Feed aggregator

This engineer was curious to figure out why the Bluetooth tracker for his keys had abruptly gone deceased. Then he remembered a few-year-back mishap…

My various Tile trackers—a Mate attached to my keychain (along with several others hidden in vehicles)—and a Slim in my wallet, have “saved my bacon” multiple times over my years of using them, in helping me locate misplaced important items.

But they’ve been irritants as well, specifically in relation to the activation buttons and speakers built into them. Press the button, and the device loudly plays a little ditty…by default, it also rings whatever smartphone(s) it’s currently paired with. All of which is OK, I guess, as long as pressing the button was an intentional action.

However, when the keychain and/or wallet are in my pockets, the buttons sometimes also get pressed, as well…by keys or other objects in my front pocket, credit cards in my wallet, or sometimes just my body in combination with the pants or shorts fabric. That this often happens often when I’m unable to easily silence the din (while I’m driving, for example) or at an awkward moment (while I’m in the midst of a conversation, for example), is…like I said, irritating.

Silence isn’t always blessed

I eventually figured out how to disable the “Find Your Phone” feature, since I have other ways of determining a misplaced mobile device’s location. So my smartphone doesn’t incessantly ring any more, at least. But the tracker’s own ringtone can’t be disabled, as far as I can tell. And none of the other available options for it are any less annoying than the “Bionic Birdie” default (IMHO):

 

That said, as it turns out, the random activations have at least one unforeseen upside. I realized a while back that I hadn’t heard the tune unintentionally coming from the Tile Mate on my keychain in a while. After an initial sigh of relief, I realized that this likely meant something was wrong. Indeed, in checking the app I saw that the Tile Mate was no longer found.

My first thought (reasonable, I hope you’ll agree) was that I had a dead CR1632 battery on my hands. But to the best of my recollection, I hadn’t gotten the preparatory “low battery” notification beforehand. Indeed, when I pulled the coin cell out of the device and connected it to my multimeter’s leads, it still read a reasonable approximation of the original 3V level. And in fact, when I then dropped the battery into another Tile Mate, it worked fine.

A rough-and-tumble past

So, something inside the tracker had presumably died instead. I’d actually tore down a same-model-year (2020) Tile Mate several years back, that one brand new, so I thought it’d be fun to take this one apart, too, to see if I could discern the failure mechanism via a visual comparison to the earlier device.

At this point, I need to confess to a bout of apparent “senioritis”. This latest Tile Mate teardown candidate has been sitting on my bookshelf, queued up for attention for a number of months now. But it wasn’t until I grabbed it a couple of days ago, in preparation for the dissection, that I remembered/realized what had probably initiated its eventual demise.

Nearly four years back, I documented this very same Tile Mate’s inadvertent travel through the bowels of my snowblower, along with its subsequent ejection and deposit in a pile of moist snow and overnight slumber outside and to the side of my driveway. The Tile Mate had seemingly survived intact, as did my keys. My Volvo fob, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky…

Fast-forward to today, and the Tile Mate (as usual, and as with successive photos, accompanied by a 0.75″/19.1 mm diameter U.S. penny for size comparison purposes) still looks reasonably robust, at least from the front:

Compromised environmental barriers

Turn it around, on the other hand…see that chip in the case above the battery compartment lid? I’d admittedly not noticed that now-missing piece of plastic before:

Arguably, at least theoretically, the lid’s flipside gasket should still preclude moisture intrusion:

But as I started to separate the two case halves:

I also noticed cracks at both battery compartment ends:

Again, they’re limited to the battery area, not intruding into the glue-reinforced main inner compartment where the PCB is located. But still…

And what’s with that additional sliver of grey plastic that got ejected during the separation?

As you may have already figured out, it originated at the keyring “hole”:

After it initially cracked (again, presumably as a result of the early-2022 snowblower debacle) it remained in place, since the two case halves were still attached. But the resultant fracture provided yet another environmental moisture/dirt/etc. intrusion point, albeit once again still seemingly counteracted by the internal glue barrier (perhaps explaining why it impressively kept working for four more years).

Here’s a reenactment of what the tracker would have looked like if the piece had completely fallen out back then:

See, it fits perfectly!

Non-obvious defects (at least to my eyes)

Here’s what this device’s PCB topside looks like, flush with test points:

Compared to its brand-new, same-model-year predecessor, I tore down nearly five years ago:

Same goes for this device’s PCB underside, notably showcasing the Nordic Semiconductor nRF52810 Bluetooth 5.2/BLE control SoC, based on an Arm Cortex-M4, and the associated PCB-embedded antenna along one corner:

versus the pristine one I’d dissected previously:

I don’t see a blatant failure point. Do you? I’m therefore guessing that moisture eventually worked its way inside and invisibly did its damage to a component (or few). As always, I welcome your theories (and/or other thoughts) in the comments!

—Brian Dipert is the Principal at Sierra Media and a former technical editor at EDN Magazine, where he still regularly contributes as a freelancer.

Related Content

• Teardown: Tile Mate Bluetooth tracker relies on software
• Examining an environmental antonym: Tile’s Slim
• This wearable Bluetooth device can be your personal radiation tracker
• Revolutionizing Tracking with LoRaWAN Technology

The post A hard-life Tile Mate goes under the knife appeared first on EDN.

For its fiscal third-quarter 2026 (ended 27 December 2025), Qorvo Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA (which provides core technologies and RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and defense applications) has reported revenue of $993m, down 6.2% on $1058.5m last quarter but up 8.4% on $916.3m a year ago, and above the mid-point of the guidance range of $985m±$50m...

India is hosting the AI Impact Summit 2026 under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, this month from February 16-20. The Summit has received a phenomenal response from across the world, and is shaping up to be the biggest such event so far globally, said Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday.

The summit week will feature around 500 curated events across Bharat Mandapam and Sushma Swaraj Bhawan. The AI Impact Expo will host over 840 exhibitors, including country pavilions, Ministries, State governments, industry, start-ups, and research institutions, showcasing AI solutions with proven real-world impact.

The conference has confirmed the participation of 15 Heads of State Government, more than 40 Ministers, over 100 leading CEOs and CXOs, and more than 100 eminent academics. Industry partners, including Jio, Qualcomm, OpenAI, Nvidia, Google, Microsoft, Adobe, and the Gates Foundation, are expected to participate in the event.

The Minister also informed that leading IT companies had developed over 200 focused and sector-specific AI models, expected to be launched during the upcoming summit. With investments worth nearly $70 billion already flowing into the AI infrastructure layer, the potential to double it by the conclusion of the event is exponential, he added. The AI talent pool is expected to be scaled up by extending infrastructure and industry-finalised curricula to 500 universities.

Budget Highlights for the AI Sector

Additionally, the government has proposed to focus on developing the AI landscape in India with specific provisions in the Union Budget 2026-27. As the focus shifts to building the digital infrastructure, the government has proposed an additional investment of USD 90 billion, specifically for the AI Data Centres and further encouraged long-term investments by proposing a tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies providing cloud services to customers globally using data centre services from India. Such companies will provide services to Indian customers through an Indian reseller entity. Simultaneously, a safe harbour of 15 per cent on cost has also been proposed where the data centre service provider in India is a related entity.

The government has proposed several domains for AI integration in the Indian landscape: –

• Governance: Serving as a force multiplier for improved public service delivery.
• Supporting new technologies: Adopting new technologies in various sectors through the AI Mission and National Quantum Mission.
• Labour market analysis: Assessing the impact of emerging tech such as AI on job roles and skill requirements.
• Bharat-VISTAAR: A new multilingual AI tool designed for broader linguistic accessibility.
• Agriculture: Integration with AgriStack portals and ICAR agricultural practice packages.
• Healthcare & accessibility: R&D and integration into assistive devices for People with Disabilities manufactured by Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO).
• Customs & security: Expanding non-intrusive scanning and advanced imaging for risk assessment.
• Education: Embedding AI modules directly into the national education curriculum from school level onwards and for teacher training.
• Professional development: Upskilling and reskilling programs for engineers and tech professionals.
• Employment matching: AI-enabled platforms to connect workers with jobs and training opportunities.

India’s AI Landscape

Since 2020, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) start-up ecosystem in India has experienced rapid growth, with over 150 native AI start-ups having raised over $1.5 billion in funding as of September 2025.

As of early 2026, there are over 1,900 total AI companies in India, with 555 being funded. AI start-ups have touched several industries to provide a technically advanced perspective to the workings in the industry, from healthcare, agriculture, Aerospace & Defence, navigation, to education, manufacturing, banking, and E-commerce. Some notable start-ups include Sarvam AI, Krutrim, Observe.AI, Avaamo, Nanonets, and Atomicwork in the sector.

Global giants like IBM, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia have established or expanded their R&D centres, engineering hubs, and regional offices in India to leverage the country’s vast tech talent pool and rapidly expanding digital economy. Domestic players like Perplexity has partners with telecom giants like Airtel to expand their reach. Simultaneously, Anthropic, the AI start-up backed by Google and Amazon, plans to open its first Indian office in Bengaluru in early 2026, focusing on AI tools and tapping into the local developer ecosystem.

Future of AI in India

The AI market is projected to reach $126 billion by 2030, with a long-term contribution of $1.7 trillion to India’s GDP by 2035.

These developments, coupled with the government’s initiative to boost the sector and focus on “Sovereign AI” to reduce dependency on foreign technology and build custom chips within 3-5 years, can position India as a formidable force in the sector of Artificial Intelligence globally, while the country already ranks third globally in AI competitiveness.

By: Shreya Bansal, Sub-Editor

The post Future-Proofing Bharat: India’s Multi-Billion Dollar AI Strategy Revealed appeared first on ELE Times.

The Union Budget 2026-27 outlines the continuation of India’s deep commitment to the domestic semiconductor ecosystem, aiming to promote it to new heights. Union Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, in the Union Budget 2026-27, announces the launch of India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 (ISM 2.0).  It will be a continuation of the earlier ISM 1.0 with a realigned goal to produce equipment and materials, design full-stack India IP, and solidify supply chains, a milestone for the technology sector. ‘This time the mission carries a broad mandate to enable the next level of India’s electronic stride into products and more IPs, precisely. 

“ISM 1.0 expanded India’s semiconductor sector capabilities. Building on this, we will launch ISM 2.0 to produce equipment and materials, design full‑stack Indian IP, and fortify supply chains. We will also focus on industry‑led research and training centres to develop technology and a skilled workforce,” she said.

Upgrading India’s Semiconductor Ecosystem 

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Railways, Electronics and Information Technology, said that the Budget has announced the launch of India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0, building upon the strong foundation created under ISM 1.0, which established a completely new and foundational semiconductor industry in India.

ISM 2.0 will focus on designing and manufacturing semiconductor equipment in India, manufacturing of materials used in semiconductor production, creation of a large design ecosystem, and further strengthening of talent development initiatives. A provision of Rs. 1,000 crore has been made for ISM 2.0 for FY 2026-27.

Support for Fabless Startups 

The mission launch finds mention in the Budget 2026-27 with a fresh outlay of ₹1,000 crore allocation in the BE fiscal 2027. Vaishnaw said recently that the government plans to support at least 50 fabless chip companies in ISM 2.0 by scaling up the Design Linked Incentive Scheme, with the long-term goal of producing “one AMD” and “one Qualcomm” from India.

“The Union Budget 2026–27 charts a decisive course for India’s evolution into a global technology leader. The enhanced capital outlay of ₹12.2 lakh crore and the launch of the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 reaffirm the government’s commitment to deep-tech indigenization,” says Mr. Meenu Singhal, Regional Managing Director, Socomec Innovative Power Solutions. 

Talking about the budget Mr Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, ICEA, says, “Budget 2026–27 reinforces the government’s commitment to manufacturing-led growth, particularly in electronics and semiconductors, through continuity, scale, and targeted reforms. Measures such as the expansion of ECMS, support for ISM 2.0, and long-term incentives for cloud and data infrastructure send a strong signal of strategic intent and policy stability. 

The post Budget 2026-27: India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 Announced to Boost 3 nm & 2 nm technology nodes in India appeared first on ELE Times.

Caliber Interconnects Private Ltd., a leading Indian engineering and deep-tech solutions company, today announced that its electric vehicle (EV) charging portfolio has been awarded ARAI certification, marking a significant milestone in the company’s journey to deliver reliable, safe, and future-ready charging infrastructure for India’s rapidly evolving mobility ecosystem.

The certification from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) validates Caliber’s adherence to stringent national standards for safety, performance, and environmental compliance—benchmarks critical to the Indian automotive and EV industries.

“This milestone goes far beyond a certificate—it’s a clear signal of our engineering depth and long-term commitment to India’s EV future,” said Suresh Babu, Founder & CEO, Caliber Interconnects.  “ARAI certification reinforces our belief that India deserves globally competitive EV charging solutions that are designed, manufactured, and supported locally. At Caliber, we are building high-performance charging systems that the ecosystem can depend on—not just today, but for the decade ahead.”

A Comprehensive, ARAI-Certified EV Charging Portfolio

Caliber Interconnects offers one of the industry’s most versatile EV charging portfolios, addressing residential, commercial, fleet, and public charging needs:

• AC Chargers: 3.3 kW | 7.4 kW | 22 kW
• Hybrid Chargers: 30 kW DC + 22 kW AC
• DC Fast Chargers: 30 kW | 60 kW | 120 kW | 240 kW
• Two-Wheeler DC Chargers: 3 kW | 6 kW

All chargers are powered by Cogency, Caliber’s intelligent smart-charging platform engineered for real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and optimized charger performance.

Intelligent, Scalable, and Standards-Compliant

Cogency is OCPP 1.6 and 2.0.1 compliant and supports both Android and iOS, enabling seamless system integration, remote management, and scalable deployments across diverse charging networks. The platform is designed to meet the operational demands of utilities, charge point operators, OEMs, and infrastructure developers.

With ARAI certification, Caliber’s EV chargers meet the highest standards expected by India’s automotive industry—ensuring safety, durability, and environmental responsibility across operating conditions.

Designed in India. Built for Scale.

At a time when the market is saturated with imported EV chargers, Caliber Interconnects is championing locally manufactured, future-ready solutions that reduce dependency, improve serviceability, and strengthen India’s EV value chain.

Whether supporting immediate deployments or long-term infrastructure planning, Caliber’s charging solutions are engineered to scale alongside the growing demands of India’s EV and clean-energy ecosystem.

The post Caliber Interconnects Achieves ARAI Certification for EV Charging Solutions, Strengthening India’s Indigenous EV Infrastructure appeared first on ELE Times.

AI model developers—those who create neural networks to power AI features—are a different breed. They think in terms of latent spaces, embeddings, and loss functions. Their tools of the trade are Python, Numpy, and AI frameworks, and the fruit of their efforts is operation graphs capable of learning how to transform an input into an insight.

A typical AI developer spends months, if not years, without ever considering how memory is allocated, whether a loop fits in a cache line, or even loops at all. Such concerns are the domain of software engineers and kernel developers. They generally don’t think about memory footprints, execution times, or energy consumption. Instead, they focus, correctly, on one main goal: ensuring the AI model accurately derives the desired insights from the available data.

This division of labor functions well in the cloud AI space, where machine learning and inference utilize the same frameworks, hardware, storage, and tools. If an AI developer can run one instance of their model, scaling it to millions of instances becomes a matter of MLOps (and money, of course).

 

Firmware in edge AI

In the edge AI domain, especially in the embedded AI space, AI developers have no such luxury. Edge AI models are highly constrained by memory, latency, and power. If a cloud AI developer runs up against these constraints, it’s a matter of cost: they can always throw more servers into the pool. In edge AI, these constraints are existential. If the model doesn’t meet them, it isn’t viable.

Figure 1 Edge AI developers must be keenly aware of firmware-related constraints such as memory space and CPU cycles. Source: Ambiq

Edge AI developers must, therefore, be firmware-adjacent: keenly aware of how much memory their model needs, how many CPU cycles it uses, how quickly it must produce a result, and how much energy it uses. Such questions are usually the domain of firmware engineers, who are known to argue over mega-cycles-per-second (MCPS) budgets, tightly coupled memory (TCM) share, and milliwatts of battery use.

For the AI developer, figuring out the answer to these questions isn’t a simple process; they must convert their Python-based TensorFlow (or PyTorch) model into firmware, flash it onto an embedded device, and then measure its latency, memory requirements, CPU usage, and energy consumption. With this often-overwhelming amount of data, they then modify their model and try again.

Since much of this process requires firmware expertise, the development cycle usually involves the firmware team, and a lot of tossing balls over fences, and all that leads to slow iteration.

In tech, slow iteration is a bad thing.

Edge AI development tools

Fortunately, all these steps can be automated. With the right tools, a candidate model can be converted into firmware, flashed onto a development board, profiled and characterized, and the results analyzed in a matter of minutes, all while reducing or eliminating the need to involve the firmware folks.

Take the case of Ambiq’s neuralSPOT AutoDeploy, a tool that takes a TensorFlow Lite model, a widely used standard format for embedded AI, converts it into firmware, fine-tunes that firmware, thoroughly characterizes the performance on real hardware (down to the microscopic detail an AI developer finds useful), compares the output of the firmware model to the Python implementation, and measures latency and power for a variety of AI runtime engines. All automatically, and all in the time it takes to fetch a cup of coffee.

Figure 2 AutoDeploy speeds up the AI/embedded iteration cycle by automating most of the tedious bits. Source: Ambiq

By dramatically shortening the optimization loop, AI development is accelerated. Less time is spent on the mechanics, and more time can be spent getting the model right, making it faster, making it smaller, and making it more efficient.

A recent experience highlights how effective this can be: one of our AI developers was working on a speech synthesis model. The results sounded natural and pleasing, and the model ran smoothly on a laptop. However, when the the developer used AutoDeploy to profile the model, he discovered it took two minutes to synthesize just 3 seconds of speech—so slow that he initially thought the model had crashed.

A quick look at the profile data showed that all that time was spent on just two operations—specifically, Transcode Convolutions—out of the 60 or so operations the model used. These two operations were not optimized for the 16-bit integer numeric format required by the model, so they defaulted to a slower, reference version of the code.

The AI developer had two options: either avoid using those operations or optimize the kernel. Ultimately, he opted for both; he rewrote the kernel to use other equivalent operations and asked Ambiq’s kernel team to create an optimized kernel for future runs. All of this was accomplished in about an hour, instead of the week it would normally take.

Edge AI, especially embedded AI, faces its own unique challenges. Bridging the gap between AI developers and firmware engineers is one of those challenges, but it’s a vital one. Here, edge AI system-on-chip (SoC) providers play an essential role by developing tools that connect these two worlds for their customers and partners—making AI development smooth and effortless.

Scott Hanson, founder and CTO of Ambiq, is an expert in ultra-low energy and variation-tolerant circuits.

Special Section: AI Design

• The AI design world in 2026: What you need to know
• AI workloads demand smarter SoC interconnect design
• AI’s insatiable appetite for memory
• The AI-tuned DRAM solutions for edge AI workloads
• Designing edge AI for industrial applications
• Round pegs, square holes: Why GPGPUs are an architectural mismatch for modern LLMs

The post Bridging the gap: Being an AI developer in a firmware world appeared first on EDN.

India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) said that the Union Budget 2026–27 adopts a steady and largely inclusive approach, reinforcing India’s manufacturing and technology ecosystem through policy continuity, scale, and targeted reforms.

The sustained focus on electronics manufacturing, the launch of India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0, and the significant expansion of the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) reaffirm the government’s long-term commitment to building resilient domestic supply chains and strengthening India’s position in global value chains.

ICEA also welcomed the announcement of a tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies offering global cloud services using India-based data centres, describing it as a forward-looking measure that provides long-term policy certainty, anchors global digital infrastructure in India, and enhances the country’s credibility as a trusted hub for data, cloud, and AI-led services. Long-term predictability, as provided in this measure, will be a sure win for our nation.

Additional measures, such as the five-year income tax exemption for foreign suppliers of capital equipment in bonded zones, the Safe Harbour framework for non-resident component warehousing, customs decriminalisation, and extended validity of advance rulings, are expected to improve ease of doing business, reduce compliance friction, and strengthen investor confidence.

However, ICEA noted that there are a few unfinished businesses. Inverted duty structures across capital equipment, display assemblies, inductors, FPCA, MICs, receivers, speakers, and specialised inputs continue to impact cost competitiveness. Partial progress on MOOWR reforms, limited clarity on tax-neutral VMI models, and residual uncertainty around Permanent Establishment (PE) exposure for foreign-owned capital equipment remain constraints to faster scale-up.

Commenting on the Budget, Mr. Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, ICEA, said: “Budget 2026–27 reinforces the government’s commitment to manufacturing-led growth, particularly in electronics and semiconductors, through continuity, scale, and targeted reforms. Measures such as the expansion of ECMS, support for ISM 2.0, and long-term incentives for cloud and data infrastructure send a strong signal of strategic intent and policy stability.

“At the same time, key structural issues, especially inverted duty structures, unfinished MOOWR reforms, and tax-related uncertainties, need timely resolution to ensure cost competitiveness and speed of execution,” Mr. Mohindroo added.

ICEA Chairman further stated that the exponential growth in mobile manufacturing has clearly demonstrated what bold and consistent policy measures can achieve. “To replicate this success across sectors and move towards 25% of GDP through manufacturing, the National Manufacturing Mission is a need of the nation, enabling the ecosystem to truly fire on all cylinders,” he said.

ICEA reiterated its commitment to working closely with the government and stakeholders to support policy implementation and accelerate India’s journey towards becoming a globally competitive electronics manufacturing hub.

The post ICEA Welcomes Budget 2026–27’s Focus on Manufacturing, Flags Key Structural Gaps appeared first on ELE Times.

Senior leaders from Rohde & Schwarz shared their perspectives with Kumar Harshit, Technology Correspondent at ELE Times, on the evolving wireless landscape, discussing the transition from 5G to 6G and the technologies shaping next-generation networks. The conversation focused on rising network complexity and the growing importance of intelligent test and measurement solutions.

The conversation was enriched by insights from Simon Ng, Sales Director – Mobile Network Testing (Asia Pacific), R&S Regional Headquarters, Singapore; Alexander Pabst, Vice President – Market Segment Wireless Communication, R&S GmbH & Co. KG, Germany; and Mahesh Basavaraju, Market Segment Manager – Wireless Communication, R&S India Pvt. Ltd.

Together, the leaders shared a cohesive outlook on key enablers of future networks, including advanced test and measurement methodologies, AI-native and AI-assisted networks, non-terrestrial and satellite integration, the emergence of Wi-Fi 8, and India’s expanding role as a critical hub for telecom R&D and innovation.

Here are the excerpts from the conversation: 

ELE Times: How does Rohde & Schwarz view localization, particularly in manufacturing and equipment development in India?

R&S:  Rohde & Schwarz develops global technologies for a global market. Rather than localizing products in isolation, we operate through a unified global development model. India plays a key role in this framework.

We have over 200 engineers in India who contribute directly to our global R&D efforts. The solutions developed through this collaboration are deployed worldwide, including in India. In that sense, India is deeply integrated into our global innovation ecosystem.

ELE Times: As the industry transitions from 5G toward 6G, how is Rohde & Schwarz positioning itself?

R&S:  Connectivity is no longer limited to consumer communication; it is becoming core infrastructure for industry and society. While 5G has enabled private networks, industrial IoT, and enterprise use cases, 6G will take this further.

With 6G, we expect higher operating frequencies, native integration of non-terrestrial networks such as satellites, network sensing capabilities, and deeper convergence of AI, XR, and communication technologies. Our role is to enable this entire ecosystem—on both the network and device sides—through advanced test, measurement, and validation solutions, from early research to commercialization.

ELE Times: What are the defining technology pillars you associate with 6G?

R&S:  Three pillars stand out clearly. First is ubiquitous connectivity, where satellite communication becomes a native part of the network rather than an add-on. Second is immersive and intelligent experiences driven by the convergence of XR, AI, and sensing technologies. Third is energy and spectrum efficiency, which will be critical to ensure sustainability as network capacity and complexity continue to grow.

ELE Times: Rohde & Schwarz is known for working in the pre-market phase. How early are you involved in new technology development?

R&S:  Very early. Typically, we operate three to five years ahead of commercial deployment. Our responsibility is to translate high-level visions—such as holographic communication or pervasive sensing—into concrete, testable technical requirements.

This includes supporting evolving standards, advances in massive MIMO, AI-driven air interfaces, integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), and next-generation antenna systems. We work closely with industry players to ensure these technologies are testable and reliable long before they reach the market.

ELE Times: Wi-Fi 8 is emerging alongside cellular evolution. Why is Wi-Fi 8 important?

R&S:  Wi-Fi 8 is less about peak data rates and more about reliability, coordination, and scalability. One key improvement is the ability of access points to coordinate spectrum usage among themselves, significantly reducing interference.

It also enhances mesh networking, improves spectrum efficiency, and allows a single cell to serve more users reliably. While there may be incremental increases in bandwidth, the real value lies in better-managed spectrum and consistent user experience.

ELE Times: Can you highlight some recent breakthroughs in test and measurement technologies?

R&S:  One important area is testing XR and AI applications over wireless networks. Unlike wired connections, wireless networks introduce latency, fading, congestion, and other impairments that directly affect performance. Our platforms can simulate these real-world conditions to validate application behavior accurately.

Another breakthrough is in base station testing. Traditionally, this required large racks of individual instruments. We have introduced compact, fully integrated base station testers that are cost-efficient, reliable, and well-suited for production environments.

We have also developed solutions for millimeter-wave Wi-Fi, particularly relevant to India, and advanced test setups for non-terrestrial networks, including satellite-based communication.

ELE Times: How do you assess India’s progress after its rapid nationwide 5G rollout?

R&S:  India’s progress has been remarkable. Network quality, coverage, and speed have improved dramatically in a short time. More importantly, India is no longer content with being a fast follower.

There is a strong national ambition to be at the forefront of 6G, supported by government funding, research programs, and industry collaboration. We are actively supporting this journey by working closely with Indian operators, OEMs, startups, and academic institutions.

ELE Times: What role does Rohde & Schwarz play in India’s 6G and R&D ecosystem?

R&S:  We are actively engaged with the Bharat 6G Alliance and contribute across multiple working groups covering technology, spectrum, and use cases. Our role is to bring global experience into Indian research programs and testbeds.

India has set ambitious goals around creating domestic intellectual property for 6G. We already see strong innovation emerging from Indian universities and startups, particularly in areas such as massive MIMO and AI-driven networks, and we support them with advanced validation and measurement platforms.

ELE Times: What are the key challenges in pre-silicon testing and validation?

R&S:  One major challenge has been early-stage testing. Historically, this required complex hardware simulators and tightly synchronized physical interfaces. We have now shifted toward software-based testing using IQ-over-IP, enabling validation at a much earlier stage.

Another important shift is continuous integration, where software can be repeatedly tested in pre-silicon environments before being committed to hardware. This significantly accelerates development cycles.

We are also simplifying automation by moving from traditional programming approaches to Python-based workflows and introducing AI-assisted scripting, allowing engineers to define complex tests using natural language.

ELE Times: AI is becoming central to telecom systems. How does Rohde & Schwarz approach AI?

R&S:  From a telecom perspective, AI can be broadly categorized into AI on RAN, AI for RAN, and AI and RAN. Our primary focus is AI for RAN, where AI is used to optimize network performance.

AI introduces many new variables, making performance validation more complex. Our focus is on enabling fair, repeatable, and meaningful testing. Internally, we see AI as a powerful enabler rather than a replacement for engineers. The engineer remains at the center of decision-making, with AI enhancing efficiency, automation, and insight.

ELE Times: Finally, how do you see India shaping the global 6G ecosystem?

R&S:  India brings together scale, talent, a vibrant startup ecosystem, and strong policy support. What is particularly striking is the density of innovation and risk-taking startups, supported by government initiatives.

With sustained investment in research, testbeds, and global collaboration, India is well-positioned to influence global 6G standards and deployments. We expect India to play a significant role in shaping the future of wireless communication worldwide.

The post Enabling the Road to 6G: How Rohde & Schwarz Is Shaping the Future of Wireless Networks appeared first on ELE Times.

The Union Budget 2026-27 presented in the parliament on 1st February, 2026, allocates Rs 40, 000 crore to the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) launched last year in April. With a proposed budgetary outlay of around Rs 40,000 Crore for the Electronics Components & Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), as compared to the previous outlay of  Rs 22,919 crore during its launch in April 2025, the government intends to ensure that India’s electronics components game goes up globally. The outlay is being doubled even as the scheme “already has investment commitments at double the target,” and the near-doubling of the outlay will “capitalise on the momentum,” she says. 

The increased budgetary outlay will highly benefit the electronics sector in India as it aims to promote the domestic manufacturing of electronics components that the nation really needs at this time, so as to become the real electronics hub globally. It promotes the manufacturing of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), lithium-ion Cells and other necessary electronics components used in modern-day devices ranging from mobile phones to automobiles. 

Commitment to Mnaufacturing-led Growth 

Commenting on the Budget, Mr. Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, ICEA, says, “Budget 2026–27 reinforces the government’s commitment to manufacturing-led growth, particularly in electronics and semiconductors, through continuity, scale, and targeted reforms.”India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) is India’s apex industry body representing the entire mobile and electronics ecosystem. “Measures such as the expansion of ECMS, support for ISM 2.0, and long-term incentives for cloud and data infrastructure send a strong signal of strategic intent and policy stability,” he adds. 

The EMS Component in GDP to Increase 

The intent behind the budgetary outlay speaks volumes about the government’s vision for the electronics industry. Talking about this very thing, Mr Jasbir Singh, Executive Chairman and CEO, Amber Enterprises, welcomes the governmnet’s decision to increase the budgetary outlay. He says,” Cementing this further, the decision to establish high-tech tool rooms to manufacture high-precision components at scale and lower cost will propel India to become self-reliant and globally competitive.” 

He also commends the government’s decision to rejuvenate  200 legacy industrial clusters, which will boost the EMS sector tonexponential growth. He adds,” These policies will increase the EMS contribution to the GDP, expected to be the third-largest.” 

A Mighty Scheme

The scheme has approved 46 projects so far, attracting cumulative investments of ₹54,567 crore, with projected production valued at ₹3.68 trillion and the creation of over 50,000 direct jobs. Notified with a six-year budgetary outlay of ₹22,919 crore, the scheme envisages a total production of ₹10.34 lakh crore and employment generation for nearly 142,000 people. It is designed to lay the groundwork for a $500-billion electronics manufacturing ecosystem by 2030–31.

The post Union Budget 2026-27: ECMS Gets a budgetary Outlay of Rs 40,000 Crore, Big boost to Components Manufacturers in India appeared first on ELE Times.

Building on decades of experience in serving embedded applications where low power, affordability and ease of development are critical, Microchip Technology has added PIC32CM PL10 MCUs to its PIC32C family of Arm Cortex-M0+ core devices. PL10 MCUs feature a rich set of Core Independent Peripherals (CIPs), 5V operation, touch capabilities, integrated toolsets and safety compliance. The device family targets high-volume applications including industrial control, building automation, consumer appliances, power tools and sensor-based systems. As part of the company’s unified MCU strategy, PL10 devices offer pin-to-pin compatibility with AVR MCUs.

The integrated Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC), along with a 12-bit Analogue-to-Digital Converter (ADC) are designed to provide responsive performance in touch applications and strong noise immunity for analogue signal measurement. Additional on-chip CIPs help offload time-critical, repetitive and deterministic tasks from the CPU to improve real-time performance and power efficiency. The PL10 supports the Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS), enabling the development of modular, reusable application code to accelerate the process.

In addition to support from Microchip’s MPLAB development ecosystem, the PL10 family incorporates industry-standard tools and integrated development environments (IDEs), providing developers with more flexibility in how they build, debug, and deploy their software. Compatible third-party tools include Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code), IAR Systems, Arm Keil, SEGGER, Zephyr and MikroElektronika. AI-driven resources such as the MPLAB AI Coding Assistant offer context-aware code generation and real-time product insights to help accelerate and simplify development.

“PL10 MCUs help engineers more easily migrate to higher performance microcontrollers while maintaining the straightforward development experience, power efficiency and cost structure of our established 8-bit solutions,” said Greg Robinson, corporate vice president of Microchip’s MCU business unit. “As we prepare to introduce a range of new microcontrollers over the next 12-18 months, with everything spanning entry-level to AI-capable devices, Microchip is strengthening its commitment to a comprehensive MCU portfolio designed to meet evolving market demands.”

The PL10 family is designed to comply with various industry safety standards, including International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 26262 for functional safety in electrical and electronic systems of road vehicles. Additionally, the MCUs are designed to operate from 1.8 to 5.5 volts, supporting performance in high-noise environments such as automotive, IoT, industrial automation and consumer electronics applications. PL10 MCUs enable simultaneous connection to devices operating at different voltage levels without external level shifters using the integrated Multi-Voltage I/O (MVIO).

The post  Microchip Expands its Arm Cortex-M0+ Portfolio with PIC32CM PL10 MCUs appeared first on ELE Times.

КПІ — в європейській еліті університетів: ТОП-350 за QS Europe 2026 kpi пн, 02/02/2026 - 11:26

Звіт голови Профспілкового комітету КПІ ім. Ігоря Сікорського Юрія Веремійчука про виконання Колективного договору за період з квітня 2025 року до січня 2026 року kpi пн, 02/02/2026 - 11:20

In today’s power-supply designs, even small wiring and connector resistances can distort the voltage that actually reaches the load. As systems push tighter tolerances and higher currents, these drops become harder to ignore.

Remote sense provides a straightforward way to correct them by letting the supply monitor the voltage at the load itself and adjust its output accordingly. Understanding how this mechanism works—and how to apply it properly—is essential for maintaining stable, accurate rails in modern designs.

Local sense vs remote sense: Where you measure matters

Most power supplies regulate their output using local sense—monitoring voltage at the supply’s own output terminals. This works fine in ideal conditions, but in real systems, the path from supply to load includes resistance from wires, connectors, and circuit-board traces. As current increases, even small resistances can cause significant voltage drop, meaning the load receives less than intended.

Remote sense solves this by relocating the feedback point to the load itself. Instead of trusting the voltage at the supply’s output, it uses a separate pair of sense wires to measure the voltage at the load terminals. The supply then adjusts its output to compensate for any drop along the way, ensuring the load sees the correct voltage—even under dynamic or high-current conditions.

This simple shift in measurement point can dramatically improve regulation accuracy, especially in systems with long cables, high currents, or sensitive loads. Many benchtop and lab-grade power supplies now include this feature, often with a front-panel or software-selectable option to toggle between local and remote sense. When testing precision circuits or powering remote loads, enabling remote sense can make all the difference.

Figure 1 Simplified schematic illustrates a remote-sense setup with external output and sense wires. Source: Author

As a sidenote on what local sense really does, it seems many benchtop power supplies now include a simple switch—or sometimes local-sense jumpers—to select between local and remote sense. In local-sense mode, the supply regulates using the voltage at its own output terminals.

Switching to remote sense hands regulation to the separate sense leads, allowing the supply to track the voltage at the load instead. This selectable mechanism lets you match the regulation method to the setup—local sense for short leads and quick tests and remote sense when wiring losses matter.

Figure 2 Wiring diagram shows a power supply with local-sense jumpers installed. Source: Author

Put simply, for a local-sense configuration, you install the local-sense jumpers so that the Sense + and Sense – terminals are tied directly to the corresponding + and – output terminals on the power supply’s output connector. For a remote-sense configuration, all local sense jumpers are removed, and the Sense + and Sense – terminals are routed externally to the matching + and – points at the load or device under test (DUT).

Note at this point that power supplies with a local/remote sense selector switch don’t require separate local sense jumpers. That is, power supplies equipped with a physical or electronic local/remote sense switch (or a digital configuration setting) utilize internal circuitry to bridge the sense lines to the output terminals. This eliminates the need for the external metal jumpers or wire loops typically found on the barrier strips of older or simpler power supplies.

4-wire sensing: More sensible pointers on remote sense

Starting this session with a cautionary note, always verify the selector switch position and all sensing connections before enabling the output. Setting the switch to Remote without sense wires attached can trigger the feedback loop to detect zero voltage and attempt to compensate. This often forces the power supply to its maximum voltage, potentially damaging your equipment even if physical jumpers are absent.

Furthermore, any noise captured by the sense leads will be reflected at the output terminals, potentially degrading load regulation. To minimize electromagnetic interference (EMI) from external sources, use twisted-pair wiring or ribbon cables for the sense connections.

Because these high-impedance leads carry negligible current, thin-gauge wire is sufficient for this purpose. In high-noise environments, shielded cabling may be necessary; if used, ensure the shield is grounded at the power supply end only and never utilized as a current-carrying sensing conductor.

As a quick aside, it appears that many power supplies now implement some form of smart sense detection as a fail-safe. Since a floating sense connection can create a hazardous open-loop state, these systems protect the hardware by shutting down if the leads are disconnected—whether that happens during live use or at initial startup.

In practice, many modern programmable power supplies use auto-sense technology to monitor sense terminals and automatically engage remote sensing when external leads are detected. To ensure stability, these units include internal protection resistors—often called fallback resistors—connecting the output and sense terminals.

These resistors provide a secondary feedback path that allows the supply to default safely to local sensing if leads are missing or accidentally disconnected. This hardware redundancy prevents a dangerous open-loop overvoltage condition, protecting the load from upsurges caused by wiring failure or human error.

Just a sidewalk, ordinary yet essential, becomes a metaphor for design simplicity. On a workbench scattered with piles of discrete electronic components, it’s equally instructive and rewarding to attempt the design of an entry-level remote-sense power supply.

Experimenting with various operational amplifier configurations—specifically differential and error amplifier circuits—alongside voltage references demonstrates how feedback loops maintain precise regulation under dynamic loads.

Such a hands-on approach not only highlights the critical aspects of stability and compensation but also provides valuable insight into the trade-offs between component selection, circuit topology, and overall performance. These complexities are left for the reader to explore intentionally.

Virtual remote sense in practice

Jumping to a quick coffee break, let us touch on virtual remote sense (VRS). This clever technique emulates the benefits of true remote sensing without the extra wiring, helping designers maintain regulation accuracy while simplifying layouts.

Several well-known ICs in the Analog Devices’ portfolio—originally developed by Linear Technology—have embraced VRS to make implementation straightforward: LT4180, LT8697, and LT6110 are prime examples. Each integrates features that reduce voltage drops across traces and connectors, ensuring stable supply rails even in demanding applications.

Because these devices employ different methods to achieve VRS, a thorough review of their datasheets is strongly recommended to understand the nuances and select the right fit for your design. Exploring these solutions hands-on could be the key to unlocking cleaner, more reliable power delivery in your next project.

T. K. Hareendran is a self-taught electronics enthusiast with a strong passion for innovative circuit design and hands-on technology. He develops both experimental and practical electronic projects, documenting and sharing his work to support fellow tinkerers and learners. Beyond the workbench, he dedicates time to technical writing and hardware evaluations to contribute meaningfully to the maker community.

Related Content

• Load Voltage Remote Sensing
• Controller eliminates remote sense wires
• Power supply “Remote Sense” mistakes & remedies

The post Understanding remote sense in today’s power supplies appeared first on EDN.

In the project ALP-4-SiC (Atomic Layer Processing for SiC for Applications in Photonics and Quantum Communication) — which is part of the ‘Scientific Preliminary Projects (WiVoPro, Quantum Technologies in Germany)’ program of the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) — the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) and the Fraunhofer IISB (Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology), both in Erlangen, Germany, are jointly developing basic technologies for the production of highly efficient photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and miniaturized solid-state quantum systems based on silicon carbide (SiC)...

Nice little direct driven IN-12 nixie tube clock I designed and made. Decided to go with four 74hc595 shift registers and 36 high voltage mmbta42 transistors all controlled by a stm32. submitted by /u/Comfortable_Coat8966 [link] [comments]

I actually started working on that over 10 years ago, but my electronics knowledge was basically inexistant and it feel apart quickly. Now that 3d printers are a thing and pcb design is more easily accessible, I wanted to achieve that old dream of making a portable N64 myself. I've been working on that project for the past 3 months and it's now complete. Designed the whole case myself in fusion 360, printed in PETG for heat resistance. Designed a few PCBs for controller and audio amplifier. Here's a list of features: Complete N64 with expansion pak 7Ah, 7.4v battery pack Speakers / Headphone jack / Volume knob combo PCB designed by myself. 0.5w speakers, surprisingly loud Switch joystick and buttons, N64 original triggers 4:3 5 inches LCD screen USB-C PD, 9v charging port, can charge and play at the same time Custom PCB for low battery indicator, green led when turned on, turns red when battery low Second, yellow LED that turns on when in charge, turns off when fully charged Single L/Z combo trigger with a switch beside the trigger to change which it is Memory pak to come, still waiting for pcb and fram chips Fully works with original cartridges, as well as my summercart64. A bit on the thicker side because of the expansion pak, but I'm happy for a first time. At first I did a ram swap, soldering two 4MB ram chips in place of 2MB chips, thus removing the need for the expansion pak, but down the line I fried the board somehow. Hope you guys like it, will gladly answer if you have questions :) submitted by /u/Remy4409 [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/1Davide [link] [comments]

I realize that this image can be triggering to some. I apologize in advance for any discomfort it could cause 😅 submitted by /u/Professor_Shotgun [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/AutoModerator
[link] [comments]

Hey all, I’m a 2nd year student in electronics right now. I know there’s tonnes of handwired keyboards on the internet, but here’s mine. This is my first time ever soldering or doing anything outside of arduino or simulations. So it’s very messy. After I finished painstaking soldering the diodes and columns, it turns out I need 19 pins and the pro micro has only 18. I thought my project was a goner, but I found the hack of removing the resistors in the leds to free 2 more pins. I’d never ever done soldering before, and was honestly scared about taking out the resistor from the board, but figured the project wasn’t going to go anywhere if I didn’t do it, so I took the chance and somehow managed to desolder the resistors and put in the legs of the diode which I cut off earlier! But but but, as soon as I started soldering it to a column to test, I ripped out the copper trace from one of the pins and though my project was a goner (again). Thankfully that hack gave me 20 pins, which means I had exactly 19 now (phew). Maybe you notice the red electrical tape on the switch, that’s because it was meant for the big L shaped enter key which I didn’t have, so I had to use the tape to fit the enter and |\ keys. Well, it works now; it’s not perfect, the board sometimes misses strokes when I use it because the wires the dangling out, and I currently don’t have anything to secure the back. But it works! I’m sorry if my body too long or not technical enough, I just wanted to share my work. When told we’re working on something, profs always ask its application and what issue it resolves. I spent a lot of time and energy on this and I have no answer to these questions, I made it cause I wanted to know how it works and cause I felt I should be able to make it, and I know it’s nothing special or solving any real issue and has a lot of documentation and YouTube videos to make the same. So, I’m just not sure if this work is “sciency” enough to justify it on my profile or even investing that much time into it. Welp, I had fun so that’s that. Sorry for the out of topic rant again. Let me know what you guys think! submitted by /u/Professional_Ice_796 [link] [comments]