Blog Review: Jan. 10

Rambus’ Aharon Etengoff explains the Meltdown and Spectre CPU vulnerabilities and why they could negatively affect the semiconductor industry for decades.

Cadence’s Paul McLellan has an explainer on Meltdown and how it’s an unintended consequence of a processor behaving as intended.

Mentor’s Ruben Ghulghazaryan and Jeff Wilson investigate using machine learning to predict post-deposition profiles for CMP modeling.

Synopsys’ Shaily Khare digs into high-bandwidth memory and the key features that poise it to take over graphics, networking, and high performance computing.

Arm’s Rhonda Dirvin takes a look at the array of options available for IoT device development, from single-board computers and modules to custom silicon.

Ansys’ Paolo Colombo checks out how changes to aircraft materials could open up new options for antenna placement.

Samsung’s Tien Shiah points to promising early adoption of HBM2.

GlobalFoundries’ Bami Bastani notes that amongst all the buzz, 2018 is shaping up to be a huge year for 5G.

A Lam Research writer looks beyond games to ways VR and AR could improve life, from education to search and rescue.

Mentor’s Colin Walls memorializes Jim Ready, creator of the first commercially available RTOS.

Cadence’s Meera Collier considers the intersection of unsupervised machine learning systems and art.

Synopsys’ Eric Huang checks out the upsides and downsides of HDMI over USB Type-C, plus cars going to Mars.

And don’t miss the highlighted blogs from the latest IoT, Security & Automotive and Packaging, Test & Electronic Systems newsletters:

Editor In Chief Ed Sperling observes that what’s simple for people isn’t so easy for machines.

Executive Editor Ann Steffora Mutschler finds the automotive industry is shaking up the startup world.

Synopsys’ Ron Lowman examines changes in Bluetooth that make security a requirement, not an option.

Achronix’s Alok Sanghavi explains the role eFPGAs play in making autonomous vehicles safe.

Flex Logix’s Geoff Tate contends that paying attention to metal stack requirements can cut costs and avoid re-routing.

Mentor’s Greg Lebsack questions how sensor vendors make money in the IoT marketplace.

Rambus’ Bart Stevens argues that the introduction of standalone noise isn’t enough to stop data leaks.

ARM’s Ian Hutchinson notes that due to a number of trends, mobile display technologies are now a major selling point for new devices.

Editor In Chief Ed Sperling argues that while different packaging approaches do improve performance with less power, they still require a lot of advanced engineering.

Technology Editor Jeff Dorsch finds strong financial indicators for big test equipment.

Advantest’s Judy Davies contends that art, science and technology all change how we experience the world, while providing fodder for innovative solutions.

NI’s Daniel Parrott examines different strategies for leveraging big analog data more effectively.

Applied’s Sundeep Bajikar discusses why materials engineering is so critical to unlocking artificial intelligence’s commercial value.

Cadence’s Thomas Wong checks out what’s behind the buzz of the auto chip gold rush, and at which process nodes.