This week’s episode of Fish Fry is absolutely brimming with geeky goodness! First, I check out some new Dungeons and Dragons names created by optical research scientist and neural network trainer extraordinaire Janelle Shane. Next, I chat with Matt Burns (Samtec) about the trends in interconnects and how interconnects are going to lead the charge in the advancement of data center technology. Finally, I investigate DOCOMO's new blimp-style drone that is propelled through the air with a little help from ultrasonic vibrations.

“The road to success is paved with the hot asphalt of failure.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough

In this week’s episode of Fish Fry, we take an in-depth look at the complex reliability issues present in today’s automotive designs.  Hany Elhak (Cadence Design Systems) and I chat about the role that mixed-signal chips play in the automotive ecosystem, the reality of defect analysis in the world of analog design today, and why transistor degradation it is even more important now than ever before. Also this week, we check out the details of three new automotive-based design contests rolled out by Ennomotive and Grupo Antolin.

Optical communication takes center stage in this week’s episode of Amelia's Weekly Fish Fry. First up, Mark Benton (TE Connectivity) and I chat about the different levels where optics can exist in the world of electronic packaging and the how the most recent advancements in ruggedized fiber optic technology have ushered in a whole new era of box to box and PC to PC communication. Also this week, Patrick Mechin (Techway) joins us to discuss the biggest trends in rugged optical communication today and why signal integrity in these environments is more important than ever before.

Sometimes we have to find a way around our design challenges. Sometimes finding the equilibrium between our design legacy and the futuristic stuff we want to do is harder than we we expected. In this week’s episode of Fish Fry, Nigel Forrester (Concurrent Technologies) joins us to discuss the ongoing security challenges in the world of embedded computing and how we can balance the past with the present and the future. Also this week, we check an amazing new discovery out of the University of Arizona that challenges some of our prevalent theories about how dying stars seed the universe.

In general, we like light hearted stories on Fish Fry. We like “smart” forks that tell us when we should stop eating. We enjoy 3D printing robots that make pancakes with the faces of famous people. All of that is fine and dandy but sometimes, we have to talk about more serious stuff. Today we are talking about when safety and security is mandatory, when failure is life or death, and when finding bugs doesn’t just mean your job is on the line. In this week’s episode, Quentin Ochem (AdaCore) I are chat about what the SPARK language can do that C cannot and the software development and verification challenges inherent in safety-critical applications. Also this week, we check out the details of a new matchbox-sized radar system coming out of VTT Technical Research Center of Finland and KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Industry).

Are we really using the edge to the best of our ability? Sure, VR and AR are cool, but are they the best case for engineering and business development at the edge? In this episode of Fish Fry, I sit down with Kevin Hannah (CEO - Kazuhm) and chat about why he thinks artificial intelligence should take center stage at the edge and why our ability to process the tsunami of information that is coming at us from 5G, IoT, and Big Data is going to depend how successfully artificial intelligence is deployed at the edge. Also this week, we check out the details of Hacker.io and Avnet’s new “Bring Intelligence to the Real World” design contest.

“Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore” - Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

We’ve all been there. We’ve lost of our way and the road ahead is more than just a bit fuzzy. In this week’s episode of Fish Fry, I sit down with Lou Lutostanski (Avnet) and chat about why IoT projects are so challenging and what we can do if we find ourselves stuck in “IoT Purgatory.” Keeping with our IoT theme, we also investigate how Purdue University is looking to protect our smart implanted devices with electro-quasistatic human body communications and how a new kickstarter campaign called “Fromaggio” is taking the IoC (Internet of Cheese) to a whole new level.

In this week’s episode of Fish Fry, we are delving into the world of RFSoCs, radar, ruggedization, and reliability. Rodger Hosking (Pentek) joins us to discuss the details of the Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC and we take a closer look at the benefits and challenges of this unique single-chip adaptable radio platform. Also this week,  Justin Moll (Pixus Technologies) and I talk about how the various levels of ruggedization can pose specific thermal challenges in our designs and how the right enclosure can make all the difference.

In this week’s episode of Fish Fry, Scott Engle (Mercury Systems) and I investigate the coexistence of safety and security in world of avionics and why the key to security in aviation may be tied to the reclassification of security-related failures. Keeping with our aviation theme, we also take a closer look at how FORDISC (a windows-based interactive software program) may have just solved the mysterious disappearance of Amelia Earhart once and for all.

What do Moore’s Law, the Von Neuman Bottleneck, and alpha-band brain activity have in common?! This week’s episode of Amelia’s Weekly Fish Fry! Matthew Burns (Samtec) joins us to discuss how we can prepare for the next wave of high speed fabrics in embedded computing and why  these new faster fabrics will make our design lives harder not easier. Also this week, we take a closer look at new research that contends that human brain waves respond to changes in Earth-strength magnetic fields.