Amelia's Weekly Fish Fry

The New Chip In Town

As the ‘70s rock band the Eagles put it so appropriately, “They will never forget you until somebody new comes along.” Hey Xilinx and Altera, there’s a new kid in town...and he’s got a big brother will a lot of money, power, and a hot new process technology. This week's Fish Fry is all about the hottest EE news to hit the streets, Achronix (with Intel) is now shipping their Speedster22i FPGAs and the programmable marketplace may never look the same again. My guest is Robert Blake (CEO - Achronix) and we’re gonna get into the details of this announcement and check out where Achronix is headed. Also this week, I’ve got a brand new nerdy giveaway - Microchip TCHIP003 chipKIT™ Starter Pak - courtesy of Mouser and Microchip Technology. If you want one for your very own, listen to this week’s broadcast to find out how you can enter to win.

Contests, Boards, and Pi! Oh My!

This week’s Fish Fry is brought to you by you. Yes, you. The DSP dude. The Coder chick. The Analog Grand Master. We’re celebrating engineers in all shapes, sizes and process nodes. With National Engineers Week just around the corner my guest this week is Tamara Jurgenson (Newark/element14), and we’re gonna chat about Element14’s month-long engineering party. I’m giving everyone the chance to win a LaunchPad Evaluation kit courtesy of Texas Instruments, but you’ll have to listen to find out how to enter to win.

MEMS and Candy

In honor of Valentine's Day next week, Fish Fry is all about love. From our love of sugary Death Star-shaped treats to our love of MEMS-enabled devices. This week my guest is Bryan Hoadley (President - Movea). Bryan and I get into to the nitty gritty details of the Movea Lab and Bryan gives me a special demonstration of their air signature technology. We're also delving into the world of specialized Valentine's Day treats this week, and pick our favorite gift for that special geeky someone in your life.

I’m giving everyone the chance to win a LaunchPad Evaluation kit courtesy of Texas Instruments, but you’ll have to listen to find out how to enter to win.

Learning The Language of Analog Design

It's never too late. Why not start today? I know you can. Yep, I'm talking about analog design.  This week we're giving everyone a little analog university refresher. We're getting down to some serious analog business with Bob Dobkin (Linear Technology Co-Founder, CTO & VP of Engineering). Bob and I are going to investigate how analog design is like learning a language, why application notes are crucial to the study of analog design, and how you can update your analog circuit knowledge with just a couple clicks.

Also this week, I'm giving everyone another chance to win a copy of "FRAM For Dummies" but you will need to listen to find out how you can win.

From Cradle to Floor

Headlamp? Check. Spelunking gear? Check. Map of your next design from prototype to production? Well, hmmmm.  We’ve all been there at one time or another: "A nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there." This week we’re getting into the nitty gritty details of the prototyping phase of our designs. My guest is Bob Potock (Kozio) and we’re gonna chat about why you really should consider functional verification for your next embedded design project. Also this week, I’m checking out the newest innovation in thermoelectric energy harvesting from Perpetua Power Solution Technologies and giving everyone another chance to win a copy of “FRAM For Dummies.”

Best Little Podcast In Texas

Hello from the Lone Star State! Fish Fry is on the road this week, coming to you from beautiful Austin, Texas, "The Live Music Capital of The World". Nothing says Texas like a little digital signal processing, so we're going to chat live with Pierrick Vulliez (CTO and Founder - 4DSP) about FMCs, DSP, FPGAs, and a whole lot more. Wait, what am I doing in Austin while the Consumer Electronics Show is going on in Las Vegas? Never fear, we'll have a live report from Bryon Moyer, our reporter on the scene at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show. I've got a surprise for ya'll, but you'll need to tune to find out what it is.

Breaking The Law

MEMS is everywhere. From your smartphone to your television to that gesture controlled game system that I didn’t get for Christmas. In honor of the Consumer Electronics Show taking place in Las Vegas next week, we’re talking about innovation in the MEMS marketplace. This week my first guests are Alissa Fitzgerald (AMFitzgerald) and Peter Himes (Silex). We’re gonna get down to brass tacks about MEMS and how you can get your next MEMS design up and running. Keeping with the MEMS theme, my second guest this week is Tom Flynn (Coventor). Tom and I talk about the tricky dance of EDA tools for MEMS designs. It's complicated, but Tom will show you the steps. Also this week, I’m giving everyone another chance to enter to win a Zedboard courtesy of Xilinx but you’ll have to listen to find out how you can win.

The Security Puzzle

There is no such thing as a zero security risk. No matter what you build and how you build it, there will be bad guys lurking at the door, trying to get in. This week my guest is Paul Kocher (Cryptography Research Inc.) and we're looking at the trends in security in WiFi-enabled designs and discussing how you can solve the puzzling security problems in your next design.

Also this week, I check out the new Pi Store and give everyone the chance to win a Zedboard courtesy of Xilinx.

It's A Semi Party!

We're having ourselves a grand ol' semiconductor party this week. Granted it may not be as fun as those corporate holiday get togethers that happen around this time of year, when Norma in accounting wears a lampshade on her head, and you slip that white elephant gift you "won" under the desk of your unsuspecting cube mate, but we're gonna have some serious fun nonetheless. This week my guest is Harrison Beasley (Technical Working Groups Manager - Global Semiconductor Alliance) and we're gonna lay down some serious chat about the past, present, and future of the semiconductor industry. Also this week I unveil my choice for Amelia's geeky stocking stuffer and announce a brand new nerdy giveaway.

Their Eyes Are Watching You

They’re watching you. They know if you’ve been bad or good. They know whether you really need that cashmere sweater at Macys. A new form of seeing eye mannequins may be coming to a storefront near you and you may never know they are there. In this week’s Fish Fry, we’re checking out some technological enahnced mannequins from Italian company Almax, while trying to decipher where exactly on the creep-o-meter this new product lies. Also this week, I interview ProPlus Design Systems executive Chairman Zhihong Lui about modeling tools, what their NanoYield solution is all about, and why his favorite tunes to play on the accordion  Russian. I have a brand new nerdy giveaway to throw your way this week, but you’ll have to listen to find out what it is and how to win.