Embedded Executive Podcast

Functional safety is no longer a “nice to have” or “should have” in many applications, having moved to “must have” in spaces like automotive, industrial automation, medical devices, and aviation.  Passing the functional safety testing process can be rigorous, especially if you’re going through it for the first time. But even the best experts take at least six months to get software certified.  To...

In programming jargon, the term “real time” is not used in its literal sense, which can be confusing. The literal definition means that when something happens in real time, it happens instantaneously. But in practice, something that occurs very quickly is mistitled as being real-time. Why does the misconception continue to occur, and what problems does it cause? This is the beginning of the discus...

If system developers had unlimited power for their designs, they’d likely find a way to take advantage of it. And the same goes for performance. However, neither of those features is available in infinite quantities. And in just about every case, one becomes a tradeoff for the other.  So, how do you manage that tradeoff, and when you do, what other factors come into play?  To better handle this to...

Low-power is the ultimate priority in some WiFi networks, especially when you’re designing a battery powered device. Cameras used in remote locations are prime targets for this discussion. In some cases, access to that camera is difficult, so the user needed want to charge or replace a battery on a regular basis.  To understand what the current state of the art is, both in terms of power levels an...

Chip design has always been a complex process, and there is no end in sight. What has improved are the tools available to an IC designer. The chips are getting more specialized; hence, the tools must drill down further into the process than ever before.  This sounds like a lot of black magic, but it becomes less cloudy when someone who understands the process walks you through it. To get more clar...

Just when you thought you’d done everything you could do with Bluetooth, along comes something new and unique. At a recent technical conference, I was witness to a very cool demo that was all based on Bluetooth. Rather than attempt to describe it myself, I asked Simon Ford, the Founder of Blecon , the company providing the demo, to explain what it is, how it works, and why it’s so difficult to ach...

We often say that designing secure systems means thinking about security early on in the design process. That means really early on, well before any pen is put to paper, so to speak.  To understand what that means, I spoke to Denis Noel, the Director of Strategy in the Secure Connected Edge business unit at NXP on this week’s Embedded Executives podcast . Denis walked through each of the various s...

Don’t stop me if you’ve heard this before, because it needs to be repeated, again, and again. The embedded industry needs to take security more seriously. Hacks are continuing to occur and will continue until there is a “security by design” mentality in place in our space. It’s hard to believe we are still having this discussion, but we are.  I also expressed my frustration on this week’s Embedded...

Edge AI is one of the popular topics amongst the embedded community. It’s the place where decisions are made, data is analyzed, etc. It’s also a place where lots of confusion arises because of its complexity, especially from a development perspective. To get to the heart of where the challenges lie in this phase of design, I spoke with Jim Beneke, a Vice President for Tria Americas , an Avnet comp...

Common knowledge says that if you want to create an ASIC, you’d better have at least $1M in your bank account. The folks at Efabless say that my common knowledge is inaccurate by a long shot. They claim to be able to get folks started for far less than $100k. I needed to understand how this is possible, so I invited Michael Wishart, the CEO and co-founder of Efabless, to explain how it works on th...

From a developer’s perspective, Edge AI is anything but simple. Any tools, software, etc., that can simplify the process of integrating this technology into a system is very welcome.  That’s where ClearBlade comes in, with its framework that developers “design to,” using hardware, software, and even terminology that the design community is accustomed to. That process may seem vague and complex, bu...

Industrial platforms come with a specific set of design criteria. And the term “industrial” can be quite ambiguous, running the gamut from power tools to manufacturing equipment.  Obviously, there are different requirements within this range.  When you’re choosing an MCU for this space, you had better understand what your specific requirements are. Making the wrong choice will likely have an impac...

At the LoRa Alliance , there’s a new sheriff in town. Alper Yegin is the group’s new CEO. LoRa, which stands for long range, allows transmissions to occur at very low power, sometimes lasting many years without changing batteries. Yegin believes the LoRa spec is quite solid, but there’s always room for it to evolve. He feels that one of his primary tasks is increasing awareness and education aroun...

Open tools are becoming the norm in the embedded software development space. And that’s definitely the case for Analog Devices’ CodeFusion Studio tool. The IDE lets developers start with an SoC, and design their systems from there. The software development platform is based on Microsoft's Visual Studio Code (VS Code). On this week’s Embedded Executives podcast , with Kumar Gala and Maureen He...

It’s been a very successful year for the Z-Wave Alliance . If you have any doubts about that statement, check out this week’s Embedded Executives podcast , where I spoke to Avi Rosenthal, the Chairman of the Alliance.  Avi rattled off a long list of achievements for the organization, including a new spec, an unplug fest, and many new products. These endeavors all transcend nicely into wins for the...

Tyson Tuttle left the helm of Silicon Labs a few years ago, took a little time to recharge the batteries, and now he’s back in the thick of things with a new company called Circuit. Given its name, you might think it’s a company designing ICs, but that’s not true. The company is building what some might call a productivity tool, but Tyson describes it as something way bigger and far more involved...

The industry revolves around two types of AI, namely research AI versus production AI. I wasn’t sure what these terms meant and their differences, so I asked an expert to join me on this week’s Embedded Executives podcast . John Weil is the Vice president and General Manager of Synaptics’ IoT Business Unit . After setting me straight, John talks about the last 20% of a design that the customer nee...

What is the real definition of a software-defined vehicle (SDV)? It depends, mostly on who you are asking that question of. I asked John Heinlein, the Chief Marketing Officer at Sonatus and he had a great response on this week’s Embedded Executives podcast . We discussed the differences between various tiers of vehicles, how they are upgraded, and what we should be looking out for as we move forwa...

Is documentation an issue for your embedded project? Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to create that documentation yourself, yet have it be as good (or better) than you could do yourself? That’s what the tool from Driver does. In full disclosure, I didn’t understand how the company’s technology worked, so I had a great discussion with Driver’s CEO and Co-Founder, Adam Tilton on this this we...

The amount of NAND memory that exists today is staggering. There are many different kinds of NAND, and the needed type is based on the intended application. Sometimes you need high-speed memory, sometimes very dense memory, and sometimes you need the memory to go into an environment that’s less than favorable. But the memory itself is just one piece of the system puzzle. You also need a controller...

With all the focus on AI and machine learning these days, we sometimes take other facets of design for granted, some of which are vital, like the wireless component. Synaptics’ Veros architecture fits the bill for state-of-the-art wireless communications with high throughput, low power consumption, and top-notch security. If you’re designing an AI-based platform using the company’s latest AI platf...

We are being bombarded with data; it’s coming at us from so many avenues, particularly as we move into the world of AI and the analytics that it brings. The key to a proper edge-to-cloud strategy is being able to make sense of that plethora of data. That statement sounds obvious and simple, but it’s quite the opposite. If you don’t have the proper strategy in place, your design could be doomed bef...

When designing systems with high integrity, say for automotive applications, what is the programming language of choice? I believe that’s referred to as a loaded question, because there are so many variables involved, and it’s a question that’s almost impossible to answer. Unfortunately, many developers make a decision for the wrong reasons. To get to the root of the matter, I invited Quentin Oche...

What is rad-hard memory, and when and where should it be used? And what makes it different from conventional memory? The answers may seem obvious, but that’s not the case. That’s exactly why I spoke to Helmut Puchner, Vice President and Fellow in the Aerospace and Defense division of Infineon Technologies in this week’s Embedded Executives podcast . Obviously, such memories cost more, so you want...

The automobile's in-cabin user experience (UX) is undergoing some serious changes. We’re nearing the point where the automobile can be viewed as an office or entertainment center that also transports you from point A to point B. With all those changes, it’s important to ensure that these non-mission-critical functions communicate with the mission-critical tasks at some point. To make sense of...