Thermions Aren't A Thing
Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss the technical challenges of implementing Bluetooth bootloading with Nordic parts, noting the significant memory overhead and the difficulties of using Bluetooth LE for serial communication compared to standard Bluetooth. They introduce 'thermal jumpers' from Vishay and ATC as a new solution for thermally conducting heat from isolated SMD components to ground planes without electrical connection. The hosts also review SparkFun's 'A La Carte' automated PCB design service, AMD's acquisition of Xilinx, and the industry consolidation of FPGA and microcontroller brands like Intel and Microchip.