Deepfakes

Fakery methods, and their impacts on those who are particularly easily fooled, have advanced dramatically in recent times. My wife and I recently saw the movie Disclosure Day, in which an extra-terrestrial being comes to earth and after much…

Power Tips #156: How to design a high-boost-ratio boost converter

The maximum boost ratio achievable with a single stage, normally cited as 8-to-9, can be much higher if you keep important design considerations in mind. In single-cell battery applications such as personal electronics or power tools, where…

Driving motion: A practical guide to electric linear actuators

Electric linear actuators (ELAs) turn intention into motion—precise, predictable, and quietly powerful. This guide offers elementary notes and practical pointers on their basics and everyday use. Let’s begin with a quick distinction: linear…

Optical scaling turning into an architectural challenge

For decades, semiconductor progress trained us to think about scaling in a particular way. Make the fundamental building block smaller, increase density, improve performance, and integrate more functionality into the same physical space. However,…

How will zonal architecture impact automotive troubleshooting?

A zonal power distribution network for cars offers many benefits, but how it affects finding problems is unclear. In the few years, I’ve been seeing a lot of stories about zonal architecture, the next stage in the evolution of providing power…

Debugging intermittent Comcast, part 2: Remediation details

While updating and streamlining the hardware setup improved the situation, why it achieved this welcome outcome was less clear. And then there was the truly “shocking” discovery… Last time, in part 1 of this series, I gave a historical…

How AI is reshaping IC signoff: Trust, speed, and intelligent workflows

We stand at the dawn of a new era in chip design as artificial intelligence (AI) moves from a conceptual promise to a practical necessity in the semiconductor landscape. Semiconductor companies are looking to AI to help manage design complexity,…

Morse Micro simplifies Wi-Fi HaLow integration

Morse Micro’s MM8108-RD09 and MM8108-RD17 USB dongle reference designs add Wi-Fi HaLow connectivity to existing devices. The RD09 uses host-side drivers for Windows, Linux, and macOS, while the driverless RD17 presents itself as a standard…

Semtech expands LoRa Plus transceiver lineup

Semtech’s LR2022 and LR2012 LoRa Plus transceivers target a range of IoT deployments, from sub-GHz sensors to global multiband non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). The devices are subsets of the previously announced LR2021 and share its fourth-generation…

eFuse protects 48-V power lines

Toshiba’s TCKE1401NM 75-V, 6-A eFuse provides 48-V power-line protection for industrial and consumer equipment, including servers and power tools. In addition to short-circuit, overcurrent, and overvoltage protection, it integrates reverse…

SiC MOSFET relay switches up to 3300 V

The G3VH SiC MOSFET relay from Aratas America supports high-voltage switching applications requiring load voltages of 1800 V or 3300 V. SiC MOSFET technology enables high-voltage switching with low leakage current and fast switching while minimizing…

Advantech brings 100-TOPS AI to vision systems

Advantech has launched four industrial vision intelligence products based on the Qualcomm Dragonwing IQ-9075 processor. The AOM-6741 SMARC module, ASR-A503/AFE-A503 robotic controllers, and AIR-055 edge AI system deliver up to 100 TOPS of AI…