From: jl@glen--canyon.com   
      
   On Fri, 5 Dec 2025 00:36:47 +1100, Bill Sloman    
   wrote:   
      
   >On 4/12/2025 4:24 pm, john larkin wrote:   
   >> On Tue, 2 Dec 2025 16:17:03 +1100, Bill Sloman    
   >> wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> On 2/12/2025 5:56 am, john larkin wrote:   
   >>>> On Tue, 2 Dec 2025 05:07:57 +1100, Bill Sloman    
   >>>> wrote:   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> On 2/12/2025 3:02 am, john larkin wrote:   
   >>>>>> On Mon, 1 Dec 2025 21:35:40 +1100, Bill Sloman    
   >>>>>> wrote:   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> On 1/12/2025 2:32 am, john larkin wrote:   
   >>>>>>>> On Mon, 1 Dec 2025 00:28:19 +1100, Bill Sloman    
   >>>>>>>> wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>> On 30/11/2025 4:56 pm, john larkin wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>>> On Sat, 29 Nov 2025 11:17:12 -0800, Joerg    
   >>>>>>>>>> wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>> On 11/29/25 3:38 AM, Bill Sloman wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>>>>> On 29/11/2025 8:56 am, Joerg wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>> On 11/28/25 1:32 PM, Joe Gwinn wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Fri, 28 Nov 2025 12:52:07 -0800, Joerg    
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 11/28/25 12:45 PM, Joerg wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>> [...]   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> To the surprise of my clients it's the contrary. The most   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> client-shocking redesign was an auto-align circuit for ganged   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ADC-channels. High speed, high phase accuracy and all that.   
   They   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> had an   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> elaborate time domain method with a fat DSP, lots of code and   
   very   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>        I meant they used a frequency domain method.   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> expensive chips used as programmable delay chips. The NRE   
   alone had   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> been   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> humongous. It never reliably converged so the system hung a   
   lot. I   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> suggested to ditch all that and use time domain. This caused   
   an uproar   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> because I had rocked the boat a lot and usually consultants   
   aren't   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> supposed to do that. "I don't think this can possibly work",   
   "It won't   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> deliver the accuracy", "It won't converge either" and all   
   that.   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Yet the boss let me do it. In the end the whole thing dropped   
   from   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> three-digit dollars in HW to under 10 bucks. Instead of   
   expensive   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> discrete-step time delay chips I used inductors, caps and   
   varicap   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> diodes   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> for almost infinite granularity. The DSP became unemployed   
   because the   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> connected PC could easily handle the computations. It   
   converged in   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> less   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> than a second, always. The NRE was low because it took less   
   than two   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> weeks of my time and less than a day for the programmer, and   
   we didn't   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> need an expensive DSP programmer.   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Embarrassing.  Were any of the customers design team later   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>> defenstrated?   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>> No, they were pretty good. It's the usual phenomenon where, in   
   an old   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>> German saying, you can't see the forest because of all the trees.   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>> Brainstorming is designed to get around that to some extent, but   
   if you   
   >>>>>>>>>>>> aren't used to thinking outside the box it's difficult to step   
   back far   
   >>>>>>>>>>>> enough to get outside the box.   
   >>>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>> My experience with brainstorm sessions is not good. The results are   
   >>>>>>>>>>> often encouraging but then hardly anything of it gets documented   
   and   
   >>>>>>>>>>> typically none of it is implemented. All I need is a large   
   whiteboard   
   >>>>>>>>>>> or a large piece of paper. Plus coffee or mate (having a mate   
   right now).   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>> It's a desperation measure to break up some kind of intellectual   
   log-jam.   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>> It isn't going to work all that often. Documenting it is a chore,   
   but it   
   >>>>>>>>> does need to be done   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>> Brainstorming is great, done right.   
   >>>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>> We sign and date our whiteboard scribbles and photograph them and   
   >>>>>>>>>> stash the pics in the project notes folder.   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>> Great for people who like visualisation.   
   >>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>> Or are literate.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> The illiterate can still look at pictures. Being able to write doesn't   
   >>>>>>> guarantee that you can organise your ideas into a chunk of text that   
   >>>>>>> other people will understand in the way that you want them to.   
   >>>>>>> Whiteboard scribbles aren't structured text.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> A photo of an FPGA register map with notes is a serious document.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> Given a group of smart people, a good brainstorm session is a way to   
   >>>>>> add (or multiply) their intelligence.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> But the personalities and the attitude have to be right. Some people   
   >>>>>> can't brainstorm.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> You attitude that most people are dumber than you are would (no doubt   
   >>>>>> has) poison a brainstorm session.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> It didn't. I don't make a habit of telling people that they are dumb. If   
   >>>>> they tell me stuff that is demonstrably wrong I do try to get them to   
   >>>>> recognise that they have to change their opinion, but it's a lot easier   
   >>>>> to do that in a collaborative fashion in face-to-face encounters.   
   >>>>> Some people do dig their heels in, but that doesn't happen in a well-run   
   >>>>> brainstorming session.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>> We've had junior people, even   
   >>>>>> interns, see something or say something that inspired cool ideas. The   
   >>>>>> audience must be grateful for all ideas, to encourage ideas.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> That's a well-known feature of brain-storming sessions   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>> "That violates conservation of energy, but there might be something   
   >>>>>> there..."   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> A brainstorm session is a way for a group of people to explore an   
   >>>>>> infinite solution space by using parallel processing.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> No finite brain, nor any loosely linked collection of finite brains, is   
   >>>>> going to explore an infinite solution space.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Of course it can. It just can't find every possible solution.   
   >>>   
   >>> Only in the sense of wandering around like a lost sheep. Exploration is   
   >>> goal-directed and an infinite solution space has an infinite number of   
   >>> goals.   
   >>   
   >> Exactly. Being goal-directed means that you have already decided the   
   >> direction to go in.   
   >   
   >Goal-directed means that you have decided where you want to end up, not   
   >how you are going to get there.   
      
   That's already restrictive. If you allolw yourself to think freely   
   about X, you might accidentally invent Y.   
      
   And if you allow your competitors' features, or your marketing or   
      
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