Today’s microcontrollers are crammed with useful features that have obviated the need for going off chip in order to gain useful functionality. So-called “system-on-chip” or SoC platforms have streamlined product development cycles. They have done this by allowing engineers to spend more time focusing on value-added work and less time on the more mundane glitches […]
Analog computing 2.0
Since the late 1970’s, digital technology has dominated the field of computing. Left behind for most applications was the analog computer, a tool that had existed in purely mechanical forms since ancient times (think the Antikythera mechanism, astrolabe or even the humble slide ruler). Before the digital revolution, analog computing offered a lot of promise […]
Practically speaking: 4-20mA current loops
In a world where digital it is all the rage thanks to the promises of concepts such as the Internet of Things, wearables, and augmented reality it’s easy to overlook just how relevant analog technology remains for many industries. Many engineers and technicians can appreciate that from a signals perspective digital signals are but a […]
Practical points for Analog-to-Digital converters
Confusion often arises around the topic of criteria for picking analog-to-digital converters (ADC). Much discussion is usually given to the sampling rate (also referred to as the conversion rate) which dictates how frequently the source signal must be sampled per second to faithfully reproduce that signal. Twentieth-century electronic communications engineer Harry Nyquist answered that question […]
Expanding I/O with MUX, DEMUX, and decoders
The relentless march of technological progress has given engineers increasingly smaller and more energy efficient microcontrollers to use in their designs. These benefits do come with a cost, however. Physically smaller packages have less room for I/O pins meaning fewer peripheral components can interface with the microcontroller itself. Fewer peripherals means less functionality which tends […]
