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Exploring NVIDIA's Move from ARM to RISC V in GPUs

Rob and PJ return to discuss NVIDIA's strategic shift from Falcon and ARM microcontrollers in their GPUs to the open-source RISC V. The conversation delves into the history, technical considerations, and licensing challenges of microprocessors. They examine why ARM's longstanding presence is being challenged by RISC V, especially for embedded controllers, its flexibility, and cost advantages, alongside security concerns and the future potential of open-source hardware.

00:00 Welcome Back to Tricky Bits
00:27 NVIDIA's Shift to RISC V Microcontrollers
02:02 The Role of Microcontrollers in Modern Devices
04:33 Technical Challenges and Limitations
06:18 Designing Custom Microcontrollers
16:33 RISC V: The New Contender
18:00 Comparing ARM and RISC V
24:13 Apple's Strategic Choices
31:48 RISC V Maturity and Market Penetration
33:58 Challenges and Security Concerns
36:53 Financial Incentives and Reference Models
40:48 Comparing RISC V and ARM
42:25 Security Concerns with Chinese RISC V Chips
49:22 Microcontrollers and Their Ubiquity
54:34 Future of Processor Diversity
58:28 Open Source Innovation and Ecosystem

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WWDC is coming up and Rob and PJ have some opinions!

AI is in the air for everyone this season and WWDC is likely going to be no exception....but with so much AI processing happening in the cloud and Apple having been so focused on data privacy, security, AND user experience...how IS Apple going to thread this needle?

Will they push more stuff to the cloud to bring the widest support to folks?
WIll they deprecate more hardware to make the user experience the best they can do?
Should they even bother with AI at this time in any meaningful way ahead of having some strong use cases?

Join Rob and PJ as they make some prediction ahead of WWDC...and see how well they did during the event itself!

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Microsoft recently introduced its CoPilot + PCs as a fully integrated lineup...based on ARM processors (Qualcomm's Snapdragon specifically), unified memory, and requirements around the onboard TPUs.

Hmm...sound very Apple-like, no?

With an apparent revitalized push back into the consumer space, what does this mean for the future of the hardware? Specifically, the Wintel era meant infinite flexibility, configurability, and backwards compatibility, stemming all the way back in time.

Will the voices of prosumer builders be silenced on Windows? Will developers rejoice as Windows powered machines with MacBook form factors come to bear? Could this actually be better for everyone to have more stable hardware platforms?

Come join us as we dive into these topics to prognosticate towards a potentially better future for computing...

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Hype is all around around the tech stories that are out there....

Apple has a terrible ad for a thinner iPad!
Google is leaving San Fran and moving jobs overseas!
Announcements around AI that is going to revolutionize everything!!!
Tech companies are acting like big corporations!!!

Maybe it is just us...but does anyone get the impression that tech news is actually a bit boring right now? 

Perhaps we are just exhausted from the constant barrage of "bigger", "smaller", "better", "faster", "newer", "revolutionary, "evolutionary", "different"...

But it does feel like a moment when tech is really trying to keep its whizz bang growth cycle going...and not start to admit that these companies, while still wildly profitably, are transforming into the value, blue chip stocks (oh, no, we're IBM!) who are trying to eek out more profit from ads on smart TVs rather than actually innovate.

Join us as we rant a little bit on the current state of affairs!

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CPUs have been around for forever as the heart of computers....then came GPUs to enable cool real time graphics...and later bitcoin mining...then some clever folks figured out how train AIs on them...which leads to a new explosion of processing units tuned specifically for AI development (see Google's TPUs, Apple's Neural Engines, Meta's MTIAs).

Why do we have them all? And what the heck do they all mean? And why should we care? 

Come explore a bit of the magic and differences amongst these different types of processing units that is powering your phones, games, and the explosion in AI development!

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In the arms race of computational performance gains and big market splashes...security issues can pop their ugly head, something going all the way down to the hardware level...and when they happen, they can be brutal.

In this episode of Tricky Bits, Rob and PJ discuss a recent article and research on hacking into the M-series chips, using clever attacks to extract data that is, ideally, supposed to be kept secret. 

What are the nitty gritty details of how this attack is successful?

How does company culture and processes affect approaches to hardware development? 

And did we back ourselves into a corner by becoming less efficient programmers?

Link to article: 
https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/03/hackers-can-extract-secret-encryption-keys-from-apples-mac-chips/

Link to research:
https://gofetch.fail/

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Ever wondered why a virtual rollercoaster can leave your stomach in knots, despite never leaving your living room? Strap in and brace yourself as we unpack the enigma of VR-induced nausea with the expert insights of Nemanja Milosavljevic from Neurosync Labs. Our latest episode of Tricky Bits zooms in on the battle between our eyes and our inner ear when diving into the digital deep end, bringing to light the vestibular system's pivotal role in the physical disorientation we face in virtual landscapes.

Hold onto your headsets — this session isn't just about identifying problems; we're all about the solutions. Learn about how the groundbreaking C-Infinity device can sync your senses, offering an immersive experience with a solid grip on reality. By integrating force measurements with natural motion, this ergonomic innovation could be the key to unlocking a future of comfortable, nausea-free virtual exploration for a number of VR experiences.

Join us as we envision an electrifying era of VR, where the technology we discuss today might just redefine our gaming experiences tomorrow.

NeuroSync Labs:  https://neurosyncvr.com/

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Hardware is where the digital meets up with physical reality.

In the modern world, software can be developed and deployed worldwide in timescales measured in minutes....but despite advances in development, consumer hardware at scale still presents many difficult challenges.

Although there are many modern avenues to prototyping hardware solutions, making the leap beyond RPi, Arduino, ESP level projects into mass market devices encounters challenges including funding, development, manufacturing, shipping, supply chains, and revenue models.

In this episode, Rob and PJ explore the world of hardware development, understand its pitfalls, and look at where it might be going.

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So much of Tricky Bits is an ongoing conversation between Rob and PJ about various tech topics. This particular episode revisits some old topics around game development, its history and costs, and what factors come into play that shape the market today.

As a heads up...this one is more conversational than some of the past episodes as we  build up to a larger discussion for a future conversation around big and small media in various contexts (games, movies, television).

 Finally...we announce our Discord server, where you can comment on individual episodes. You can find the link to the thread for this episode here: https://discord.com/channels/1146929485694902282/1217606185159491695

Come let us know what you think!

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Could Apple be quietly gearing up to redefine the AI landscape? With all eyes on Siri's evolution and Apple's famed secrecy, we delve into the tech giant's delicate dance between user privacy and the cutting edge of AI innovations. Join Rob and PJ  as we unravel Apple's enigmatic strategy, considering the possible hardware constraints and their steadfast commitment to a reliable assistant amidst the whirlwind of AI advancements.

Apple's Siri has been a household name, but it's not without its critics. In this episode, we dissect the challenges it faces, balancing user privacy with the need for more personal and proactive functionalities. We speculate on the potential for Apple to introduce more generative AI capabilities and how this might revolutionize user experience while sticking to their privacy-first mantra. Moreover, we explore the juxtaposition of Apple's hardware prowess with their approach to personalized AI, pondering the efficiency and practicality of running inference models on mobile devices.

Wrapping up our deep dive, we tackle the broad implications of AI in our daily tech interactions. From ethical concerns over data usage to the burgeoning role of edge computing, we question whether AI will be the next big revolution or a passing trend.

(And yes...this description WAS in fact generated from the Episode transcript and AI...wild times, right folks?

You know what what is really going to get your noodle later on? Did the AI write this footer? )