Kevin Hubbard
@khubbard.bsky.social
Electrical Engineer. ASICs, FPGAs, Python.
Fan of convertibles and 6502 CPUs.
Author of Mastering FPGA Chip Design : For Speed, Area, Power, and Reliability.
Seattle,WA,US,Earth,Sol,MlkyWy
https://blackmesalabs.wordpress.com/
Fan of convertibles and 6502 CPUs.
Author of Mastering FPGA Chip Design : For Speed, Area, Power, and Reliability.
Seattle,WA,US,Earth,Sol,MlkyWy
https://blackmesalabs.wordpress.com/
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...
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
September 26, 2025 at 2:03 PM
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...
It was fun and would do again.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2xi...
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...
It's about $35 for print or eBook versions.
I worked very hard on this.
www.elektor.com/products/mas...
July 6, 2025 at 10:08 PM
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...
It's about $35 for print or eBook versions.
I worked very hard on this.
www.elektor.com/products/mas...
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.
So glad I did. Everything worked out smashingly in the end. Serendipity.
July 2, 2025 at 1:40 AM
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.
So glad I did. Everything worked out smashingly in the end. Serendipity.
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: 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
June 30, 2025 at 1:55 PM
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: 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...
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.
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.
March 31, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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.
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.
Color text on my VGA graphics controller on a @digilent.bsky.social BASYS3 board! 1280x1024 with a 108 MHz dot clock. 4Kx18 RAM (72Kb, 2 BRAMs) for 80x32 text with 18 bits per text character. 8 bits for ASCII ROM. 5 bits each for Foreground and Background luminance(2) and color(3).
Yay - It works!
Yay - It works!
March 1, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Color text on my VGA graphics controller on a @digilent.bsky.social BASYS3 board! 1280x1024 with a 108 MHz dot clock. 4Kx18 RAM (72Kb, 2 BRAMs) for 80x32 text with 18 bits per text character. 8 bits for ASCII ROM. 5 bits each for Foreground and Background luminance(2) and color(3).
Yay - It works!
Yay - It works!
This took all day. So frustrating. Backtracked a whole bunch trying to conserve BRAMs. Going to try and add some foreground color next with all the wasted BRAM bits.
"Hello World!" digital style in 1280x1024 analog VGA.
"Hello World!" digital style in 1280x1024 analog VGA.
February 24, 2025 at 3:13 AM
This took all day. So frustrating. Backtracked a whole bunch trying to conserve BRAMs. Going to try and add some foreground color next with all the wasted BRAM bits.
"Hello World!" digital style in 1280x1024 analog VGA.
"Hello World!" digital style in 1280x1024 analog VGA.
Generating VGA video with nothing but logic gates, ASCII text on a 1280x1024 display with an Artix-7 FPGA ( @digilent.bsky.social BASYS3 board ).
VGA is EXTREMELY forgiving. With a 100 MHz reference oscillator, 107.4627 MHz (900/8.375) is as close as I can get to a 108 MHz dot-clock. Not a problem.
VGA is EXTREMELY forgiving. With a 100 MHz reference oscillator, 107.4627 MHz (900/8.375) is as close as I can get to a 108 MHz dot-clock. Not a problem.
February 23, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Generating VGA video with nothing but logic gates, ASCII text on a 1280x1024 display with an Artix-7 FPGA ( @digilent.bsky.social BASYS3 board ).
VGA is EXTREMELY forgiving. With a 100 MHz reference oscillator, 107.4627 MHz (900/8.375) is as close as I can get to a 108 MHz dot-clock. Not a problem.
VGA is EXTREMELY forgiving. With a 100 MHz reference oscillator, 107.4627 MHz (900/8.375) is as close as I can get to a 108 MHz dot-clock. Not a problem.
Probably still my favorite computer. Got me through high school and the start of college. So much in such a little package ( for the time ). Even connected me to a VAX PDP-11. The Apple //c.
February 11, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Probably still my favorite computer. Got me through high school and the start of college. So much in such a little package ( for the time ). Even connected me to a VAX PDP-11. The Apple //c.
The more Python I write, the more I realize it is the most perfect and most likely the last computer programming language that I will ever learn after doing this for 45+ years now.
Today was a very good day at BlackMesaLabs.
I feel like that fictional "10x Engineer" bullshit.
Today was a very good day at BlackMesaLabs.
I feel like that fictional "10x Engineer" bullshit.
January 18, 2025 at 3:13 AM
The more Python I write, the more I realize it is the most perfect and most likely the last computer programming language that I will ever learn after doing this for 45+ years now.
Today was a very good day at BlackMesaLabs.
I feel like that fictional "10x Engineer" bullshit.
Today was a very good day at BlackMesaLabs.
I feel like that fictional "10x Engineer" bullshit.
I'm still hopping on Twitter every couple of days. I'm only there to post articles about Elon Musk though. What an awful person. Trump and Musk truly deserve each other.
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/w...
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/w...
Musk Expresses Support for Far-Right Party in Germany’s Election (Gift Article)
It was not the first online intervention by Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and adviser to Donald Trump, on behalf of once-fringe anti-immigrant parties in Europe.
www.nytimes.com
December 21, 2024 at 3:33 PM
I'm still hopping on Twitter every couple of days. I'm only there to post articles about Elon Musk though. What an awful person. Trump and Musk truly deserve each other.
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/w...
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/w...
@woolaf.bsky.social Tom told me to follow you.
What I've discovered over the years is that @radiofreetom.bsky.social is never wrong.
What I've discovered over the years is that @radiofreetom.bsky.social is never wrong.
December 13, 2024 at 12:15 AM
@woolaf.bsky.social Tom told me to follow you.
What I've discovered over the years is that @radiofreetom.bsky.social is never wrong.
What I've discovered over the years is that @radiofreetom.bsky.social is never wrong.
So my "retirement plan" from designing digital chips for profit ( ASICs and FPGAs ) since the 1990s is to stop at age 70 (2040) and just start writing software and fill up my GitHub site with useful free and open source Python programs.
That's my dream anyways.
I very well might be hallucinating.
That's my dream anyways.
I very well might be hallucinating.
December 12, 2024 at 3:29 AM
So my "retirement plan" from designing digital chips for profit ( ASICs and FPGAs ) since the 1990s is to stop at age 70 (2040) and just start writing software and fill up my GitHub site with useful free and open source Python programs.
That's my dream anyways.
I very well might be hallucinating.
That's my dream anyways.
I very well might be hallucinating.
Today, Yahoo killed "my.yahoo.com" that I had used for decades to track my stock portfolio. Pissed me off.
So I wrote a program to replace it, "my_stock_watcher.py".
It's WAY better than their old website.
It's free. No ads.
So Fuck You Yahoo. We're done. End Of Story.
github.com/blackmesalab...
So I wrote a program to replace it, "my_stock_watcher.py".
It's WAY better than their old website.
It's free. No ads.
So Fuck You Yahoo. We're done. End Of Story.
github.com/blackmesalab...
github.com
December 12, 2024 at 2:54 AM
Today, Yahoo killed "my.yahoo.com" that I had used for decades to track my stock portfolio. Pissed me off.
So I wrote a program to replace it, "my_stock_watcher.py".
It's WAY better than their old website.
It's free. No ads.
So Fuck You Yahoo. We're done. End Of Story.
github.com/blackmesalab...
So I wrote a program to replace it, "my_stock_watcher.py".
It's WAY better than their old website.
It's free. No ads.
So Fuck You Yahoo. We're done. End Of Story.
github.com/blackmesalab...
It brings me endless joy that Chat-GPT both knows about and correctly describes my open-source project.
December 7, 2024 at 10:42 PM
It brings me endless joy that Chat-GPT both knows about and correctly describes my open-source project.
I was going through some old photos and ran across one of my very first code review.
The year : 1978.
The reviewer : my mother.
The year : 1978.
The reviewer : my mother.
December 5, 2024 at 1:21 AM
I was going through some old photos and ran across one of my very first code review.
The year : 1978.
The reviewer : my mother.
The year : 1978.
The reviewer : my mother.
@jentaub.bsky.social Happy Birthday!
December 4, 2024 at 2:59 PM
@jentaub.bsky.social Happy Birthday!
We lost power (along with 1/2 million other Seattle area Eastsiders) last week when the "Bomb Cyclone" with 74 mph winds came through. It was 5 days total. Thankfully not in the dark or cold. Gas fireplace still worked and my solar charged battery bank kept us in light. Upgrading to LiFePO4 next.
November 29, 2024 at 1:16 AM
We lost power (along with 1/2 million other Seattle area Eastsiders) last week when the "Bomb Cyclone" with 74 mph winds came through. It was 5 days total. Thankfully not in the dark or cold. Gas fireplace still worked and my solar charged battery bank kept us in light. Upgrading to LiFePO4 next.
Starting "America Against America" by Wang Huning.
"An outlook of why US is potentially heading toward a decline. Published in 1991, still widely read amongst high level Chinese political figures and bureaucrats. Any serious student of US-China relations will benefit greatly from reading this book."
"An outlook of why US is potentially heading toward a decline. Published in 1991, still widely read amongst high level Chinese political figures and bureaucrats. Any serious student of US-China relations will benefit greatly from reading this book."
November 14, 2024 at 3:57 AM
Starting "America Against America" by Wang Huning.
"An outlook of why US is potentially heading toward a decline. Published in 1991, still widely read amongst high level Chinese political figures and bureaucrats. Any serious student of US-China relations will benefit greatly from reading this book."
"An outlook of why US is potentially heading toward a decline. Published in 1991, still widely read amongst high level Chinese political figures and bureaucrats. Any serious student of US-China relations will benefit greatly from reading this book."
Certainly sucks to be the CFO of Twitter these days.
It's a mass exodus from X.
"The Guardian has announced it will no longer post content on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, from its official accounts."
www.theguardian.com/media/2024/n...
It's a mass exodus from X.
"The Guardian has announced it will no longer post content on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, from its official accounts."
www.theguardian.com/media/2024/n...
Guardian will no longer post on Elon Musk’s X from its official accounts
Platform’s coverage of US election crystallised longstanding concerns about its content, says Guardian
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2024 at 2:56 PM
Certainly sucks to be the CFO of Twitter these days.
It's a mass exodus from X.
"The Guardian has announced it will no longer post content on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, from its official accounts."
www.theguardian.com/media/2024/n...
It's a mass exodus from X.
"The Guardian has announced it will no longer post content on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, from its official accounts."
www.theguardian.com/media/2024/n...
@stonekettle.bsky.social has a new essay on that other social media website. Check it out.
www.facebook.com/Stonekettle/...
www.facebook.com/Stonekettle/...
Redirecting...
www.facebook.com
November 12, 2024 at 9:08 PM
@stonekettle.bsky.social has a new essay on that other social media website. Check it out.
www.facebook.com/Stonekettle/...
www.facebook.com/Stonekettle/...
Today I stayed off Twitter, and:
No Tesla, drove my 1994 Honda.
No WaPo, read The Guardian.
No SpaceX into orbit, I never left Issaquah.
No Starlink, just Xfinity ISP for me.
No AWS, just a stack of old Linux laptops.
I bought two books and 2lbs of coffee from Amazon.
I wish I knew how to quit you.
No Tesla, drove my 1994 Honda.
No WaPo, read The Guardian.
No SpaceX into orbit, I never left Issaquah.
No Starlink, just Xfinity ISP for me.
No AWS, just a stack of old Linux laptops.
I bought two books and 2lbs of coffee from Amazon.
I wish I knew how to quit you.
November 12, 2024 at 3:26 AM
Today I stayed off Twitter, and:
No Tesla, drove my 1994 Honda.
No WaPo, read The Guardian.
No SpaceX into orbit, I never left Issaquah.
No Starlink, just Xfinity ISP for me.
No AWS, just a stack of old Linux laptops.
I bought two books and 2lbs of coffee from Amazon.
I wish I knew how to quit you.
No Tesla, drove my 1994 Honda.
No WaPo, read The Guardian.
No SpaceX into orbit, I never left Issaquah.
No Starlink, just Xfinity ISP for me.
No AWS, just a stack of old Linux laptops.
I bought two books and 2lbs of coffee from Amazon.
I wish I knew how to quit you.
I started something new: I am turning my FPGA blog series (link) into a book, "FPGA Chip Design for Speed, Area, Power, and Reliability." I even signed a contract with a publisher last month. I look forward to sharing with everyone when I am done in 2025.
blackmesalabs.wordpress.com/2024/05/27/b...
blackmesalabs.wordpress.com/2024/05/27/b...
BML FPGA Design Tutorial Part-Intro
Table of Contents:Part-1 : So what is digital logic design exactly?Part-2 : Using structural Verilog to make a working FPGA design.Part-3 : Using RTL Verilog and HDL to infer a working FPGA design.…
blackmesalabs.wordpress.com
November 12, 2024 at 2:50 AM
I started something new: I am turning my FPGA blog series (link) into a book, "FPGA Chip Design for Speed, Area, Power, and Reliability." I even signed a contract with a publisher last month. I look forward to sharing with everyone when I am done in 2025.
blackmesalabs.wordpress.com/2024/05/27/b...
blackmesalabs.wordpress.com/2024/05/27/b...
My oldest daughter is 3rd generation UW Husky. She took me to the UW-USC game last night (26-21 Win!).
I always enjoy going back on campus and seeing what is new and what hasn't changed. The Paul Allen Electrical Engineering building left of fountain is amazing.
I love being back. Class of 1993.
I always enjoy going back on campus and seeing what is new and what hasn't changed. The Paul Allen Electrical Engineering building left of fountain is amazing.
I love being back. Class of 1993.
November 11, 2024 at 2:21 AM
My oldest daughter is 3rd generation UW Husky. She took me to the UW-USC game last night (26-21 Win!).
I always enjoy going back on campus and seeing what is new and what hasn't changed. The Paul Allen Electrical Engineering building left of fountain is amazing.
I love being back. Class of 1993.
I always enjoy going back on campus and seeing what is new and what hasn't changed. The Paul Allen Electrical Engineering building left of fountain is amazing.
I love being back. Class of 1993.
This was my November 6th post on that other place.
I'm still trying to figure out how to move forward.
I'm still trying to figure out how to move forward.
November 11, 2024 at 2:08 AM
This was my November 6th post on that other place.
I'm still trying to figure out how to move forward.
I'm still trying to figure out how to move forward.