Embedded Executive Podcast

The Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) provides a new approach to cybersecurity, and outlines a great model for developers to follow. Like the name implies, you should trust no one, at least initially, and assume that all networks and traffic are potential threats. We know that no network is ever 100% secure, but beginning with this assumption gives you the safest starting point and should reduce the r...

Testing high-power batteries, like those used in EVs, can be a tricky endeavor. It’s more complicated and, frankly, more dangerous than testing smaller, lower-voltage batteries. It makes sense that the testing of these packs could and should be left to recognized test experts, Tektronix in this case. In a discussion with Russ Gaubatz, a senior applications engineer, and subject matter expert for T...

We’ve talked a lot about the software-defined vehicle. This week, we are talking about the electrification of that same automobile on the Embedded Executives podcast . As you might expect, it means removing some of the car's mechanical components and replacing them with electrical components. The benefits of doing that are great, as Sayeed Ahmed, a Director at Infineon Technologies states, bu...

TSN is a standard that originated for video-streaming applications. But today, it’s finding a home in industrial applications, and it’s is now becoming irreplaceable. Hear why in this week’s Embedded Executives podcast , where I spoke to Tom Burke, who is the Global Director of Industry Standards for Mitsubishi, as well as the Global Strategic Advisor for CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA), a high...

We spend a lot of time talking about the software-defined vehicle (SDV), and there are two very good reasons for that. One is that is it occurring, whether you know it or not or whether you want it or not. The second reason is that it is very complex, even if you’re just dealing with the HMI, as it all ties back together at some point. To sort through the issues, I invited Marcelo Williams, a Glob...

Great hardware is useless without great software, and vice versa. The hardware industry continues to evolve, as always, but the software side operates quite differently than it did in the past, thanks to the groundswell of open-source software. Linux has grown into an operating system that can handle nearly any available application, leading the open-source parade down where it currently stands, b...

If you’re not familiar with Zephyr , shame on you. It’s an open-source, real-time operating system (RTOS) for resource-constrained devices. That’s how it differs from Linux, which is more of a mainstream OS. That said, Zephyr is growing quite rapidly in popularity, for many reasons. To understand what those reasons are, and why they make sense, I chatted with Benjamin Cabe, the Lead Developer Advo...

Avnet’s Embedded Solutions group is undergoing a change, with a new name attached to it. Known as Tria , the group will be responsible for a range of branded hardware modules, boards, and systems and all the software that comes with them. That combines the company’s vast tech support network and state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities. Why did Avnet feel the need to make this move, and what do...

As you might expect, the code base in the software-defined vehicle is growing in leaps and bounds, with more features being added and the functionality within those features growing (and becoming more complex). Is the downside to that ballooning code base the fact that more holes are being introduced to welcome hackers? That’s where my discussion began with Priyanka Viswanathan, the Director of Qu...

Do you know what a software-defined vehicle (SDV) is? You likely have your definition, which may or may not be the “right” definition. Just getting that baseline is where my discussion started with Ray Notarantonio, Infineon’s Senior Director of Vehicle User Experience in this week’s Embedded Executives podcast . We explored what’s possible with an SDV, when you should expect it, and what’s holdin...

Memory technology continues to move along at a healthy pace. Innovations continue to come, and there does not seem to be a slowdown on that horizon. Whether it’s NAND, NOR, or something else, you can expect to see advances in densities, speeds, costs, and so on. To get the lay of the land, I spoke to one of the pioneers of memory technology, Miin Wu, the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Macronix Inte...

Bluetooth has been around for a quarter century. That’s a very, very long time in technology years. It’s evolved into one of the most omnipresent standards ever produced. That said, it continues to grow with new features and enhancements, which result in new use cases. I spoke to Shantanu Bhalerao, the Vice President of Bluetooth Products for Infineon Technologies on this week’s Embedded Executive...

Everything is connected, everything is smart, and AI controls everything. And it all comes back to the “smart Edge.” While these statements seem to be a bit over-arching, there’s a lot of truth to them. But building and then designing around that smart Edge can be quite tricky. Add TinyML to the equation, and it should become clearer (well, maybe). To better understand what that means exactly, I s...

The software-defined vehicle (SDV) requires lots of horsepower, and in many cases, extensive use of AI. Is the world ready for this application? More importantly, are the automakers ready? This is the avenue I went down with Frantz Saintellemy, the President and CEO of Leddar Tech . We discussed the ecosystem, the available products, the activities in different regions, and the prevailing percepti...

Many of the memory suppliers choose a niche to be an expert. It may be automotive, consumer, industrial, medical, etc. In the case of Apacer Technology , the company has chosen to do it all. In my discussion with Gibson Chen, the General Manager of Apacer, I challenged whether that’s the best approach, trying to serve just about any market. Listen to this week’s Embedded Executives podcast and dec...

The latest wearable medical devices are designed to help consumers make better decisions regarding their care. Until recently, the space has been somewhat limited. Size and power were the two biggest constraints. Those constraints aren’t going away, but they are definitely being lessened thanks to some of the latest innovations on the semiconductor side. To hear more about these innovations, I spo...

If the software-defined vehicle (SDV) comes off as planned, life for consumers becomes a whole lot easier. “If” is the key word in that sentence, and there’s tons of debate as to when that might actually happen. To understand what the SDV is—and it means different things to different people—I spoke to Suraj Gajendra, the Vice President of Automotive Products for Arm . As the IP provider for many o...

Is Wi-Fi even a thing anymore? What I mean by that is, at least from the users’ perspective, Wi-Fi just works, and that’s not much to think about. However, behind the scenes, a lot has to happen to make that “ubiquitousness” happen. To get a better understanding of what is happening back there, I spoke to Sivaram Trikutam, the Vice President of Wi-Fi Products for Infineon . We get into the latest...

Can batteries last for 40 years? And what is the application that would require such a timeline? That’s the discussion I had with Sol Jacobs, the Vice President and General Manager of Tadiran Batteries . The topic arose after the company’s recent whitepaper crossed my desk. To understand whether this was fact or simply a click-bait headline, I decided to go right to the source. Hear what Sol had t...

Why would you put sensors and power components into the same business unit if you’re a component supplier? That’s what I asked Adam White, President, of Infineon’s Power and Sensors Division. After hearing his response, it made perfect sense—today’s sensors are quickly growing in number and power consumption. So it only makes sense to put those engineers in the same room. Adam explained it better...

Memory for automotive applications needs to be different from memory that’s intended for other applications. Why is that? I could not answer that question, so I turned to Michael Basca, the Vice President of Embedded Products and Systems within Micron’s Embedded Business Unit . As you might expect, Michael had no trouble answering the question. Hear what he had to say on this week’s Embedded Execu...

Is it possible to develop a car that would never crash? We’re talking about a physical crash, not a software crash. According to Chet Babla,  Indie Semiconductor’s Senior Vice President, it is. Being a non-believer, I had Chet as my guest on this week’s Embedded Executives podcast . Chet walked me through exactly what needs to happen to make this phenomenon a reality. Check it out.

Synopsys is all in on generative AI, and it’s putting its money where its mouth is by creating a Center for Generative AI within the company. Being that I had no idea what this meant, how it would work, or what it would mean to the industry, I invited the Center’s Executive Director, Stelios Diamantidis, to join me on this week’s Embedded Executives podcast . He laid out what the Center looks like...

Understatement: Raspberry Pi is popular with the embedded community. Myth: Raspberry Pi is not a secure platform. I believed in that myth until a recent conversation with Alex Kaay, the CTO and co-founder of Zymbit . The beauty of the Pi is in its simplicity, but don’t equate simplicity with unsecure. Alex walked me through why people's beliefs are what they are, and more importantly, why tho...

One area of technology that many vendors and technologies are gunning for is smart metering, whether commercial or residential electric meters, water meters, or something else. The number of potential meters is HUGE. But which technology makes the most sense for this application? As you might expect, it depends on who you talk to. For this podcast, I spoke to Phil Beecher, the President and CEO of...