Build 2026: Accumulating evidence of Microsoft’s AI independence

Abundant use of the AI acronym is increasingly evident at various industry events. Strip away the hype layer and look deeper, however, and interesting trends still emerge into view. This is my third straight year covering Microsoft’s developer-focused…

Agilex 9 FPGAs power COTS VPX boards

Altera has partnered with Mercury Systems and VadaTech to expand its Agilex 9 FPGA ecosystem with COTS VPX boards for mission-critical defense platforms. These solutions integrate Agilex 9 medium-band Direct RF FPGAs into VPX architectures,…

Value DSCs streamline embedded control

Digital signal controllers (DSCs) in Microchip’s dsPIC33CK Value Line provide real-time control for cost-sensitive designs. Starting at $0.51 each, they offer consistent pricing regardless of order size. The 16-bit controllers deliver 100-MHz…

RF tool captures reusable design workflows

Keysight’s RF Circuit Simulation Professional software now enables engineers to document their design workflow on an executable whiteboard. The software replicates design decisions while capturing simulations, optimizations, decision trees,…

Buck controller streamlines in-vehicle USB charging

Diodes’ APK43070Q synchronous buck controller integrates a USB Type-C PD 3.1 source controller, simplifying automotive single- and multi-port charging designs. Operating from a 4-V to 36-V input, it enables USB Type-C charging up to 140 W.…

Low-noise USB scopes deliver 16-bit resolution

Pico Technology has launched the PicoScope 5000E series of USB-C oscilloscopes for analog, digital, and mixed-signal debugging. The four-channel scopes provide true 16-bit resolution with bandwidths to 200 MHz, sample rates to 2.5 Gsamples/s,…

Triply simply sequence supply voltages

This circuit design for power supply on/off sequencing uses Schmidt triggers for triple-positive-rail timing purposes. Recent design ideas have explored the utility of timed power supply ON/OFF sequencing and provided circuit designs to implement…

Ruggedized connectors: Not necessarily big or bulky

Ruggedized connectors are usually associated with military/aerospace, industrial, and some medical applications, but there are consumer ones as well, in special circumstances. Of course, the phrase “ruggedized connector” invokes different…

One-shot surge protection

This moral of this story: any promises of protection and safety should be double-checked for validity. Surge (over-voltage) protection is a rather frequent function, but implementing it robustly is not a very simple task. Recently, I stumbled…

The firmware-hardware handshake in a silicon governance system

Design-time closure is no longer the end of system convergence. In modern AI silicon—encompassing chiplet-based platforms, high-bandwidth memory systems, and advanced heterogeneous packages—the realized system continues to change after release.…

HIL platform automates tests to validate hardware behavior

A new hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing framework claims to make automated, hardware-validated testing accessible to every team by offering engineering resources previously available only at large enterprises. This new testing framework—called…

TP-Link’s Tapo P105: A Kasa EP10 clone, or evolutionarily derived?

Two devices. Same manufacturer. Similar cosmetics. (Near-)identical dimensions. Different branding. What about the insides? After taking a month’s break from the TP-Link smart plug family teardown cadence, I’m back for more. This time, we’ll…