Debugging intermittent Comcast, part 1: Scenario-setting

Inconsistency is a fundamental bane of troubleshooting. So it goes at work…and also at home. At some point(s) in your engineering career, have you ever had the “pleasure” of inheriting the ongoing development and maintenance for a poorly-at-best…

MCUs strengthen security in IoT and control systems

Standard MCUs in Toshiba’s TXZ+ Series M4V Group enhance security and data management in IoT devices and industrial control equipment, ranging from smart home appliances to factory automation systems. The devices feature a multilayered security…

Smart modules bring Android 16 to IoT designs

Quectel’s 4G SH602FA and 5G SE505FE smart modules feature built-in Android 16 to accelerate industrial and commercial IoT development. The modules enable developers to build connected products such as handheld terminals and inspection devices…

Class-D amplifier enhances automotive audio performance

A Class-D mono audio amplifier, the PAM2011Q from Diodes delivers up to 3 W of output power for automotive applications. Designed for instrument clusters, dashboard and backup cameras, driver notification chimes and warnings, and emergency call…

Channel emulator adds 6G, Wi-Fi 7/8 testing

The Vertex 6.0 channel emulation platform from VIAVI supports carrier frequencies up to 23.6 GHz and 400 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth. The company says it is the industry’s first channel emulator for 6G and Wi-Fi 7/8 testing, meeting newly…

Load switch guards automotive power rails

Kinetic Technologies’ KTS1642Q AEC-Q100-qualified load switch protects automotive loads from abnormal power-supply or load conditions. When used with the appropriate external TVS diodes, the device supports ISO 7637-2 transient requirements…

Single sideband radio meets LMC555 beat frequency oscillator

This basic beat oscillator makes continuous wave keyed code and single sideband suppressed carrier signals audible. A recent Design Idea from contributor Gavin Watkins shows an inexpensive add-on beat frequency oscillator (BFO) for inexpensive…

AI silicon: Package becoming system architecture

The future of advanced packaging is not one universal package. It’s a technology platform capable of placing the right interconnect, material, die, memory stack, optical engine, and thermal structure at the right system boundary. For many…

Op-amp LC oscillator uses tank losses for amplitude stabilization

This proposed design eliminates traditional additional requirements for AGC, AC coupling, and post amplification circuitry. This Design Idea presents a simple op-amp-based sine wave oscillator that directly generates a low-impedance bipolar…

Do we still need schematic diagrams for analog circuits?

As a long-time analog-component and circuit “practitioner,” I view the schematic diagram as the starting point for almost any discussion of a design. It shows the signa flow, the primary ICs, other necessary but often underappreciated passive…

Adapter makes Google’s wireless Android Auto a reality

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi combine to untether smartphone-to-car connections…this time with a Google, versus Apple, angle. Last month, I took apart a third-party adapter that aspires to augment Apple’s CarPlay interface with wireless connectivity…

Measurement basics: A field guide to instrument interfaces

Every engineer’s confidence in measurement rests on more than the instrument—it depends on the interface that ties instruments together into a working system. Standards like GPIB, USB, LXI, PXI, and VXI are not just acronyms; they are the…