Technology often goes in cycles. Thirty years ago the dominant mode of computing was a shared computing resource with comparatively dumb terminals. Think of a Vax accessed by terminals. Then workstations and the PC came along and the dominant mode became a computer on everyone’s desk. Then the smartphone came along and … Read More


What is Ambient Security?
New technology and business buzzwords pop up constantly. Hardly a day goes by that you don’t see or hear words such as “cloud”, “IoT,” or “big data.” Let’s add one more to the list: “Ambient security.”
You’ll notice that big data, the cloud, and the IoT are all connected, literally and figuratively, and that is the point. Billions … Read More
Lead, follow, or catch the next Silicon Valley wave
What does the IoT mean for the next wave of Silicon Valley innovators? Looking at the previous waves of semiconductor economic development and the doctrine of “creative destruction” holds clues as to how this one develops and who emerges as the new leaders.
Given seven decades of progress, it may seem semiconductor firms on top … Read More
Cuba No? Cuba Si!
We are writing technical blogs all along the year, sometime it’s good to write about something completely different. Don’t worry, I don’t plan to write any geo-political analysis, neither propose tourism advertising for Cuba. I just wish to share with you the feeling you have when spending a few weeks in Cuba like I did in the mid … Read More
Expert Tool to Easily Debug RTL and Reuse in SoCs
SoC design these days has become a complex and tricky phenomenon involving integration of multiple IPs and legacy RTL code which could be in different languages, sourced from various third parties across the globe. Understanding and reusing RTL code is imperative in SoC integration which needs capable tools that can accommodate… Read More
How are the IoT and ESL Related?
A recent comment by a DACattendee mentioned that the IoT acronym was so over-used as to make him get upset at EDA vendors that all purport to be enabling the growing IoT revolution. One of the most common requirements that I hear about IoT electronics is that the power needs to be well understood and controlled during the design exploration… Read More
IEDM: TSMC, Intel and IBM 14/16nm Processes
This week is IEDM. Three of the presentations today were by TSMC, Intel and IBM going over some of the details of their 14/16nm processes. They don’t provide the slides at IEDM, just the single page papers so this may end up being a somewhat random collection of facts.
TSMC were up first. They talked about the improvements that… Read More
Chinese Apple In Trouble – What to look forward?
Xiaomi, an aspirant to top the Smartphone market through its disruptive entry into the maturing mobile phone market with its high quality Smartphones at rock bottom prices is getting roadblocks in its second largest market, India. It surreptitiously entered into today’s top mobile phone market in its home ground, China and in… Read More
Winning the IoT protocol battle with DSP
There are too many IoT protocols. Way too many. Anyone who says one single protocol will be the winner from end-to-end in all IoT applications and markets is smoking something. Software defined, multi-protocol gateways are the only hope on the IoT – and DSP cores enable this strategy.… Read More
Jean-Louis Gassée on Intel and Mobile
I came across a very interesting article/blog written over the weekend by Jean-Louis Gassée on Intel and mobile. It covers some similar ground to several of my blog posts on the topic but also has some new facts. And it has additional credibility since Jean-Louis was head of product development and worldwide marketing at Apple (pre-iPhone).… Read More
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