Unobtainium is where you find it: What happens when you can’t source an old IC?

If you’ve designed electronic systems for a while, or if you’ve repaired vintage electronic equipment, no doubt you’ve run into the fascinating term “unobtainium.” Here’s Wikipedia’s definition of the term:

“Unobtainium originally referred to materials that do not exist at all, but can also be used to describe real materials that are unavailable due to extreme rarity or … Read More → "Unobtainium is where you find it: What happens when you can’t source an old IC?"

Adiuvo Engineering’s Leonidas Spartan 7 Tile makes it easy for you to drop an FPGA into your design

By the time you read this article, you should be able to get Adiuvo Engineering’s new Leonidas Spartan 7 Tile. It went on sale for pre-order in August for £150.00. Unlike FPGA development boards, Adiuvo’s Leonidas Spartan 7 Tile is designed to be used as a component in a larger design. The 59x59mm … Read More → "Adiuvo Engineering’s Leonidas Spartan 7 Tile makes it easy for you to drop an FPGA into your design"

Secure and Protect: Sotero’s Unique Approach to Data Security

This week’s podcast is all about data security and robotic decision making. Purandar Das (CEO and Co-Founder – Sotero) joins me to discuss Sotero’s all-in-one data security platform, the biggest challenges surrounding cloud data security today, and the benefits of Sotero’s ransomware solution. Also this week, I check out a new method developed by a team of researchers at MIT … Read More → "Secure and Protect: Sotero’s Unique Approach to Data Security"

Jim Handy, The Memory Guy, steps in with a report on CXL’s near-term future

Back in May, I discussed CXL and gave some reasons that I thought would lead to its success. (See “The Adventures of CXL Across the 3rd Dimension.”) In that article, I mentioned that my friend Jim Handy, “The Memory Guy,” was writing a report about CXL and applying his own analysis skills to … Read More → "Jim Handy, The Memory Guy, steps in with a report on CXL’s near-term future"

Eeek! GenAI-Powered Design and Verification EDA Tools

I just got off a video conference call with a company I cannot name that’s developed a technology I cannot discuss to power a product I am forbidden to talk about at this time. But I fear I’ve said too much. Suffice it to say that this product is going to enable a new generation of high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) platforms in … Read More → "Eeek! GenAI-Powered Design and Verification EDA Tools"

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featured chalk talk

Dependable Power Distribution: Supporting Fail Operational and Highly Available Systems
Sponsored by Infineon
Megatrends in automotive designs have heavily influenced the requirements needed for vehicle architectures and power distribution systems. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Robert Pizuti from Infineon investigate the trends and new use cases required for dependable power systems and how Infineon is advancing innovation in automotive designs with their EiceDRIVER and PROFET devices.
Dec 7, 2023
47,191 views
discussion
Posted on Oct 9 at 11:38am by Karl Stevens
Finally! He put the driver on the tile, leaving the FPGA and memories where they were. I was always a waste of FPGA resources to have unused drivers. Now we need a design tool that takes conditional assignments as input and produces the assignment sequences for debug like the compile/...
Posted on Oct 8 at 7:21am by Karl Stevens
Unfortunately because Verilog could be simulated, management overlooked this simple fact and forced designers to use HDL for design entry!! Yes, I have VScode. C# is the most popular language supported and I have found that C# is very useful for design entry. In many ways it is like opening ...
Posted on Oct 8 at 6:45am by Karl Stevens
Thanks, I totally agree.
Posted on Oct 7 at 5:51am by Max Maxfield
D stands for "description" as in "Hardware Description Language"
Posted on Oct 4 at 12:39pm by Karl Stevens
While we are here, what does the "D" in HDL stand for?
Posted on Oct 1 at 7:28am by Max Maxfield
There's a reason for the spelling without the 'a' -- but I can't remember what it is LOL
Posted on Sep 27 at 12:29pm by Karl Stevens
I think that somebody who break things is a "breAker".
Posted on Sep 24 at 7:56am by Max Maxfield
I did say "most of the time" -- I didn't mean you, obviously -- you were the "exception that proves the rule" LOL
Posted on Sep 23 at 6:04pm by Steven Leibson
I take exception to that, mate.
Posted on Sep 23 at 1:23pm by Max Maxfield
>> This is the sort of gobbledygook I expect from a new FPGA marketer In my experience, you can remove the "new" qualifier most of the time LOL
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featured blogs
Oct 9, 2024
Have you ever noticed that dogs tend to circle around a few times before they eventually take a weight off their minds?...
On Board Charger Solutions Enable Vehicle Electrification
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and onsemi
On board charging modules are a key component for a variety of electric cars today and the device selection and topology for these chargers depends on target efficiency, cost and power density. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Kevin Keller from onsemi explore the design considerations for on board chargers, the power requirements needed for these kinds of designs, and the role that packaging plays in the development of on board charging solutions.
Oct 2, 2024
7,525 views
ForgeFPGA™: Low Density FPGA Solutions from Renesas
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Renesas
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Matthew Leonard from Renesas explore the benefits that ForgeFPGAs, low density FPGA solutions from Renesas, bring to a variety of applications including computing and storage, wearables, consumer electronics and more. They also investigate the LUT structure of these low density FPGAs, how these solutions can be utilized for drone sensor aggregation and how Renesas is breaking barriers of entry for FPGA solutions with their ForgeFPGAs.
Oct 1, 2024
7,791 views
Pairing Gate Drive to EliteSiC
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and onsemi
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Bob Card from onsemi investigate the role that gate drivers and switches play in high-power mega trend applications. They also explore the benefits that silicon carbide switches bring to these applications, how gate drive is calculated and how onsemi is furthering innovation in wide band gap drivers and switches.
Sep 30, 2024
9,105 views
Choosing the Ideal Semiconductor Technology for your Topology
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Infineon
Wide band gap semiconductor materials are great choices for next generation power converter switches. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Matthew Reynolds from Infineon explore the benefits and tradeoffs of GaN, silicon junction or Silicon carbide power switching technology, the importance that body diode performance plays in these solutions and how you can take advantage of gallium nitride, silicon carbide, and silicon junction wide band gap power solutions in your next design.
Sep 27, 2024
12,905 views
ECK Series DC Contactors
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and John Hamilton from TE Connectivity chat about the what, where, and how of DC Contactors. They also explore the benefits that these solutions can bring to a variety of e-mobility, warehouse automation and battery management applications, and how you can get started using a TE Connectivity ECK DC Contactor in your next design.
Sep 26, 2024
13,097 views
Routing Signals, Data, and Power in Rugged Applications
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Samtec
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Matthew Burns from Samtec investigate the design challenges involved with routing signals, data and power in rugged applications. They also explore the benefits that Samtec’s URSA® I/O Ultra Rugged Cable System brings to rugged applications and why the extreme density and the hyperboloid-type contact sets this cable system apart from other solutions on the market today.
Sep 16, 2024
21,964 views