New Year's Eve

The year 2021 is coming to a close in about 12 hours time (Singapore). As cities around the world bid farewell to another year of pandemic, and people gather for the final countdown to usher in a new year, celebrating with families and friends to have made it this far, and wishing one another better times ahead, I would like to share a photo of my city-state with my readers: 

The brilliant fireworks set against the famous landmarks of the Marina Bay Sands (left), the Art-Science Museum (center)  and the Singapore Flyer (right), all over the Marina Bay area, is a reflection and reminder that life can still be beautiful if we learn not to take it for granted, but live with gratitude and appreciation for the nature and nice people around us.

Let me leave you with the familiar tune of the following song:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and auld lang syne*?

Chorus:

For auld lang syne, my jo,

for auld lang syne,

we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

Take care and see you next year!

The Art of Communication

Communication is key, whether it's in a relationship, workplace or between strangers. To carry on a meaningful conversation there must be some kind of common understanding and language, much like a standard protocol between the two parties.

The same goes for devices in a circuit board or client-server in a cloud or network. Information can transfer at high speed or just occasional casual exchanges, depending on the applications they are designed for. One of most commonly found communication links is the serial bus:

Even so, you may be surprised to know that there are quite a number of protocols, grouped into  two camps: synchronous and asynchronous. Of course, faster is not necessary better as it depends on your design requirements.

Still, it is good to know the popular ones if you want to make sense of the schematic you're deciphering. It's not that difficult, though. I'll show you how in this upcoming book. Don't ask me when it's coming out because I haven't the faintest idea. Maybe by the end of the first quarter next year.

Just keep a look out for my progress updates on this blog. 

What is Christmas to You?

People all over the world celebrate Christmas, but this special season means different things to different people. Even so, there is something magical and magnetic about Christmas that draws people to it. As the year comes to a close and everyone put aside their work and worries, there is this anticipation of something good, something better that will perhaps wash away all the accumulated unhappiness and unpleasant experiences, and bring about a new beginning with new promises.

Yes, there is something about Christmas that seems to bring joy to the weary spirit, a kind of love that warms and lifts the heavy-hearted, and a renewed hope that puts a smile on the tear-stained face. It could be the festive mood, the colorful decorations, the angelic carol voices, and the gifts that you receive.

More importantly, Christmas is not just a holiday or an event to be celebrated. Christmas is really about a Person (not Santa Claus, of course!) whose name is imprinted in the very word itself. Give it some thought and ponder the wonder of its significance. It may just make this Christmas different and deeply meaningful than what you have ever known...

MCU - It's Not What You Think

These days, when people see the acronym 'MCU' they'll associate it with 'Marvel Cinematic Universe', thanks to the series of movies like 'X-Men' and 'The Avengers'. For electronic engineers, 'MCU' simply stands for 'Microcontroller Unit', one of many branches of the processor universe.

In fact, just like the Nine Realms mentioned in the 'Thor' movie and its spin-offs, there are also various realms or architectures of processors (some say there are five while others claim there are ten). And like the 5000-year convergence that remove the boundaries between the Nine Realms, processors are also gradually blurring their lines of distinction.

The latest incarnation is RISC-V, an ISA based on reduced instruction set computer (RISC) principles, but unlike most other ISA designs, it is provided under a open source license that does not require fees to use. This is significant because it will allow smaller device manufacturers to build hardware without paying royalties and allow developers and researchers to design and experiment with a proven and freely available instruction set architecture. It will also encourage innovation and competition at a time when many large manufacturers are buying up their competitors, such as the recent acquisition of Arm Ltd by Nvidia.

But I'm not sure if that is the finality of the processor evolution, just as Thanos mistakenly bragged "I am inevitable" only to find out that he had lost all his marbles (stones) to Tony Stark with the last words, "And I am Iron Man!"

The Matrix Reprogrammed

Since it's debut in 1999, The Matrix has spun two successive movies four years later, a sequel (The Matrix Reloaded) and a trilogy (The Matrix Revolutions). It's latest incarnation, The Matrix Resurrections came almost after a 20-year absence, re-igniting interest in this topic. But will the storyline and special effects deliver?

I'll have to admit, it took a while for me to figure out the concept behind The Matrix when I first watched it. Special effects aside, the idea that reality is simulated in the brain instead of lived out in the body seemed far-fetched back then. Not anymore in this age of the Metaverse, where virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) began to blur the line of distinction between what is real and imaginary. Kinda scary, isn't it?

The Matrix, however, has been around even before it came onto the silver screen. We electronic engineers encounter them on a daily basis, in the form of programmable logic devices:

Whether it's factory or field programmable, from the early days of PROM all the way to today's complex FPGAs, The Matrix continues to re-invent itself (not just reloaded or revolutionized). Heck, if resurrections is anything to go by, it'll probably be a retrospection of past technologies rejuvenated by today's advances in science and a fair bit of fiction.

And that's a whole bunch of 'Re-'s if you care to count...

Conjunction, Disjunction, Negation

Language can be confusing when it comes down to difficult terms like these words in the post title. Makes you wonder if there's a simpler and better way to put it so even the man on the street can understand. That's where the Boolean lingo shines——conjunction (AND), disjunction (OR), negation (NOT). When it comes to simplifying logic circuits, you have De-Morgan to thank, too.

Not everyone agrees, though. And for obvious (pun intended) reasons. It may take you a while to figure but once the light bulb turns on, the rest as they say, is history.

Reset, ReSET, RESET...!!!

I'm not much of a fan of the World Economic Forum, an international non-governmental and lobbying organization that meddles with the economic affairs of the world. Since the start of the CoVid-19 pandemic it's founder, Klaus Schwab, has been entertaining the possibility of a Global Reset, a move that he believes will help bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. But not many people buy into his idea, especially his wry remark:

Seriously, we'll own nothing and be happy? 50 years on since founding the WEF (or as some people say, WTF), he may be close to realizing his dream of owning a large part of the world with the rest of the global elites, while the rest of us are expected to loan the earth from 'them', our masters. This is one BIG RESET I would rather not see happen.

The only kind of reset that is of real benefit is the PoR i.e. 'Power on Reset'. Most electronics and computer systems depend on it to function properly and predictably, though getting the charge-up time correctly is a matter of trial and error.

Now, if only there's a Re-SET that can redistribute the wealth of these greedy globalists to the needy and hardworking people of the world, that would be nice, isn't it? We just need to find THAT switch to the MARTIX...

Visio Alternatives?

I've been asked a number of times by readers whether there's any open source Visio alternatives out there, and I can understand why—a single user license doesn't come cheap even for a Standard version. Of course, there are many so-called free alternatives (not necessary open source, though) that claim to be  equal to or better than Microsoft Visio. Some are cloud-based, online kind of diagramming editors that do not need to be installed, while others offer free download of their most basic products with limitations for you to try before you buy.

At best, if you ask me, these alternatives are nothing more than your usual run-of-the-mill diagramming tools with colorful and attractive templates for drag-and-drop style presentation and illustration purposes only. When it comes to creating serious engineering drawings, their arsenal of drafting tools prove to be rather basic and primitive.

In my years of using Visio, right from the start with version 4.1 Technical from Shapeware, to this present time with Visio 2016, there is never a doubt in my mind that nothing (and I mean NOTHING) out there comes close to the power and usability of this amazing piece of software. How many of these Visio wanna-be spot the following features:

        1. Multiple-page support per drawing file
        2. Layering of shapes
        3. Smartshapes and Shapesheet programmability
        4. Bill of Materials report generation

Most Visio alternatives failed on just the first feature alone. And if you have bought my PCB-RE books you would no doubt have firsthand experience of what it's capable of through the many examples that I've demonstrated.

If the full license is too high upfront, you can opt for Microsoft's monthly plans of $5 for a web-based version which is synced to Onedrive, or $15 for an additional desktop install version. This can be tied to your Office 365 subscription without bursting your bank account. In fact, Microsoft offers a free 30-day trial of its latest version. Click on Evaluate Visio to go to the site.

So go ahead, give Visio a try and see if it's the best and only diagramming tool you'll ever need.