The Search for “Fists” in Embedded Systems This month, I discuss the origin of my use of the phrase “in thin slices,” and how it can help us design, debug, and test our embedded systems. A number of years ago, I was part of a leadership team wrestling with some long-term planning decisions. We were […] The post How Thin-Slicing Can Help Us appeared first on Circuit Cellar ..read more

A full-featured protocol layer supporting diverse modes SignatureIP, the pioneer of next generation NoC tools, has announced the availability of its new PCIe® Gen 6 Controller IP that works from Gen 1 to Gen 6. It natively integrates with SignatureIP’s recently announced iNoCulator™ tool to provide a high-speed interface for chip design to seamlessly connect with peripherals. […] The post SignatureIP Announces PCIe Gen 6 Controller IP appeared first on Circuit Cellar ..read more

Ceva, Inc., the leading licensor of silicon and software IP that enables Smart Edge devices to connect, sense and infer data more reliably and efficiently, announced today the general release of its RivieraWaves® ultra-wideband (UWB) IP for FiRa 2.0, the latest technical specification released by the FiRa industry consortium promoting standardization and compliance efforts for the widespread […] The post Ceva Introduces Low Power Ultra-Wideband IP for FiRa 2.0 for Consumer and Industrial IoT Applications appeared first on Circuit Cellar ..read more

Part 2: Modbus Client In last month’s column, I discussed a low-voltage solar energy system I built for lighting my Scout troop’s large storage shed. I described the battery I chose, and the Modbus protocol with RS-485 serial communication used for remote monitoring of the system’s performance (“sniffing” or listening to communication on the bus, […] The post Local Isolation: Using the Sun’s Energy appeared first on Circuit Cellar ..read more

Electric actuator manufacturer AUMA has added an explosion-proof version to its successful PROFOX actuator series. “The new PROFOX-X actuators expand all the benefits of our small and smart PROFOX actuator series to applications in potentially explosive atmospheres,” says AUMA product manager Christoph Edelmann. “The versatile, future-proof actuators meet all the requirements of modern plant automation.” […] The post AUMA Launches Explosion-Proof PROFOX-X Actuators appeared first on Circuit Cellar ..read more

ALifecom announces the release of its Non-Terrestrial Networks IoT Platform. This platform is the industry’s first integrated solution embedding a channel emulator into ALifecom’s NE6000 network emulator to effectively simulate and test NTN communications within a small formfactor, user-friendly, and cost-effective solution. The ALifecom NE6000 network emulator has been upgraded with the latest 3GPP release 17 […] The post ALifecom Launches Latest Non-Terrestrial Networks IoT Platform for Satellite Communication UE Testing appeared first on Circuit Cellar ..read more

Using an Electromagnet to Drive the Bobble Replacing batteries in non-rechargeable devices is expensive. When I built personalized bobbleheads for my grandchildren, I decided to make them solar-powered. Here’s a description of their electromagnetic actuation and simple circuitry. Bobbleheads, sometimes called wobbleheads, have been with us for more than 200 years. They were popular in […] The post Build a Solar-Powered Bobblehead appeared first on Circuit Cellar ..read more

Based On the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 After a few years during which all Raspberry Pi boards were unavailable to me, I was interested in getting my hands on a line of modules made by EDATEC that are based on the Raspberry Pi CM4 module. Here’s the review. EDATEC is a Raspberry Pi partner […] The post Evaluating EDATEC’s Line of Industrial Modules appeared first on Circuit Cellar ..read more

Time is of the Essence Digital signal processors (DSPs) and digital signal controllers (DSCs) are designed for time-critical execution of complex algorithms. These chips are crucial to many high-end, high-performance applications today. Digital signal processors (DSPs) and their cousins, digital signal controllers (DSCs), are microprocessors optimized for, well, digital signal processing. That is, they’re built […] The post DSPs and DSCs appeared first on Circuit Cellar ..read more

Recursion is a method of solving problems in computer programming that involves functions which call themselves. This concept might seem a bit odd the first time you hear it, but once you wrap your head around it you will find it a useful tool. It is best suited to solving problems that break down into […] The post Recursion appeared first on Circuit Cellar ..read more