Embedded Computing Design

COM-HPC was officially ratified about six months ago. Embedded Computing Design has done a nice job covering the spec and many of the products that have come out of the spec (some before ratification and many after). We also posted a series of videos (called COM-HPC Academy) with some of the influential members of PICMG, the standards body behind the spec.

LoRaWAN wants to invade your home. Its backers think that it’s perfect for many smart home applications. However, don’t we already have one — or two or three —wireless networks that are “perfect” for the home, namely Bluetooth and WiFi?
 

Power Integrations has upped the game in the switching power-supply space with the release of its LinkSwitch-TNZ ICs. The devices combine offline power conversion, lossless zero-cross detection and, optionally, X-capacitor discharge functions, all in a compact SO-8C package. The parts can be used for non-isolated buck and buck-boost power supplies with an output current of up to 575 mA and can provide up to 12 W output for universal-input isolated flyback designs. These are specs that are suited for smart home and appliance applications.

Lower power and higher bandwidth are the key characteristics needed for Edge-based processing. And those are the principles that Lattice’s CertusPro-NX general-purpose FPGA family are built upon. These devices increase the logic density over what was previously offered to up to 100k logic cells.

When I started the research for this article, I was looking for how OEMs could keep their systems safe from hackers. By the time I finished the research, it became clear to me that my vision was not accurate. You can not design a system that can’t breached, unless it’s one that does not connect to the outside world.

Two applications we discuss often at Embedded Computing Design are automotive and medical. More and more, these applications are making use of the Linux operating system. Why is that the case, and is it the same flavor for each?

I sometimes struggle to see the positive side when a new standard is announced, one that claims to “dramatically cut development time.”

Advanced AI applications now face fundamental challenges in latency and reliability. Hence, Edge-to-Cloud AI solutions that can be deployed with existing core IT infrastructure have become key AI enablers. Harnessing existing workflows is instrumental to Edge-ready solutions capable of closing complex gaps between core business IT investments, competencies, and next-generation AI opportunities.

Here’s a fact that won’t shock you—the automotive industry is in the midst of a huge transformation thanks to AI technology. Here’s another fact that won’t be a surprise—NVIDIA is smack in the middle of that transformation.

Is Intel teaming up with SiFive to produce RISC-V chips? It depends how much you read between the lines in a recent release from SiFive.

We spend a lot of time talking about the specification known as CHIP (Connected Home over IP). While the hard work on this topic continues, the names of the group and the standard have changed.

Note: This is the fourth in a series of four blogs (and associated podcasts). First, I looked at what it means to be operating an AIoT platform. In the second, I went through some of the subsystems that go into that AIoT platform, drilling down into the nuts and bolts. The third covered AMRs.

It’s obvious that you can do 5G without AI. However, the inverse is not always true—adding 5G to AI makes the AI platform run far more efficiently. In the third of three podcasts, I discussed this topic with Allan Yang, the CTO of Advantech. Allan brings a great perspective, as his company is one of the architects behind AI platforms. Hear all about it in this week’s Embedded Executives podcast.

Research says that users are playing music, podcasts, movies, and gaming directly on their handsets, without the use of an external audio device.

AI and all its varied facets are new to most of the world.

Memory technology doesn’t always advance at the swiftest pace, but there’s been some movement in this space as of late.

Virtium, a provider of industrial solid-state drive (SSD) and memory solutions, recently introduced a series of high-speed, small-form-factor memory modules.

It seems like there’s a new security solution popping up on a daily basis. One new entrant is SecuriThings, an IoT security vendor focusing on various industries, including healthcare.

There’s no moss gathering on the RISC-V stone. The group continues to make progress in just about all facets of its roadmap.

Note: This is the third in a series of four blogs (and associated podcasts). In the first blog, I looked at what it means to be operating a platform at the edge of the AIoT, where designers should start the process, and what path they should take to develop those systems. In the second, I went through some of the subsystems that go into that AIoT platform, drilling down into the nuts and bolts.