Different Roles, Different Tools


A question often posed is: does the use of tools and processes change as you go from block level to subsystem and chip level and as you add software to your system on chip (SoC)? And of course, the answer is that things change a lot. The primary differences between designing individual blocks and designing a big chip are that blocks tend to be designed by individual engineers or very small g... » read more

Remotely Performing IC Validation


One of the key stages in designing any chip is the testing you do when you get the first silicon back. This is where you finally see the results of all your careful work and determine whether the chip is performing as designed, and as simulation told you it would. This is known as IC validation. The focus of validation is on functional test – checking that the chip in silicon meets the origin... » read more

Doing More For Less With Upgraded LON Networks


At Adesto, we talk a lot about the importance of embracing all IoT communications protocols. We believe that our customers and their customers can derive great benefit from building and industrial control solutions that connect to industrial field bus protocols such as BACnet, LON and Modbus, as well as IP-based protocols – especially when those solutions are enabled to work seamlessly togeth... » read more

IoT Debugging Crosses The Hardware-Software Divide


By Paul Hill and Gordon MacNee Debugging is an important part of embedded design; one that necessarily crosses the hardware/software divide. At a system level, the functionality of an embedded design is increasingly defined by firmware, so avoiding bugs requires engineers with specific disciplines to work closely together during the design phase of a project. It can also mean resisting the u... » read more

Choosing The Right Level Of Programmability


Designers prefer to design in flexibility. The reasons are legion and mostly obvious: you may not know today how a chip will be used tomorrow – best to delay setting anything in concrete until you are sure how it is going to be used. You may not fully understand the design until it is nearing completion, and premature optimization can leave you in a difficult situation. And there are more pra... » read more

SAR ADCs For Machine-To-Machine Connections


In our previous blog about the importance of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), we focused on the various architectures that are in common usage for the Industrial Internet of Things. In particular, we looked at which architecture was best for low-latency, low-power and high-precision applications, with each option having various advantages and disadvantages. When we looked at the applicati... » read more

Opening Up An NVM Evaluation Kit


From toys to smartphones and even mail-order reptiles (a practice which we don’t endorse), unboxing videos are an effective and entertaining way to learn more about a product. According to a recent analysis by Shorr Packaging Corp., toys are the most watched unboxing category, followed closely by smartphones and computers. In addition to providing important product details, an unboxing v... » read more

Building Access Control With Free Topology


For facilities managers of large buildings and campuses, security and access control are huge challenges. Authorized persons come and go so privileges must be granted and revoked; different employees, students and visitors may all have different levels of privilege/access; the access cards themselves must be authenticated; and the list goes on. This is in the face of ever-escalating security th... » read more

The Industrial Internet Of Things Relies On ADCs


We have all heard the news stories and read the market reports—the Industrial Internet of Things is changing industry as we know it. The move towards industrial systems becoming connected intelligent devices is happening all around us. In connected factories, there are three critical requirements: Large bandwidth communication channels Fast data processing Accurate decision inte... » read more

Simplifying Ultra-Low Power System Design


By Paul Hill and Gordon MacNee With any low-power design, the designer has the choice between choosing low-power components or switching off the power to peripheral devices. When considering the choice of non-volatile flash memories, the designer has these same two options available to them – each of which has its pros and cons from system operation, power consumption and reliability persp... » read more

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