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Ann Mutschler

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Ann Mutschler is senior executive editor at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

System Bits: June 28
By Ann Mutschler - 28 Jun, 2016 - Comments: 0

Deep-learning-based virtual reality tool Given that future systems which enable people to interact with virtual environments will require computers to interpret the human hand’s nearly endless variety and complexity of changing motions and joint angles, Purdue University researchers have created a convolutional neural network-based system that is capable of deep learning. [caption id="att... » read more

System Bits: June 21
By Ann Mutschler - 21 Jun, 2016 - Comments: 0

Faster running parallel programs, one-tenth the code MIT researchers reminded that computer chips have stopped getting faster and that for the past 10 years, performance improvements have come from the addition of cores. In theory, they said, a program on a 64-core machine would be 64 times as fast as it would be on a single-core machine but it rarely works out that way. Most computer programs... » read more

Simulation To Protect Us
By Ann Mutschler - 16 Jun, 2016 - Comments: 0

I hate to say I told you so, but, I told you so. Back in 2011, I wrote this article, Cell Phone Radiation: Taboo Topic, Interesting Science, and have since kept my eyes open for proof of what I’ve feared for some time now: that our bodies may be adversely affected by the radiation emitted by everything from the myriad electronic devices we carry close to our heads and bodies to WiFi hotspo... » read more

Big Data Meets Chip Design
By Ann Mutschler - 16 Jun, 2016 - Comments: 0

The amount of data being handled in chip design is growing significantly at each new node, prompting chipmakers to begin using some of the same concepts, technologies and algorithms used in data centers at companies such as Google, Facebook and GE. While the total data sizes in chip design are still relatively small compared with cloud operations—terabytes per year versus petabytes and exa... » read more

System Bits: June 14
By Ann Mutschler - 14 Jun, 2016 - Comments: 0

Microlaser phase locking arrays for terahertz security scanners Researchers at MIT and Sandia National Laboratories reminded that terahertz radiation, the band of electromagnetic radiation between microwaves and visible light, has promising applications in security and medical diagnostics, even if such devices will require the development of compact, low-power, high-quality terahertz lasers. ... » read more

System Bits: June 7
By Ann Mutschler - 07 Jun, 2016 - Comments: 0

Social robot seeks to understand pedestrian behavior In order for robots to circulate on sidewalks and mingle with humans in other crowded places, they’ll have to understand the unwritten rules of pedestrian behavior. As such, Stanford University researchers have created a short, non-humanoid prototype of just such a moving, self-navigating machine. [caption id="attachment_28082" align="ali... » read more

DAC On Cars
By Ann Mutschler - 02 Jun, 2016 - Comments: 0

With the yearly Design Automation Conference upon us in mere days, I’ve been combing through the program looking for sessions to attend in between already-scheduled roundtables I’m running, speakers I am introducing here and here, a panel I’m moderating, along with other meetings. You might imagine I’ve got my eye on the automotive sessions starting with the opening keynote. It's... » read more

Lawyers, Insurance And Self-Driving Cars
By Ann Mutschler - 02 Jun, 2016 - Comments: 1

Self-driving cars are drawing semiconductor companies into legal and regulatory issues for the first time, adding a new level of scrutiny on cutting-edge chip technology. It also opens up a whole new field for legal interpretation, case law, and regulation. While most liability cases in the past never crossed below the system vendor/supplier level, that could change with autonomous vehic... » read more

Open Standards For Verification?
By Ann Mutschler - 01 Jun, 2016 - Comments: 0

The increasing use of verification data for analyzing and testing complex designs is raising the stakes for more standardized or interoperable database formats. While interoperability between databases in chip design is not a new idea, it has a renewed sense of urgency. It takes more time and money to verify increasingly complex chips, and more of that data needs to be used earlier in the fl... » read more

System Bits: May 31
By Ann Mutschler - 31 May, 2016 - Comments: 0

In automaton we trust? It is widely believed that there are two kinds of robots: friendly and helpful; or sinister and deadly. But do humans place too much trust in robots? According to the work of Harvard University senior Serena Booth, a computer science concentrator at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the answer is as complex and multifaceted as robots themsel... » read more

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