Hardware security verification must go beyond functional testing

Imagine you’re an attacker staring at a billion-transistor system-on-chip (SoC). You don’t care whether the design boots Linux, passes simulation, or meets its performance targets. Your objective is far simpler. Find the one flaw nobody…

TP-Link’s Tapo P125: A smart plug with an Apple HomeKit vibe

Does the addition of Apple smart home protocol support necessitate hardware augmentation and upgrade, or do firmware-delivered feature updates suffice? After pausing my TP-Link smart plug teardown publication cadence in May, I temporarily paused…

Data diodes: One-way check valves of network security

Think of a data diode as the digital equivalent of a mechanical check valve—it forces network traffic to flow in one direction only. By enforcing this strict physical separation, these hardware devices offer an unhackable barrier that software…

Dual amplifier active filters

The frequency response of a Butterworth filter is not supposed to have any peaking. SPICE claims the contrary. I came across an online datasheet for some op-amps where I found two schematics that intrigued me. Screen-shotting them together resulted…

Op-amp input filtering can cause instability without proper compensation

When applying an input signal to an operational amplifier (op amp) that is far beyond its bandwidth, you would expect that the op amp would reject or attenuate the input signal. For example, if you’re applying a 600-MHz input signal to an…

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…