Amelia's Weekly Fish Fry

Swimming in the SoC

In this week’s episode of Fish Fry, we are swimming in SoCs! Randy Fish (UltraSoC) joins us to discuss the deep waters of embedded analytics and AI platform debug. Ramsay Allen (Moortec) and I chat about the rising tide of advanced chip node designs and the benefits of in-chip monitoring IP. Finally, Rob van Blommestein (OneSpin) and sail through the choppy waters of IC verification. 

Accelerating AI at the Edge

What do robotic beehives, FPGAs, and AI at the edge have in common? This week’s episode of Fish Fry of course! First up, we chat with Sammy Cheung CEO of Efinix. Sammy and I explore the challenges of launching a new FPGA company today and why artificial intelligence applications at the edge are perfect for their Trion™ FPGA silicon platform. Also this week, we take a closer look at BeePi - a kickstarter launched by Utah computer science professor Vladimir Kulyukin. We investigate how this unique project is hoping to resolve the issues surrounding honeybee colony collapse with a little help from artificial intelligence and an open source electronic beehive monitoring platform.

 

 

EDA Escapade

I hope you have your sunscreen and sunglasses packed my friends because we’re going on an EDA escapade this week! First up, we head down the IP interstate with Neil Robinson (Cadence Design Systems) who is giving us a grand tour of LiDAR, radar, 5G and the Tensilica ConnX B20 DSP. Also this week, Bob Smith (Executive Director - Electronic System Design Alliance) joins us to discuss the details of this year’s ES Design West and why the Design Automation Conference will be co-located with SEMICON West in 2020.

 

The Next Generation of Engineering

“Man’s relationship with technology is complex. We always invent technology, but then technology comes back and reinvents us” ― Atul Jalan
 
In this week’s episode of Fish Fry, we investigate the complex role of machine learning in the future of design automation. Norman Chang (ANSYS) joins us to discuss how machine learning will not only change the course of the evolution of EDA but also how we deal with design for reliability and FinFET degradation. Also this week, we check out a newly discovered form of electronic matter called the Vestigial Nematic State and how it was identified with a little help from a suite of especially trained neural networks.

Up Where We Belong

Fish Fry is flying high this week! We start things off with a little News You May Have Missed where we investigate the technology behind Glasgow, Scotland-based Kite Power Solutions. We take a closer look at out how they plan to make kite energy a commercial reality by 2025, and why their high-flying wind energy plans just got a big boost from the Imperial Department of Aeronautics and the UK’s National Wind Tunnel Facility. Also this week, Joe Sawicki (Mentor Graphics) and I are chatting up a storm about EDA in the cloud and why speed and scalability are super important for cloud EDA deployments.

Help One, Help Many

In this week’s Fish Fry, we are celebrating the winners of this year’s Not Impossible Awards with Kevin Sellers from Avnet. Kevin and I chat about how Avnet, Hackster i.o and Not Impossible Labs are facilitating a new era of groundbreaking technology that is not only good business - but also good for people. We take a closer look at each of this year’s award-winning designs that include the Butterfly iQ - the world’s first handheld whole-body ultrasound system, a new hands-free device to control computers and mobile phones from Puffin Innovations, and HotSpot - whose mission it is to connect the 3.9 billion people in the world who do not have access to the internet.

DAC At It (Again)

The intrepid EE Journal team is back (and taking no prisoners) at this year’s Design Automation Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. First up, we chat with the DAC Monday keynote speaker Galen Hunt (Microsoft - Distinguished Engineer and Managing Director, Microsoft Azure Sphere). Galen and I chat about the seven properties of secure devices and why he thinks IOT isn’t a technology revolution. Next up, we discuss the inclusion of The Design Infrastructure Alley with Derek Magill (HPC Pros) and IP license management with Oren Gabay (OpenLM). To finish things up, I award my annual giveaway, best booth and best expo show floor espresso.  

Communication’s Third Wave

Hello security, my old friend
I’ve come to design with you again
Because a hacker came creeping
left its malware while I was sleeping
and the code that was planted in my brain
still remains
within the sound of IoT

In this week’s episode of Fish Fry, I sit down with Vinay Gokhale (VP Business Development of ThirdWayv) to discuss the biggest hurdles in IoT security today and how ThirdWayv is using software innovation to fill the gap between silicon and demanding applications. Also this week, we check out The Persistence of Chaos - a new art installation that is one part artistic expression, one part computer malware armageddon, and one part 2008 Samsung NC10 Blue Netbook.

Drones, Dragons and Data Centers

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.

Reliability’s Road

“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.