Category: Internet of Things

Coupling & Crosstalk: Quality, Meet Safety & Security!

Coupling & Crosstalk is my column in the MEPTEC Report. This column appears in the Winter 2016 edition on pages 8-9.

Electronic coupling is the transfer of energy from one circuit or medium to another. Sometimes it is intentional and sometimes not (crosstalk). I hope that this column, by mixing technology and general observations, is thought provoking and “couples” with your thinking. Most of the time I will stick to technology but occasional crosstalk diversions may deliver a message closer to home.

Quality, Meet Safety & Security!

What can be simpler to specify or install than a light bulb controlled by a wall switch? Over-engineered versions, especially when developed without engineers, can really cause you to lose sleep. However, the real nightmare is the danger of Continue reading “Coupling & Crosstalk: Quality, Meet Safety & Security!”

Trillion Sensors – TApps: Ultra-High Volume Sensor Applications for Global Challenges

Click image to download presentation
Click image to download San Diego TSensors Summit presentation (update of Munich)

 
It was my pleasure to organize and present at two TSensors Summits: Munich and San Diego this fall. The enthusiasm and intellectual “horsepower” of the presenters and attendees was incredible!

My presentations explain Continue reading “Trillion Sensors – TApps: Ultra-High Volume Sensor Applications for Global Challenges”

Coupling & Crosstalk: Disposable Chips?

cups plates forks canstockphoto2604892 250x345Coupling & Crosstalk is my column in the MEPTEC Report. This column appears in the Spring 2014 edition on pages 10-11.

Electronic coupling is the transfer of energy from one circuit or medium to another. Sometimes it is intentional and sometimes not (crosstalk). I hope that this column by mixing technology and general observations is thought provoking and “couples” with your thinking. Most of the time I will stick to technology but occasional crosstalk diversions may deliver a message closer to home.

Disposable Chips?

I’m not a fan of disposable cups and other tableware. Yes, they are convenient and in some cases even economical. However, they are not great substitutes for Continue reading “Coupling & Crosstalk: Disposable Chips?”

SEMI ISS 2014 – Scaling Innovation

Courtesy of Ivo Bolsens (Xilinx), SEMI ISS 2014
Courtesy of Ivo Bolsens (Xilinx), SEMI ISS 2014

Don’t pop the champagne just yet! Although plenty of good news was shared at the 2014 SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) there was the sobering outlook of possible limited long-term growth due to technology issues as well as economic projections. Noticeable was the lack of news and updates on key industry developments.

This is the yearly “data rich” or “data overload” (take your pick) conference of semiconductor supply chain executives. The majority of the attendees and presenters are from the SEMI member companies that develop the equipment, materials, processes, and technology used to build, test, and package semiconductors. Keeping the pressure on for advanced technology were the “end customer” attendees and presenters – semi-conductor manufacturers.

The official theme was “Pervasive Computing – An Enabler for Future Growth” and the presentations made it clear  Continue reading “SEMI ISS 2014 – Scaling Innovation”

Coupling & Crosstalk: A Trillion Sensors?

Janusz Bryzek's TSensor Vision
Janusz Bryzek’s TSensor Vision

Coupling & Crosstalk is my column in the MEPTEC Report. This column appears in the Winter 2014 edition on pages 10-11.

Electronic coupling is the transfer of energy from one circuit or medium to another. Sometimes it is intentional and sometimes not (crosstalk). I hope that this column by mixing technology and general observations is thought provoking and “couples” with your thinking. Most of the time I will stick to technology but occasional crosstalk diversions may deliver a message closer to home.

Name Calling

Whatever you desire “there’s an app for that!” Dream big or small, it is very likely a software program is already available. But what if you dream in hardware?  Hewlett-Packard is building applications with one MILLION sensors. Robert Bosch is dreaming of 1,000 sensors per person, i.e. seven TRILLION. Janusz Bryzek is aiming for one TRILLION per year.

Standardized smartphone hardware platforms and application “stores” have significantly lowered the cost and time to develop and sell applications. One might argue Continue reading “Coupling & Crosstalk: A Trillion Sensors?”

Chip Scale Review: The Three Most Important Words for 3D ICs?

Source: Bryan Black (AMD)
Source: Bryan Black (AMD)

Below is my event summary recently published in Chip Scale Review Tech Monthly:

Cost! Cost! Cost! are the three most important words for 3D semiconductors.

Just like the real estate mantra “location, location, location”, if you don’t have a solution to the cost issues nothing else matters for 2.5/3D integrated circuit (IC) integration and packaging. It is true that, Xilinx is shipping “production” quantities of 2.5D parts and others have sampled 3D parts. However, there are plenty of technical challenges yet to be solved to make 2.5/3D practical in volume production at reasonable cost and yield.

Every presenter at the 3D Architectures for Semiconductor Integration and Packaging symposium and conference stressed cost as a major concern, requirement, or feature. Over the ten years the discussion at this conference, organized by RTI International Technology Venture Forum, has moved from Continue reading “Chip Scale Review: The Three Most Important Words for 3D ICs?”

Coupling & Crosstalk: Measuring Up

bathroom scaleCoupling & Crosstalk is my column in the MEPTEC Report. This column appears in the Spring 2013 edition on page 14-15.

Electronic coupling is the transfer of energy from one circuit or medium to another. Sometimes it is intentional and sometimes not (crosstalk). I hope that this column by mixing technology and general observations is thought provoking and “couples” with your thinking. Most of the time I will stick to technology but occasional crosstalk diversions may deliver a message closer to home.

Measuring Up

Tap to turn on. Wait for it to zero. Step on. I haven’t lost any weight, still 205 pounds even with all this exercise and careful eating? Step off, step back on. 212 pounds. Damn, wrong answer. Step off, step back on. 206 pounds. Okay maybe the first reading was right. Optimistically record 205 pounds. Does this nightly dance sound familiar? Not only are bathroom scales the bearer of bad news, their Continue reading “Coupling & Crosstalk: Measuring Up”

Data Exhaust & Data Waves

Is your team reacting or predicting?

Last week, I heard Paul Kedrosky, Senior Fellow at the Kauffman Foundation and Bloomberg contributor, present “Data Exhaust: What We Know About Everything By What No One Tells Us” at the PARC Forum. “Data Exhaust” is his term for the “unintended information we throw off in our daily activities”.

His primary example was the analysis of the debris reported in real time by the California Highway Patrol (CHP). He found patterns that were temporal (Christmas trees in early December and late January) and geographic (mattresses near a discount mattress store immediately adjacent to an on-ramp thereby lacking the opportunity to determine if the mattress was secure prior to driving at speed). More strikingly he discovered the number of ladders dropped on Southern California freeways coincided with Continue reading “Data Exhaust & Data Waves”