to stay for the long haul, it’s growing – and will quickly become the preferred choice for M2M deployments.… Read More


How Qualcomm crushed the mobile roadmap

How Qualcomm crushed the mobile roadmap
by Don Dingee on 04-09-2014 at 1:00 pm

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 announcement this week may seem like just another mondo-core SoC on a way-cool TSMC 20nm advanced process. Looking past the technology shows an understated genius in creating a roadmap – and why yours and most everyone else’s probably sucks.… Read More


Sketch Router and auto-assist PCB layout

Sketch Router and auto-assist PCB layout
by Don Dingee on 03-31-2014 at 6:30 pm

Archaic tech metaphors abound, stuck in the psyche of users everywhere. We still “dial” numbers, long after the benefit of a short pull area code disappeared. (Humans could dial 1, 2, or 3 a lot faster on a rotary phone, and there were fewer dialpulses for central office switches to decode – thus big cities with more phone traffic like… Read More