Episodes

Friday Jun 30, 2017
Thieves at the Gate
Friday Jun 30, 2017
Friday Jun 30, 2017
We all know that cybersecurity, software piracy, and IP theft are becoming bigger and bigger problems in today’s semiconductor industry. But what can we do about it? Dragging our heels and pretending that it’s not a problem isn’t really working out so well, and those cyber thieves are only getting more sophisticated. In this week’s Fish Fry, we welcome Ted Miracco (CEO of SmartFlow Compliance Solutions) and David Locke Hall, author of Crack 99 - The Takedown of a $100 Million Chinese Software Pirate. We investigate what the semiconductor industry can do to help stem the rising tide of Intellectual property theft on a global scale. Also this week, we take a closer look at Qualcomm’s new advanced fingerprint scanning and authentication technology.
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Links for June 30, 2017
More information about SmartFlow Compliance Solutions
Qualcomm Announces Advanced Fingerprint Scanning and Authentication Technology (Press Release)

Friday Jun 23, 2017
Design Automation for Fun and Profit (But Mostly Fun)
Friday Jun 23, 2017
Friday Jun 23, 2017
If you have attended the Design Automation Conference in the last couple years, you will know that the scope of this event reaches far beyond your standard EDA tools of years past. Sure, we’re still talking about design automation software, but now there’s a whole slew of IP vendors (and their software compatriots), IC packaging companies, embedded FPGA fabric distributors, and more. This week’s episode of Fish Fry is going to be no different. We’re doing a little soup to nuts - DAC style. First, we discuss RTL verification with John Molyneux (President of Blue Pearl Software). Next, we get into embedding FPGA fabric as IP with Owen Bateman (Quicklogic). Lastly, we talk about the newest advancements in IC packaging with John Park (Cadence Design Systems).
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Links for June 23, 2017
More information about the 2017 Design Automation Conference
More information about Blue Pearl Software
More information about QuickLogic
More information about Cadence Design Systems Virtuoso XXX

Friday Jun 02, 2017
Neural Networks and You
Friday Jun 02, 2017
Friday Jun 02, 2017
In this week’s Fish Fry, we’re diving deep into the world of neural networks. Pulin Desai (Cadence Design Systems) joins us to discuss the future of implementation of neural networks in embedded systems and how the constantly evolving market of neural networking is driving the need for specialized DSP technology. Also this week, we take a closer look at a colorful new experiment by research scientist Janelle Shane that brought together AI, 7,700 Sherwin-Williams paint colors (along with their RGB values) and one interesting list of neural network-created colors.
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Links for June 2, 2017

Friday May 12, 2017
The V2V Clock is Ticking
Friday May 12, 2017
Friday May 12, 2017
The clock is ticking. The time to design in the next generation of vehicle-to-vehicle communication is now. In this week’s Fish Fry, we navigate through the twists and turns that V2V communications have in store for us. My guest Kim Rubin and I discuss how the issues surrounding security, privacy, and accuracy are going to be crucial to widespread V2V implementation in the next couple years. Keeping on track with our vehicular theme this week, we also check out new self-repairing asphalt technology (from Delft University in the Netherlands) that could charge our electric cars and fix our pothole problems at the same time.
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Links for May 12, 2017
More information about Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Implementation (NHTSA)

Friday Apr 21, 2017
Electromagnetic Domination
Friday Apr 21, 2017
Friday Apr 21, 2017
What has the electromagnetic spectrum done for you lately? I’m guessing not a lot. But it can. In this week’s Fish Fry, I sit down with Hayden Nelson (Abaco) and discuss the future of electronic warfare. Hayden reveals the what, where, and how of cognitive electronic warfare, how spectral allocation in wireless communication can be a battlefield game-changer, and why open standards are critical to the evolution of warfare communication technologies. Also this week, we check out a funny story coming out of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction that involves five incarcerated cyber criminals, unauthorized network access, and two kluged together personal computers found in the ceiling of a prison.
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Links for April 21, 2017
New Episode of Chalk Talk: ANSI/VITA 57.4-2016 FMC+ -- The New Frontier of FPGA Expansion Cards

Friday Apr 14, 2017
Maximizing Memory Performance
Friday Apr 14, 2017
Friday Apr 14, 2017
Step right up, ladies and gentlemen. We’ve got CPUs, GPUs, audio codecs, video accelerators, bailing wire, and duct tape. This week’s Fish Fry is about how you can get all of your component ducks in a row with a little help from Performance-IP. Gregg Recupero (CTO - Performance-IP) and I discuss the details of Performance IP’s Memory Request Optimizer, how you can boost the performance of your design while reducing latency in your memory subsystem, and how Performance-IP works with the EDA big dogs (rather than competing against them). Keeping with our memory theme, we also take a closer look at groundbreaking research from MIT that could completely change our understanding of how memories are formed in the brain.
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Links for April 14, 2017
More information about Performance-IP
Neuroscientists identify brain circuit necessary for memory formation
New Episode of Chalk Talk - Keeping Things Quiet: A New Methodology for Dynamic Range Comparator Noise Analysis

Friday Mar 17, 2017
GPGPUs, Molecule Robots, and UAVs! Oh MY!
Friday Mar 17, 2017
Friday Mar 17, 2017
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! This week’s episode of Fish Fry has absolutely nothing to do with Ireland or St. Patrick, but has everything to do with molecular robots programmed with DNA, general purpose computing on GPUs, and featherweight systems for unmanned aerial vehicles. We start things off with a closer look at the creation of a new amoeba-like molecular robot by a team of researchers in Japan. This robot that can continuously change its shape, propel itself with cell-like motion, and can be controlled by DNA signals that respond to light. Also this week, we delve into the world of GPGPUs with Doug Patterson from AITech. Doug and I discuss the challenges GPGPUs were created to solve and where general purpose computing on GPUs is headed from here. We also dig into the details of a new featherweight system created by AITech and ADLINK developed for unmanned aerial vehicles.
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Links for March 17, 2017
Micrometer-sized molecular robot changes its shape in response to signal molecules (Article)

Friday Feb 24, 2017
The Future is Verified
Friday Feb 24, 2017
Friday Feb 24, 2017
Design verification is front and center in this week's episode of Fish Fry. Dennis Brophy, General Chair of DVCon, gives us a special sneak peek into the Design Verification Conference and Expo taking place next week in San Jose, California. Please join me as Dennis and I explore the variety of tutorials, keynotes, and sessions you will find at DVCon. We also discuss how to learn about advanced verification methodologies and techniques, how to apply formal methods to the art of verification, and how to achieve the next level of design verification productivity. Then, for something completely different, our Kickstarter Corner highlights a new campaign launched by a team at MIT Media Lab that transforms air pollutants into unique art supplies.
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Links for February 24, 2017
More information about the 2017 Design Verification Conference and Expo
Accellera Day Opens DVCon U.S. on Monday, February 27 with Three Timely Tutorials
Kickstarter Corner: More information about AIR-INK

Friday Feb 10, 2017
Calling All Cores!
Friday Feb 10, 2017
Friday Feb 10, 2017
In this week’s episode of Fish Fry we tackle the age-old question - What are we going to do with all these cores?! My first guest Maximilian Odendahl (Silexica - CEO) is going to help us solve the multi-core heterogeneous computing software conundrum. Max and I discuss software development techniques for multi-core systems, the biggest challenges facing us in multi-core software development, and the details of Silexica’s new SLX tool suite. Keeping with our embedded system design theme, our next guest Rodger Hosking (Pentek) and I chat about the evolving role of standards and tools in the embedded ecosystem.
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Links for February 10, 2017
More information about Silexica
New Episode of Chalk Talk: How to Select the Right Digital Isolator

Friday Feb 03, 2017
Type C or Not to Type C
Friday Feb 03, 2017
Friday Feb 03, 2017
Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.
-- Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz.
This week's episode of Fish Fry starts off with a bang -- the Big Bang! We investigate a new study from a multi-national team of researchers that investigates the cosmic microwave background of the universe. This research team claims that hidden in this cosmic white noise is "substanial proof" that we live in a holographic universe. Next, we dive into the world of USB Type C with Total Phase CEO Gil Ben-Dov. Gil and I discuss the testing and debug challenges of this upstart USB technology and why Type C cabling is much more complicated than previous versions.
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Links for February 3, 2017
Study reveals substantial evidence of holographic universe
More information about Total Phase