EE Times Current

This week, we talk with author George Leopold, who’s just given us his list of the five best documentaries about space. And, this year we’re doing something different for our annual year in review. EE Times editors are sharing our favorite interviews from 2019.

The next generation of 5G smartphones, gaming on smartphones, and a proposal to enable everyone to keep their official documents – driver’s license, passport – on their phones. We’ll investigate some Qualcomm’s new products and services, and some of the trends it’s enabling. Also, since Qualcomm’s products are intrinsic to so many worldwide trends, the company is also intrinsic to worldwide trade. We’ll have a conversation about Qualcomm, the electronics industry, and Qualcomm’s largely unknown role in the global market.

You might think that if an auto maker is developing the technology for autonomous driving, then creating the technology for assisted driving – a seemingly less ambitious goal – would practically be a gimme. Think again. Also, you’ve heard about Moore’s Law coming to an end. That’s because the industry is in fact getting very close to reaching the physical performance limits of silicon. But there is ample opportunity to keep improving electronics, and one way that will be possible is by using semiconductors other than silicon. And the role that universities play in new technology development is pretty well established. Or at least it was, until AI came along.

A bunch of chip guys from Apple are planning to challenge Intel in the data center — do they stand a chance? Also, Sony claims it’s been doing just about as much R&D in AI as Google and Facebook, and it recently formalized an approach to spreading that expertise throughout the company. And, China has just set aside another $28 billion to further develop its semiconductor industry. Is that enough to help China catch up — and, what if it does?

EE Times attends the Global CEO Summit in Shenzhen, China and talk with top executives about major trends in electronics today: 5G wireless, advanced chip design and manufacturing, and artificial intelligence. We’ll hear from executives from companies based in the US, Europe, and China, including one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious industrial and electronics companies — Siemens, and one of the worlds youngest and most intensely scrutinized AI startups — Graphcore.

This week...a report from the Linley Conference, traditionally a gold mine of intelligence about where the processor market is going. Also, after one of the flakiest no-shows in high-tech history, secretive startup Groq finally speaks. And, we have a conversation with MEMS specialist and futurist Peter Hartwell, chief technical officer of TDK InvenSense.

This week, we discuss the film “The Current War,” and the race between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to light up the world in the 1890s. Also, video has been captured the same way for more than 125 years. But modern electronics is making it possible to capture and display video in an entirely new way. We’ll talk about the French company that is doing it.

Tesla Motors, automotive features, vehicular gimmicks, and the weird eagerness among some people to be lab rats for Silicon Valley companies. Also,India has quietly developed world-class expertise in semiconductor design. We talk with Sanjay Gupta, the person leading NXP’s semiconductor operations in India about India’s aspirations for developing a domestic semiconductor industry. And … researchers have employed machine learning techniques to train an artificial intelligence to figure out for itself how to draw human faces. Of course, it’s artwork, but is it Art?

This week — we attended a conference hosted by Arm Holdings and report on what we learned about the what's next for circuitry technology. Also, the big data deluge, and how to make sense of it all. And, we’re reasonably sure that by the time people turn 16 years old, they’re mature enough to begin operating a motor vehicle. Shouldn’t we consider doing something similar for autonomous vehicles to, you know, verify they’re mature enough to drive by themselves?

This week, packaging chips in the most advanced systems. There are no rules anymore and we’re going to sort it all out for you. Also, conducting business in the Trump Era. It’s beginning to look like the Court of the Sun King. And, there’s growing enthusiasm for going to Mars. We’ll be talking about getting there, which is one thing; but, we’ll also be talking about getting back, which is another thing altogether.

Sub-retinal chip, tracking down intransigent parking malefactors, and voice control! We sent not one, but two EE Times editors to the annual MEMS & Imaging Sensors Summit in Grenoble last week and we’ll hear from them about what they saw in France. Also this week, connecting the Internet of things — we have a discussion with advocates of Wi-Fi and LoRaWAN on how those two wireless protocols will complement each other.

There are a lot of good reasons to NOT send all of our conversations off to the cloud, but we do it anyway because it’s significantly cheaper to do in the cloud. But what if there were some unexpected, inexpensive alternative for doing voice processing at the edge? Also, we’ll examine reliability in complex systems, and for that we’re going to revisit the Boeing 737 Max, two of which crashed earlier this year. And, we’re also going to revisit autonomous vehicles and driving safety. When it comes to autonomy, there’s still an open question: how safe is safe?

The AI Hardware Summit in Silicon Valley. This year’s edition did not go as planned. Also, the semiconductor industry is, of course global. India has an ambition to build a thriving semiconductor industry, building on the companies based there that have been designing chips for many, many years. Does the country have the infrastructure to make good on its ambitions? And, we have a report from the Frankfurt Motor Show, traditionally one of the biggest shows of the year in the automotive industry. With all the interesting technological innovations that are being developed, you’d think it would have been a pretty exciting show. Yeah, no.

All of the elements of the 5G consumer business are coming together. Network operators are building out infrastructure to expand 5G cellular coverage in more markets. What’s needed next is a wider variety of 5G smartphones. Huawei, Qualcomm, and Samsung – three of the most important manufacturers of integrated circuits for smartphones – all happened to announce new 5G silicon last week. We talk about what was announced and where 5G goes from here. Artificial intelligence is being used to power the cloud – but what is the cloud, exactly? It turns out there are at least four kinds of clouds. Did the word cumulonimbus just cross you mind? Yeah, no. We’ll discuss the actual divisions in the cloud markets and what kinds of AI are needed for each. Self-driving car companies have been talking about vehicle safety as a competitive feature, but do we really want car companies to compete on safety?

Xilinx just released one honking huge field-programmable gate array. We’ll discuss why anyone would need an FPGA more than one-and-a-half times bigger than the previous biggest. The political protests in Hong Kong have repercussions for the nearby technology hub of Shenzhen – and for the electronics industry at large. Netflix just debuted a documentary called “American Factory” that examines what happened when a Chinese manufacturer of glass products for the automotive market tried to open a plant in the US. The goals of the Chinese and the Americans were clearly aligned, but both groups held expectations they never discussed with each other, much to everyone’s sorrow.

Homomorphic encryption. It’s… well, it’s really complicated. Just stick around and we’ll explain it all. Chinese memory chip supplier GigaDevices just make a huge splash in China introducing a line of RISC-V microcontrollers – the company claims they’re the first general purpose RISC-V MCUs ever. We’ll discuss why this MCUs are significant. Ultra WideBand is back, this time with some brand new capabilities. NXP and Volkswagen collaborated on a clever anti-theft technique for cars that makes use of the new Ultra Wideband. Today we’ve got a discussion with NXP CTO Lars Reger and Maik Rohde of Volkswagen as they discuss the new anti-theft approach, and also where they plan to take Ultra Wideband next.

AMS decided to purchase Osram. The former specializes in sensors, the latter in photonics; together they’ll chart an intriguing technological roadmap. We’ll find out what the combination will mean for the market. The Hot Chips conference was held this week. We’ve got a rundown of one of the hottest, an unconventional wafer-scale AI processor from secretive startup Cerebras. Also today: smart water bottles. These are computerized water bottles complete with display screens and WiFI connectivity. The bottles run apps designed to entice your children to drink more water. You might be asking yourself: How smart is a smart water bottle? Well, at the moment, they are being bamboozled by six-year-olds.

This is your Briefing for the week ending August 16th. Photonics – it’s not just for fiber optics anymore. In this episode, we’ve got a discussion about photonics, quantum sensors, and the potential for an all-optical computer. Broadcom bought Symantec last week. We ask editor Rick Merritt, Why on Earth a chip company would want to get into the market for business software? Over the years, the EDA industry has developed some marvelously sophisticated tools for testing and verifying the designs of highly complex integrated circuits. This week we have an interview with the CEO of a startup – a company that has its roots in EDA – about the tools it has developed to improve the testing process for autonomous vehicles. The tools will help AV companies determine if they’re testing what they think they’re testing.

Are you one of the hundreds of millions of people who can't wait to get a 5G cell phone? Your wait is almost over. Almost. Do you remember ultra-wideband? It was proposed a few years ago. Didn't catch on. But now it's back. The new ultra-wideband is based on a different technology, has new capabilities and is aimed at completely different applications. You'd think they'd come up with a new name, yeah? Also this week, Dylan McGrath got a rare one-on-one interview with Bob Swan, the CEO of Intel. In an industry that has seen its share of massive egos over the years, Bob Swan stands out by not standing out. When Intel's previous CEO left the company, Swan-- then the company's chief financial officer-- agreed to lead the company... but only on an interim basis until Intel's board could find the right person to give the job to.

This is your Briefing for the week ending August 2nd. We want the Internet of things to be smart, but being smart requires processing power – which will be lacking in millions of IoT devices. It’s what we call in the business “a conundrum.” But – there may be an answer! You’ll hear what that is. As we reported last week, the biggest companies in the world are beginning to compete with their own chip suppliers. The latest example is Alibaba, which just released a high-performance processor of its own design. Alibaba’s move is significant for technological, financial, and political reasons. We’ll look into that. Also, you’d think that the people building autonomous vehicles are using sound design principles.

This week we’re mixing it up a bit. In this episode, we’re going to focus on a single topic. It’s how the world’s biggest companies are doing business in ways no company has before – and what that might mean for everybody – not just the technology industry.

This week… Artificial intelligence is a vastly complex market. There’s a fierce competition among hardware vendors to be the best platform for AI applications. But first, you have to know what it means to be “the best.” This week, analyst Karl Freund from Moor Insights talks to us about the latest AI benchmarks. Researchers are re-imagining what – fundamentally – a vehicle is. One company just put everything other than the chassis – literally everything – entirely inside the wheels. We’ll explore that and other proposals. And it’s the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 space mission – the first time people set foot on the moon. This week we look back – and also look forward to going back to the moon.

Our stories this week: You might recall pilot Chesley Sullenberger. He became a hero a few years back for crash landing a disabled passenger airliner into New York's Hudson River with no loss of life. He recently appeared in front of Congress to testify about the crashes of the Boeing 737. We discuss his testimony and what it means for Boeing and for other engineering companies. We've got an on-site report from Semicon West, including a revised estimate of growth in the chip market in 2019. And guest commentators John Petty and Kathleen Ma have just concluded a major report on the workstation market, which has seen some profound changes over the years.

This week… Facial recognition is being deployed more frequently, but is the technology ready? And, are we ready for it? President Trump said he is lifting official restrictions on doing business with Huawei, an important supplier to communications companies around the world. What does that mean for the global electronics industry moving forward? And we talk with Silicon Valley entrepreneur Alex Lidow about Moore’s Law, gallium nitride, and easing at least one of the indignities of aging.

This week… The French research institute LETI held a conference on artificial intelligence at the edge. What does putting AI on the edge of the network mean, and what’s the advantage? EE Times editors were in Grenoble, and filed a report. A few weeks ago, PCI introduced a new ultra-fast networking specification that will make data centers perform even better, and that will make the internet faster and more capable. A few days ago, PCI unexpectedly doubled the speed again. EE Times editors were at the annual Sensors Expo, which has become an important conference for the Internet of things. Also, the prevailing wisdom is that self-driving vehicles will be safer than human drivers. But what if there’s a third option – one that’s just as safe as self-driving cars are supposed to be?

Our lineup this week includes: A guided tour through London’s Tech Week, an annual extravaganza of new technologies. Unsurprisingly, this year there was an emphasis on artificial intelligence. We’ll have a report on the race to build the fastest supercomputers. And, you know those GPS apps you use for driving? Self-driving vehicles use maps too, but they need maps that are far more accurate. First up, EETimes editor Sally Ward-Foxton attended several events during London’s Tech Week. The UK is bidding to become a major hub for AI technology, but the same idea has occurred to other countries as well. And a quick translation of English to English for you. Glastonbury is a music festival not dissimilar to the New Orleans Jazz Festival, where savvy festival veterans know to show up in knee-high rubber boots because enormous mud puddles are not uncommon.

This week: RISC-V has profound implications for the smartphone market; we checked to see if it’s ready. Moore’s Law will end – unless maybe chiplets? Engineers are getting drawn into the gig economy, and it’s not the ones you’d think. And after 40 years, TI’s Speak & Spell speaks again.

In this week's briefing we discuss Infineon's bombshell announcement: the $10 billion dollar acquisition that seemed to come out of nowhere – Infineon bought Cypress Semiconductor, and the Design Automation Conference – DAC. If you know what’s happening with design tools, that gives you a good handle on what’s happening with the semiconductor industry.

This week we’ve got a dispatch from Monte Carlo about the recent Grand Prix ELECTRIC vehicle race. Also, a separate report on what’s going on with chips for Autonomous Vehicles. And we’ve been talking about the trade war with China from the US point of view – this week, our correspondent in China discusses how China’s high-tech industry thinks about the conflict.

Today is Friday, May 24th, and this is your EE Times Weekly Briefing. The biggest story in electronics this week affects almost everyone in the high-tech industry – from Huawei to Google to Infineon – to chip companies, circuit board suppliers – essentially the entire supply chain. The Trump Administration this week took steps that will certainly isolate Huawei and possibly cripple it. What was once delicately framed as a “trade tension” between the two nations has officially turned into an all-out-trade war, affecting not just the electronics industry, but nearly every other commercial segment around the world – from farming to aeronautics. This past week EE Times launched a Special Project that zeroed in on damage done during the trade conflict already. We have been reporting on all aspects of the fast-evolving situation – seen, reported and analyzed through the lenses of our reporters scattered all over the world. Accordingly, we are dedicating this week’s entire show to dissecting the outbreak of U.S.-China trade warfare.

This is your EE Times Weekly Briefing. Today is Friday, May 17th, and among the top stories this week: A sobering roadmap of semiconductor process technology-- potentially coming to a halt at 2 nanometers We were at the Electronic Distribution Show in Vegas last week. On the last day, the news broke that the United States had escalated a trade war with China. How will that affect the supply chain? New advanced imaging tools that could help restore Notre Dame in Paris, but a big question remains: Can anyone else afford them? Later in the show, we’re joined by two graphics technology experts, Jon Peddie and Kathleen Maher. We asked them to imagine the restoration of Notre Dame.

This is your EE Times Weekly Briefing. Today is Friday, May 10th, and among the top stories this week: Google I/O, Google's developers’ conference. CEO Sundar Pichai touted Google’s awakening to privacy for its users’ data. This week, EE Times launched a new Special Project package on Artificial Intelligence, with a particular focus on AI fairness. We ask and answer the question: “Will Machines Ever Learn to Be Fair?” Later on, we’re joined by Junko Yoshida, EE Times’ chief international correspondent, and EE Times executive editor Dylan McGrath. The two editors moderated panels at VerveCon in sunny Santa Clara. They share their observations at this unusual tech conference, where the main auditorium was filled not by male but female engineers.

This is your EETimes Weekly Briefing. Today is Friday, May 3rd, and among our top stories this week: A one-on-one interview with Hassane El-Khoury, CEO of Cypress Semiconductors.We’ll review the intelligence we picked up at the recent 5G Brooklyn Summit on the question: “If 5G is enough, do we need 6G?" And we’ll explain why Taiwanese companies who moved manufacturing in China decades ago are now coming back to Taiwan. Junko Yoshida, EE Times chief international correspondent, tells us the reason might not be what you’re thinking. This exodus is less about Trump but more about Xi Jinping. Later on, we’re joined by Judith Chen, Chief Editor responsible for EE Times & EDN in Taiwan and Asia. Judith outlines how and why a startup movement appears to be blossoming in Taiwan.

This is your EE Times Weekly Briefing. Today is Friday, April 26th, and among the top stories this week: ON Semi buys Globalfoundries’ ex IBM fab; TSMC’s CMOS process node shrinks, and Tesla’s Kitchen Sink Approach to autonomous vehicles. Later in the show, Echo Zhao will be here to discuss the 2019 China fabless survey results. And, at the bottom of the show, Bolaji Ojo, will join us to discuss what prompted him to start at EETimes a revealing new column, “My 35 years of journalism.”

This is your EETimes Weekly Briefing. Today is Friday, April 19th, and among the top stories this week: Samsung is moving toward a 5-nanometer foundry process; Underwriters Lab is collaborating with Edge Case Research to draft a standard for autonomous systems. And we take a peek into Finland’s "Radio Valley" to learn about “Life after Nokia.”

Today is Friday, April 12th, and among the top stories this week - Qualcomm’s new data-center AI inference accelerator chip, the latest deep learning developments unveiled at a Stanford University gathering, and a new development that throws a monkey wrench into the debate about V2X – vehicle to everything -- in Europe.

Among the top stories this week: Intel’s new memory architecture; an exclusive interview with Greg Travis – a veteran software engineer and instrument-rated pilot. We ask him if Boeing 737 Max MCAS software can be fixed. We also look at STMicroelectronics’ strategic priority on silicon carbide; and how the risk-averse business mentality is making Japan’s car OEMs slow to embrace the global auto market’s shifting focus on mobility services.

This is your EETimes Weekly Briefing. Today is Friday, March 29th. Among the top stories this week: Intel’s CPU shortage and its impact on AMD. Dylan McGrath lends his perspective.

This week’s top stories include Nvidia’s annual GPU Technology Conference, the U.S. Exascale supercomputer deal, and the latest jury verdict on the Qualcomm v. Apple patent infringement case.

Weekly Briefing March 15, 2019: Nvidia buys Mellanox, Facebook snatches up Sonics, Linus Foundation holds its first Open Source Leaders’ Summit, Geneva auto show

This is your EETimes Weekly Briefing. Today is Friday, March 8th, and these are the top stories this week. Dylan McGrath was in San Francisco this week to cover RSA Conference. Here’s Dylan summary of why cryptographers see dangers in Australia's controversial Access Assistance Bill.

This is your EETimes Weekly Briefing. Today is Friday, March 1st, and these are the week's top stories. It's been a busy week with two major shows unfolding at the same time: Embedded World in Nuremberg, and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

This is your EETimes Weekly Briefing. Today is Friday, February 22nd, and these are the week's top stories.

This is your EETimes weekly briefing and these are the top stories from the week of February 18th.

This is your EETimes weekly briefing. Today is Friday, February 8th, and these are the week’s top stories.

Weekly briefing with Rick Merritt, Silicon Valley Bureau Chief, EE Times

Weekly briefing with Dylan McGrath, editor-in-chief of EETimes.

This week we review all the things that stole our attention at CES 2019 and the major headlines buzzing within electronics field immediately after and during the event. We speak with Brian Santo, EDN, Editor-in-chief, and Junko Yoshida, EETimes' Global co-Editor-in-Chief.

EETimes On Air host David Finch speaks with Clara Otero Perez, Director of System Innovations for NXP.

EETimes On Air host David Finch interviews Matt Johnson, SVP at Silicon Labs.