System Bits: July 10


Foldable electronic switches and sensors Using inexpensive materials, UC Berkeley engineers have created a method to fabricate foldable electronic switches and sensors directly onto paper, along with prototype generators, supercapacitors and other electronic devices for what they said is a range of applications. Besides the fact that it is readily available and low cost, the team pointed ou... » read more

Wednesday At DAC 2018


Wednesday starts with a visionary talk followed by a keynote. The Visionary talk was given by Chidi Chidambaram, VP of engineering for Qualcomm, and looked at 'Challenges to Enable 5G System Scaling.' "We have to start taking a system view rather than just following technology and at the same time we have to get concerned about durability," he said. "Mobile will continue to be the leader becaus... » read more

The Growing Materials Challenge


By Katherine Derbyshire & Ed Sperling Materials have emerged as a growing challenge across the semiconductor supply chain, as chips continue to scale, or as they are utilized in new devices such as sensors for AI or machine learning systems. Engineered materials are no longer optional at advanced nodes. They are now a requirement, and the amount of new material content in chips contin... » read more

Blog Review: May 16


Synopsys' Eric Huang looks back at why the USB On-The-Go specification was revolutionary in getting devices talking to each other and how the shift to USB Type-C and Dual Mode means it isn't needed anymore. Mentor's Andrew Macleod examines four different shift-left methodologies and the benefits of each in the context of automotive and autonomous vehicle design. Cadence's Paul McLellan ch... » read more

The Week in Review: IoT


Conferences Internet of Things World 2018 takes place next week at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Silicon Valley. Executives of GE Digital, The Chamberlain Group, and UPS will be among those giving keynote addresses during the four-day conference. Monday will see pre-conference workshops, followed by three days of keynotes, presentations, and an expo floor taking in 100,000 square feet o... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: May 8


Cobalt-free cathodes Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, built lithium-ion battery cathodes without cobalt that can store 50% more energy than traditional cobalt-containing cathodes. Currently, lithium-ion battery cathodes use layered structures, which cobalt is necessary to maintain. When lithium ions move from the cathode to anode during charging, a lot of space is left... » read more

System Bits: May 1


Tiniest implanted wireless nerve stimulator UC Berkeley researchers, co-led by Rikky Muller, who is also assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at Berkeley, have built what they say is the smallest volume, most efficient wireless nerve stimulator to date. Before this milestone, UC Berkeley engineers demonstrated the first implanted, ultrasonic neural dust sensor... » read more

System Bits: April 24


Some superconductors carry spin currents A few years ago, researchers from the University of Cambridge showed that it was possible to create electron pairs in which the spins are aligned: up-up or down-down. The spin current can be carried by up-up and down-down pairs moving in opposite directions with a net charge current of zero, and the ability to create such a pure spin super-current is an... » read more

Tech Tackles Health Care


Can technology make humans healthier? If technology investments in this market are any indication, the answer is a firm “yes.” Massive growth in this market has been predicted for years. In fact, it was the initial driver behind many of the initial IoT devices, which fizzled largely because of insufficiently developed end applications and poor battery life of wearable devices. Much has c... » read more

System Bits: April 3


Investigating the human brain for quantum computation potential While much has been made of quantum computing processes using ultracold atoms and ions, superconducting junctions and defects in diamonds, researchers are questioning if this could be performed in human brains. In fact, UC Santa Barbara theoretical physicist Matthew Fisher has been asking this question for years. And now as scient... » read more

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