Bench Talk

What does the word "cybersecurity" mean to you? If you only follow the most shallow of news sources and don't wade into technical depth, the word has bound to surfaced more than a few times.

One of the interesting things, at least to me, about the Internet of Things (IoT) is that every ‘thing’ will have its own address. You might be able to communicate with each of these things by just referencing its address. More complicated things might even have their own email address. You could be able to send messages to your coffee pot, your thermostat and your door lock just as you would send an email to a friend or family member.

A long time ago (January 2014) at a Consumer Electronics Show far, far away (unless you live in Las Vegas), Intel unveiled their Edison “computer-on-module” development board aimed at wearables and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. A mashup of an Arduino and Raspberry Pi, with a dash of WiFi, Bluetooth, and a 4GB of flash memory compressed into a package just a little larger than an SD card, the Edison has proven to be a formidable embedded platform. In the months since the world got their hands on the Edison boards, a lot of amazing projects have emerged. We’ll take a look at four Edison-based creations that have captured our imaginations.

Not sure of where you live, but in Texas, the wind can be a real force of nature. No, I’m not talking about the times when tornadoes spring out of the clouds, or the occasions when hurricanes decide to visit our southern coastline. I’m talking about this persistent, blustery breeze that sweeps in from the open prairies or up from the Texas Hill Country. And if you’re an avid cyclist like myself, you’re often faced with trying to convert a strong, pushy headwind into a much-appreciated tailwind. (These are the times cyclist envision ourselves as Wild Pecos Bill for however long the wind decides to carry us or simply nudge us along.)

The RF and microwave industry faces the same uncertainties and volatility as its more visible counterparts, but when the future has looked uncertain, a new market has serendipitously appeared to save the day. This time, although the industry overall is robust, a huge new market is beginning to emerge in the form of vehicle autonomy that will be much broader in scope than what IoT will bring. Driverless vehicle ubiquity is at least a decade or more away, but in the meantime RF and microwave hardware will be needed in steadily increasing amounts.

Designing power supplies for factory-automation equipment such as programmable logic controllers , transmitters, automation machinery and human machine interfaces can come with a lot of challenges. Even as processing power continues to increase, printed circuit board (PCB) area and overall equipment sizes tend to remain the same. To meet these strict space constraints, power-supply designs should be compact but also operate efficiently and quietly; heat and noise are absolutely not permissible. In addition, there are multiple industrial power-supply requirements, including a wide-input voltage range, a small solution size and the ability to operate at a high temperature range. Power-supply designers must keep component counts and costs down while providing a reliable solution that doesn’t require a lot of debugging. So starting with an integrated and robust device is a high priority.

Some people see Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) ultimately bringing into play human immortality—making it possible to enable a variety of human or technological enhancements that counteract the aging process. Doing so will increase human life expectancy, possibly very significantly. However, if ASI is ultimately realized and becomes part of the human condition, what is the potential for human extinction based upon the actions of an ASI? It is conceivable that an ASI may one day view human life as unacceptably inefficient and without significant purpose in relationship to any programmed goals.

The invention of the humble thyristor 60 years ago ushered in a new field of electrical engineering area called power electronics. At a little over half that age, the 31st Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) continues to give prominence to what can only be described as a new industrial revolution. The demand for increased energy conservation, utility energy storage, renewable energy systems, electric and hybrid vehicles power, in addition to high-efficiency energy systems across the board – it’s enough to keep a designer awake at night.

Intel founder Gordon Moore’s “Law” has gained legendary status for its prescience and ability to stand the test of time. What’s not so apparent is what this has translated into from the perspective of the devices in which processors are used. Fortunately, the number-crunchers at Experts Exchange have taken the time to determine the 1-trillion-fold increase in processing power between 1956 and 2015 and present it in simple terms.

One of the great things about being human is man’s unfailing curiosity and desire to solve problems. Even though sometimes that ability can take us a bit too far so that we end up with things that really don’t get us anywhere. While humans may be good at solving problems, they’re also pretty good at reinventing the wheel, or even at solving one problem only to find they’ve created another. You only have to look back through history to find it littered with examples.