Dr. Dobb's Blogs http://www.drdobbs.com//author/6820 Dr. Dobb's Copyright 2012, United Business Media. en-us Troubleshooting Verilog http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/troubleshooting-verilog/240154701 I want to squash a bug as a way to show how you "debug" Verilog hardware designs (or, at least, one way to do so) Sun, 12 May 2013 15:31:00 -0400 The CPU Crawl http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/the-cpu-crawl/240154406 I want to talk a bit more about Verilog and how it is different from simply writing something using software. Tue, 07 May 2013 21:00:00 -0400 The Heart of a CPU http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/the-heart-of-a-cpu/240153772 A paper computer is certainly novel, and the spreadsheet version lets students get familiar with the architecture without having to write on cardboard. I wanted to go further, though. Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:47:00 -0400 CPU Design on Paper http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/cpu-design-on-paper/240153480 FPGAs are great for experimenting with CPU designs. Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:57:00 -0400 More Conversions http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/more-conversions/240152937 Many processors now have built in analog I/O and that certainly makes things easier. But it is still worthwhile to understand how at least some of these devices work. Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:45:00 -0400 Roll Your Own Analog Input http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/roll-your-own-analog-input/240152547 Modern computers are inherently digital devices. However, we live in a decidedly analog world, so many systems (including systems on a chip) have methods to generate and read different analog quantities. Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:35:00 -0400 Making Contacts http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/making-contacts/240152060 Many designs that aren't reliable blame relays when, in fact, they should blame the poor choice of relays instead. Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:42:00 -0400 The Mortal (Relay) Coil http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/the-mortal-relay-coil/240151583 Relays aren't (and shouldn't be) as ubiquitous as they once were, but there are still a few reasons you might need to put a relay in a modern circuit. Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:56:00 -0400 Relay Race http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/relay-race/240150962 New technologies may make older things less common, but sometimes the old things fill a niche that the new technologies can't replace. Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:22:00 -0400 Arms in the Clouds http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/arms-in-the-clouds/240150440 Would you use a cloud-based IDE? Sat, 09 Mar 2013 08:30:00 -0500 Serial Sockets http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/serial-sockets/240149514 It might be nice if you could treat a serial port like a network socket. Then you could use a wide range of tools to access it. Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:04:00 -0500 Write Once, Communicate… Nowhere? http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/write-once-communicate-nowhere/240149018 I can't decide if I love Java or hate it. Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:47:00 -0500 Marking Time http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/marking-time/240148309 The Arduino code I showed last time had an odd statement in it. Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:36:00 -0500 Non-Pavlovian Triggers http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/non-pavlovian-triggers/240147899 I've been playing with an inexpensive logic analyzer and some open source software to drive it lately. Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:32:00 -0500 Rocking with sigrok http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/rocking-with-sigrok/240147198 Last time, I talked about my inconvenient logic analyzers; this time, I'll tell you more about my quest for convenience. Mon, 28 Jan 2013 19:59:00 -0500 Logic Analyzers http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/logic-analyzers/240146756 I have always had a fascination with logic analyzers. I have bought and used many over the years. Tue, 22 Jan 2013 11:05:00 -0500 Cost of Non-Compliance http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/cost-of-non-compliance/240146346 I've mentioned how a former boss decided that it would save the company big bucks if we just required people not to make bugs in hardware and software. While it is hard to argue against that point, it is equally hard to figure out how you'd actually make that happen. Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:49:00 -0500 New Year's Resolution: No More Bugs http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/new-years-resolution-no-more-bugs/240145857 Someone once told me that my job (and all my colleagues) should be eventually eliminated because they were an unnecessary expense. Instead, he said, it would be cheaper to never have any failures. Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:39:00 -0500 Strong Arm Tactics http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/strong-arm-tactics/240145394 The end of the year is always a good time to catch up on major projects. This year I finally got around to working out how to program a particular ARM board from Linux. Fri, 28 Dec 2012 15:19:00 -0500 Two Bits, Four Bits, Thirty-Two Bits? http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/two-bits-four-bits-thirty-two-bits/240145172 Will you continue to use 8-bit CPUs in the next few years? What will it take for you to move over to 32-bit? Thu, 20 Dec 2012 18:12:00 -0500 Red-Headed Stepchild http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/red-headed-stepchild/240144486 I ported lwos (the lightweight OS I've been writing) to an NXP ARM chip and I couldn't help but think that Linux is the red-headed stepchild in this equation. Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:09:00 -0500 Shiny Object Syndrome http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/shiny-object-syndrome/240144165 I was going to talk more about lwos this time, but a shiny object appeared and so I want to say just one more thing regarding the Arduino build process. Tue, 11 Dec 2012 05:09:00 -0500 Total Eclipse of Arduino http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/total-eclipse-of-arduino/240143006 I'd like to say that I really like the Arduino. I'd like to say that, but I just can't. Sun, 02 Dec 2012 07:13:00 -0500 Shakedown Cruise http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/shakedown-cruise/240142615 The last few weeks I've been shaking down lwos, my lightweight operating system targeted for small computers. Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:21:00 -0500 Nesting OSs http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/nesting-oss/240142273 The preprocessor is a tool, and like any tool its power for misuse is proportional to its power for usefulness. Sat, 17 Nov 2012 09:54:00 -0500