Connectivity Challenges In Industry 4.0


Industry 4.0 is characterized by interoperability (such as IIoT), information transparency (digital plant models: virtual copy of physical world), technical support (the ability of cyber-physical systems to support humans by executing various tasks), and decentralized decision-making. IIoT allows devices to be connected, creating a virtual copy of real-world data that allows operators to visual... » read more

Securing 5G And IoT With Fuzzing


5G will revolutionize many industries, with up to 100 times the speed, 100 times the capacity, and one-tenth the latency compared to 4G LTE. But in addition to providing superior performance, 5G expands the attack surface of apps and IoT devices that rely on this next-gen network. In addition to known security exploits, we’re bound to see unknown, novelty attacks. Fuzz testing (or fuzzing)... » read more

Different Requirements For Hyperscale Computing Across Vertical Application Domains


As mentioned in previous posts, one of the key conversations I have with customers a lot these days is how to deal with the balance of storage, compute and connectivity as we enter the era of hyperscale computing. While there are overarching challenges that are “of similar class” across the vertical application domains—consumer, hyperscale computing, mobile, networking, aerospace/defense,... » read more

What’s Next For Semis?


It’s been a turbulent year in the semiconductor industry. 2020 was supposed to be a strong year. Then, the coronavirus outbreak hit. Suddenly, a large percentage of countries implemented various measures to mitigate the outbreak, such as stay-at-home orders as well as business and store closures. Economic turmoil and job losses soon followed, not to mention the human tragedy involved. M... » read more

What’s After 5G


This year’s IEEE Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits (VLSI 2020) included a presentation by NTT Docomo that looked far into the future of cellular communications, setting the stage for a broad industry shift in communication. This is far from trivial. 5G only just recently entered the commercial world, and — especially with the higher millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies — it has ... » read more

Eight Benefits Of Using An FPGA With An On-Chip High-Speed Network


Since the initial introduction of FPGAs decades ago, each new architecture has continued to employ a bit-wise routing structure. While this approach has been successful, the rise of high-speed communication standards has required ever increasing on-chip bus widths to be able to support these new data rates. A consequence of this limitation is that designers often spend much of their development... » read more

On The Cusp Of 5G


Carriers and chipmakers are celebrating the rollout of the first standards-compliant commercial 5G services. "We are, officially in the era of 5G," said John Smee, vice president of engineering at Qualcomm at the recent 5G Summit at IEEE's International Microwave Symposium (IMS) in Boston. Movement is happening on the commercial end. Major U.S. carriers Verizon, AT&T and Sprint have set ... » read more

The Week in Review: IoT


Finance BroadLink has raised $54.4 million in Series D funding from Citic Private Equity Funds Management. Baidu and Libai Group participated in the new round. BroadLink will use the money to expand its artificial intelligence and Internet of Things units, while also acquiring or investing in companies involved in smart home devices. Aperio Systems of Haifa, Israel, has received $4.5 millio... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Oct. 17


Harvesting body heat Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology developed a flexible, wearable thermoelectric generator that can harvest energy from body heat to power simple biosensors. Thermoelectric generators have been available for decades, but standard designs use inflexible inorganic materials that are too toxic for use in wearable devices. The team's device uses thousands... » read more