Samsung unveils new Galaxy tab to take on iPad

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A South Korean man uses his smart phone in front of an advertisement for Samsung Electronics' new tablet computer, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Seoul. South Korea's Samsung Electronics launched a new version of its Galaxy Tab in its home market in a bid to lure consumers away from Apple's iPad.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics launched a new version of its Galaxy Tab in its home market Wednesday in a bid to lure consumers away from Apple's iPad.

The release comes as the South Korean firm is in embroiled in a patent dispute with US giant Apple, which has seen both sides file infringement claims against the other.

Samsung, the world's second-largest mobile phone maker, also said it would in August launch an updated version of its Galaxy S smartphone in the US market, which is dominated by Apple's iPhone.

The company has already released its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in five overseas countries including the United States.

The tab, powered by Android's Honeycomb 3.1 developed for tablet PCs, features a 10.1-inch (25.6 cm) touchscreen display rather than the seven-inch display for the previous model.

It is the world's thinnest tablet, measuring 8.6 millimetres, Samsung said. The price will start at 671,000 won ($634) in the home market.

Samsung said the seven-inch tab was optimised for portability, while the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was best suited for multimedia consumption and web browsing.

"It is very thin... and weighs just as much as a cup of takeout coffee," the company said in a statement.

The patent tussle between Samsung and Apple began in April when Apple filed a suit accusing South Korean firm of copying its smartphones and tablet computers. Samsung responded with a claim in Seoul alleging five patent infringements by Apple.

The California-based firm last month lodged a second lawsuit against Samsung with a district court in Seoul, asking for a sales ban on Samsung's latest products.

The US company escalated the row this month by asking the US International Trade Commission to block imports to the United States of some of the Samsung's smartphones and tablet computers.

(c) 2011 AFP

Samsung unveils new Galaxy tab to take on iPad

Inside the innards of a nuclear reactor: Tiny robots may monitor underground pipes for radioactive leaks

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A spherical robot equipped with a camera may navigate underground pipes of a nuclear reactor by propelling itself with an internal network of valves and pumps. Image: Harry Asada/d'Arbeloff Laboratory

As workers continue to grapple with the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powerplant in Japan, the crisis has shone a spotlight on nuclear reactors around the world. In June, The Associated Press released results from a yearlong investigation, revealing evidence of “unrelenting wear” in many of the oldest-running facilities in the United States.

That study found that three-quarters of the country’s nuclear reactor sites have leaked radioactive tritium from buried piping that transports water to cool reactor vessels, often contaminating groundwater. According to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the industry has limited methods to monitor underground pipes for leaks.

“We have 104 reactors in this country,” says Harry Asada, the Ford Professor of Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and director of MIT’s d’Arbeloff Laboratory for Information Systems and Technology. “Fifty-two of them are 30 years or older, and we need immediate solutions to assure the safe operations of these reactors.”

Asada says one of the major challenges for safety inspectors is identifying corrosion in a reactor’s underground pipes. Currently, plant inspectors use indirect methods to monitor buried piping: generating a voltage gradient to identify areas where pipe coatings may have corroded, and using ultrasonic waves to screen lengths of pipe for cracks. The only direct monitoring requires digging out the pipes and visually inspecting them — a costly and time-intensive operation.

Now Asada and his colleagues at the d’Arbeloff Laboratory are working on a direct monitoring alternative: small, egg-sized robots designed to dive into nuclear reactors and swim through underground pipes, checking for signs of corrosion. The underwater patrollers, equipped with cameras, are able to withstand a reactor’s extreme, radioactive environment, transmitting images in real-time from within.

The group presented details of its latest prototype at the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

Cannonball!

At first glance, Asada’s robotic inspector looks like nothing more than a small metallic cannonball. There are no propellers or rudders, or any obvious mechanism on its surface to power the robot through an underwater environment. Asada says such “appendages,” common in many autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), are too bulky for his purposes — a robot outfitted with external thrusters or propellers would easily lodge in a reactor’s intricate structures, including sensor probes, networks of pipes and joints. “You would have to shut down the plant just to get the robot out,” Asada says. “So we had to make [our design] extremely fail-safe.”

He and his graduate student, Anirban Mazumdar, decided to make the robot a smooth sphere, devising a propulsion system that can harness the considerable force of water rushing through a reactor. The group devised a special valve for switching the direction of a flow with a tiny change in pressure and embedded a network of the Y-shaped valves within the hull, or “skin,” of the small, spherical robot, using 3-D printing to construct the network of valves, layer by layer. “At the end of the day, we get pipelines going in all … directions,” Asada says. “They’re really tiny.”

Depending on the direction they want their robot to swim, the researchers can close off various channels to shoot water through a specific valve. The high-pressure water pushes open a window at the end of the valve, rushing out of the robot and creating a jet stream that propels the robot in the opposite direction.

Robo-patrol

As the robot navigates a pipe system, the onboard camera takes images along the pipe’s interior. Asada’s original plan was to retrieve the robot and examine the images afterward. But now he and his students are working to equip the robot with wireless underwater communications, using laser optics to transmit images in real time across distances of up to 100 meters.

The team is also working on an “eyeball” mechanism that would let the camera pan and tilt in place. Graduate student Ian Rust describes the concept as akin to a hamster ball.

“The hamster changes the location of the center of mass of the ball by scurrying up the side of the ball,” Rust says. “The ball then rolls in that direction.”

To achieve the same effect, the group installed a two-axis gimbal in the body of the robot, enabling them to change the robot’s center of mass arbitrarily. With this setup, the camera, fixed to the outside of the robot, can pan and tilt as the robot stays stationary.

Asada envisions the robots as short-term, disposable patrollers, able to inspect pipes for several missions before breaking down from repeated radiation exposure.

“The system has a simplicity that is very attractive for deployment in hostile environments,” says Henrik Christensen, director of the Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Christensen, who was not involved in the work, observed that robots such as Asada’s could be useful not only for monitoring nuclear reactors, but also for inspecting other tight, confined spaces — sprawling city sewer pipes, for example. “One would like to have a system that can be deployed at a limited cost and risk, so an autonomous system of minimal size is very attractive,” he says.

Provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (news : web)

Inside the innards of a nuclear reactor: Tiny robots may monitor underground pipes for radioactive leaks

Apple unleashes Lion, updates MacBook Air

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs announces the OSX Lion operating system at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California 2010. Apple on Wednesday unleashed its new Lion operating system, running it on updated, more powerful versions of its MacBook Air ultra-thin laptop.

Apple on Wednesday unleashed its new Lion operating system, running it on updated, more powerful versions of its MacBook Air ultra-thin laptop.

A slew of Apple product releases came as the California company's stock rose on the back of record high net profit and revenue in the quarter ending June 25.

Lion is the latest version of the Macintosh computer operating system and boasts more than 250 added features including handling multi-touch controls.

Sales of Macintosh computers dramatically outpaced the overall market in the recently-ended quarter and Lion is expected to further ramp up interest in Apple products.

Lion will be pre-installed on new Macintosh computers and is available for download as an update from the Mac App Store for $30.

"Lion is the best version of OS X yet, and we're thrilled that users around the world can download it starting today," said Apple senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing Philip Schiller.

Updated MacBook Air laptops feature speedier Intel processors, backlit keyboards, and quicker data ports.

MacBook Air models range in price from $999 to $1,599 depending on processor speeds, memory and other features.

Apple also introduced a Thunderbolt Display that serves as a docking station and a high-quality desktop screen for a Mac notebook computer. Thunderbolt Display will be priced at $999 when it hits the market some time in the coming two months, according to Apple.

(c) 2011 AFP

Apple unleashes Lion, updates MacBook Air

Samsung delivers world’s first virtual desktop monitor with Cisco Universal power-over-ethernet technology

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Last week at Cisco Live in Las Vegas, Samsung Electronics unveiled the world’s first zero client monitor using Cisco Universal Power Over Ethernet (UPOE) technology, heralding a new era of virtual desktops that will help businesses conserve energy and reduce cost and complexity. The Samsung NC220 monitor with Cisco UPOE powers and connects individual monitors via the network to a “virtualized” central server that executes all tasks and applications, offering businesses a flexible and convenient cloud computing alternative to the traditional workstation setup.

Samsung designed the NC220 with its new LED BLU technology, which offers bright and clear pictures on an ultra-slim, eco-friendly design—and markedly reduces energy consumption when compared with conventional CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) monitors. Such innovations have allowed Samsung to remain the undisputed global leader in monitors for 19 straight quarters, according to a recent report from market research firm IDC.

This easy-to-deploy, easy-to-maintain desktop virtualization system reduces IT burden at every step. Software and security updates can be deployed in minutes from a centralized location, eliminating the need to service each individual workstation. Additionally, the Cisco UPOE technology is designed to enable that both data and power can be supplied through a single Ethernet cable, allowing for easier installation and more flexibility when configuring an office space.

The addition of Cisco UPOE increases flexibility and choice for businesses by extending network power resiliency, at reduced costs compared to traditional power infrastructure, to an unprecedented range of devices. Cisco UPOE can supply up to 60 watts of power—twice as much as existing power-over-Ethernet technologies, which is currently restricted to 30 watts.

“Cisco UPOE doubles the amount power delivered over the Ethernet to support many more devices, including the Samsung zero client desktop virtualization devices,” said Jeff Reed, vice president of Cisco’s Unified Access Business Unit. “Now the same Ethernet cable that provides network access will power Samsung’s industry leading virtual desktop devices—dramatically simplifying deployment and management of these devices.”

Enterprises can save additional energy by implementing Cisco’s EnergyWise to better manage and monitor the power consumption of IT devices powered and connected to their Cisco network.

Zero client monitors like the Samsung NC220 are server-based monitors for businesses’ cloud computing systems. These products eliminate the need for local CPU, memory and storage at each individual workstation; instead, the monitor is connected via the network to a central server that executes tasks traditionally handled by a desktop PC. Samsung and Cisco have been working togetherto embed the Cisco UPOE on the Samsung NC220 since the two companies entered into an alliance earlier this year.

Provided by Samsung

Samsung delivers world's first virtual desktop monitor with Cisco Universal power-over-ethernet technology

US approves its first 'tablet' for federal workers

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Photo illustration of a Blackberry Playbook tablet. Blackberry's PlayBook electronic tablet has been approved for use in all US federal government agencies, becoming the first tablet to get certified, developer Research in Motion said.

Blackberry's PlayBook electronic tablet has been approved for use in all US federal government agencies, becoming the first tablet to get certified, developer Research in Motion said.

The Waterloo, Canada-based RIM said its PlayBook, which has an 18-centimeter (seven-inch) high definition screen, received Federal Information Processing Standard certification, which is delivered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Under the Federal Information Security Management Act, which was passed shortly after the September 11 attacks, all computer tools used by the federal government must meet federal certification standards.

"This certification demonstrates our continued commitment to meeting the needs of security-conscious organizations and enables the US federal government to buy with confidence knowing that the PlayBook meets their computing policy requirements for protecting sensitive information," said Scott Totzke, who runs Blackberry's security division at RIM.

The Playbook, which has a camera on the front and back, is an alternative to Apple's iPad.

It has been sold in the United States and Canada since mid-April.

The certification provides a needed lift to the company, which announced in June that it would face an unspecified downsizing during the current quarter.

RIM's most famous product, the Blackberry, is already well-established in the US government. President Barack Obama is a big fan, and uses a version modified to meet his security requirements.

(c) 2011 AFP

US approves its first 'tablet' for federal workers

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook irons out kinks

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Consumers shopping for a PC have a new choice: laptops running Google's Chrome OS operating system.

The first Chromebooks went on sale last month and more are expected. I've been testing out Samsung's Series 5 Chromebook with Wi-Fi and 3G. I like it, but it has some significant shortcomings that will make it unsuitable for many users except as a secondary computer.

Chrome OS is built around Google's Chrome Web browser. When users log on to a Chromebook, they don't see a standard PC desktop; instead, they see a tabbed browser window. Rather than using separate applications to check email, compose documents or send instant messages, everything you do in Chrome OS has to be done within the browser.

The advantage is that Chrome OS is a much more streamlined operating system than Windows or Mac OS. Startup and shutdown can be done in less than 20 seconds or so, and resuming from standby mode is nearly instantaneous.

Chrome OS is also theoretically much more secure than standard laptops. Because Chromebooks are designed to be connected to the Internet, little data is stored on the machine itself. And because everything is focused on the browser - which Google updates frequently - there's less chance of a malicious program running in the background.

Not being able to run "native" programs other than the browser itself may seem like a limitation, but these days you can do a lot with a browser. I used to run multiple programs at once on my Windows PC, including a Web browser, Outlook for checking email and keeping track of appointments, Word for composing articles and Excel for creating spreadsheets. Now I typically do most of those things in my Web browser, thanks to online services such as Gmail and Google Docs.

Google has set up an application store for Web apps for Chrome OS, including games like "Angry Birds." But because the operating system is built around the Chrome Web browser and includes Adobe's Flash, you can use it to access a wide swath of applications and services on the Web.

When Google unveiled Chrome OS last fall, neither the operating system nor the hardware it ran on was ready for prime time. Chrome OS was buggy and lacked key features such as support for external drives, and the prototype laptop's trackpad responded only intermittently when I tried to click on something.

Chrome OS and Chromebooks have come a long way since then. The operating system now supports external drives, so you can plug in a flash drive or an SD card in a dedicated slot and pull up pictures or other files. And I ran into no problems with the trackpad on Samsung's Chromebook.

I did run into some performance issues, however. Initially, various applications, including Flash, crashed. And I repeatedly got error messages warning me that particular browser tabs had died.

Google representatives said the underlying problems have now been fixed in a new update, and I haven't encountered them since.

I really liked the design of the Chromebook. It's thin and light, weighing in at just 3.3 pounds. It has a full keyboard, a bright 12-inch screen and a battery that lasted a full work day in my testing.

Another nice feature: The top-end Chromebook includes a built-in antenna to connect to the Internet via Verizon's cellphone network that allows users 100 megabits of free data each month. That can be useful when users aren't around a Wi-Fi hotspot.

All that said, the Chromebook has limitations. Chrome OS still doesn't support VPN, so you can't use the Chromebook to connect to the many corporate networks that require it. What's more - and this was a big one for me - Citrix doesn't yet have a plug-in for Chrome OS. That means you can't use a Chromebook to run virtual versions of Windows apps delivered over a network - which is how we at the newspaper access our publishing system.

Google says that both VPN and Citrix support are coming soon.

And there are still plenty of applications that don't yet run under a Web browser. You can't run sophisticated photo or audio editing software on Chrome OS. And you won't be able to play the latest PC games.

The lack of native apps presents another big problem because many Web apps won't work unless you're online. That can make the Chromebook all but unusable if your Net access is down or if you are out of range of a data connection.

Chrome OS also doesn't natively recognize many popular file formats. For example, I couldn't use it to watch videos I made on my older digital camera because they were recorded in the AVI format.

And the operating system has other less serious but sometimes annoying limitations. One big one for me: Chrome OS doesn't allow you to adjust how quickly a character repeats when you hold down its key.

For those reasons, the Chromebook won't work as the primary PC for many consumers. But for those who only want a PC to surf the Web, send email and play casual games, the Chromebook is definitely worth a look.

---

SAMSUNG SERIES 5 CHROMEBOOK:

-Likes: Thin, lightweight design; speedy startup and shutdown; full keyboard; long-lasting battery

-Dislikes: Lacks support for VPN, Citrix; lack of support for native apps and paucity of Web apps that can be used offline; doesn't support many popular file formats

-Specs: 1.66 GHz Intel Atom processor; 2GB memory; 16GB flash drive; 12.1-inch screen

-How much: $429 for Wi-Fi only model; $499 for model with Wi-Fi and 3G

-Web: chromebook.com

More information: Troy Wolverton is a technology columnist for the San Jose Mercury News.

(c) 2011, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.).
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook irons out kinks

Lenovo unveils Android Netflix tablets, plus Win 7 model

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IdeaPad K1

It's a tough time to announce new tablet computers, after Apple's phenomenal quarterly report, but Lenovo is unveiling three new models taking aim at the iPad.

Two are based on Google's Android 3.1 operating system and have Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processors. They have 10.1-inch diagonal touch screens and weigh 1.65 pounds.

Lenovo calls them the first Android Honeycomb tablets "certified for Netflix." The streaming video application comes bundled with the tablets, which also have HDMI output for playing Netflix movies in high definition on a TV or large monitor.

Netflix video content also plays on the tablets' 1280 by 800 resolution screen.

The consumer-oriented IdeaPad K1 will be generally available in August for $499 for a 32 gigabyte model.

It also has a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera and 2 megapixel front-facing camera for chat sessions.

Lenovo also noted the device can be used to "browse all websites and watch online videos with ease" because it supports Adobe Flash 10.3, unlike Brand A.

A business-oriented ThinkPad Tablet with 16 gigabytes of storage will cost $479 or $509 with a digitizer pen when it becomes available in August. Models with 3G wireless will be announced later and will cost more.

It also has HDMI out - "for connecting to external projectors and displays" - plus a USB port and full-size SD slot.

Lenovo also announced a Windows 7 model with a similar design, but an Intel 1.5 gigahertz processor inside and solid-state drives with 32 or 64 gigabytes of capacity. It weighs 1.75 pounds and has a USB 2.0 port, Micro SD card reader and a slot for a cellular data card.

Called the P1, the Windows tablet will be available in the fourth quarter. Lenovo isn't yet disclosing its price (or whether it also has the HDMI out capability). I'll bet the same hardware will also be available with Windows 8 before too long. Maybe it will even be the reference hardware shown at Microsoft's developer conference in September.

(c) 2011, The Seattle Times.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Lenovo unveils Android Netflix tablets, plus Win 7 model

Video: Festo's Smartbird robot featured at TED conference

(PhysOrg.com) -- Robotics company, Festo, showed off the near four-month old creation, Smartbird robot, at the 2011 TEDGlobal Conference in Edinburgh.

This video is not supported by your browser at this time.

Markus Fischer, a Smartbird project leader, unveiled live demonstrations along with a brief talk about the robotic seagull.

With the help of an on board motor, Smartbird, modeled after the herring gull, can flap its wings and fly.

From a company whose inventions also include a pair of robotic penguins and an elephant’s trunk, Festo’s Smartbird really soars.

More information: http://www.physorg … t-video.html

via IEEE

Video: Festo's Smartbird robot featured at TED conference

Review: ViewPad 10 features Windows and Android

In this July 21, 2011 photo, the ViewSonic ViewPad 10 tablet computer is displayed, in Atlanta. The ViewPad 10 is a dual-boot tablet that comes with both Windows and Android operating systems. (AP Photo/ Ron Harris)

(AP) -- Viewsonic's new tablet has a unique solution for consumers who are still clinging to Microsoft's Windows, even as Google's Android operating system gains traction: It offers both.

The ViewPad 10 is a dual-boot unit. It can launch either Windows 7 or Android as you start the computer.

Out of the box, the specs are impressive. The ViewPad has a 10.1-inch display, which is larger than the iPad's 9.7 inches. It weighs less than two pounds, has built in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and is stuffed with a relatively fast Intel 1.66 GHz processor. It costs $599 for the 16-gigabyte version, and $679 for double the memory.

The ViewPad has a built-in camera. The resolution is just 1.3 megapixels, well short of what the iPhone and other smartphones offer. So, don't expect great images.

The device also features a mini VGA port, a standard audio jack, two USB ports and a MicroSD card slot. It's pretty full-featured for a tablet.

The computer comes with Windows 7 Home Premium installed, and I updated the test unit with version 2.2 of Android, also known as Froyo.

I spent some time with Android first, as I was already familiar with that environment as an owner of an Android-powered phone from HTC. The ViewPad didn't present as rich an experience as the phone, primarily because the graphical interface that presents the shortcuts, widgets and navigation on the tablet isn't as advanced as those on smartphones. HTC's smooth "Sense" environment for phones, for example, is among the best-of-breed for presenting the Android tools and apps.

Moreover, the apps shortcut on the tablet didn't present the full offering of apps available on Google's Android Market. Instead, it took me to a much smaller selection at something called "AndAppStore." A direct link to the full slate of those Market apps would have been better, but the device appears to be hamstrung.

Google does not allow the Android Market to be pre-installed on Android 2.2 tablets with screen sizes larger than seven inches. And Viewsonic has no current plans to update the ViewPad beyond that version of the operating system. So there's an impasse that leaves the ViewPad wanting.

You could try to install a more recent version of Android, such as Honeycomb, on your own. But it requires advanced technological skills, and there's no guarantee from the manufacturer or Google that the ViewPad will perform well.

Once apps are launched, they work as expected. They're quick to start up and easy to use. But most apps for Android are designed for a smaller display, not something as large as the ViewPad. The 10.1-inch display size, in most cases for me, was wasted on the Android side of this dual-boot device.

The better half of the ViewPad is Windows 7.

It ran fast and was pretty intuitive about responding to the right icons, scroll bars and objects on the display that I was trying to touch. It was a new experience for me to navigate the Web in Firefox by swiping across the screen. It fared well - better than surfing for content on the Android side.

When it came to more intricate programs, interacting with the tablet was challenging.

You could try to edit photos with Adobe Photoshop for Windows, but you'd be making the task much harder than it would be in a traditional mouse and cursor environment. Trust me, I tried.

Every erroneous tap propelled me into a wrong window or menu that had to be backed out of and started over. The first thing that came to my mind was to undo an action with "CTRL+Z", but the keyboard wasn't there unless I swiped it onto the screen from its little hidden perch in a corner of the display.

I'll leave Photoshop, and a few other detail oriented tasks, for traditional computers with real keyboards. Tablets, at this stage, are better for content consumption than content creation.

Despite my success with a variety of Windows experiences (movie watching, Gawker reading, Flickr photo browsing and Facebook time-crushing) the tablet experience begs for apps. Better apps. Finger-friendly apps.

Browsers work to deliver this content, but full-fledged apps brewed up especially for human digits work better. They're designed with bigger touchable regions and fewer (if any) tiny scrolling controllers.

It's swell of Microsoft to make Windows 7 touch-friendly, but the company needs to fashion a tablet-specific version of its operating system to compete with Android and iOS.

Is dual-boot for the tablet worth it? Not really at this point. Android is best left to phones. But with a few improvements or perhaps a dedicated tablet operating system, Windows will fit in quite nicely in this growing computer segment.

©2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Review: ViewPad 10 features Windows and Android

Bionic microrobot mimics the 'water strider' and walks on water (w/ Video)

Scientists are reporting development of a new aquatic microrobot that mimics the amazing water-walking abilities of the water strider — the long-legged insect that scoots across the surface of ponds, lakes and other waterways. The bionic microrobot incorporates improvements over previous devices of this kind that position it as a prime candidate for military spy missions, water pollution monitoring, and other applications, the scientists say. Their study appears in the journal, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

"Walking on the water surface is a dream of humans, but it is exactly the way of life for some aquatic insects," Qinmin Pan and colleagues note, citing water striders, mosquitoes, and water spiders. This is due largely to their highly water-repellent (superhydrophobic) legs. Other scientists have made tiny aquatic devices based on the water strider with the hope of developing bionic robots that can monitor water supplies, conduct military spy missions when equipped with a camera, and perform other tasks. But until now, no one has found a way to make water-walking robots that are practical, agile, and inexpensive.

This video is not supported by your browser at this time.

The scientists describe progress on a new robot, with a body about the size of a quarter; ten water-repellent, wire legs; and two movable, oar-like legs — propelled by two miniature motors. "Because the weight of the microrobot is equal to that of about 390 water striders, one might expect that it will sink quickly when placed on the water surface," the report noted. However, it stands effortlessly on water surfaces and also walks and turns freely.

More information: ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2011, 3 (7), pp 2630–2636 DOI: 10.1021/am200382g

Provided by American Chemical Society (news : web)

Bionic microrobot mimics the 'water strider' and walks on water (w/ Video)

测试一下

测试一下

Fulcrum buy could signal shift for Intel

SAN FRANCISCO-Intel's agreement to acquireFulcrum Microsystems Incfor an undisclosed sum could signal a significant change of direction for theworld's biggest chip maker toward providing a comprehensive high-performance,low power solution for data centers.

Fulcrum (Calabasas, Calif), aprivately held, fabless company, produces high bandwidth network switchingchips based on an asynchronous switching fabric for data center networkproviders. The acquisition of Fulcrum could give Intel a head start on anend-to-end solution for data centers.

"Intel is transforming from aleading server technology company to a comprehensive data center provider thatoffers computing, storage, and networking building blocks," said KirkSkaugen, Intel vice president and general manager of the company's Data CenterGroup, in a statement. Skaugen said Fulcrum's switch silicon complementsIntel's processors and Ethernet controllers and would enable Intel to offercustomers new levels of performance and energy efficiency while improving theeconomics of cloud service delivery.

Fulcrum, founded in 2000, waspreviously included on early integrations of the EE Times 60 Emerging Startupslist. The company has announced several rounds of venture funding over theyears totaling at least $55 million for the development of its clockless 10Gigabit Ethernet and 40 Gigabit Ethernet chips. Fulcrum's technology removesthe central clock, which can result in chips consuming less power whileperforming at gigahertz performance in standard commodity manufacturingprocesses.

Intel (Santa Clara, Calif) said theacquisition would fulfill an important component in the company's strategy todeliver comprehensive data center building blocks, from server processors andtechnologies to storage and networking.

The acquisition agreement remains subjectto the approval of Fulcrum Microsystems shareholders, as well as regulatoryapproval and other customary closing conditions, Intel said. It is expected toclose in the third quarter of 2011, the company said.

This story was originally posted by EETimes.

Fulcrum buy could signal shift for Intel

Synopsys gathers Virtio, VaST, CoWare into Virtualizer

Synopsys today announced release of the Virtualizer toolset: a virtual system prototyping platform that brings together tools thecompany acquired from Virtio (virtual prototyping for software development),VaST (subsystem models), and CoWare (hardware-software coverification).

The announcement is more than a simple rebranding of theacquired product lines, according to Director of Product Marketing MarcSerughetti. Virtualizer includes the previous tools, but adds new models,assembles the capabilities into a single OSCI TLM 2.0-based environment, andprovides links into Synopsys's HAPS hardware prototyping system, instruction-set-levelprocessor simulators, and analysis tools, including some third-party softwaredebug and analysis products.

The concept, Serughetti said, is to create an environmentin which a design team can assemble a virtual system prototype, includingmodels at different levels of abstraction. Then designers can create whateverviews of the system they need-behavioral, transaction-level, instruction-level,RT-level, or a mixture-to perform a simulation or analysis run.

Synopsys has added tools for model creation and debug,and also application-specific reference designs. Both are intended to getvirtual system prototypes up and running quickly. There are also VirtualizerDevelopment Kits: pre-configured subsets of the full Virtulaizer package forspecific tasks such as software development, SOC verification, or systemtesting.

The announcement leaves out a great many details, such aswhat models are available, descriptions of the model-builder/debugger andvarious analysis tools, the mechanism for linking models at different levels ofabstraction for simulation or-especially-analysis, and just how the user goesabout instrumenting and controlling such a multimode prototype. It appears thatthe system may be assembled on a TLM 2.0 backplane, but that is not explicitlystated in the product materials.

What is clear is that Synopsys is attempting to meet thedisparate needs of early software development and SOC architecture verificationin the chip-design world, the needs of software developers working in theLinux/Android world, and the needs of system prototyping teams in specificapplications such as automotive and aerospace, all from a single tool set.Given the tendency of tools to become application-specific as they move fromconception into actual use, this could be a challenging and resource-consumingeffort for the EDA giant. But clearly it is a move in concert with Cadence'sand Mentor's increasing emphasis on system, and especially software,development needs. Virtualizer and some of the Development Kits are availablenow.
Synopsys gathers Virtio, VaST, CoWare into Virtualizer

The next transistor: planar, fins, and SOI at 22 nm

The race is on to redefine the transistor. Processdevelopers working on 22-/20-nm logic processes appear to be scrambling tointroduce new kinds of transistors for this node. Intel has made a huge fanfareover their tri-gate device. Many researchers are pushing finFETs. A powerfulgroup of mainly European organizations, including ARM and US-based Globalfoundries,is serious about fully-depleted SOI (fdSOI.) And recently, start-up Suvolta andFujitsu described yet another alternative.

All this might appear fascinating for device designers, andirrelevant to chip designers. But decisions on transistor design will haveprofound downstream impacts-from the craft of cell design to the work ofphysical-design teams, and even to the logic designer's struggles with powerand timing closure.


What'sthe problem?

Why are process engineers so determined to upset the applecart? The short answer is short-channel effects. Pursuit of Moore's Law hascontinually shrunk the channel length of the MOSFET. This contraction improves transistor density and, other factor fixed, switching speed. The problem isthat shortening the channel plays havoc with those other factors-about a dozendifferent havocs, actually, that get lumped under the label of short-channeleffect. Most of these we can summarize by a generalization: as the drain getscloser to the source, it gets harder and harder for the gate to pinch off thechannel current (figure 1, below). The result is sub-threshold leakage current.Figure 1: As channel length shrinks, the electrical characteristics of the channel go wrong.

This battle against leakage current has been going on sinceat least the 90-nm node. The point of the whole high-k/metal-gate (HKMG)transition was to give the gate more control over the channel current withoutletting gate leakage get out of control. But by the 22-nm node, many arearguing, the planar MOSFET will have lost that war. There will be no way todeliver adequate leakage control at adequate performance. "With HKMG weaddressed gate leakage," one expert said. "Now we have to address channelleakage."

 

Planarone more time?

Not everyone agrees that the planar MOSFET is history. Principalamong the dissenters is TSMC, which stated in February that it would use planartransistors in its 20-nm foundry process. There are strong arguments for thisposition, also held-with one major caveat-by Globalfoundries. Designers arefamiliar with short-channel planar MSOFETs, for all their shortcomings. Thisshould make rescaling of cell libraries and hard IP blocks relativelystraightforward. Leakage and threshold variations may be worse than at 28 nm,but the design community has tools, including aggressive power management,variation-tolerant circuits, and statistical timing analysis, to cope withthese problems. And when all the issues are on the table, a foundry must dowhat its lead customers-FPGA vendors, networking IC giants, and to some extentARM-ask of it.

Still, there is much skepticism. "TSMC stated that theywould use a replacement-metal-gate planar process at 20 nm," observed NovellusVice President Girish Dixit, "but that determination may have changed. HKMG cancontrol leakage, but a planar transistor will still have inferior I-on/I-offcharacteristics." If TSMC's early adopters find themselves at a competitivedisadvantage because of the planar transistor, they may force the giant into afinFET half-node. The confrontation would most likely arise in the mobilemarket, where ARM's fabless silicon partners will face competition from Intel'sAtom processor, newly rejuvenated by that company's 22-nm tri-gate process.

 

Therise of the fin

The next-transistor debate matriculated from a decade in thecloistered but technically accurate halls of process engineering conferences tothe public forum with Intel's May announcement of their 22-nm so-calledtri-gate process. The roll-out, probably intended to counter ARM's growingmomentum in the mobile space rather than to advance the discussion in circuit design,significantly reduced the signal-to-noise level about new transistortechnology.

Intel's tri-gate device is a finFET, pure and simple.Industry experts dismiss Intel's attempts to claim a significant difference. Assuch, it is one instance of a decade-old, industry-wide attack on short-channeleffect-an effort that began at industry consortium IMEC at about the same timeas it did at Intel. "Everyone in the industry has been developing finFETtechnology," one process expert said. "The difference is in what they havechosen to announce."

All finFET programs-indeed, all the approaches tonext-transistors-rest on a single concept: the fully-depleted channel. Loosely,the concept is to give the gate so much control over the electric field in thechannel that the gate can deplete the channel of carriers entirely. This ofcourse eliminates the dominant conduction mechanism in the channel, and ineffect turns the transistor off.

But how to do that? In a planar device, the depth of thechannel and effects from the junction formed between the drain and the siliconaround it alter the electric field in the channel and interfere with depletion.Somehow you have to make the channel thin enough and far enough from the drainjunction to permit the gate to fully deplete the conduction region.

Figure 2: Fins can be incredibly small and delicate, but details of shape and aspect ratio determine transistor characteristics.The finFET solution is to stand the channel on its edge,above your choice of either the silicon surface or an insulating oxide layer,and to drape the HKMG gate stack over the resulting fin like a wet blanket.This fin-shaped channel is very thin (figure 2, right) and working from three sides,the gate can successfully create a depletion region that blocks the channelentirely.

The finFET gives circuit designers a V-I curve they've onlybeen able to dream about since 130 nm. But it also brings issues. One is simplybuilding the devices. "Making the fins, and preserving them through subsequentprocessing steps, are hard tasks," warned Applied Materials Silicon SystemsGroup Vice President and CTO Klaus Schuegraf. "You must etch over the edges oftall structures, uniformly dope complex 3D surfaces, and lay down all thedifferent films in the gate stack so that they conform exactly to the surfaceof the fin. These requirements bring about many changes in materials, and somechanges in equipment. The number of mask layers won't change much, but thenumber of processing steps will certainly go up."


Continue reading: Fins and the rest of us





The next transistor: planar, fins, and SOI at 22 nm

MediaTek goes to startup for charging tech

LONDON - Fabless communications chip company MediaTek Inchas entered into technology transfer and licensing agreement with WiTricityCorp, a spin off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on wirelesscharging.

MediaTek (Hsinchu, Taiwan) said it will collaborate withWiTricity (Watertown, Mass) on the development and marketing of chips optimizedfor WiTricity's patented technology for wireless charging over distance.WiTricity was founded in 2007 to commercialize technology developed by companyfounder Professor Marin Soljacic.

MediaTek said it will create wireless charging technologyaimed at mobile handsets, tablet computers, game controllers, digital cameras,and personal navigation devices, but did not say when the technology would beavailable for purchase.

The idea of wireless charging has been pursued by a numberof companies and usually involves a form of inductive loop connection betweenmains supply and a receiver unit built into the handset. In this way phones andtablets could be charged as the sit on a suitably engineered tray or platter.

"Our vision is to enable mobile devices to be totallywireless - no charging cords needed," said David Ku, chief financialofficer and spokesperson for MediaTek, in a statement. "Wireless chargingwill become an essential built-in function for next generation mobiledevices," he added.

"Space inside a smart phone is some of the mostvaluable real estate in the world. MediaTek's semiconductor solutions canminimize the cost and device space required for wireless charging functionality,"said Eric Giler, CEO of WiTricity, in the same statement.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.

MediaTek goes to startup for charging tech

Apple still can't keep up with iPad demand

SAN JOSE, Calif - Fifteen months after the iPad waslaunched, Apple still can't keep up with demand for the popular tablet.

"This is a good problem--demand is fantastic,"said Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer in a conference call announcingrecord quarterly revenues and profits.

But it's still a problem, one of a handful Apple would nottalk about in detail. The company also alluded to "a future producttransition" which is one reason why it is forecasting a decline in salesfor its fall quarter.

The good news is Apple sold 9.25 million iPads in the lastthree months, double the number of the previous quarter and three times as manyas in the same quarter last year. The bad news is it could have sold more if itcould have made them.

"In the first weeks of July supply improved so thatsome SKUs in some countries are now in supply/demand balance," said Cook,refusing to forecast when the company would be able to meet global demand."We are working very hard to get as many units to customers as wecan," he said.

Cook also dodged a question about whether the company wasdiversifying its base of manufacturing partners beyond Foxconn that operatescity-sized factories for Apple in China. Supply chain management is "partof our secret sauce, so I don't want to share too much about it," he said.

An explosion at a Foxconn plantin China was expected to impact iPad manufacturing.

Tablets are cannibalizing notebook sales, but Cook did notquantify the effect. "We believe some customers chose an iPad instead of aMac, but even more chose an iPad over a Windows PC and there's more Windows PCsto cannibalize than Macs," he said.

Scattered showersahead?

Looking ahead, Apple predicts its revenues will fall from$28 billion this quarter to $25 billion next quarter while gross margins slipfrom 41 to 38%. The company expects iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales to continue torise, but alluded to a "future product transition which we are not goingto talk about" expected to be a drag on sales and margins.

Two thirds of the margin decline will come from "adifferent product mix" in the fall quarter, said Peter Oppenheimer,Apple's CFO. The rest of the decline would come from the future product transitionand increased marketing expenses for the back-to-school quarter, he said.

The product transition may come from the shift to iOS 5, duesometime this fall. If the launch comes late in the quarter it might slowiPhone and iPad sales until systems supporting it are released.

Apple also faces a Mac transition with a new version of itsoperating system, dubbed Lion, coming July 20.

The company may also be due for a refresh of its iPod linewhich continues to decline in sales by double digits. The newest member of thefamily, the iPod Touch, now makes up half the sales in the area.

Still on the distant horizon is a full blown Web-connectedTV product from Apple. To date it has released two major versions of Apple TV,a set-top box for streaming Web video, but no iTV product.

"Apple TV continues to do well, but we still call it ahobby here because we don't want anyone to think it's another leg of the stoollike the iPhone," said Cook. "We continue to invest in it because wethink there is something there," he said.

The best news for Apple is iPhone sales continue to grow,hitting 20.34 million in the last three months. Apple added 42 iPhone carriersin 15 countries in the last quarter, with much of the overall sales growthcoming from emerging markets such as Brazil, China, Mexico, and the MiddleEast.

"These are markets that Apple historically has not beenstrong in," said Cook.

Greater China--including Hong Kong and Taiwan--continues toexpand rapidly as a market for Apple, growing six-fold to $3.8 billion in salesin the current quarter compared to the same period last year. The region added$8.8 billion to Apple's sales in the last three quarters, Cook said.

"This has been a substantial opportunity for Apple, andI firmly believe we are just scratching the surface," said Cook.

Component supply also looks rosy to Apple. "Mostcomponents are in a positive supply situation with prices falling at or abovehistorical trends except hard disk drives that are constrained and thus facingless price declines," Cook said.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.

Apple still can't keep up with iPad demand

Ferroelectrics fabbed on plastic

PORTLAND, Ore - Ferroelectric memories, energy harvestingarrays, sensors, and actuators could soon be fabricated on plastic substrates,according to researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who recentlydemonstrated a new low-temperature process using an atomic-force microscope(AFM).

Using a process called thermochemical nanolithography, ateam led by Georgia Tech professor NazaninBassiri-Gharb has discovered alow-temperature process for depositing ferroelectric materials on plasticsubstrates. The group, which also includes postdoctoral fellow Suenne Kim,professor Elisa Riedo, and graduate assistant Yaser Bastani, recentlydemonstrated nanoscale ferroelectric structures that could be used tofabricated ferroelectric devices on cheap polymers.

Using the heated tip of an AFM, the group fabricatedferroelectric structures suitable for semiconductor devices or MEMS-likesensors and actuators, including wires just 30 nanometers wide and spheres just10 nm in diameter. For ferroelectric memories, the group estimates thatdensities as high as 200 gigabytes per square inch could be fabricated withtheir process.

The research was performed in cooperation with theUniversity of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) and the University of Nebraska(Lincoln). Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation and the USDepartment of Energy.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.

Ferroelectrics fabbed on plastic

Dual broadband RF mixer finds use in 4G basestation receivers

Linear Technology has introduced the dual, high-performance LTC5569 RF mixer, which operates at 300 MHz to 4 GHz frequencies. The highly linear part has an input IP3 (third-order intercept) of 26.8 dBm, an output IP3 of 28.8 dBm, and a conversion gain of 2 dB. The IC has a noise figure of 11.7 dB, or 17dB with a 5-dBm inband blocking-interference signal. The LTC5569 operates from a single 3.3V supply, and power consumption is 600 mW when you enable both mixers. When you disable the mixers, the IC has a maximum 200-µA leakage current. You can independently shut down either channel using a separate enable control. Turning on and off the channels does not induce a load disturbance, which might unlock the PLL (phase-locked-loop) and VCO (voltage-controlled-oscillator) circuits.

Each channel of the LTC5569 dual mixer contains an on-die integrated balun (balanced-unbalanced) transformer at the RF and local-oscillator inputs. These single-ended ports are matched at 50Ω. Each channel's local oscillator has separate buffers you drive from a common input, providing channel-to-channel isolation and preserving phase coherency between the two channels. The local oscillator's input port is always matched at 50Ω, regardless of whether the mixer is on or off. The local oscillator's input requires a 0-dBm drive level, and it has excellent reverse-RF isolation. You can drive it directly from an external VCO circuit.

The IC targets use in the new generation of multiple receivers in 4G (fourth-generation) base stations. It eases the thermal design challenge in MIMO (multiple-input/multiple-output) remote-radio-head designs, which pack as many as 16 channels of receivers into small weather-sealed housings. You can configure the part to operate on 700-MHz to 2.7-GHz cellular bands.

Linear Technology specifies the LTC5569 for a case operating temperature of −40 to +105°C and offers it in a 4×4-mm QFN package. It costs $8.50 each (1000). Samples and production quantities are available.

Linear Technology
Dual broadband RF mixer finds use in 4G basestation receivers

30V buck switching regulator achieves 95% efficiency

Microchip Technology's new 30V-input MCP16301 buck switching regulator features a 600-mA output and a 4 to 30V input-voltage range. The chip integrates a high-side switch and can output a voltage of 2 to 15V. It can provide as much as 95% efficiency. High-speed peak-current-mode control allows fast responses to sudden input-voltage and load transients that power applications frequently encounter. Integrated control-loop and slope compensation make it easy to reliably stabilize the converter-control system.

The IC targets use in applications in the industrial, telecommunications, consumer, and automotive markets, such as set-top boxes, LED lighting, HVAC (heating/ventilation/air-conditioning) systems and power meters. It uses less power and dissipates less heat than a low-dropout regulator does.

A D²PAK footprint demo board with 300-mA outputs is available for $14.99, and a 600-mA demo board sells for $19.99. The MCP16301 is available in a six-pin SOT-23 package and sells for 83 cents (10,000).

Microchip Technology
30V buck switching regulator achieves 95% efficiency

Wolfson announces programmable audio hub

LONDON - Fabless chip company Wolfson Microelectronics plchas announced the imminent availability of the WM5100 integrated circuit, whichthe company describes as the world's first audio system-on-a-chip.

The IC integrates a multi-channel transmit and receive pathwith noise cancellation and ambient noise cancellation and is intended to bedesigned into mobile handsets and tablet computers, Wolfson (Edinburgh,Scotland) said.

The chip features three 32-bit DSP cores for audioprocessing all designed by Wolfson, rather than licensed in, audio ADCs andDACs, as well as speaker drivers up to 2W. The addition of the triple-cored DSPallows for a wide variety of use cases for the audio channels as may be foundin increasingly capable smart mobile devices.

Prior to offering the WM5100 Wolfson could offer the samefunctionality but only with five chips - an audio hub, a separate DSP, a noisecancellation IC, Wolfson executives said.

The chip is implemented in a 0.18-micron CMOS manufacturingprocess but Wolfson executives declined to state at which foundry the chipwould be made. Wolfson works with Globalfoundries, TSMC, and Magnachip and,although it tends to have a single lead foundry for any given device, the companyalways as an alternate foundry to provide dual sourcing.

With environmental noise suppression, 5.1 virtual surroundsound, and digital recording enhancement, the WM5100 also enables highdefinition audio capture and playback, the company said.

"As audio components in mobile phones and tablet PCsare increasingly becoming dis-integrated from the application processor, thedemand is growing for separate Audio SOCs," said Duncan Macadie, productmanager for audio hubs at Wolfson, in a statement.

The WM5100 will be available for sampling in the thirdquarter in a 155-ball CSP package and is priced at $6.20 in 1,000 unitquantities. Wolfson expects to provide the chip in millions of unit ofquantities.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.
 




Wolfson announces programmable audio hub

Apple plants Thunderbolt in display, Macs

SAN JOSE, Calif - A day after releasing record financialresults,Apple Wednesday rolled out a 27-inch display for the Thunderbolt interconnect,updated versions of its MacBook Air notebook, and Mac mini desktop withThunderbolt and an upgrade of its Mac OS.

The Apple Thunderbolt Display is the first display and oneof the first major peripherals to ship using Thunderbolt, a dual 10 Gbit/sbi-directional link developed by Intel and first used in February on an AppleMacBook Pro. Hedging its bets on Thunderbolt, the new display also supportsGigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, and has three USB 2.0 ports.

So far, just a handful of other companies including Canon,La Cie, Promise, and Western Digital have said they will ship external storagedevices and cameras using the link. No other major OEMs have announced plans touse the technology.

The PCI Special Interest Group announced in June plans for acabled version of PCI Express 3.0 aimed at similar applications as Thunderbolt.

The display also includes an integrated charger, an embeddedApple FaceTime camera and a 2.1 audio speaker system. It will be available in60 days at a retail price of $999.

Apple also put a Thunderbolt port on new 11- and 13-inchmodels of its MacBook Air notebook. The systems also have two USB 2.0 ports,use a range of Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, and sell for prices rangingfrom $999 to $1,599 depending on configuration.

The company also planted a Thunderbolt port on two new Macmini models using Intel Core i5 processors and selling for $599 and $799. Thesystems also sport four USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI port, and a FireWire 800 port.

In addition, Apple released Lion, the eighth version of itsMac OS, as a $29.99 download on its Mac App Store. Lion sports 250 new featuresincluding new multi-touch gestures, integrated access to the Mac App Store andintegrated peer-to-peer wireless networking.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.
 


Apple plants Thunderbolt in display, Macs

Intel boosts capex, eyeing 7nm node

SAN JOSE, Calif - Intel Corp is edging up capital expensesthis year, in part to pave the way to 7-nm process technology and to bolsterits efforts in tablets and so-called ultrabooks. The company also tipped plansto extend its x86 instruction set architecture for security in a conferencecall announcing record quarterly revenues.

Separately, Intel lowered to 8 to 10% its expectations ofoverall PC market unit growth for 2011, although it said revenue growth wouldbe stronger. The company had projected growth as high as 12%, though analystsgenerally forecast it will be about 5% this year.

Intel plans to spend $16.2 billion this year on a wide rangeof internal investments, up $500 million from earlier forecasts. The funds willfuel efforts in areas ranging from servers, notebooks, tablets, smartphones,and enhancements to its 14-nm fabs under construction.

"Some of [the increased fab expenses] are a pull-infrom next year [because we are moving] faster than expected into our 14-nmfactories," said Stacy Smith, Intel's CFO, on the conference call.

But "the larger portion is an increase in the scope ofthe factories," Smith said. The 14-nm plants will now be outfitted tohandle expected needs for 10- and 7-nm process technology, he added.

"There's a higher return-on-investment to do that nowrather than later," Smith said. Currently Intel's capex spending isfocused on enabling "22-nm peak [production] and [building] 14-nm shells,and soon you'll see us move into the cycle of 14-nm equipment" purchases,he said.

Intel's 22-nm process technology is on track for volumeproduction this year, said Paul Otellini, Intel's chief executive. The companyexpects the process will help it extend its lead over the rest of the chipindustry, he added.

Part of the $500 million increase will fuel Intel's work onultrabooks, a new generation of ultra-thin notebooks with tablet features, asystem concept announced in June. Intel is using the ultrabook concept to shoreup its notebook business against ARM-based competitors such as Nvidia, Qualcomm,and Texas Instruments expected to power systems next year based on Windows 8.

"The ultrabook project is akin to Centrino, trying tomove the market to a new form factor and a new feature set like instant-on,touch interface and always-on systems," said Otellini, referring toIntel's notebooks that pioneered use of Wi-Fi. "There's a great deal ofengineering that has to be done because these features cost a lot of money, butPC prices won't go up, so we have to cost-engineer these products," hesaid.

Ultrabooks could help drive growth that has slowed insegments such as netbooks. "Netbook [growth is] down to some extentbecause of tablet strength and good values in low-end notebooks," Otellinisaid.

Emerging markets are driving plenty of growth for PCs,Otellini said.

For example, "Brazil could be third largest market forcomputers in 2012," he said. "I was just in Brazil, and the fact it'sgoing to be third is astounding because it was not long ago it was sixth orseventh," he added.

At its Intel Developer Forum in September, the company willgive more details about its ultrabook plans. It is also expected to announcethe first results of collaboration with its new security software division,McAfee.

Intel is adding new security instructions to its processorsas part of the effort expected to enable hardware-backed authentication basedon the standard set by the Trusted Computing Group. McAfee is providingenabling software for the effort, something Microsoft has not yet done inWindows.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.
 


Intel boosts capex, eyeing 7nm node

Triad offers 1 million gates plus analog

LONDON - Triad Semiconductor Inc, whose via-configurablearrays offer programmable analog with a microcontroller, has announced theavailability of its largest configurable array to date, the VCA-6, with morethan one million ASIC gates.

The VCA-6 is fabricated on IBM's 0.18-micron 7RF process andmanufactured within the United States making the device suitable for defenseapplications, according to Triad (Winston-Salem, NC). The VCA-6 is suitable forapplications such as software defined radio, sonar, smart sensor fusion, FPGAplus analog replacement, unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV) controllers, Triadsaid.

The VCA-6 contains 320 configurable logic tiles. Each tilecontains 3,150 NAND2 equivalent ASIC gates providing the array with a total of1,008,000 ASIC gates. Unlike FPGAs, VCA-6 logic gates are not "equivalentsystem gates" but actual standard-cell gate primitives providing the size,performance, and power profile typical of a standard-cell digital ASICimplementation. Each logic tile also contains a 4,608-bit 2-port static RAMorganized as 128 words by 36-bits. The array also contains a total of 160-kbytesof via configurable non-volatile read-only memory (ROM) arranged as 160 1K x 8ROMs. The distributed RAM and ROM resources can be configured into largercomposite memories using Triad's ViaWare^TM memory generator.

In addition the VCA-6 has more than 100 op-amps with eachop-amp surrounded by configurable collections of resistors, capacitors,transistors, and switches. The analog resources are arranged into single-endedanalog tiles, fully differential analog tiles, resistive DAC tiles, bias tiles,and current steering DAC tiles. A single via-only mask layer change configuresand interconnects these analog and digital resources into a wide range ofmixed-signal circuits.

"The VCA-6 enables designers to replace power-hungryFPGAs and an entire board full of discrete analog parts with a lower power,single chip solution," said Reid Wender, vice president of marketing atTriad Semiconductor, in a statement.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.

Triad offers 1 million gates plus analog

Qualcomm buys gesturerecognition technology

SAN JOSE, Calif - Qualcomm Inc acquired some assets ofGestureTek, a developer of gesture recognition technology. The chip maker saidit plans to put the gesture recognition technology into its "current andnext-generation Snapdragon processors" for smartphones, tablets, and otherconsumer devices.

Qualcomm bought unspecified intellectual property assetsrelated to gesture recognition, as well as some engineering resources from thecompany that was founded in 1986. GestureTek retains some of its assets and will continuation its businessin gesture-enabled digital signs. The companies did not disclose financialdetails of the transaction.

Prior to the deal, GestureTek said it owned eight broadpatents on camera- and video-tracking that issued starting in 1996 and said ithad applied for 37 others. It has developed gesture-recognition technology fordisplays and surfaces used in markets spanning handsets, digital signage, andheath care.

The company first got its software into handsets in 2007 ina deal with Japan's DoCoMo. It also is used in handsets from HTC, Motorola,Nokia, NEC, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG. Licensees for other products includePanasonic, Microsoft (Xbox 360), Sanyo, Sony, IBM, and Intel.

Last year the company demonstrated its software running onAndroid and Symbian environments. It also supports Linux, Nucleus, WindowsMobile, and Qualcomm's Brew for feature phones.

"Applications processors are enabling a range of newways for consumers to interface with their home entertainment and mobiledevices," said Steve Mollenkopf, executive vice president and grouppresident, Qualcomm, speaking in a press release. "Our acquisition willstrengthen Qualcomm's smartphone product portfolio and enable our customers tolaunch products with new and compelling user experiences," he added.

Gesture recognition technology will be integrated intoQualcomm's current and next-generation Snapdragon processors, giving OEMs thecapability to produce smartphones, tablets, and home entertainment devices withuser interfaces based on natural human gestures.

The debut of the Nintendo Wii and Apple iPhone heated up themarket for gesture recognition starting in 2008. Hitachi and others showed suchinterfaces at CES in 2009 powered by chips from Canesta and others. MicrosoftKinect, one of the fastest selling consumer products in history, furtherspurred work in gesture recognition with a software developers kit released inJune.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.

Qualcomm buys gesturerecognition technology

Firm alleges collusion by SRAM vendors

SAN FRANCISCO-Static random access memory (SRAM) vendor GSITechnology Inc said Monday (July 25) that it filed a complaint in US federalcourt alleging that Cypress Semiconductor Corp and other SRAM vendorsparticipated in a conspiracy to monopolize the market for high-performanceSRAMs.

GSI (Sunnyvale, Calif) also announced that the USInternational Trade Commission (ITC) said last week it would formallyinvestigate a patent infringement complaint filed last month against the companyby Cypress (San Jose, Calif)

GSI said its complaint against Cypress, filed in US DistrictCourt for the Northern District of California, alleges that Cypress and otherco-conspirators engaged in anti-competitive, collusive and conspiratorialconduct that violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act and also constitutesunlawful restraint of trade and unfair competition under California law. The allegedco-conspirators mentioned in the complaint include Micron Technology Inc, IntegratedDevice Technology Inc, NEC Corp, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Hitachi Ltd, andRenesas Technology Corp.

The complaint alleges that Cypress and the other companiesmanipulated the SRAM market by setting standards amongst themselves in a closedsetting, rather than using an open standards body such as Jedec. 

The companies allegedly banded together "to protecttheir members' SRAM market shares by excluding their competitors from havingaccess to information describing the specific form, fit, and functionspecifications and information that would otherwise be available in an open andpublic standards body such as Jedec or IEEE," the complaint states."Their illegal combination and conspiracy permitted the consortium membersto control the market by keeping networking SRAM prices high, locking in thelimited number of consumers of networking SRAM before competitors could developand market competing products and stalling the introduction of competitiveproducts."

The high-performance SRAM devices at issue in the districtcourt case are known as fast synchronous quad data rate (QDR) SRAMs and doubledata rate (DDR) SRAMs, GSI said.

The GSI complaint seeks undetermined damages, an injunctionprohibiting the continuation of the allegedly illegal business practices andrecovery of GSI's attorneys' fees and costs, GSI said.

Cypress earlier this year filed a complaint against GSI inUS District Court for the District of Minnesota alleging five counts of patentinfringement, principally related to GSI's Sigma Quad and Sigma DDR families ofSRAM products. The ITC complaint alleges infringement by GSI of four patentsand also alleges infringement by two of GSI's distributors and three of GSI'scustomers who allegedly incorporate GSI's SRAMs in their products.

The Cypress ITC complaint seeks a limited exclusion orderexcluding the allegedly infringing SRAMs, and products containing them, fromentry into the US and permanent orders directing GSI and the other proposedrespondents to cease and desist from selling or distributing such products inthe US.

GSI said it believes that it has "meritoriousdefenses" to Cypress infringement claims and intends to defend itselfvigorously in the ITC proceeding while also vigorously prosecuting itsantitrust claims against Cypress.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.

Firm alleges collusion by SRAM vendors

Multicore group works on task management API

SAN JOSE, Calif — The Multicore Association has launched a new working group to define a Multicore Task Management API to ease parallel programming for embedded systems developers working on heterogeneous processors. The group hopes to release MTAPI in November 2012.

Existing thread management tools require too much memory and lack the flexibility embedded developers need, said Urs Gleim, a program manager in a corporate R&D group at Siemens AG who chairs the new group. Members include representatives from ENEA, Freescale Semiconductor, LSI, Qualcomm, Plurality, PolyCore Software, Texas Instruments, and Wind River.

Gleim is part of a small team at Siemens that has developed parallel-programming APIs for its internal use on some of the proprietary health care, industrial automation, and energy systems it builds.

"This was the next logical step for us and something we think can benefit the industry," Gleim said.

Tools such as the Thread Building Blocks and Cilk libraries from Intel and the open-source OpenMP tools typically focus on homogenous shared-memory multicore processors that use a single operating system and can require megabytes of memory. MTAPI aims to enable processors that may use a mix of different cores, accelerators and OSes in chips that may have only tens of kilobytes of internal memory, Gleim said.

Another goal of MTAPI is to enable software developers to improve task scheduling in flexible ways that can optimize a design for diverse kinds of embedded systems. The API will be defined in C and work with the association's existing communications and resource-management APIs.

MTAPI aims to address a variety of applications including recursive algorithms such as Fourier transforms, data-parallel tasks such as video streaming, and real-time control tasks. It also hopes to form a basis for building higher level software abstractions such as data-flow graphs and pipelines.

The group started in May and has already collected a core set of requirements. It is starting implementation work on the API now, but is still open to new members.

"Our experience has been that if you have more companies involved it increases the chances of more complete coverage in the standard," said Markus Levy, president of the association.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.


Multicore group works on task management API

Intel SOCs aided by interconnect, IP library

LONDON—Intel now has the tools in place—in particular an on-chip interconnect fabric, an extensive IP library and software—to make a success of its system-on-chip engineering effort, according to Bill Leszinske, general manager of technical planning and business development at Intel's Atom processor SOC development group.

Intel has been striving to break out of the computer sector for many years and its SOC engineering group is a key part of that effort.

Few people have doubted that Intel has a high performance processor in the Atom and the manufacturing processing lead. But a couple of years ago observers questioned the power performance of Atom and the SOC group seemed to toy with third party manufacturing a deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd to allow Atom-based SOCs to be made there. However, no takers were heard of and there was criticism that while Atom may be good for PC-like applications extending down to netbooks, Intel lacked the broader infrastructure, particularly the on-chip and complementary IP blocks, to pursue diverse applications.

Leszinske said Intel is aiming at an SOC power consumption budget of about 7 or 8 watts down to less than 1 watt and is now accelerating its introduction of leading-edge low power processes tailored for SOC applications and the low power Atom cores to exploit those processes.

Intel is introducing the Saltwell core at 32 nm this year, the Silvermont core in 22 nm in 2013, and Airmont core in 14 nm in 2014. This is almost twice the pace of the two-yearly manufacturing process introduction that is traditional at Intel, said Leszinske.

"SOC engineering has strong engagement with TMG," said Leszinske referring to Intel's Technology Manufacturing Group. "This allows us to best optimize SOC processes for target applications." Medfield, due in the first half of 2012 is a chip based on the Saltwell core; Cloverfield, due in the second half of 2012, is a dual-core implementation of Saltwell.

In addition, Intel has more than just CPU and graphics performance to offer but IP and interconnect assets to create complete solutions.

From IOSF to software via IP

Intel has developed what Leszinske called a chassis to allow IP blocks to be swapped in and out for different applications. This is called the Intel On-Chip System Fabric (IOSF) and it performs an analogous role to the AMBA interconnection scheme used in the ARM community.

There is little detail about the IOSF in the public domain although engineers have presented at a couple of conferences, Leszinske said. "It allows us to connect our own and third-party IP, Imagination graphics as an example," he said. "It's scalable, supports multicore operation, and maintains PCI order, which is important for compatibility of software," he added.

The use of IOSF is paying off by maximizing design efficiency with modularity and reuse for multiple markets. The most important aspect of IOSF is that it lets Intel take a system-level approach to power management, Leszinske said.

Intel's IP situation has also been changed by a make, buy, or license strategy implemented over the last couple of years. Intel now reckons to have wide portfolio of IP ranging from graphics, audio, and video to wired connectivity standards through to wireless standards. "An example of licensing is Imagination. We opted to buy Texas Instrument's cable modem business. We bought a company called Silicon Hive for image processing and Infineon [purchase] brings a set of wireless modems."

Leszinske then made the point that Intel has thousands of software engineers all working on necessary software stacks. This work goes well beyond writing drivers for software-programmable chips and includes contributions to MeeGo for mobile, the Windows 8 environment, VxWorks for embedded applications, and Intel's security acquisition McAfee. "This [software] will be the strength of Intel going forward," said Leszinske.

And Leszinske makes it clear that success is already coming with millions of SOCs shipped already. Intel SOCs drive digital televisions from Sony and set-top boxes from Telecom Italia and Comcast. Intel is clearly in netbooks, single-board computers and communications networking and servers and in automotive infotainment systems. The devices shipping are in 45-nm process technology, but 32-nm SOCs are starting this year in tablet computers and smartphone applications are expected in 2012, said Leszinske.

Leszinske said Intel SOCs are competitive today and that he expects Intel to have leading technology performance and leading performance per watt at 22-nm and below. However, it is the mix of leading-edge hardware performance and software that make the difference. "We understand the needs of our customers," he said.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.


Intel SOCs aided by interconnect, IP library

ST Micro opens lab for humanoid robot research

MANHASSET, NY—STMicroelectronics and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa announced the creation of a joint laboratory for research and innovation in bio-robotics, smart systems and microelectronics.

The work at the new laboratory in Catania, Italy is to lead to a better understanding of the physical design of bodies and the organization of their sensory and nervous systems.

Past collaboration between ST and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna resulted in joint projects including DustBot, a scientific platform integrating self-driven, self-navigating 'service robots' for selective waste collection and street cleaning in city centers.

Going forward, experts will be collaborating to develop smart toys equipped with motion and pressure sensors for early diagnosis of neuro-developmental delays and autistic pathologies in small children.

While the child plays with the smart toy, the system will constantly monitor the child's movement and posture, as well as how he/she grasps or holds the toy. The researchers anticipate that doctors will be able to diagnose neurological abnormalities in children, even before the child is able to speak.

The researchers, in collaboration with medical institutions and a toy manufacturer, expect to prototype toys with sensors for infants, including clear operating guides for doctors, within the next two years.

"The joint laboratory will help advance our efforts in creating the next generation of intelligent systems integrating microelectronics, mechanics and computing technologies," said professor Paolo Dario, Director of the BioRobotics Institute of the school, in a statement.

"We are confident that the new lab will serve as a model of excellence in industrial-academic cooperation, translating rich R&D potential into globally competitive, marketable results," said Carmelo Papa, Senior Executive Vice President, General Manager of ST's Industrial & Multisegment Sector, and Chairman of the European Platform on Smart Systems (EPoSS).

The experts from ST and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna plan to work on humanoid robots—soft-bodied robots made of shape-memory materials capable of acting and interacting physically, emotionally, socially and safely with humans.

Shape memory alloys, or smart metals 'remember' their original shape and, after deformation, can return to their pre-deformed shape when heated. This quality can be useful in a wide range of applications, including medical equipment and aviation.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.


ST Micro opens lab for humanoid robot research

Mentor offers platform for AMS, cell developers

Mentor Graphics has augmented the IC Station tool suite withthe release of Pyxis, a custom router, cockpit, and data-interchange tool foranalog, mixed-signal, and digital cell designs. The platform, optimized for AMSand cell designers, gathers data management, design entry, simulation control,visualization, and layout editing tools.

At its heart, Pyxis includes the custom router for which theplatform is named: the highly regarded hierarchical custom router Mentoracquired with its purchase of Pyxis Technology. Mentor claims for the newrouter digital-router speed, and the ability to propagate constraints throughthe design from transistor to cell, block, and full-chip levels.

The ability to move between levels can be vital, accordingto Tom Daspit, Mentor product line manager. In designs such as an integratedcamera SOC, where there are digital cells, analog circuits, and a large sensorarray that blocks routing, the ability to move quickly between levels ofhierarchy can be vital, Daspit explained.

Further, Daspit pointed to Pyxis' facility with designs thatrequire large numbers of power domains. Taken together, Mentor said, thesecapabilities allow fast iterative layout and analysis of AMS designs anddigital cells, allowing a degree of exploration within a DRC-clean envelopethat was hitherto impractical.

Another platform feature aimed at productivity is concurrentaccess, including concurrent access by multiple engineers to the same cell.Pyxis allows multiple designers to define non-overlapping fences, and to workconcurrently, each designer within his or her own fence. In this mode,designers have the ability to mark up a shared view of the design on a virtualwhiteboard, and to message within the environment. This feature should allowlarge AMS designs or cell-library efforts to be partitioned across a globaldesign team, reducing schedules and turn-around on ECOs.

That is, it should work if access/revision control and humanmanagement are up to the task. This is an interesting reservation becausedependency analysis, fundamental to revision control, is a non-trivial exercisein large AMS designs. Often analog links such as capacitive coupling arevisible only at more detailed levels of abstraction, and so designers workingat higher levels may be unaware that they have made changes that will influenceareas outside their fence. "Some analog design teams will put these links inexplicitly in the schematics, and that can make recognizing dependenciessimpler," Daspit said. "That is not something that digital designers typicallydo today."

Of equal interest is the close integration between Pyxis andMentor's other heavyweight tools, the Eldo and Questa simulators and theCalibre physical-design system. In particular, Pyxis can invoke a CalibreRealtime run to provide dynamic, as-you-go DRC on an evolving layout. There isalso a link to the Calibre 2.5D extraction tool. And while Mentor continues touse its own proprietary design database, Pyxis can exchange data with anOpenAccess database through import/export utilities.

Mentor says Pyxis is available now.
Mentor offers platform for AMS, cell developers

Of Red Heads and Leopard Prints Replica louis vuitton, replica handbags and replica bags

Celebs who go to Philippe Chow expect more than just a good meal, they want some free press too. Rihanna knows there will be dozens of paparazzi snapping away, so she makes sure she is photo-ready.

RiRi steps out of the popular restaurant armed with a Givenchy Leopard Print Flap bag. This uber-chic piece is priced at roughly $3,500 and features a spicy fold-over flap design and ultra-soft calfhair with a nicely done leopard print. I’m not a big fan of single top handle bags though. I think it looks a little awkward when carried around, especially if you’ve got some heavy things inside.

Of Red Heads and Leopard Prints Replica louis vuitton, replica handbags and replica bags

SJP with a Major Fendi Arm Candy Replica louis vuitton, replica handbags and replica bags

Vintage is so hot this season. It just never goes out of style and year after year, we see collection after collection with vintage-infused details. Sarah Jessica Parker is carrying a major piece of arm candy while walking around New York.

The Fendi Silvana Tote, priced at $7,140, showcases the perfect union of vintage chic and modern sensibility. It has clean lines, a classic structure and some subtle colorblocking. The bag is named after 70′s Italian bombshell Silvana Mangano. This is by far, one of the most delectable Fendi pieces I’ve seen, thanks to the croc flap and soft calfskin leather. De-lish!

 

SJP with a Major Fendi Arm Candy Replica louis vuitton, replica handbags and replica bags

Of Red Hairs and Leopard Prints Replica louis vuitton, replica handbags and replica bags

Celebs who go to Philippe Chow expect more than just a good meal, they want some free press too. Rihanna knows there will be dozens of paparazzi snapping away, so she makes sure she is photo-ready.

RiRi steps out of the popular restaurant armed with a Givenchy Leopard Print Flap bag. This uber-chic piece is priced at roughly $3,500 and features a spicy fold-over flap design and ultra-soft calfhair with a nicely done leopard print. I’m not a big fan of single top handle bags though. I think it looks a little awkward when carried around, especially if the you’ve got some heavy things inside.

Of Red Hairs and Leopard Prints Replica louis vuitton, replica handbags and replica bags

Hot, Vintage-y Momma Replica louis vuitton, replica handbags and replica bags

Miranda Kerr was able to bring back her Victoria’s Secret body in no time at all. Looking at this picture, it’s hard to believe this woman carried a baby. I mean, look at that itty-bitty waistline! Her post-pregnancy body is just to die for.

Miranda went for vintage chic while shopping in West Hollywood. Aside from the sexy black pencil skirt, I am also loving her sophisticated arm candy. The Lanvin Happy Partage looks like Chanel Reissue’s younger, happier sister. It features a detachable chain strap, vintage gold hardware and the signature Lanvin bow. It can be yours for $2,290.

 

Hot, Vintage-y Momma Replica louis vuitton, replica handbags and replica bags

Designer Handbags Shopping Ideas and Methods

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Designer Handbags Shopping Ideas and Methods