TI says its MSPM0 is the world’s most teeny, tiny 32-bit microcontroller. It’s smaller than a grain of white rice and costs 16 cents.

Today, I want to discuss the incredible shrinking microcontroller. Early microcontroller vendors packaged their offerings in 40-pin DIPs. They were physically small for what you got then, but huge now. These microcontrollers shared several common features: a lame and very proprietary 4- or 8-bit processor architecture designed more to fit on the die than to deliver much performance, a trivial amount of RAM (64 bytes, 128 bytes if you … Read More → "TI says its MSPM0 is the world’s most teeny, tiny 32-bit microcontroller. It’s smaller than a grain of white rice and costs 16 cents."

Programmable PMICs and Cutting Edge Power Management with AnDAPT

This week my podcast guest is Giovanni Garcea, President of AnDAPT. Giovanni and I discuss the details of AnDAPT’s field programmable PMIC and how engineers can take advantage of AnDAPT’s programmable power solution that it designed with AI called PMIC.AI. Also this week, I check out a new fluid battery that can take any shape developed by researchers at Linköping University. … Read More → "Programmable PMICs and Cutting Edge Power Management with AnDAPT"

Only the Most Epic Embedded Online Conference Ever!

The value of online (virtual) conferences is increasing in leaps and bounds as travel becomes more problematic and time is increasingly at a premium. Some of these events “stand proud in the crowd,” as it were. Allow me to expound, elucidate, and explicate. 

When it comes to embedded space (where no one can hear you scream), the virtual extravaganza on … Read More → "Only the Most Epic Embedded Online Conference Ever!"

Microchip’s new $30 debugger fulfills Jack Ganssle’s prophecy from 30 years ago

Microchip didn’t become a leading microcontroller vendor by accident. The company built its PIC microcontroller business from nothing to significant market share over two decades by cultivating developers, starting with college undergraduates. The company did this by offering a broad product line, inexpensive tools, and plenty of support. Microchip’s latest offering, a programming and debugging tool that sells for less than $30, continues that winning strategy.</ … Read More → "Microchip’s new $30 debugger fulfills Jack Ganssle’s prophecy from 30 years ago"

Concurrent Technologies Ushers In the Next Generation of Mission-Critical Applications

My podcast guests this week are longtime friend of the show Nigel Forrester and Victoria Middleton from Concurrent Technologies. Nigel, Victoria and I chat about the importance of rigorous testing in mission-critical systems, the details of Concurrent’s mission-critical embedded computing solutions, and how Concurrent can help engineers determine what Intel processor board is … Read More → "Concurrent Technologies Ushers In the Next Generation of Mission-Critical Applications"

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featured chalk talk

ROHM Current Sense Amplifiers
In this episode of Chalk Talk, David Doan from ROHM Semiconductor and Amelia Dalton explore the what, where, and how of current sense amplifiers. They also examine the role that topology and common-mode voltage play when selecting a current sense amplifier and the variety of benefits that ROHM Semiconductor current sense amplifiers bring to the table.   
Mar 30, 2025
26,678 views

featured paper

How Google and Intel use Calibre DesignEnhancer to reduce IR drop and improve reliability

Sponsored by Siemens Digital Industries Software

Through real-world examples from Intel and Google, we highlight how Calibre’s DesignEnhancer maximizes layout modifications while ensuring DRC compliance.

Click here for more information

discussion
Posted on Apr 23 at 6:23am by Max Maxfield
To be honest, this website seems a bit "thin on the ground" -- the links to things like "Team" and "History" just return you to the home page and there's only one item in the store without any specs (sad face).
Posted on Apr 22 at 11:33pm by steff
I found a perfect device at nightAssist.com.au
Posted on Apr 15 at 1:41pm by Max Maxfield
I must admit that this one left me confused -- it was hard to pin anything down -- on the one hand, it's claimed that various groups in the US government are using this technology, which is impressive until you start to think about who we have forming the US ...
Posted on Apr 15 at 1:07pm by jackganssle
The Basic compiler referred to in this article was called MTBasic (for Multitasking Basic). Rather like the HP Basic Steve mentioned, when you entered a line of code it was tokenized and stored. After hitting "Run" the code was compiled to machine code. It was a one-pass compiler (for speed) ...
Posted on Apr 15 at 6:02am by Steven Leibson
Thanks traneusee. After doing some online research, I'm not clear how Dartmouth BASIC was compiled. In some explanations, it appears to work like the tokenized interpreters we implemented at HP in the 1970s for HP BASIC and HPL, where the typed line of code was immediately tokenized into calls to ...
Posted on Apr 14 at 5:41pm by traneusee
Thanks for this article. Dartmouth Time Sharing System DTSS BASIC compiler worked the same way as Jack's 1982 Basic compiler.
Posted on Apr 11 at 1:47pm by JohnSanders
Proof of Achievement of the First Artificial General Intelligence... I have read most of this paper. It is somewhat Niaive and I am surprised at its supposedly high profile. Based on defining notional requirements for AGI it defines hence "proves" its requirements. Requirements tend to come from the business cases, ...
Posted on Apr 9 at 4:49pm by Steven Leibson
Glad you liked it Max. You don't need to wait for the holidays. Download the three files now. They're free.
Posted on Apr 9 at 1:36pm by Max Maxfield
Thanks so much for this column Steve -- I've added this book to my Christmas Wish List -- Max
Posted on Apr 9 at 12:39pm by Steven Leibson
Thanks Ray. I'm glad you liked the article. It was a fun one to write. --Steve
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featured blogs
Apr 23, 2025
Just when I thought the day was as strange as it could get, I ran across this video'¦...
Solutions for General Precision Location Tracking
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Arnaud Le Lannic from u-blox, Greg Makar from the YAGEO Group and Amelia Dalton explore the benefits of GNSS for general precision location tracking. They investigate the biggest challenges associated with these kinds of designs, the solutions best suited for vehicular asset tracking and the mounting options available for these solutions.
Apr 21, 2025
1,217 views
Fiber Optics for Embedded Computing
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Anders Thelin from TE Connectivity and Amelia Dalton explore the benefits that TE Connectivity connector solutions can bring to fiber optic embedded designs. They also investigate the various VITA standards utilized for these kinds of designs, and how optical fiber routing and active optics solutions from TE Connectivity can be used to further enhance the performance of your next design.
Apr 21, 2025
1,459 views
Voltage Translators: An Architecture for Every Application
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and onsemi
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Bob Card from onsemi and Amelia Dalton explore the multitude of benefits of voltage translators. They investigate the challenges associated with I/O voltage disagreement, the voltage translator architecture for every IC-to-IC protocol and how you can take advantage of onsemi’s Treo Analog and Mixed Signal Platform for your next design.
Apr 21, 2025
1,008 views
Using NXP’s FRDM Ecosystem to Break Down ML Complexity
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Michael Pontikes from NXP and Amelia Dalton explore the details of the FRDM ecosystem from NXP. They explore the scalability component of this ecosystem, the details of the FRDM i.MX 93 Development Board and how the machine learning software and tools of this ecosystem will streamline and simplify your next machine learning enhanced design.
Apr 17, 2025
2,157 views
Accelerating Time to Fault Campaign Success with Siemens EDA
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Ann Keffer and Robert Serphillips from Siemens and Amelia Dalton explore how the Siemens EDA functional safety platform can guide your team through the complete ISO 26262 lifecycle. They also examine the benefits that the Veloce Fault App brings to automotive IC designs and how you can take advantage of the full suite of functional tools from Siemens EDA for your next automotive IC design.
Apr 14, 2025
1,640 views
SparkFun Digi X-ON Kit for LoRaWAN®
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Jordan Nolen from Digi, Kirk Benell from SparkFun Electronics and Chris Boross from Raspberry Pi and Amelia Dalton delve into the details of the SparkFun Digi X-ON Kit for LoRaWAN®. They examine the motivation behind the creation of this kit, the benefits that the IoT Node board for LoRaWAN brings to the table, and how the SparkFun Digi X-ON Kit for LoRaWAN can get your next design up and running in no time. 
Apr 2, 2025
24,232 views