On Tuesday, Intel showed off an 80-core processor at its developer forum taking place in San Francisco this week and one of the prominent features of the chip is that each core is connected directly to a 256KB memory chip through a technology called Through Silicon Vias, or TSV.
The memory wedded to the processor cores could constitute the entire memory needed for a computer, Intel CTO Justin Rattner told News.com in an interview during the Intel Developer Forum. TSV could be used in a variety of chips, not just the 80-core monster. As a result, computer makers, when building a system, would get their memory when they bought their processors from Intel. They would not have to obtain memory chips separately from other companies like they do now.
"You could buy it as a block," he said.
Back in the 1980s, Intel was one of the largest manufacturers of computer memory, or DRAM, but it got out of the market because of punishing competition from Japan. (The company, however, continues to produce NOR flash memory and a few other types of memory. Typically, these chips are not used in the same fashion as DRAM.)
Wedding memory directly to the processor would have huge performance benefits. Currently, memory and the processor in Intel-based computers exchange data through a memory controller, which moves at a far slower rate than the processor. It's one of the big bottlenecks in computer performance. TSV, which displaces the memory controller, would shuttle data far quicker.
Potential competitive edge
Data coming out of memory also squeezes through an overcrowded port. TSV would effectively open up thousands of ports. Overall, Rattner said, TSV is by far a more notable accomplishment than putting 80 cores on the same piece of silicon.
The processor cores are not restricted to getting memory from the chip wedded to it, added Rattner. The cores are connected to each other through high-speed links controlled by a router integrated into each core. Overall, the prototype 80-core chip has an aggregate memory bandwidth of 1 terabyte per second, meaning that it can shift a trillion bytes per second.
Conceivably, TSV would also put AMD on the hot seat. A good portion of the performance gains AMD achieved with the Opteron chip came from Opteron's integrated memory controller. Intel does not put integrated memory controllers on its chips.
In all probability, Intel would not get back into the business of manufacturing DRAM--it remains one of the most difficult chip markets in which to turn a profit. Nonetheless, TSV would put it back into the business of selling it.
Rattner, however, noted that implementing TSV will take time. The memory chips attached to the 80-core processor are SRAM, a relatively expensive memory that Intel still makes. The next step is to see how well DRAM works with TSV.
Engineers would also have to devise packages that would let the processor and memory live together. The processor typically generates more heat than the memory, which is one of the factors that would have to be considered. Although it doesn't get many headlines, packaging design is a huge challenge for chipmakers.
"It's still in the research stage," he said. "We will do a lot of work with it in the next several years.
The .NET Micro Framework provides a managed code development environment for small devices like smart watches that are typically constrained by cost, memory, processor and/or power consumption, according to company statements. Microsoft's intent is to extend the advantages of .NET and Visual Studio to the smallest classes of devices.
The framework currently provides the software platform for all Smart Watches for MSN Direct. Additionally, the company plans to include it in Windows Vista SideShow displays and in an upcoming version of Microsoft TV Foundation Edition, the statements say.
According to Microsoft, the framework is fully integrated with Microsoft Visual Studio, thus enabling developers to create and debug software using familiar tools, including the ability to debug code running on the target device.
Microsoft Research held an event at Microsoft's Redmond, Washington, campus Tuesday where Chairman and co-founder Bill Gates appeared via video to applaud the organization, Microsoft said.
"During the past 15 years, Microsoft researchers have contributed amazing breakthroughs and insights that have advanced the state of the art in dozens of technology fields," Gates said in his talk, according to a press statement. "Their work is a clear reflection of Microsoft's commitment to innovation."
Microsoft Research was founded in 1991, and works independent of the product groups to invent new technology. It also works with academic programs and provides grants to help promote IT research and innovation in universities.
At Tuesday's event, the research team demonstrated some new technologies currently in development, Microsoft said. They included visualization technologies that combine maps from Windows Live Local with other maps -- such as those of bike trails or bus routes -- to create hybrid maps that can be helpful to users.
Other technologies demonstrated included one that allowed images and data to be displayed projector-like on tabletops, walls and other surfaces and manipulated with hand gestures -- thus doing away with the need for a mouse or monitor -- and graphics technology for transforming two-dimensional images into 3D graphics, Microsoft said.
While not all of the technologies developed within Microsoft Research make it into actual products, some recent ones that have will be included in the forthcoming Windows Vista OS, Microsoft said. They include new desktop search technologies that allow users to locate anything stored on their computer quickly, as well as technology for providing a unified user experience for searching on both the Web and locally on the desktop, Microsoft said.
Microsoft Research has more than 700 researchers at five laboratories around the world. Aside from Redmond, the research group has labs in Beijing; Bangalore, India; Cambridge, England; and Mountain View, California.
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The price cut is aimed at boosting the launch of the machine and making it more competitive with the Xbox 360.
The price for the North American and European launch will stay the same.
The surprise move will see the 20 gigabyte version of the PS3 sell for 49,980 yen ($430) when it goes on sale on 11 November in Japan.
No changes to the price of the higher end model - 60GB version - or European and US prices were announced.
Gaming community
Sony has previously been criticised by the gaming community for the high cost of the new console. The lack of an announced price cut for the US and Europe markets may also raise some gamers' ire.
In the US, the system with a 20GB hard drive will cost $499, while a model with a 60GB drive will cost $599. European pricing is 499 and 599 euros respectively.
The new Japanese price puts the console in the same range as the basic Xbox 360 machine combined with an add-on HD-DVD player, which cost 49,600 yen together.
More At: BBC.COM
View: Full Article @ Windows IT Pro View: Software Makers Complain to EU Over Microsoft's New Vista System @ WSJ.com
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 18, 2006 – Researchers from Intel Corporation and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) have built the world’s first electrically powered Hybrid Silicon Laser using standard silicon manufacturing processes. This breakthrough addresses one of the last major barriers to producing low-cost, high-bandwidth silicon photonics devices for use inside and around future computers and data centers.
The researchers were able to combine the light-emitting properties of Indium Phosphide with the light-routing capabilities of silicon into a single hybrid chip. When voltage is applied, light generated in the Indium Phosphide enters the silicon waveguide to create a continuous laser beam that can be used to drive other silicon photonic devices. A laser based on silicon could drive wider use of photonics in computers because the cost can be greatly reduced by using high-volume silicon manufacturing techniques.
“This could bring low-cost, terabit-level optical ‘data pipes’ inside future computers and help make possible a new era of high-performance computing applications," said Mario Paniccia, director of Intel’s Photonics Technology Lab. "While still far from becoming a commercial product, we believe dozens, maybe even hundreds of hybrid silicon lasers could be integrated with other silicon photonic components onto a single silicon chip.”
"Our research program with Intel highlights how industry and academia can work together to advance the state of science and technology," said John Bowers, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Santa Barbara. “By combining UCSB’s expertise with Indium Phosphide and Intel’s silicon photonics expertise, we have demonstrated a novel laser structure based on a bonding method that can be used at the wafer-, partial-wafer or die-level, and could be a solution for large-scale optical integration onto a silicon platform. This marks the beginning of highly integrated silicon photonic chips that can be mass produced at low cost.”
Technical Details
While widely used to mass produce affordable digital electronics today, silicon can also be used to route, detect, modulate and even amplify light, but not to effectively generate light. In contrast, Indium Phosphide-based lasers are commonly used today in telecommunications equipment. But the need to individually assemble and align them has made them too expensive to build in the high volumes and at the low costs needed by the PC industry.
The hybrid silicon laser involves a novel design employing Indium Phosphide-based material for light generation and amplification while using the silicon waveguide to contain and control the laser. The key to manufacturing the device is the use of a low-temperature, oxygen plasma -- an electrically charged oxygen gas -- to create a thin oxide layer (roughly 25 atoms thick) on the surfaces of both materials.
When heated and pressed together the oxide layer functions as a “glass-glue” fusing the two materials into a single chip. When voltage is applied, light generated in the Indium Phosphide-based material passes through the oxide “glass-glue” layer and into the silicon chip’s waveguide, where it is contained and controlled, creating a hybrid silicon laser. The design of the waveguide is critical to determining the performance and specific wavelength of the hybrid silicon laser. More information on the Hybrid Silicon Laser can be found at http://www.intel.com/research/platform/sp/hybridlaser.htm.
Today’s announcement builds on Intel’s other accomplishments in its long-term research program to “siliconize” photonics using standard silicon manufacturing processes. In 2004, Intel researchers were the first to demonstrate a silicon-based optical modulator with a bandwidth in excess of 1GHz, nearly 50 times faster than previous demonstrations of modulation in silicon. In 2005, Intel researchers were the first to demonstrate that silicon could be used to amplify light using an external light source to produce a continuous wave laser-on-a-chip based on the “Raman effect.”
Bowers has worked with Indium Phosphide-based materials and lasers for more than 25 years. Currently his research is focused on developing novel optoelectronic devices with data rates as high as 160Gb/s and techniques to bond dissimilar materials together to create new devices with improved performance.
Engineering at UC Santa Barbara
Engineering at UC Santa Barbara is considered a leader in bioengineering, chemical and computational engineering, materials science, nanotechnology, optics and physics. UCSB has five faculty Nobel Laureates. The College of Engineering’s uniquely successful interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial approach to research and learning is central to these achievements. www.engineering.ucsb.edu
Believe me! It's only 1.4 mb .iso file. Burn this file in ony CD burner and it would be expanded to 733 MB. It's highly compressed. Not the one office 2006 which is only 1.7 MB which is compressed at KGB archiver. I got this from my friend Tarun. But before you boot from the CD do check your system configuration. Happy downloading!
Download: Windows Vista
Here are some cool java script for Windows. Just copy the script and paste it on the address bar of the web-browser and see the magic!
1. Script for vibration of web-browsers (I tested with Firefox and IE)
javascript:function flood(n) {if (self.moveBy) {for (i = 35; i > 0; i--) {for (j = n; j > 0; j--) {self.moveBy(1,i);self.moveBy(i,0);self.moveBy(0,-i);self.moveBy(-i,0); } } }} flood(6);
2. This one is for moving the pics and links on the browsers
javascript:R=-1;DI=document.links;DIL=DI.length;function A(a,b,c){return Math.sin(R/350*6.28*b+a)*c+c}function B(a){DIS=DI.item(a).style;DIS.position='absolute';
DIS.left=A(5,100,500);DIS.top=A(5.6,60,150)}
setInterval('R++;B(R%DIL)',15);void(0);
3. Stupid msgs:
javascript:function reverse() { var inp ="??edis r'u no gniog si zzthw??u r woh!!!ih yeH"; var outp = ""; for (i = 0; i <= inp.length; i++) { outp = inp.charAt (i) + outp ; } alert(outp) ;}; reverse();
are all causes of sluggish PC performance. But as you tweak settings, remove software, or reinstall Windows, don’t neglect the slowdowns that are due to your PC’s hardware. Windows XP and 2000 include tools that help you track down hardware-induced bottlenecks, and a recent update for both those Windows versions makes hardware rehabilitation easier than ever.
