Harvesting wasted thermal energy can power sensor and monitoring systems in an energy-efficient way. In this article from ES Design magazine, Sally Ward-Foxton speaks to thermoelectric generator company Nextreme about the technology’s potential.

Sensors are becoming more prolific as the Internet of Things seeks to connect machines and other inanimate objects with the internet, but the supporting technologies are just as important, as Sally Ward-Foxton finds out in this article from ES Design magazine.

With software now viewed as the differentiating factor for many new developments, running on what is increasingly thought of as ‘commoditised’ hardware, the industry is now looking closer at ways to abstract the hardware features needed for early software optimisation, as ES Design magazine Editor Philip Ling discovers.

A new movement in the US is seeking to bring back DC power distribution at the building level, which can help reduce power losses. Sally Ward-Foxton discovers more in this interesting article from ES Design magazine.

With the proliferation of connectivity, consumers are being encouraged and enabled to implement their own security measures to protect the things they love most, as ES Design Magazine Editor Philip Ling discovers.

Couldn’t get to Nuremberg in time for this spring’s PCIM (power control, intelligent motion) exhibition? Here’s a digested summary of the most compelling new products and other interesting developments from the show. Sally Ward-Foxton rounds up the most interesting MOSFETs, excellent IGBTs and the best of the rest from PCIM 2013.

Broadly speaking, FPGAs are designed for either ‘high-performance’ applications or ‘everything else’ and as a result most FPGA vendors compete in the ‘everything else’ category. ES Design Magazine Editor, Philip Ling takes a look behind the latest announcements to see if we can expect a redistribution of wealth.

As industrial automation systems become more complex, Sally Ward-Foxton asks how do we make sure that all the machines can talk to each other in a secure and reliable way?

An artefact of the digital domain is that it invariably relies on an analogue interface. This inconvenient truth means the need for analogue design skills have yet to disappear completely, however the continued efforts of leading semiconductor providers are addressing this, as ES Design Magazine Editor Philip Ling explains.

As the embedded world increasingly explores mobile applications, the need to incorporate the higher performance interconnect of PCI Express has become apparent. Therefore, in February, the PCI/104 Consortium approved the PCI/104-Express and PCIe/104 specification revision which supports PCI Express Generation 2 and Generation 3. Caroline Hayes finds out what options this opens up for developers in this ES Design magazine article.

An innovative technique for driving LEDs could expand their appeal and energy-saving potential, as Electronic Specifier's own Sally Ward-Foxton discovered when exploring the latest dimming solutions in greater detail for ES Design magazine.

Safety, security and ultra-low power were the overriding themes of this year’s Embedded World Exhibition and Conference, which took place to great success between February 25th to 27th in Nürnberg, Germany. Philip Ling reports for ES Design magazine.

What are the embedded memory options when your application is high rel? Vanessa Knivett investigates in this article from ES Design magazine.

How do sensitive electronic devices survive the increasingly hostile environments experienced by downhole drilling equipment? Sally Ward-Foxton investigates in this article from ES Design magazine.

The breadth of applications now covered by 32bit devices means IDMs are extending their reach in both directions, to make sure all use-cases are covered, as Philip Ling, Editor of ES Design magazine discovers.

More and more manufacturers are adopting digital control wrapped up in an analogue process, in an effort to provide greater accuracy without increasing the cost of power conversion. Electronic Specifier Design magazine Editor Philip Ling discovers more in this article.

Enpirion has made bold claims about its power inductor-on-silicon substrate technology, most notably that its newly released devices are the world’s lowest cost power system-on-chip DC-DC converters. Sally Ward-Foxton of ES Design magazine spoke to Dr. Trifon Liakopoulos, Director of MEMS Technology at Enpirion, in order to get the inside track on Enpirion’s technology; wafer level magnetics (WLM).

MEMS technology has been around for some time now and it continues to hover on the periphery of main-stream semiconductor technology. However, some believe monolithic integration is getting nearer, as Philip Ling discovers.

Gallium Arsenide is the industry’s most efficient photovoltaic material, the trouble is it’s so expensive — or is it? Philip Ling talks to a company that believes it can deliver more efficient solar cells at a price that will generate world wide demand.

Microcontrollers are historically the workhorse of embedded systems and it’s not uncommon for a single system to feature multiple devices. But is this a good enough reason to adopt a multicore approach? And if it is, what architecture do you choose? ES Design Magazine Editor Philip Ling investigates one possible solution.