Author | Lightnews

Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · 1d

Which gym, "24 Hour Fitness" maybe? I stopped "Anytime Fitness" when COVID hit. I'm just using the company gym these days, which is great. Lonely, but great.

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · 7d

A fallen tree was completely blocking my green-belt hiking path this morning. The funniest thing is there was no broken stump in sight. It's like the wind carried half a tree some distance.

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Oct 2

Global clock buffering is generally difficult to implement - when you turn off your main clock, who turns it back on?
Regional clock buffering though is incredibly effective and easy to infer with modern synthesis tools. I make use of inferred regional clock buffering as much as possible.

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Oct 1

The amount of load capacitance the clock input of a CMOS flip-flop represents. The C in CV^2F impacts power just as much as the F. It's easy to forget.

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Sep 29

I enjoy the learning new things and fast-free writing blog stage. The final refinement into a book can be a grind. It's worth it at the very end of course.

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Sep 27

System on Chip design in FPGA fabric using the RISC-V open-source CPU architecture out of UC Berkeley. Like my first book, it's starting out as an open-source blog series where I do all of my research and just free-write as fast as I can. Book comes after. blackmesalabs.wordpress.com/2025/08/31/b...

BML Designing RISC-V SoCs with FPGAs : Part-Intro

Table of Contents:Part-1 : What are SoCs?Part-2 : History of Modern Computer ArchitecturePart-3 : RISC-V Assembly LanguagePart-4 : RISC-V and the Femto corePart-5 : Femto-CPU Memory AccessPart-6 : …

blackmesalabs.wordpress.com

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Sep 26

I did a YouTube podcast with Brian Tristam Williams of Elektor Publishing this week. Discussed my new book "Mastering FPGA Chip Design : For Speed, Area, Power, and Reliability" and also technology progression from 1970s to present day.
It was fun and would do again.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2xi...

Mastering FPGA Chip Design with Kevin Hubbard — EEI #56

YouTube video by Elektor TV

www.youtube.com

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Sep 26

Thank you. It feels fantastic! There are, of course, some things I would like to slightly change - as seeings things on paper versus a computer screen is a bit different. Water under the bridge though. I'll make those improvements on my second book!

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Aug 3

Very sorry for your loss. Pets are such special family members.

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Jul 6

My book just showed up in the wild, in Germany! I am still waiting for my print copy to cross the big pond. I've only ever seen my original PDF manuscript, so this is very exciting. A REAL BOOK!
It's about $35 for print or eBook versions.
I worked very hard on this.
www.elektor.com/products/mas...

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Jul 2

Thank you!

Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Jul 2

Thank you!!

Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Jul 2

Hi Darcy, I am thinking you may have left Twitter for good.
I just can't imagine why ( sarcasm ).
I wanted to share that my book is finally out and a huge thanks to you for all of the AsciiDoc help last year that made it all possible. Thank You. Merci beaucoup.
www.elektor.com/products/mas...

Mastering FPGA Chip Design

This book teaches the fundamentals of FPGA operation, covering basic CMOS transistor theory to designing digital FPGA chips using LUTs, flip-flops, and embedded memories. Ideal for electrical engineer...

www.elektor.com

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Jul 2

Today I purchased four copies of my book for four Electrical Engineering professors at the University of Washington. One was my professor way back in the early 1990s. The other three currently teach FPGA courses.
Money well spent. Very gratifying. Giving back.
www.elektor.com/products/mas...

Mastering FPGA Chip Design (E-book)

This book teaches the fundamentals of FPGA operation, covering basic CMOS transistor theory to designing digital FPGA chips using LUTs, flip-flops, and embedded memories. Ideal for electrical engineer...

www.elektor.com

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Jul 2

In grade-school, middle-school and even early high-school, I dreamt of attending MIT to get a degree in Electrical Engineering. It just wasn't in the cards and I attended University of Washington.
So glad I did. Everything worked out smashingly in the end. Serendipity.

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Jul 1

Link to eBook (PDF) version
www.elektor.com/products/mas...

Mastering FPGA Chip Design (E-book)

This book teaches the fundamentals of FPGA operation, covering basic CMOS transistor theory to designing digital FPGA chips using LUTs, flip-flops, and embedded memories. Ideal for electrical engineer...

www.elektor.com

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Jun 30

Thank you! It's such a relief ( and sense of accomplishment ) to have finally finished it.

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Jun 30

I’ve completed my year-long journey to becoming a published author in electrical engineering.
Mastering FPGA Chip Design: For Speed, Area, Power, and Reliability is now part of the Elektor Academy Pro series and available in both print and eBook formats:

www.elektor.com/products/mas...

Mastering FPGA Chip Design

This book teaches the fundamentals of FPGA operation, covering basic CMOS transistor theory to designing digital FPGA chips using LUTs, flip-flops, and embedded memories. Ideal for electrical engineer...

www.elektor.com

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · May 13

Sorry to hear. Hope you find something better soon.

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Apr 13

Smother it with some butter and bacon. Trust me on this.

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Mar 31

Thank you!

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Mar 31

Today I finished the last chapter on my manuscript.
28 chapters, 310 pages.
It's been quite the year long journey. It's the one book that I have in me.
I really hope it turns out well. Even if it doesn't, I know I gave it my best. It has been a personal and professional journey well worth taking.

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Mar 29

I'm $200 a month richer and so much happier.
$60/month for internet and maybe $20 for a couple of streaming services with ads.
Oh - and my @tablotv.bsky.social - Love my free local channels streaming from my Tablo to my Roku!

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Mar 9

I call him "Sprite-Man" - yeah he's a bit creepy, I still love him. 16x32 pixels at RGB 3:3:3 color depth in a single FPGA RAM. He's part of my VGA graphics controller project.
Instead of 512 CPU writes to draw "Sprite-Man", a single CPU write will relocate him anywhere on the 1280x1024 display.

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Kevin Hubbard @khubbard.bsky.social · Mar 3

Finally got my frame buffer working. Very RAM limited on this chip so it is 320x256 at 9 bits even though the hardware DACs are 1280x1024 12 bits.
Side-by-side of my FPGA 9bit frame buffer versus original image at 24 bits RGB.

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