IBM Researchers Claim Chip Design Advance
IBM researchers say they have developed new semiconductor technology that could change the way computer chips communicate, while boosting speed and lowering energy consumption. The researchers combined silicon and germanium to create an avalanche photodetector, which can convert light into energy. The photodetector uses pulses of light rather than copper wires to transmit information between chips, and is among the fastest and least power-hungry of its kind, according to the researchers. "By 2020, it may be the dominant way Google, governments, banks, and other large users are doing their computing," says analyst Richard Doherty. The system uses thin glass fibers rather than cables, yet creates connections that enable more data to flow at a higher speed. The researchers say their system can detect 40 gigabits of data per second and operates at 1.5 volts. The photodetector can detect weak pulses and amplify them without adding background noise.
From "IBM Researchers Claim Chip Design Advance"
Wall Street Journal (03/04/10) P. B8; Glader, Paul; Clark, Don
Sixth-Sense
Although the initial demo was done about a year ago, here is an incredible technology presented by MIT student Pranav Mistry:
utilization of the network’s bandwidth
Communications networks' efficiency could be upgraded with a new network coding approach co-developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Network coding is a scheme in which a router mathematically combines data packets into new, hybrid packets rather than handing them off to the next router. The researchers determined that the best method for combining data at the router is random combination. In random network coding, a router receives a group of messages and multiplies each of them by a different, randomly chosen number, and combines the results together into a hybrid message. The router relays the hybrid on to the next router in the network, while also including information about the random numbers it used to generate the hybrid. Random coding produces the most gains in networks with spotty connections, but with several possible routes between sender and receiver. The MIT researchers mathematically demonstrated that if the same group of messages was transmitted to several different receivers, random coding produced the most efficient possible utilization of the network's bandwidth.
Full Story : http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/network-coding-part1.html
NVIDIA GF100 Fermi Architecture
The GF100 (code name: Fermi) architecture is NVIDIA’s newest platform aimed at the high-end market. It is expected to make an introduction in Q2 2010 on Geforce GTX 480 graphic cards , and is currently in volume production.
Three way SLI system with GF100
For nearly a year NVIDIA has told the media and their fans that GF100 is coming and that it will be the best performing graphics card that the world has ever seen. I believe that Fermi architecture is interesting for computer architecture/hardware students, specially for whom that seeking for new HPC technologies.
More information and details about Fermi architecture and performance available in legitreview web site.
iPad
Finally apple has a tablet out, called iPad, which among other things will compete against the Kindle. Time magazine has an interesting deck of pictures sub-titled: "Will Apple's new iPad change the face of computing?"
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1956593,00.html
[Thanks to Hossein Nikounia for providing the link]
MIT Robot Rides Shotgun to Make Us Happier Drivers
Audi and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology envision a future where robots riding shotgun make us happier, safer drivers and create a “symbiotic relationship” between car and driver.
New Bios attack renders anti-virus useless
A new form of attack that installs a rootkit directly onto a computer's Bios system would render anti-virus software useless, researchers have warned.
Read more: http://www.hackinthebox.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=33987
Cat Brain Simulated by IBM?
Researchers at IBM have created a new brain simulator, C2, with 1 billion neurons and 10 trillion synaptic connections, which is more than what found in a cat's brain. The achievement is said to be able to help research in understanding brain cognition mechanism, as well as inspiring the creation of electronic components with some abilities of brain in complex functions while consuming low power and area.
C2 which runs on a BlueGene/P supercomputer, is part of a DARPA project named SyNAPSE (Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics). The aim is to simulate 10 billion neurons with 1 trillion synaptic connections, using a chip consuming 1 killowatts or less of power while having a maximum total volume of 2 liters.
From : http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/ibm-unveils-a-new-brain-simulator
How we really designed the look and feel of Windows 7
An inaccurate quote has been floating around the Internet these days about the design origins of Windows 7 and whether its look and feel was “borrowed” from Mac OS X. Unfortunately this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7. I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed. If you’re interested in learning more about the design of Windows 7, I suggest reading this AP story with Julie Larson-Green as well as these WSJ (membership required) and Fast Company articles. And here is one of many blog posts on the E7 blog discussing the design process of Windows 7.
Microsoft Patents Sudo?!!
"Although the invention has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological steps, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or steps described. Rather, the specific features and steps are disclosed as preferred forms of implementing the claimed invention."
Can you believe it?!!!