Hardware Podcasts

Six Words That Built the IC Industry | Unhacking the 2020 Election | Epic Leadership in an Epidemic

EE Times Current · 3 Apr 2020 · 43m

What this episode covers

Industry legend Steve Hofstein recounts how he and Fred Hyman at RCA solved the surface state problem in MOS transistors using hydrogen annealing, a breakthrough that enabled the integrated circuit industry. Hofstein describes a pivotal exchange with Andy Grove in a Las Vegas pool where Grove identified sodium contamination as the remaining instability issue, allowing RCA to share its process with Intel without violating licensing agreements. The episode also covers the vulnerability of U.S. electronic voting systems and the push for paper ballots, alongside commentary on leadership during the pandemic.

Most relevant to

large enterprises

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
RCA, Intel, Fairchild, Bell Laboratories, Texas Instruments
Products
Pentium, Twitter
Also
Three Mile Island

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 06m

    Steve Sanghi - Microchip CEO for 31 Years!

    Steve Sanghi, who served as CEO of Microchip Technology for 31 years and is now Executive Chair, explains how he transformed the company from a losing EEPROM maker into a $43 billion microcontroller juggernaut by introducing field-programmable PIC parts. He details the strategic shift to trailing-edge technology, the complex supply chain dynamics during the COVID-19 crisis, and the decision to leverage government CHIPS Act funding for existing fabs rather than building a new 300mm facility. Sanghi also discusses the acquisition of Atmel, the rationale behind maintaining proprietary toolchains, and the company's dominance in radiation-hardened aerospace components.

    Chips, FPGAs & semiconductorsSourcing & supply chain
    8 chapters

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 08m

    Histogrammic or Histomagraphical

    Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss the semiconductor industry, noting Texas Instruments' decision to build new fabs in the US to leverage government funding, and the regulatory blockage of the NVIDIA-Arm acquisition. They explore computer history, referencing Douglas Engelbart's 1968 'Mother of All Demos' and the book 'Dealers of Lightning' about Xerox PARC. The conversation shifts to sourcing components from the Chinese ecosystem, specifically discussing Arrow Semi (Juanjia) and the risks of using their parts versus established brands like Analog Devices. Finally, Jones details troubleshooting a Keithley 2400 Source Measure Unit that was resetting due to a flaky CMOS backup battery, while also discussing the phenomenon of tin whiskers in electronics.

    Chips, FPGAs & semiconductorsSourcing & supply chain
    7 chapters

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 01m

    Our First Call In Show

    Hosts Dave Jones and Chris Gammell attempt their first call-in show, fielding questions from listeners on electronics design and ethics. They advise a caller on protecting low-level analog sensors from high-voltage induction in substations, troubleshoot I2C bus issues for a rocket stabilization prototype, and discuss the ethics of responsible disclosure for hardware security vulnerabilities with former guest Brandon Harris. The episode concludes with a discussion on the future of through-hole components for education and the challenges of judging the Hackaday Prize.

    Debugging & failure analysisSensors & measurement in products
    6 chapters

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 17m

    No One Even Missed Us?

    Chris Gammell of Contextual Electronics and Dave Jones of EEV Blog discuss the recent Superconference, highlighting the innovative badge mods and the influence of media like Mythbusters on STEM education. They detail Dave's struggles setting up a live streaming bench, specifically dealing with HDMI capture issues and monitor scaling problems, before analyzing the consolidation in the semiconductor industry, including the On Semiconductor acquisition of Fairchild and the decline of legacy brands like Dialog and Intersil. The conversation concludes with a critique of the Prometheus PCB milling machine Kickstarter for its redundant custom CAD tool and a discussion on the future of embedded programming languages like Go and Rust.

    PCB design & layoutChips, FPGAs & semiconductors
    8 chapters

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 05m

    Intel, EPA & Brown Field - Google's Ground Gurgitation

    Hosts Chris Gammell and Dave Jones discuss the environmental legacy of Silicon Valley's semiconductor history, specifically Google's acquisition of a brownfield site formerly occupied by Intel fabs. They explore the concept of 'disruptive innovation' through Clayton Christensen's work, explaining how Intel created the Celeron processor to counter low-cost competitors like AMD and Cyrix. The conversation also covers the Koenigsegg hypercar's in-house hardware/software development, the shift in US patent law to 'first-to-file', and Dave Jones's ongoing power supply design project.

    Intellectual propertyPCB design & layout
    8 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by EE Times Current. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.