Inside an unusual 7400-series chip implemented with a gate array

When I look inside a chip from the popular 7400 series, I know what to expect: a fairly simple die, implemented in a straightforward, cost-effective way. However, when I looked inside a military-grade chip built by Integrated Device Technology (IDT)4 I found a very unexpected layout: over 1500 transistors in an orderly matrix. Even stranger, most of the die is wasted: less than 20% of these transistors are used, forming scattered circuits connected by thin metal wires.

In this blog post, I look at this chip in detail, describe its gates, and explain how it implements the "1-of-4" decoder function. I also discuss why it sometimes...

KLayout and the Sky130 PDK

KLayout and Sky130: Inverter

I have created a small example of how to use KLayout for the layout of a simple inverter and run DRC and LVS for Sky130 in the hopes that it helps others on a similar journey.

You can find the repository with all files and a description in the klayout-sky130-inverter repository.

There are still some issues with the KLayout technology files so make sure to read the workarounds!

Good Luck 😉️

March Update: Making waves

Long awaited community update is here! Introducing PineVox and bone conduction headset (help us find a name!), IronOS progress, PineNote insights, and PineTime news! We also cover cluster failure, state of services, and the future of the community updates. See you in the upcoming Q&A!

Die optimale Haussicherung zum Schutz vor Einbrechern – was ist erforderlich?

Die optimale Haussicherung Die Polizei hat alle Hände voll zu tun, denn alle drei Minuten wird in Deutschland in ein Haus oder eine Wohnung eingebrochen. Während den Hausbesitzern in früheren Zeiten nicht viele Sicherheitsmassnahmen zur Verfügung standen, so ist es heute einfacher geworden, entsprechend aufzurüsten, um den Einbrechern das Leben so schwer wie möglich zu […]

Der Beitrag Die optimale Haussicherung zum Schutz vor Einbrechern – was ist erforderlich? erschien zuerst auf RFID | Allgemeine Information | Risiken & Schutzmöglichkeiten.

SDR приемник GPS на микроконтроллере

В этой статье я расскажу о том, как я делал самодельный SDR GPS приемник на микроконтроллере. SDR в данном случае означает, что приемник не содержит готовых GPS-модулей или специализированных микросхем для обработки GPS сигналов - вся обработка "сырых" данных (от АЦП) выполняется в реальном времени на микроконтроллере (STM32 или ESP32).
Зачем я это сделал — просто Just for fun, плюс - получение опыта.

Cynthion Has Passed EMC and Tycho Has Shipped to Our Manufacturer

Note: This is a crosspost of a Cynthion update on Crowd Supply: https://www.crowdsupply.com/great-scott-gadgets/cynthion/updates/cynthion-has-passed-emc-and-tycho-has-shipped-to-our-manufacturer

The title says it all! Cynthion has passed EMC testing which means it is ready for manufacturing and Tycho, our Cynthion-testing quality assurance rig, has been shipped to our manufacturer. Our next steps are to work closely with our manufacturer to create final product samples, ensure the QA process is achieving the results we expect at factory level, and receive the final product samples and test them in-house here at Great Scott Gadgets. We’ll have more for you soon!

Подключение NeboAir к Home Assistant через MQTT

Интеграция не самая приятная тема для пользователя, который начала путь с Home Assistant (это я). В нашем датчике мы сделали возможность подключения через MQTT и я решил пошагово пройти этот путь сам.

Book Review: Supercollider for the Creative Musician

A review of the book Supercollider for the Creative Musician written by composer and professor Eli Fieldsteel.

The post Book Review: Supercollider for the Creative Musician appeared first on Music Hackspace.

Как моя маленькая комната в Германии стала сборочным цехом для стартапа

История моего пути началась в Сибири, где мы с друзьями запустили сайт для мониторинга качества воздуха, собрали вокруг этой идеи дружное сообщество и разработали свой маленький девайс. Однако обстоятельства вынудили меня оставить родину и начать все заново в Германии.

NVME is so much more complicated than I expected

3 consecutive disk failures in 3 months. Silicon Power SSDs forgetting data and a Western Digital SSD that locks up under random reads. Number 3 was resurrected through a process akin to changing it from metric to imperial.