All You Need Is Love
(and Some Good Tools)
PCB problems got you all tangled up and blue? Never fear, all you need is love. Well, that and some good tools. This week my guest is Steve McKinney (Mentor Graphics). Steve and I are going to talk to about Mentor’s HyperLynx tool suite and why the newest features of this tool may make those pesky PCB problems a thing of the past. Also this week, check out why power and system management decisions might best be made sooner than later.
Also this week, I have another MAX V CPLD Development Kit courtesy of Altera to give away, and I introduce a brand new Nerdy Giveaway contest for DVCon, but you'll have to tune in to find out how to win.
DesignCon Take 2
Floating Point for FPGAs and TI’s Signal Integrity Solutions
In part two of my DesignCon 2012 coverage, I chat with Mike Parker (Altera) about FPGAs doing floating point and where he feels we are are headed in this realm. I also chat with Sanjay Gajendra (Texas Instruments) about how TI is aiming to make your multi-gigabit SerDes signal integrity issues a whole bunch easier. Also this week, I check out why the “app economy” has become a big deal in the United States and how a 9 year old girl is trumping this week’s mainstream scientific achievements.
All the Signal Integrity You Can Shake A Stick At
Fish Fry Takes On DesignCon
Eye diagrams, Bert Scopes and more SerDes than anyone knows what to do with...what could it be? DesignCon of course. In this week’s Fish Fry, I look into to why DesignCon was so popular this year and why signal integrity issues were the un-offcial theme of the show. I also interview Brad Griffin of Cadence about why we need power distribution analysis and why he thinks DesignCon is the best show of the year.
Bridging the Gap
The Real World Meets Innovation At The Avnet Tech Games
In this week’s Fish Fry, I interview Joe Tillison (Technical Director for Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas) about the upcoming Avnet Tech Games. From racing robots to a new game called “Kevin’s High-Tech Home Makeover”, Joe and I sort through the details of the Avnet Tech Games and chat about why the these games aren’t like your average high tech scholarship contests. Also this week, I dig into my mailbag and come up with a sponsorship opportunity for industrious engineers.
Connecting the Dots
One Embedded Design at a Time
In this week’s Fish Fry (sponsored by Altera), I look into how Texas Instruments is ushering in a new wave of WiFi-enabled devices with their SimpleLink family of products. I chat with Matt Kurtz (Texas Instruments) and dig into the details about this new family of products -- from what design challenges SimpleLink addresses, to the unexpected designs that could come from this technology. Also this week, I check out a new way to lose money: by betting on high tech announcements.
Pay No Attention to The Man Behind the Curtain
The Gritty PR Underbelly of CES
In this week’s Fish Fry (brought you to by Altera), I investigate some of the not so fabulous behind-the-scenes action that happens in the ramp up for the Consumer Electronics Show. I check out a curious press release retraction, why headphone maker Klipsch is gunning for counterfeiters in China, and how HzO will save the world’s electronics...one nano-scale skin at a time.
RTOS Smackdown
In this week’s Fish Fry, I investigate the battle brewing (in press releases at least) between Green Hills and QNX and why this may not be the first time this sort of thing has happened. I interview Jeff Jussel (element14) about their "knode" and how exactly element14 fits into the grand scheme of electronic design. As a precursor to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, I also check out one of the strangest pieces of embedded design for consumers that I have ever seen.
FPGA State of the Union
This week I chat with EE Journal Editor-in-Chief and resident FPGA expert Kevin Morris in a special FPGA State of the Union Fish Fry. Kevin talks with me about where he sees FPGAs headed in 2012, what to expect from market leaders Xilinx and Altera, how Lattice Semicondutor's acquisition of SiliconBlue will affect the landscape, and where smaller start-ups Tabula and Achronix fit into that mix.
Adventures in EDA Land
How EDA and Disneyland May Have More In Common Than You Think
Did you ever consider that EDA is a lot like Disneyland? I know it may sound a little kooky but check out this week’s Fish Fry to find out more! I interview Shawn McCloud (Vice President of Marketing - Calypto Design Services) about Calapult-C’s transition to Calypto, the ambiguous nature of the term ESL, and what Calypto brings to the EDA party. Also this week, I interview Shishpal Rawat (Accellera Chair) about why it's important to have IP standards and where he sees IP and system design standards headed.
The Humorization of EE
A Look Into How Lattice Semiconductor Makes Even FPGAs Funny
If anyone tells you that EE can't be funny, you send 'em my way! In this week's Fish Fry, I interview Chris Turman, one of the funniest engineers in the business, about how the culture at Lattice Semiconductor has allowed him the freedom to have fun and make people laugh about FPGAs. Yes, really. Also this week, I check out the new pico-projector from Texas Instruments and Brookstone and report on why it may be fantastic and problematic at the same time.