issue 99 - Embedded systems newsletter

Embedded systems #99

This week, once again, we had been well served by all the doers/writers who both do fantastic projects and as well write articles to share their results with us. Thank you very much! Please, continue to share with us. On our side, we will do our best to have the community discover your work.

Thank you to Ryan Ringo for the header’s picture .

Happy reading!

Articles

Abusing RPi GPIO pins as a radio controller
Before this article I would never think possible to emit RF by toggling the proper way a GPIO connected to only a low-pass filter and an antenna. Fascinating…

Reversing 2.4GHz remote control
One would say this issue all about RF. Well, I can tell you it’s random. Anyway, you should give this article a read. You will probably be as surprised than me by the two-way communication between the car and the remote control.

How to Estimate Your Embedded IoT Device Power Consumption
This article presents a methodology to do the estimation and then how to apply it on an example. First, functioning in continuous operation (everything on, all the time). Second, functioning in multi-mode (components are on, only when they are effectively used)

A little fixed point math for embedded audio
In Rust, the author uses an i16 look up table of 256 entries to generate an audio wave. From his CPU load analysis, he saw a load reduction of 20% when moving from an implementation with the micromath crate to the implementation with the look up table.

You (Probably) Shouldn’t use a Lookup Table
I found very interesting to share this article side by side with the one just above. It explains how to take into account the negative effect of look up table on processors cache.

An FPGA Flies on Mars
How NASA managed to make a helicopter (rotorcraft) flies autonomously in the thin Atmosphere of Mars?

RISC vs CISC Microprocessor Philosophy in 2022
This article tries to explain that the fundamental difference between RISC and CISC processors nowadays is actually how transistors are used to design them.

TLStorm 2 – NanoSSL TLS library misuse leads to vulnerabilities in common switches
When a vulnerability is discovered in a widely used library it leads to huge impacts like the ones describe here. But, is there a better approach then to rely on well made third party libraries to provide features that are not the core competencies of your company? Should TLS communication be instead considered as a core competency of a company providing switches? If yes, does it still make sense, economically speaking, to design switches? What is your opinion on that?

Jobs

PhysioLogic Devices , Software and/or firmware test engineer, Full-time, Portland, OR (Full remote)
At PhysioLogic Devices, we are committed to transforming the treatment of insulin requiring diabetes. Our technology automatically controls glucose through a state-of-the-art implantable insulin pump paired with a glucose sensor.

Education / Community

Bowden’s Hobby Circuits
A small collection of electronic circuits for the hobbyist or student.

Misc

Z80 Special Reset
Did you know this gem about the Z80? It has two types of reset!