Evaluating NVMe SSD Multi-Gigabit Performance


The multi-channel parallelism and low-latency access of NAND flash technology have made Non-Volatile Memory express (NVMe) based SSDs very popular within the main segments of the data storage market, including not only the consumer electronics sector but also data center processing and acceleration services, where the key role is played by specialized FPGA-based hardware for application-specifi... » read more

AI And Big Data Set To Reinvent Semiconductor Industry


The recent IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) reaffirmed that the semiconductor industry is in a period of reinvention as we grapple with the challenges and opportunities promised by the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and AI. That such change is underway was made evident by a panel I was honored to moderate titled, “The Future of Logic: EUV is Here, Now What?” Joining... » 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

Extreme Quality Semiconductor Manufacturing, Part 1: Automotive


By Ben Tsai and Cathy Perry Sullivan Across the full range of semiconductor device types and design nodes, there is a drive to produce chips with significantly higher quality. Automotive, IoT and other industrial applications require chips that achieve very high reliability over a long period of time, and some of these chips must maintain reliable performance while operating in an environmen... » read more

The Impact Of Test Engineers


As testing is at the end of each project, it’s often seen as a non-value-added necessity that just needs to be done. This is why Test Engineers often feel overlooked and undervalued. Previously, we explained why engineering managers should value their test engineers, and told them how to get the most out of their teams. Today we’ll explore how test engineers can learn to understand the... » read more

Better Object Arrangement In Block Diagrams


How many of you have spent countless hours and worn down your keyboard arrows cleaning up LabVIEW block diagrams? LabVIEW block diagrams help you move any object 1 pixel at a time. Though this feature gives you a lot of flexibility, it also makes arranging objects on a diagram extremely tedious. When designing the LabVIEW NXG diagram, we aimed to reduce the monotony of this task and make you mo... » read more

Where Is The eFPGA Market And Ecosystem Headed?


In this article we’ll discuss the availability of eFPGA, the applications for eFPGA and the current and future market size for eFPGA. eFPGA vendors & offerings Embedded FPGA is a new development this decade. There are now multiple vendors offering eFPGA on a wide range of process nodes with multiple customers. eFPGA Vendors Menta has had eFPGA available for the longest: their offe... » read more

Can You Afford To Waste Time On Your Next Design Project?


Let’s be honest: engineers are asked to perform miracles every day, and they almost always deliver. They are challenged to invent the future in the form of newly sophisticated, powerful and highly functional systems-on-chips and systems. On top of this, they’re required to do so with an increasingly complex array of tools and re-use increasing amounts of IP to speed time-to-market. Oh, and ... » read more

This Year’s Holiday Puzzle: Find The Trojan Horse


The term “Trojan horse” is widely used, but it’s likely that not everyone knows the story behind this metaphor. It refers to an ancient legend about a giant wooden horse that contained a most unpleasant surprise for its recipients. In general usage, the term refers to anything dangerous that lurks within a seemingly innocent disguise. The electronics hardware design community is increasin... » read more

When Is Robustness Verification Complete?


Understandably, hardware designed for an aircraft, or indeed any safety critical application, must be robust. I also believe that all engineers wish to verify their designs as thoroughly as possible, anyway. However, there are limiting factors; most notably the high complexity of most designs. Since we are unable to discover and verify the design against all abnormal conditions, the main questi... » read more

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