Did you know it is technically possible to spy on wearable devices in a gym or coffee shop? Fortunately, as Wareable’s David Nield points out, it’s highly unlikely that anyone who isn’t a security researcher is actually going to bother to try – for now. “The few drops of data available are not worth the challenge of trying to grab them – it’s too much effort for too little reward,” Nield explains.
Building a secure foundation for wearables
Controllers Newsletter – Q2 2015
PCI Express 4.0 Core
Northwest Logic is now offering PCI Express Gen 4 support as part of its high-performance PCI Express solution. Northwest logic’s PCI Express solution has been widely deployed in cutting edge ASIC and FPGA designs. Some of the key features of the PCI Express 4.0 Core include:
- Endpoint, Root-Port, and Switch support
- 16 Gb/s, 8.0Gb/s, 5.0 Gb/s, 2.5 Gb/s line rate support
- x16, x8, x4, x2, x1 PCI Express Lane support
- Bifurcation support
- High Reliability – AER, ECRC, ECC, and Parity support
- Multi-Function and SR-IOV support with up to 256 total Functions
- Flexible PIPE interface can support all PIPE compatible PHYs
- High-performance AXI Bridging and DMA solutions support
This solution is available for standard cell ASICs, Structured ASICs and FPGAs. Please contact [email protected] for more information
Northwest Logic’s DMA Core is Now Included in Vivado 2015.1 IP Catalog
Northwest Logic’s high-performance, scatter-gather AXI DMA Back-End Core is now included in the latest release of the Vivado IP catalog. This support enables our Xilinx customers to easily integrate the NWL DMA Core into their design as part of the IP integrator flow. The AXI DMA Back-End Core is part of a larger offering of high-performance DMA Cores from Northwest Logic. Contact [email protected] for more information.
Complete CSI-HDMI Demo
Northwest Logic and Mixel have created a new CSI-HDMI demo. This comprehensive demo takes 4K video output from Omnivision 13850 camera (4 MIPI lanes running at 1.2 Gbit/s). This CSI video stream is then processed by the combination of Mixel D-PHY Test Chip and Northwest Logic’s CSI Controller Core running in a Virtex-7. The video stream is then formatted and sent via HDMI to a 1080P display. Click here to see the demo on YouTube.
HBM Gen 2 Controller Coming Soon
High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) enables a system to achieve significantly higher memory throughput than a DDR4-based system. HBM is a 2.5D based solution where 8 channels of 128 bit memory are connected to an ASIC using a silicon or organic interposer. Each channel can be further subdivided into two 64-bit pseudo-channels. Northwest Logic will be releasing its HBM Gen 2 Controller including Pseudo Channel and IEEE 1500 support shortly. Contact [email protected] for more information.
Northwest Logic and S2C Deliver Hardware Validated MIPI Solution
Northwest Logic and S2C, Inc. announced that Northwest Logic’s Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Camera Serial Interface (CSI-2) Controller and Display Serial Interface (DSI) Controller have been fully validated on S2C’s FPGA Prototyping Platforms. Click here to see press release.
RLDRAM 3 Solution Availability for Arria 10
Northwest Logic and Altera Corporation have collaborated to release a hardware-proven 2,133 Mbps Reduced Latency DRAM (RLDRAM®) 3 memory interface solution for use in the 20 nm Arria® 10 FPGAs. The RLDRAM 3 memory interface solution combines Northwest Logic’s full-featured RLDRAM 3 Controller Core and Altera’s auto-calibrated RLDRAM 3 HardPHY to significantly ease RLDRAM3 designs for high-end networking applications needing high memory throughput. Contact [email protected] for more information.
Visit Northwest Logic at DAC
Northwest Logic will be at DAC 2015. Visit us in the Mixel booth or TCI booth. We are also happy to setup a private meeting with you ahead of time. To set up a meeting to discuss your PCIe, memory or MIPI design needs, please send an email to [email protected]
Customer Testimonial: QuintessenceLabs
QuintessenceLabs has recently rolled out its latest Key Manager product which uses Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) to generate unique keys for encryption and decryption. QRNG uses vacuum fluctuation in quantum optics to produce raw entropy that is extremely fast and very stable. To transfer the large amount of random numbers, Quintessencelabs employs the Northwest Logic AXI DMA Back-End core to consolidate multiple numbers of high speed DMA sources into a single PCIe DMA channel. “This IP core is stable, and integrates seamlessly into our proprietary logic without needing support. As a result, it allowed us to speed up the prototyping cycle and reduced the product development time line significantly.” Said Dr. Raymond Chan, Principle Engineer at QuintessenceLabs
WiFi powers these sensors
A team of researchers from the University of Washington (UW) has successfully demonstrated that a WiFi router is capable of providing far field wireless power – without compromising the network’s communication performance.
Rambus and SK Hynix Extend License Agreement
Agreement extended to 2024
SEOUL, Korea and SUNNYVALE, Calif. – June 18 2015 – SK Hynix Inc. and Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS), today announced they have signed an amendment that extends the current agreement between the two companies through July 1, 2024 for use of Rambus memory-related patented innovations in SK Hynix semiconductor products. SK Hynix and Rambus signed the original agreement for a five-year term in June 2013. With this amendment and extension of the agreement for an additional six years, SK Hynix will continue making payments to Rambus averaging $12M per quarter for the next 36 quarters. In addition, SK Hynix has the option to renew the agreement for an additional three-year extension under the existing rate structure. Other terms and details of the agreement are confidential.
“SK Hynix’s decision of taking an early license extension is a proof point of our ability to provide continued value and technology innovation for leading semiconductor companies,” said Dr. Ron Black, president and chief executive officer at Rambus. “This long-term agreement reaffirms our commitment to work collaboratively with customers, and other key players in the semiconductor industry, delivering technology and services that will further strengthen the growth of Rambus.”
Rambus continues to drive innovation in memory and interface designs, creating new technology architectures that address key trends in cloud computing, big data and Internet of Things (IoT). For additional information on Rambus and its memory, interface and security technologies, visit rambus.com.
Follow Rambus
Company website: rambus.com
Rambus blog: rambusblog.com
Twitter: @rambusinc
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/rambus
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RambusInc
About Rambus Inc.
Rambus brings invention to market. Our customizable IP cores, architecture licenses, tools, services, and training improve the competitive advantage of our customer’s products while accelerating their time-to-market. Rambus products and innovations capture, secure and move data. For more information, visit rambus.com.
About SK Hynix Inc.
SK Hynix Inc., headquartered in Korea, is the world’s top tier semiconductor supplier offering Dynamic Random Access Memory chips (‘DRAM’), Flash memory chips (‘NAND Flash’) and CMOS Image Sensors (‘CIS’) for a wide range of distinguished customers globally. The Company’s shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxemburg Stock Exchange. Further information about SK Hynix is available at www.skhynix.com.
Can Big Data heal healthcare?
As Greta Kaul of the San Francisco Chronicle recently noted, the high cost of healthcare remains a salient “pain point” for many American families. Unsurprisingly, many in the industry are turning to Big Data analytics to help alleviate some of the discomfort. “[It could] lop off, by some estimates, 8 percent of the trillions in national health care expenditures spent in the United States each year,” writes Kaul.
The evolution of SSDs in the Enterprise
When Solid State Storage Devices (SSDs) first appeared on the market in the early 1990s, industry pundits were unsure as to when the flash-based devices would be capable of competing with traditional hard disk drives (HDDs). Known for their reliability, low-cost and consistent performance, HDDs have always managed to push back on SSD encroachment. However, the SSD-HDD paradigm has changed in recent years, especially for Enterprise-class storage. This is primarily due to increased SSD performance and efficiency (higher IOPS, lower latency, etc.), both of which are made possible by high-speed interfaces such as SATA 3.0 SAS 2 and PCIe-based NVMe.
