In this post I demonstrate a solution to generalize the creation of class attributes for various write-count-limited scenarios, such as: Class-level constant attributes (read-only) Write-once attributes, i.e. can be written once and then become read-only Object-level constant attributes (read-only) Attributes which can be written a number of times up to…

Decorators in Python can quickly become a complicated matter when dealing with bound-methods (i.e. class-instance bound function calls). In some cases a basic decorator is required. In other cases, we would like to supply parameters to the decorator itself. We also would like to extend/modify decorator definitions and not have…

At some point in my Python OOP journey, I came across dataclasses. I vaguely recall this coming about when generating seemingly repetitive boilerplate code for a class that did little more than containing a rather lengthy data-record. Hoping there was a better way to do this lead me to discover…

Decades of logic gates and wires The year is 2021, and the bulk of silicon and FPGA designers are still describing designs at the register-transfer-level (RTL) abstraction. Despite two major evolutions in the Verilog design language, the design subset only gained constructs to better generate and organize wires. …

Introduction In this article I describe how this seemingly provocative concept is actually a template for up-leveling development to attain high-velocity and efficient use of people-time. Although this concept can be applied to any phase of development, I focus on the front-end phases which define architectures and the direction for development…

This is the final part of my series of articles about delegation for technology leaders. I would love to write more on this topic, but to do so, I need to learn more through observation and experience. In this installment, we look at the temporal properties of delegation, followed by…

FIFOs (First-In, First-Out) are point-to-point elastic storage elements that are very commonly used in embedded systems to pass data across an asynchronous interface in a very efficient manner. …

Continuing with the theme of the big opportunities started in Part 4 where we discussed the potential benefits of an open-source RISC ISA, in this installment, we look at how embedded security may benefit from open-source approaches Embedded security is no longer the realm of specialized chips or markets (such…

In Part 3 we covered a lot of ground focusing on the main characteristics of open-source developments such as cost, licensing terms, governance, distributed/local development, and timing. In this installment, we will focus squarely on what may be one of the biggest opportunities for open-source and silicon. This is the…