What's Cooking at ST (and at my house) -- December 8, 2023

• We've been busier than usual this week, so let me catch you up. For those of you interested in AI at the Edge, while hosting a virtual AI Summit this week, we announced our contribution to further accelerate Edge AI adoption: the introduction of a comprehensive, integrated, cost-effective way for developers and companies to embed AI-enabled ST products into industrial, automotive/mobility, consumer, communication applications. The ST Edge AI Suite offers developers an ecosystem of hardware and free software and tools, supported by partnerships with cloud services and AI toolchain providers. The tool, which will also support all Arm Cortex-M-core processors from any supplier, under a special license, should be available in the first half of 2024. Also announced this week is our upgraded NanoEdge AI Studio which adds free deployment of software libraries that it builds for unlimited deployment on any STM32 microcontrollers. ST has opened access to NanoEdge AI Studio to all STM32 MCUs and to the rest of the embedded world by natively supporting most of the Arm? Cortex?-M-based MCUs on the market. We've also upgraded the tool to estimate ML model execution time with a 98% precision score for pre-selected targets and introduced a step-by-step assistant to seamlessly help users through each phase of their project’s creation. NanoEdge AI Studio is free and available now.
• The unique MasterGaN family grew with the announcement of new 200W and 500W devices. The MasterGaN family simplifies power-supply design using wide-bandgap technology by combining 650V GaN high electron-mobility transistors (HEMT) with optimized gate drivers, system protection, and an integrated bootstrap diode that helps power the device at startup. This combination of features saves designers tackling the complex gate-drive requirements of GaN transistors while enhancing reliability, cutting the bill of materials, and easing circuit layout.
• For AR/VR, personal and industrial robotics, drones, barcodes, biometrics and gestures, and embedded vision and scene recognition applications, we introduced a new, tiny (2.7mm x 2.2mm) global-shutter image sensor with native 800x700-pixel resolution. Innovative embedded features on the VD55G1 include native background removal and an always-on 1mW autonomous mode that saves power and only wakes the system when the sensor detects movement or a scene change.?
• Four new stories on the blog this week, too: in one, ST and AWS (Amazon Web Services) feature an application example that uses an ST Discovery Kit, the STM32Cube.AI Developer Cloud, and AWS’ solutions to run an audio classification model on an STM32U5. Another blog post shares news of the addition of vector fonts to TouchGFX to reduce its need for flash resources. A third story highlights the importance of picking the right compiler for your design project. The fourth blog entry of the week shares the new features in the latest upgrade to the free STM32CubeIDE.?
• On the conference circuit, the International Electron Devices Meeting starts tomorrow. ST is making 2 invited talks (including one on "Developing sustainable technologies for a more sustainable future") and it's worth checking out what we're presenting. On AI, the Global Conference on AI and IoT takes place next week and ST fellow Danilo Pau is make two presentations, including a case study on "tiny machine learning intelligence in the semiconductor industry." Let me know if you'd like copies of any papers!

Enjoy!

Dear friends, colleagues, and loyal readers:

Today, I looked in the mirror and wondered who the old guy looking back at me was.?

Underneath all the wrinkles, I am filled with nostalgia, gratitude, pride, and excitement. Looking back on 50+ incredible years of cooking my career, the timer has gone off. Stick a fork in what has been cooked. It is time to start work on dessert: Family, friends, and giving back.

From my (failed) childhood dreams of becoming a professional athlete, I could never have predicted my career. Some of you may know it began with delivering newspapers, touched on molecular biology and genetics, jumped into electronics and integrated circuit design, and included business and human services. It has been a wild ride. If, early on, someone had suggested I would spend much of my career writing and storytelling, I’d have asked for some of what they were smoking. I especially thank the bosses who took the chance to hire me and the teams that accepted to work with me. I have always believed that my job was to make everyone I worked with look great and I hope I was able to do that, at least some of the time.?

Over the years I have met, learned from, and been blessed to work with so many extraordinary people. I am amazed at how lucky I’ve been. It has been the honor of a lifetime to work with and learn from everyone receiving this letter. While there are too many of you to name individually, I am forever in your debt.

The friendships and connections I have made – even if I have been horrible at keeping in touch – have been invaluable. I will carry these relationships with me as I prepare to cook the next chapter of my life. I’ll keep my phone number and email address (and forgive me if I don't print either here, but drop me a note and I'll share) and hope you will, too. I still have a few more issues of “What’s Cooking at ST (and at my house)” in me before I leave the office at the end of the month for the last time.

From December 22, if you're a journalist who needs ST-related information, please contact my colleagues Alexis Breton, Ronan Mulvaney, and/or Antoine Mege. Industry analysts should contact Elise Lafond.?(I can share these email addresses with journalists and analysts, too)

My deepest gratitude goes to each of you, and I would like to ask one final favor. Please always:

• Be kind – whether obvious or not, everyone has challenges.
• Take care of the Earth and each other – The Earth is the home we all share, it’s the only one we’ve got, and each of us treating it as a shared home makes it better for everyone.
• Be curious – We are entitled to our own well-formed opinions. You can only have those by being well informed.?

Warmest regards,

Mike

This week, I'm sharing another of my recent Thanksgiving-dinner favorites.?

I find it difficult to believe 2 of my 3 favorite dishes were vegetarian (recall last week's shared recipe was Roasted Green Beans with Ginger, Garlic, and Chilis). A freebee: the third recipe was the Herb and Sausage Stuffing.

It's been a very busy week and, after reading the note above, I can image you not wanting to read any more of my musings, so I'll sign off, for now.?

Enjoy!

Serves 6??Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 head Cauliflower
• ? cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2? teaspoons Kosher Salt, divided
• ? cup Cider Vinegar?
• 3 tablespoons water, divided
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• ? teaspoon Coriander seeds
• 2 whole Cloves
• 1 Shallot, sliced thin
• 1? ounces (1? cups) Arugula, divided
• 2 tablespoons Greek Yogurt (plain)
• 1 ripe Bartlett pear, peeled, halved, cored, and cut into ?-in. pieces

Preparation

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425°F. Spray rimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil spray. Trim outer leaves of cauliflower and cut stem flush with bottom of head (discard stem). Turn head cut-side down and cut cauliflower into 1-inch-thick slices. Cut around core to remove florets. Cut large florets into 2-inch pieces; reserve core. (You should have about 6 cups florets.)
• Arrange florets in single layer on prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Cover sheet tightly with aluminum foil and roast for 10 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook until sides touching sheet are well browned, about 10 minutes.
• Using thin spatula, flip cauliflower. Return to oven and cook until sides touching sheet are well browned, about 10 minutes longer. (Cauliflower can be refrigerated for up to 2 days; let come to room temperature before using).
• Use vegetable peeler to shave cauliflower core lengthwise to create ? cup shavings. Discard remaining core. In 2-cup liquid measuring cup, combine vinegar, 2 tablespoons water, sugar, coriander seeds, cloves, and 1 teaspoon salt. Microwave until boiling, about 2 minutes. Add shallot and cauliflower shavings, making sure they're submerged, and let stand for 10 minutes to quick-pickle. Transfer pickles to medium bowl. Reserve 1 tablespoon pickling liquid in measuring cup; discard remaining liquid and spices.
• Add ? cup arugula, yogurt, remaining 3 tablespoons oil, remaining ? teaspoon salt, and remaining 1 tablespoon water to measuring cup. Using immersion blender, blend until well combined, 30 to 60 seconds. (Pickled shavings, shallots, and vinaigrette can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.)
• Combine roasted cauliflower and vinaigrette in large bowl and toss until cauliflower is evenly coated. Arrange on serving platter in even layer. Add remaining ? cup arugula to pickles. Scatter pear over arugula and season pear with salt and pepper to taste. Toss to combine. Mound on top of cauliflower and serve.

Enjoy!