Inside Electronics

The emergence of "Physical AI" requires a bridge between digital logic and the chaotic variables of the analog world. TDK's SensorGPT serves as this bridge by creating a feedback loop: synthetic data trains the initial model, and the limited real-world data subsequently gathered is used to refine the generative parameters.  Hear more about SensorGPT applications, capabilities and about its limitations and availability as Electronic Design Technology Editor Andy Turudic has a discussion with Abbas Ataya, Sr. Director of AI Systems & Software at TDK USA, in this edition of the Inside Electronics podcast. 

This episode of Inside Electronics, sponsored by DigiKey and Hammond Manufacturing, is a conversation about modified enclosures and how they can better meet design needs. Host Alex Paultre interviews Allyn Weilacher, Marketing Operations Specialist at Hammond. The discussion centers on why enclosures matter as the “body” of an electronic project, protecting components from weather, EMI/RFI, and harsh environments. They also cover customization choices such as cutouts, labels, internal hardware, materials, IP ratings, and support for grounding or board mounting. A major theme is the practical workflow: Customers can use Hammond or DigiKey tools, upload dimensioned drawings, review pricing, approve a sample, and then place production orders starting at 25 units. Alix and Allyn emphasize that the process is meant to be intuitive, transparent, and supported by direct engineering help when needed, with saved drawings making repeat orders or minor changes easy.

Consumer trust is a foundational element of any successful business, yet many companies don’t pay enough attention to tampering prevention in their products and systems.  A single case of tampering can trigger recalls, lawsuits, and lost customers, and negative press spreads quickly. Once trust is broken, rebuilding it is very difficult and expensive. In this podcast, we talk to Chris Morrison, VP of Product Marketing at Agile Analog, about the issues around tempering in electronic systems.

As demand for memory in AI servers continues to grow, suppliers are shifting focus. This is creating new challenges for the automotive industry. Longer lead times, tighter supply, and shifting product strategies are forcing automakers and suppliers to rethink how they plan and design systems, raising the risk of component shortages and costly redesigns. In this episode of Inside Electronics, host Alix Palture sits down with Jun Kawaguchi of Winbond who breaks down both the challenges and opportunities and how these market dynamics are impacting automotive memory as suppliers prioritize higher-value segments and reshape capacity across the semiconductor industry. This conversation also explores new memory demand for higher density and performance as vehicles evolve from L2 to L2+ and higher segments from L3 to L3+, as well as the emergence of ADAS in 2-wheeled products like scooters.

The use of chiplets to create advanced systems-on-chip (SoCs) can deliver cost-effective solutions with better performance and lower power consumption, compared to monolithic chips. However, without proper standards and regulations, variations in chipsets could lead to incompatibility issues that can stifle development. Recently, Arm introduced the Chiplet System Architecture (CSA), providing a set of partitioning and connectivity standards for chiplets to align the industry.  In this podcast we talk to Eddie Ramirez, VP of Infrastructure Business at Arm, about the chiplet ecosystem and the things the company is doing in the space. 

We sat down with Daan Kuitenbrouwer, Co-Founder at Delft Circuits, to talk about the company’s effort in that direction. Delft’s Cri/oFlex superconducting cables replace conventional wiring inside cryostats, delivering higher channel density, lower thermal load, and proven reliability at scale in quantum and cryogenic systems. 

Sometimes it seems that we are on the verge of adequately commercializing autonomous driving, and then it seems like it'll never happen. We talk about the application space and the technology required with Dr. Stefan Poledna, co-founder, CTO, and CEO of TTTech Auto.

AI and data center growth are putting unprecedented pressure on memory infrastructure, and the industry is feeling the effects. In this episode of Inside Electronics, host Alix Palture speaks with Brian Watson, Marketing Manager for Customized Memory Solutions at Winbond, about the challenges created by the rapid shift toward HBM and DDR5, the ongoing shortage of DDR4, and why legacy memory technologies remain essential for many real-world designs. Brian shares how Winbond helps customers bridge supply gaps, support long product lifecycles, and deliver performance through solutions like Cube architecture for applications that need bandwidth without the HBM price point. If you want a clear look at the memory pressures shaping AI, data centers, and the broader engineering landscape, this episode is for you.

With the advance of wide-bandgap power semiconductors in the marketplace, many are starting to feel that the time is getting short for silicon-based power electronics. However, the fundamental structure of the silicon power MOSFET remained largely unchanged, and there is still a window of opportunity to develop next-generation devices that can leverage the maturity and expertise of the silicon processing industry.  One such company, iDEAL Semiconductor, has redefined the legacy structure with its SuperQ advanced REduced SURface Field (RESURF) Silicon Power MOSFET architecture. 

Enterprise and Data Center SSD Form Factors (EDSFF) include E1 and E3 that have supplanted the conventional M.2 and 2.5-in form factors like U.2 in high end servers. M.2 slots are often found on motherboards but server removable drives are now dominated by EDSFF that support the latest PCI Express-based NVMe interfaces that provide massive throughput. In this episode, Sebastien Jean, Chief Technology Officer at Phison Electronics, about the history and evolution of drive form factors and how flash memory has changed the form factor design. 

For more than six decades, Cinch Connectivity Solutions has addressed the demanding requirements of applications such as space exploration, delivering reliable, cost-effective solutions by leveraging its global team of expert engineers, manufacturing, and sales support. Cinch Connectivity Solutions’ CIN::APSE provides high-reliability, high-performance solderless, high-density interconnects for board-to-board, flex-to-board, and component-to-board applications.

This episode of Inside Electronics explores how a “power renaissance” is reshaping electronic design, with capacitors playing a central role. Host Alix Paultre speaks with Eduardo Drehmer, VP of Product Marketing at TDK Electronics, about rising power demands from AI, data centers, and electric vehicles, and how this pushes efficiency, thermal management, and reliability to the forefront. Alix and Eduardo explain how multilayer ceramic, aluminum electrolytic, and film capacitors each evolve to manage higher voltages, large surge currents, and harsh automotive environments while maintaining long lifetimes. They also highlight TDK’s broad portfolio, from board-level MLCCs to capacitors used in fusion power projects and discuss how automotive reliability standards now influence industrial designs. The discussion closes on global manufacturing, supply stability, and safety challenges in EV batteries, with TDK and DigiKey partnering to make the latest capacitor technologies widely accessible.

The Greater Sacramento Economic Council (GSEC) recently spent time in Europe visiting various cities and attending major trade shows in Germany to build bridges and expand contacts in the electronics industry. In this podcast, we talk to Troels Adrian, EVP of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, about the council’s efforts as well as some of their success stories. 

This episode of Inside Electronics features Alix Paultre, Editor at Large for Electronic Design, and Dr. Hugo Guzman, Product Marketing Manager-Integrated Circuits at Littelfuse. Alix and Hugo discuss how smart solid-state relays (SSRs) are reshaping residential, commercial, and industrial building automation. As engineers pack more HVAC controls, access systems, smart thermostats, sensors, and wireless modules into existing infrastructure, they must meet tight EMC, EMI, safety, and form-factor constraints while often working without a dedicated C‑wire. Hugo contrasts legacy electromechanical relays—bulky, noisy, prone to contact wear, arcing, and limited lifetime—with SSR-based designs that offer silent operation, predictable switching behavior, and improved reliability in inductive-load environments. Hugo also explains how Littelfuse’s smart SSRs integrate application-specific intelligence, such as load-powered operation and latching for C‑wire–less smart thermostats (CPC1601M), minimizing quiescent current and extending battery life in retrofit designs. For video doorbells and access control, the CPC2501M adds controlled handling of chime inrush currents up to 5 A for a few milliseconds, while maintaining continuous power to both chime and camera from a compact QFN package. Throughout the episode, Alix and Hugo emphasize how these smart SSRs help designers achieve smaller, safer, and more energy-efficient building automation systems that comply with stringent 24/7 reliability and safety standards.

AI has been a powerful force in the embedded electronics industry, although it is still in its infancy. It has a great promise to automate systems in every facet of the industry, yet it isn’t a silver bullet (yet). In this episode, we talk to Rudy Sengupta, VP & General Manager of Emerson NI, about the company’s latest efforts in the space.

Axelera’s artificial intelligence processing unit is akin to the neural processing units (NPU) and are designed to handle AI inferencing while using very little power. Their quad core Metis AIPUs delivers 214 TOPs at under 4 W. It is available as a chip as well as on boards like their M.2 module. The company's latest Europa delivers up to 629 TOPs and can handle even more streams. Alexis Crowell, General Manager of Americas & Global CMO, talks about Axelera's Metis and Europa chips as well as their Voyager SDK.  

In this episode of the Inside Electronics podcast, we explore how modern industrial automation relies on robust, well designed power supplies to keep demanding systems running reliably. Host Alix Paultre, Editor-at-Large of Electronic Design, speaks with Mike Swenson, Marketing Manager for TRACO North America, about why industrial environments are among the toughest places for electronics, from electrical noise and extreme temperatures to vibration, dust, and moisture.  They explain how AC/DC supplies and DC/DC converters form a layered power architecture, delivering clean, stable power to controllers, sensors, and communication modules throughout connected factories. The conversation highlights key selection factors such as total power needs, peak load behavior, standards compliance, environmental protection, and mounting options like DIN rail, PCB, and chassis solutions. Alix and Mike also discuss testing for harsh conditions and the importance of high-reliability designs to minimize downtime and maintenance. The episode closes with a forward look at more efficient, compact, and intelligent power solutions enabling next generation automated systems.

For our 100th Inside Electronics podcast we decided to get some of the Electronic Design editors together to discuss a range of topics addressing technology trends in 2026. In this episode we touch on topics that the editors chose from processing hardware to power transistors. We hope you enjoy it. Stay tuned for more on Inside Electronics.  

Presented as the most compact 8-channel oscilloscope with MSO, generator, and a large (11.6-inch) display, the R&S MXO 3 Series puts a lot of functionality in a small package. In this episode, Alix Paultre and Rohde & Schwarz's Noha Ibrahim discusses the company's latest oscilloscope.

While at least a dozen companies offer excellent solutions to deliver the ultra-high currents required to power modern GPUs, Ferric developed a unique capability to integrate thin-film magnetic power inductors within their devices’ packages that eliminates the need for bulky external components. As a result, they can create chip-scale power converters that integrate interface, telemetry, feedback control, and powertrain circuitry. In this episode of Inside Electronics, Noah Sturken sits down with James Morra, senior editor at Electronic Design, to discuss what’s wrong with how AI processors are powered today and how he hopes to tackle technical challenges with Ferric’s IVRs. 

There are all kinds of virtual machines (VM) available and many are being employed in embedded applications. Platforms like the Java virtual machine (JVM) are used on servers and embedded applications with features like garbage collection. Unfortunately, these can have a lot of overhead making them less desirable for small, microcontroller-based systems. Rolf Segger, Founder of Segger Microcontroller Systems, talks about the company's new emApps virtual platform.  

The cloud and IoT are growing and expanding in complexity in a variety of ways as the core technologies behind the devices and related infrastructure evolve and mature. In this episode, we talk to Nebu Philips, Senior Director, Strategy & Business Development at Synaptics, about where we are and where we want to go with edge computing, AI, and the Cloud. 

IoT empowers intelligent machines to provide advanced functionality to society, but it isn’t easy to get there from here. Key aspects of development include the importance of creating tools that empower others, the role of the market ecosystems in driving adoption, and the challenges in the infrastructure needed to bring connected technologies to the market. We talk to Alistair Fulton, CEO of IoT Labs, about the future of the marketplace   

Industrial subsystems are distributed so communication between these subsystems needs to preserve this information and deliver it in a timely fashion. This is where time sensitive networking (TSN) comes into play. We talk to Mark Geisler, Marketing Manager at Analog Devices, about the future of TSN in plug-and-play industrial networks as well as the technical and organizational challenges that engineers face when incorporating TSN into their systems.  

The PCI-SIG PCI Express Gen 7 standard is now available but work has not stopped there. PCIe Gen 8 is on the horizon and with a planned doubling of the bandwidth to 256 GT/s. This will be challenging from a number of perspectives from support copper connections at this speed to advancements in the protocol.  

In this episode, Electronic Design talks to Karl Wachswender, Senior Principal System Architect at Lattice Semiconductor. Lattice is well known for its power efficient FPGAs that support artificial intelligence (AI) applications. They also address post-quantum cryptography, and are found in demanding applications like automotive. 

Nanusens creates nanoscale sensor structures inside the CMOS layers using standard CMOS processes within the same production flow as making the control electronics on the same chip. This approach reduces the size and cost as it benefits from the vast economies of scale of using giant CMOS fabs. The resulting single chip solution has a packaged size of 0.5 mm³. This episode delves into the technology, its future, and some limitations.

Christian Bornschein, Manager of Marketing & Sales at Port Industrial Automation, talks about how Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) is employed in industrial automation. We also discuss some real-world examples and how TSN enables simpler, more effective industrial control product development. 

RAID, redundant array of independent disks, uses redundancy to provide a more robust disk drive array capable of operation even with the loss of a drive. RAID 1 replicates data with a 50% overhead. RAID 5 and 6 are more common in larger arrays with less overhead as more drives are added to the mix but with a tradeoff in performance.   Mark Anthony, Product Line Manager at Microchip Technology, talks about the company's SmartRAID 4300 Series, which is designed to accelerate the operation of RAID arrays implemented build on NVMe drives.

AI workloads and other advanced computing applications continue to expand, pressuring the development community with the dual challenges of performance and manufacturability. Traditional SoCs are approaching their limits in terms of size, yield, and cost, and one solution lies in chiplet-based architectures. In this episode, we talk to Larry Zu, CEO at Sarcina Technology, and how the company is deploying interconnect to minimize signal crosstalk and enhance signal integrity.

Synaptics is well known for their touch technology, but they do a lot more including their new Astra SL2610 family of system-on-chip (SoC) that incorporates Google’s open source, Coral artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator. Synaptics’ Vikram Gupta talks about the Synaptics' continuing push for edge AI and how that is tied into their other offerings that touch on everything from wireless connectivity to biometrics.  

Wide-bandgap semiconductors like silicon carbide (SiC) have changed the landscape of electronics and have fomented a revolution in power conversion. In this podcast, we talk to Adam Barkley, VP, Power Technology Development at Wolfspeed, about the state of the industry in silicon carbide and where the industry is going.

We can simulate everything very exactly, but when it comes to that analog interface between the system and reality, you must be very careful because sometimes things don't behave in the analog realm the way they're predicted to. In this episode, we talk to Dermot O'Shea, CEO of Taoglas, about the state of the cloud and IoT and the challenges in developing products to operate well within it. 

The world of test and measurement is getting more complex and challenging in many ways. There are multiple factors impacting the T&M industry, from materials to new topologies to smaller form factors with even higher levels of integration and power density. In this episode, we talk to the CEO of Liquid Instruments, Daniel Shaddock, about the current situation in the test and measurement industry and the company’s software-defined test solutions.

Spiking neural networks (SNN), also known as neuromorphic computing, are one way to implement artificial intelligence/machine learning models. It has significant advantages over the more popular digital deep neural networks (DNN) like convolutional neural networks (CNN), including very low power operation.   Innatera’s CEO, Sumeet Kumar, taks about how the company's new, ultra low power microcontroller can provide always-on (AON) SNN support in battery power- or energy harvesting-based applications.

Siemens provides a wide range of design tools for developing hardware and software including ones targeted at software defined vehicles (SDVs). In this episode, David Fritz, Vice President of Hybrid and Virtual Systems at Siemens, talks about SDV and the need for advanced tools and simulation support to meet the safety requirements while providing the functionality of higher SAE levels.

Piezoelectric-based MEMS have been used for sensors, but they can also be used as actuators to do things like move air and fluids. One thing that can be done is to implement a tiny speaker using this technology.   In this episode, xMEMS Labs’ Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Mike Housholder, talks about his company's device. You can also watch the demos in our video, Making MEMS Move Air and Fluids for Fun and Cooling.

This is the first of a series of Inside Electronic podcasts addressing time sensitive networking (TSN). TSN is a set of IEEE 802.1 standards managed by the TSN Task Group. In this episode, Dave Cavalcanti, Principal Engineer at the Edge Computing Group at Intel and President of Avnu Alliance. He talks about TSN in general as well as important issues like interoperability that this common standard provides.  

Supporting artificial intelligence's (AI) insatiable need for compute and storage is why SNIA put together the Storage.AI project. This webinar introduces the project's goals and the standards it will encompass.  Storage.AI will help deliver efficient data services related to AI workloads. How AI workloads utilize storage impacts cost, power, and performance. This discussion touches on the urgent problems in data services, especially around how storage interacts with compute.

The plethora of smart, connected devices has created a variety of new opportunities for how we work, live, and interact, but has also introduced data privacy and security risks. Security has been an issue in society ever since people had things of value to protect, and finally, most people now recognize the critical need for safety in the Internet and cybersecurity. In this episode, we talk to Denis Noël, Director & Head of Product Marketing, Secure Connected Edge, NXP, about security in the Cloud and IoT.

Our wireless world is an integral part of life today, with almost every powered device being made now smarter and more connected than ever before. However, for all the amazing functionality provided by these advanced embedded systems and software, without the right antenna, nothing works well, if at all. In this episode, we talk to Aitor Moreno, Cloud Product Manager at Ignion, about advanced antenna design and tools. 

There are many things in our lives that we have created that are important to our very ability to function as a society, and vehicles are among those things. The invention of the car literally changed society almost overnight, and every advance in society since has manifested itself in the automotive world, from the radio to the tape deck to satellite navigation to the Cloud and IoT. In this episode, we talk to Suraj Gajendra, Vice President - Products & Software Solutions. Automotive Business at Arm, about the trends and technologies driving the development of automotive systems today.

Electronic Design's William Wong talks with Renesas’ Vice President and Head of Customer Success and Digital Industries at Renesas about their new web-based, hardware/software design tool, Renesas 365.   Renesas 365 is designed to link different design groups as systems develop from a functional model to hardware to software that runs on the system. It provides the scaffolding to quickly design and build a system including support for hardware development platforms that incorporate Renesas silicon.  

Our society is continuing to adopt more connectivity in products and solutions, and these systems are expanding the Cloud and IoT in leaps and bounds. Edge computing, created to address bandwidth and latency issues in Cloud-based systems, is rapidly being enhanced by the addition of AI. In this episode, we talk to Axel Stoermann, Chief Technology Officer & VP at KIOXIA Europe, about his observations of the industry. 

The electronic design industry is always in a pattern of development and re-development as it forges into the future. But what about the communities involved? There are two sides to that story: the customers in the community, who use the products and services created, and the municipalities and governments looking for investment and development. In this episode, we talk to Don Cunningham, President and CEO of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, about the challenges and opportunities communities face in an evolving industrial environment. 

Our connected and intelligent world is based on advanced embedded systems that are in a state of disruptive evolution and upward migration. In this podcast, we sit down with Jim Beneke, who is with Tria, an Avnet company. Tria develops embedded compute solutions and was formerly MSC Technologies.

The Robot Operating System (ROS) is middleware that can be used for almost any type of robotic platform including self-driving cars. ROS is an open-source system hosted at ROS.org. It runs a top conventional operating systems like Linux and Windows and has been used in many robotic applications.   In this episode of Inside Electronics, we talk with Jan Becker, CEO at Apex.ai, about ROS and how it is being used in automotive applications including issues related to certification.  

Today’s cloud is a polylingual, multi-spectral, multiple-methodology ecosystem, meaning that devices must become more intelligent to encompass it and operate in an optimal fashion. Today, one must have a wireless strategy for Wi-Fi, public cellular, private cellular, and IoT wireless backhaul. Companies like Nextivity offer solutions that enable wireless functionality for voice and data, with systems that are network safe and have a no-noise guarantee.

Residential energy storage is undergoing rapid innovation, driven by the need for efficient solar energy utilization and dynamic grid participation. Texas Instruments' Henrik Magnesson emphasizes that as feed-in tariffs decline and market-driven energy pricing becomes prevalent, homeowners will increasingly turn to battery energy storage systems (ESS) to store excess solar generation for use during peak demand, to charge EVs, or to exploit profitable energy arbitrage opportunities. Click here to listen to Part 1 of this chat.

This first, of a two part series, Inside Electronics podcast, guest-hosted by technology editor Andy Turudic of Electronic Design, features Henrik Mannesson, General Manager of Grid Infrastructure and Power Delivery Industrial Systems at Texas Instruments (TI), discussing the evolving landscape of energy infrastructure with a focus on the pivotal role of semiconductors in the renewable energy transition.