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CES 2017, Semiconductors and Cycling

CES 2017, Semiconductors and Cycling
by Daniel Payne on 01-06-2017 at 7:00 am

It’s back, that giant consumer electronics trade show CES 2017, held every January in Las Vegas with too many new product introductions to mention in one blog, so I’ll take a more focused look at what’s new for cycling.

Smart Bike
We all know what a smart phone is, but what could a smart bike be? The Chinese company… Read More


Tesla’s (and Uber’s) Teflon to be Tested in 2017

Tesla’s (and Uber’s) Teflon to be Tested in 2017
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-06-2017 at 7:00 am

For the past two years the impression has been spreading that Tesla Motors can do no wrong. (I can’t really say the same for Uber after the recent San Francisco licensing debacle.) There is no question that Tesla’s legal department is growing by the month as fights persist over opening stores and forestalling liability… Read More


2017 Semiconductor Dead Pool

2017 Semiconductor Dead Pool
by Daniel Nenni on 01-05-2017 at 12:00 pm

In 2015 we saw $85B in semiconductor acquisition activity and in 2016 there was more than $110B. Given 2015 and 2016 were relatively flat years for the $335B semiconductor industry and 2017 looks like more of the same we should expect consolidation to continue, absolutely.

So, let’s come up with a list of companies that may fall in… Read More


Webinar: Hassle-Free Bluetooth 5 SoC Design

Webinar: Hassle-Free Bluetooth 5 SoC Design
by Bernard Murphy on 01-05-2017 at 7:00 am


Bluetooth has always been a popular communication protocol for short-range applications, but now anticipating BT5 it’s really moving into the big leagues as a significant option for IoT applications. The new standard combines ultra-low power with significantly higher range and higher performance. Ultra-low power is always… Read More


Dassault Systemes Hosts New Microsite Focused on IP Reuse Challenges

Dassault Systemes Hosts New Microsite Focused on IP Reuse Challenges
by Mitch Heins on 01-04-2017 at 12:00 pm

I recently wrote an article about networks-on-chip (NoC) and how Systems-On-Chip integrated circuits (SoCs) are becoming increasingly more complex and heterogeneous in nature. While researching for that article I came upon a new micro-site by Dassault Systemes that goes into great detail about the operational challenges… Read More


This Apple Fell a Little Further from the Tree

This Apple Fell a Little Further from the Tree
by Bernard Murphy on 01-04-2017 at 7:00 am

Some companies are famously, even obsessively secretive about internal development. We never get to see discussion of areas they are working on (other than through patent filings) – we only see the polished and released product/service. Amazon is one such company but Apple must rank for many of us as the pre-eminent company in … Read More


Will Lawsuits Stall Automotive AI?

Will Lawsuits Stall Automotive AI?
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-03-2017 at 12:00 pm

The roster of automotive artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives is growing rapidly with Softbank working with Honda on the Emotion Engine for the Neuv self-driving commuter vehicle, IBM’s collaboration with General Motors and BMW, and, now, reports of Microsoft bringing AI to Volvo in the form of Cortana. It was Google… Read More


Who Left the Lights On?

Who Left the Lights On?
by Bernard Murphy on 01-03-2017 at 7:00 am

I attended a Mentor verification seminar earlier in the year at which Russ Klein presented a fascinating story about a real customer challenge in debugging a power problem in a design around an ARM cluster. Here’s the story in Russ’ own words. If you’re allergic to marketing stories, read it anyway. You might… Read More


Crowd-Sourcing Morality for Autonomous Cars

Crowd-Sourcing Morality for Autonomous Cars
by Bernard Murphy on 01-03-2017 at 7:00 am

Questions are being raised on how autonomous vehicles should react in life-or-death situations. Most of these have been based on thought experiments, constructed from standard dilemmas in ethics such as what should happen if the driver of a car or an autonomous car is faced with either killing two pedestrians or killing the occupants… Read More


Qualcomm Hit With $853M Penalty for Patent Licensing Practices

Qualcomm Hit With $853M Penalty for Patent Licensing Practices
by Tom Simon on 01-02-2017 at 12:00 pm

Qualcomm was hit in December with a $853M fine by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) for not fairly sharing patents related to mobile phone chipsets. In setting the standards for CDMA, WCDMA and LTE, agreements were struck that enable sharing technology to advance the standard. Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND)… Read More