How data movement defines performance for AI silicon
Regardless of the applications, most artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers face the same challenges. Whether it’s cloud data centers, edge devices, automotive platforms, or industrial robotics, optimal performance now depends on how…
Triple-duty current loop calibrator
It’s always gratifying when a simple and successful design idea luckily turns out to have additional applications that you didn’t originally envision. Here’s an example.
Wow the engineering world with your unique design: Design Ideas…
Sensors Converge 2026: Smarter and lower-power sensors
The Sensors Converge 2026 conference showcased some of the latest advances in sensor and sensing solutions for applications ranging from wearables and smartphones to industrial and automotive. The show, with over 160 exhibitors, also highlighted…
GPUs: A high-throughput architecture confronting a workload shift
There is a growing architectural tension at the heart of modern AI infrastructure. The processors that enabled the deep learning revolution—graphics processing units (GPUs)—remain the dominant engines of large-scale training and inference.…
4/20mA to 0/20mA loop current converter for grounded loads
Ground-referenced loads are common in industry. This circuit implements current loop conversions for them.
Recently, there have been several published Design Ideas on converting 0/20mA to 4/20mA current and 4/20mA to 0/20mA current as full-circle…
Smart hygrometers: Largely useful even with absent integrated visual monitors
What makes a market success? Is there a Swiss-made sensor inside? Or maybe a wrist strap? What happened to the basics: cost-effective reliable functionality? (And yes, get off my lawn, you kids!).
Back in late March, I detailed my experiences…
How many attenuations can you get from 10 resistor networks?
Resistor networks are a great way to improve the gain accuracy and gain temperature drift of your system compared to designs using discrete resistors. One common motivation for improving gain accuracy and drift is that the initial system accuracy…
Despoilage
A scenic view, once so charming, has been irretrievably ruined. Will it happen again?
Four astronauts have just circled the Moon and returned safely back to Earth. This (Artemis II, if you’ve been living under a rock for the last month-plus)…
Automotive silicon in the era of AI, functional safety, and cybersecurity
Automotive silicon design is entering a phase where functional safety, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) can no longer be treated as separate concerns. In connected, software-defined vehicles, safety outcomes depend not only on…
How emerging robotics standards will shape next-gen automation
Walk into any modern fulfillment center or high‑precision inspection site and the pattern is unmistakable: robots are becoming smarter, more autonomous, and more deeply embedded in daily operations. They navigate cluttered aisles, collaborate…
Backup batteries and supercaps: Geriatric hardware traps
Batteries eventually die, whether due to excessive recharge cycles, deep-discharge, or other factors. Capacitors, in contrast, often don’t hold charge long enough. What’s an engineer to do?
When the Pentax Q compact digital camera that I…
Measuring G: The ultimate metrology challenge?
Four fundamental forces of nature—gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear force, and weak nuclear force—govern all known physical interactions in the universe. Of these four, gravity is the one with which we are all personally familiar,…
