Electronic design has always been technically challenging, which is why many of us got into the business. Unfortunately, it can be a bit more strenuous than just that these days. COVID-19 continues to upend everything from peoples’ health to the supply chain. Designers now need to consider the availability of foundries and the chips they use. The lack of a second source often leads to alternate designs to compensate.
Still, some things never change around here, like the interest and questions about power and analog circuits. Luckily we have some articles like “Consider Realistic Voltage Sources When Designing Power Supplies” and “EMI Shielding for Drones and UAVs” to explore those topics and solutions.
Another technology area that’s cultivated more interest in design is the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT means connectivity and its corresponding increase in security attack surfaces, thus putting security at the level of power and analog when it comes to reader attraction. Of course, we have articles like “Identifying Vulnerabilities in Cellular Networks” and “The 4 Building Blocks for LoRa Networks” to address this area.
How engineers work together due to the internet and COVID are highlighted by our annual salary survey (see figure). The article “How Working Remotely is Spawning a Design Revolution” by Alix Paultre, Editor-at-Large, touches on how COVID-19 has affected our workflow. We will be taking a closer look at some of the more engineering- and software-specific collaboration-related tools in the future.
Also, looking forward to 2022, we will have more TechXchange Webinars, TechXchange Talks, and Kit Close-up videos for viewing on our website. We will be celebrating our 70th anniversary in 2022, including our new Do You Recognize These? series. It should be fun.