From Raytheon:

Raytheon and General Dynamics joint venture awarded U.S. Air Force Launch and Test Range Contract

DULLES, Va., Jan. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Air Force has awarded one of its most important space procurements, potentially a multi-billion-dollar contract to operate, maintain, and sustain launch ranges at Florida's Space Coast and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, to a joint venture of Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) and General Dynamics.

The joint venture, called Range Generation Next (RGNext) is responsible for operations, as well as organizational and depot-level maintenance and sustainment for safe and effective launch, testing, and tracking of Department of Defense, civil, commercial, and international spacelift vehicles. It will also support ballistic missile, guided weapon, and aeronautical tests and evaluations.

The $1.5 billion, single-award contract has a one-year base period with nine one-year options. Raytheon and General Dynamics formed RGNext to pursue the opportunity, known as the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Launch and Test Range System (LTRS) Integrated Support (LISC) contract, supporting the U.S. Air Force Space Command.

Existing operations and maintenance at the Eastern and Western launch ranges and the engineering and sustainment work for the entire LTRS are being consolidated into LISC, primarily a fixed-price-incentive firm (target) contract.

"Together, Raytheon and General Dynamics offer the U.S. Air Force more than 40 years of operations and maintenance experience, along with leadership across information technology domains," said Lynn Dugle, president of Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services. "In this cost-sensitive environment, LISC will deliver efficiencies and economies of scale that could not be obtained under separate contracts. Our team is eager to play its part in helping the customer ensure safe mission operations."  

"As part of this proven team, General Dynamics Information Technology will leverage lessons learned and proven processes to ensure the ranges continue as the nation's premier launch facilities," said Dan Johnson, president of General Dynamics Information Technology.

For more information about General Dynamics Information Technology, please visit www.gdit.com.

More information about General Dynamics is available at www.generaldynamics.com.

About RaytheonRaytheon Company, with 2013 sales of $24 billion and 63,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, security and civil markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 92 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as cyber security and a broad range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more about Raytheon, visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter @Raytheon.

Synopsys Announces DesignWare DDR4 Memory Interface IP

News release:

Synopsys Announces DesignWare DDR4 Memory Interface IP

Memory Controller and PHY Support Multiple DDR Standards While Reducing Latency and Standby Power

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Highlights:

• Synopsys expands its industry-leading DesignWare® DDR Memory Interface IP family to include support for DDR4 SDRAMs
• Backward compatibility with DDR3 and LPDDR2/3 mobile SDRAMs gives SoC designers flexibility as they transition from one SDRAM standard to the next
• New DDR4 IP offers more features with up to 50 percent lower latency than the previous generation
• DDR4 memory controller and PHY are connected by a standard DFI 3.1 interface to streamline connections to custom PHYs and controllers

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), a world leader in software and IP used in the design, verification and manufacture of electronic components and systems, today announced the expansion of its DesignWare DDR interface IP portfolio to include support for next-generation SDRAMs based on the emerging DDR4 standard. By supporting DDR4 as well as DDR3 and LPDDR2/3 in a single core, the DesignWare DDR solution enables designers to interface with either high-performance or low-power SDRAMs in the same system-on-chip (SoC), which is a key requirement of many SoCs such as applications processors for smartphones and tablets.
"Synopsys' support for DDR4 memory is an important contribution to building a robust DDR4 ecosystem," said Robert Feurle, vice president of DRAM marketing for Micron Technology, Inc. "DDR4 brings substantial power and performance benefits to the industry, and Micron is aggressively driving its introduction. By implementing their DesignWare DDR Interface IP with backward compatibility in mind, Synopsys is enabling chip developers to bridge the transition from today's DDR3-based SoCs to the upcoming DDR4 designs."
Synopsys' DesignWare DDR4 IP solution consists of the DDR4 multiPHY and Enhanced Universal DDR Memory Controller (uMCTL2) that connect through a commonly used DFI 3.1 interface. The new DDR4 IP supports all key DDR4 features planned for the upcoming JEDEC standard and, compared to the previous version, includes a 13 percent increase in raw bandwidth, up to a 50 percent reduction in overall latency and new low-power features that provide intelligent system monitoring and control to power down elements of the IP as determined by the system's traffic patterns. Real-time scheduling features in Synopsys' unique CAM-based DDR controller can optimize the scheduling of data read/write traffic from multiple hosts, maximizing performance and minimizing latency.
"While the initial target markets for DDR4 are networking, server, and compute platforms, engineers designing for digital TVs, set-top-boxes, multi-function printing, smartphone and tablet applications will also adopt DDR4 DRAM as prices drop and performance improves," said Desi Rhoden, executive vice president, Montage Technology, and JEDEC memory chairman. "Synopsys has leveraged their participation at JEDEC to develop DDR4-compatible products before the actual standard has been released, which is a key benefit of JEDEC membership."
"Synopsys' complete DDR interface IP portfolio includes support for LPDDR, LPDDR2, LPDDR3, DDR, DDR2, and DDR3," said John Koeter, vice president of marketing for IP and systems at Synopsys. "With this announcement, we are broadening our portfolio to include support for DDR4 while maintaining backward compatibility with existing JEDEC standard SDRAMs. As new DDR standards evolve, designers look for reliable solutions. Synopsys' track record of over 320 DDR IP design wins demonstrates that we offer a low-risk path to silicon success."
Availability
Availability for the DesignWare DDR4 multiPHY and Enhanced Universal DDR Memory Controller (uMCTL2) with support for DDR4 is planned for Q4 2012.
About DesignWare IP
Synopsys is a leading provider of high-quality, silicon-proven IP solutions for system-on-chip (SoC) designs. The broad DesignWare IP portfolio includes complete interface IP solutions consisting of controllers, PHY and verification IP for widely used protocols, analog IP, embedded memories, logic libraries, processor cores and subsystems. To support software development and hardware/software integration of the IP, Synopsys offers drivers, transaction-level models, and prototypes for many of its IP products. Synopsys' HAPS® FPGA-Based Prototyping Solution enables validation of the IP and the SoC in the system context. Synopsys' Virtualizer™ virtual prototyping tool set allows developers to start the development of software for the IP or the entire SoC significantly earlier compared to traditional methods. With a robust IP development methodology, extensive investment in quality, IP prototyping, software development and comprehensive technical support, Synopsys enables designers to accelerate time-to-market and reduce integration risk. For more information on DesignWare IP, visit http://www.synopsys.com/designware.
About Synopsys
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys' comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, system-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology-leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has approximately 70 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements regarding the expected availability of Synopsys' DesignWare DDR4 multiPHY and Enhanced Universal DDR Memory Controller (uMCTL2) with support for DDR4. These statements are based on current expectations and beliefs. Actual results could differ materially from those described by these statements due to risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, unforeseen production or delivery delays, failure to perform as expected, product errors or defects and other risks detailed in Synopsys' filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including those described in the "Risk Factors" section of Synopsys' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2012.

Press release:

IBM Cloud to Deliver New Home Entertainment Services for Philips Smart TVs

IBM Launches Cloud Platform for the Consumer Electronics Industry

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BERLIN - 31 Aug 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today unveiled a new cloud platform for consumer electronics firms and announced it will power the Philips Smart TV platform for Internet services, which will deliver greater interactive services to millions of TV viewers in more than 30 countries in Europe, as well as Brazil and Argentina.

Through their broadband connections, smart TVs provide consumers with innovative, on-demand access to an unlimited array of entertainment options throughout the Internet. In addition to standard, linear TV, they provide two-way interaction and personalized content, enabling new “intelligent” consumer services.  

Today’s announcement at the IFA consumer electronics event in Berlin provides IBM cloud services on a pay-per-use basis to TP Vision, an Amsterdam-based joint venture between Philips and TV manufacturer TPV responsible for the development of Philips Smart TV. 

TP Vision needed a cloud computing environment resilient enough to support unexpected service demands at any given time when millions of TV units access a variety of services on its network.  

“IBM’s cloud platform allows us to place the service and application intelligence into the cloud, and reduces the complexity of managing software in the TVs for our consumers,” said Albert Mombarg, head of Philips Smart TV at TP Vision. “This provides an economic, more flexible way to create new services for our viewers. By engaging with IBM on a cost-per-device basis, we obtain a new business model with predictable costs, and great flexibility to expand our services and grow our user base. We expect it to transform the way we offer new services and drive ongoing business innovation.” 

The new IBM cloud platform opens up paths to new revenue. The data stored within the cloud can provide new insights about consumer needs and behavior for the media and entertainment industry, such as recommending TV shows based on past selections. Service providers, chief marketing officers and advertisers can use Big Data analytics to deliver more personalized entertainment options and targeted advertisements. Marketers can generate collective consumer knowledge derived from the aggregation of data from a population of homes, in addition to an individual TV. 

“As the Internet and smart devices continue to infiltrate home entertainment, today’s consumer electronics manufacturers are looking to deliver new interactive entertainment services,” said Bruce Anderson, general manager of IBM’s global electronics industry. “Televisions are about to become the next open application platform, similar to the application platforms on mobile devices.  Organizations are turning to the IBM cloud as the channel for their innovation.” 

IBM Launches IBM SmartCloud Service Delivery

Today IBM unveils a cloud-based platform managed by IBM global cloud data centers, for subscriber and device management, service life-cycle management and more.  IBM’s new service delivery platform, called the IBM SmartCloud Service Delivery for Electronics, provides consistent management of millions of different connected consumer devices, provisions services, interfaces with third parties, and acts as a collector of customer intelligence. It bundles services, software, hardware, network and third-party services in a single integrated service, for an all-in price, with per active user pricing, making smarter TV services more cost effective for manufacturers and consumers. 

Examples of live solutions demonstrated at IFA include the Philips Smart TV and service portal, and a smart home proof-of-concept, with home management and monitoring, as well as home energy management. 

For more information about IBM’s global electronics industry, visithttp://www.ibm.com/electronics 

To read more about IBM’s news at IFA, visit this Smarter Planet blog post. 

About IBM Cloud Computing

IBM has helped thousands of clients adopt cloud models and manages millions of cloud based transactions every day. IBM assists clients in areas as diverse as banking, communications, healthcare and government to build their own clouds or securely tap into IBM cloud-based business and infrastructure services. IBM is unique in bringing together key cloud technologies, deep process knowledge, a broad portfolio of cloud solutions, and a network of global delivery centers. For more information about cloud offerings from IBM, visithttp://www.ibm.com/smartcloud. Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ibmcloud and on our blog at http://www.thoughtsoncloud.com

F.A.A. to Review Rules on Use of Electronic Devices

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Wednesday, August 29, 2012

F.A.A. to Review Rules on Use of Electronic Devices

By JAD MOUAWAD

Air travelers carrying smartphones, digital tablets and other electronic devices have long complained about having to turn off their gadgets until reaching an altitude of 10,000 feet.

On a clear day with no air traffic, that could mean shutting off the devices for 20 minutes or so. But if a flight is delayed, this form of electronic solitary confinement can last a lot longer — and pose a significant hardship for those desperate to connect.

“People are addicted to their phones and there is a lot of dead time when you are taxiing or in the air,” said Anne Banas, the executive editor of SmarterTravel.com, a consumer travel Web site.

Now the Federal Aviation Administration may be softening a bit on the restrictions, taking a first step in possibly accommodating the growing pervasiveness of digital technology.

The agency has initiated a review of its policies about electronic devices in all phases of flight, including takeoff and landing. The F.A.A. said Monday that it would set up a group composed of technology manufacturers, plane makers, pilots and flight attendants to examine the issues this fall. The group would report back within six months.

Their mission will be to figure out whether electronic devices can cause interference with the cockpit and when to allow their use without compromising safety. The F.A.A. said it was not considering lifting the prohibition on the use of cellphones during flight.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

ARM and Synopsys Expand Collaboration to Optimize Power and Performance, and Accelerate Design and Verification for ARM Technology-based SoCs

Press release from Synopsys:

ARM and Synopsys Expand Collaboration to Optimize Power and Performance, and Accelerate Design and Verification for ARM Technology-based SoCs

CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --


Highlights:

• Industry leaders extend collaboration to benefit mutual customers across the broad ARM  partner ecosystem
• Synopsys licenses broad range of energy-efficient, high-performance ARM IP in multi-year agreement
• Collaboration to deliver power and performance optimized methodologies for ARM® Cortex™ processors using Synopsys' Galaxy™ Implementation Platform and ARM Artisan® physical IP and POP™ technology
• Synopsys' next-generation Discovery™ Verification IP (VIP) integrates new tests, checks and verification features to speed verification of AMBA® 4 ACE™-based System-on-Chips (SoCs)

ARM (LON: ARM; Nasdaq: ARMH) and Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) have signed a multi-year agreement that expands Synopsys' access to a broad range of ARM intellectual property (IP). The two companies will broaden their collaboration to enable SoC designers to optimize the power and performance of ARM technology-based SoCs with Synopsys Galaxy Implementation Platform and Discovery VIP, while reducing cost and decreasing time to market. Building on previous EDA tools and ARM Cortex-A15 processor license agreements, this new agreement provides Synopsys with access to a range of Cortex processors, including technology needed to implement ARM big.LITTLE™ processing, ARM Artisan physical IP, POP technology optimized for Cortex processor implementation, as well as CoreLink™ interconnect and AMBA 4 ACE system IP.

By expanding their collaboration to include the latest ARM technology, Synopsys will be able to create and deliver optimized tools and methodologies for the implementation and verification of ARM processing subsystems, and ARM will be able to enhance its IP. The ongoing partnership aims to meet demand from designers for SoCs that feature both extreme energy efficiency and high performance. For example, ARM big.LITTLE processing combines Cortex-A15 MPCore™ and Cortex-A7 MPCore processors with ARM CoreLink CCI-400 cache coherent interconnect to allow software to be migrated seamlessly to the optimum processor for each task. This paradigm enables up to 70 percent processor energy savings on common workloads.

"In today's increasingly competitive market environment, optimized solutions from two industry leaders can make a big difference for our partners designing ARM technology-based SoCs by accelerating the design process and driving gains in power and performance," said Simon Segars, executive vice president and general manager, Processor and Physical IP Divisions at ARM. "By providing Synopsys with wider access to industry-leading ARM IP, we are enabling mutual customers to benefit from streamlined design and verification, ultimately, decreasing time to market."

Combining ARM and Synopsys expertise, the optimized implementation flows will use Synopsys Galaxy tools and methodologies as well as ARM Artisan physical IP and POP solutions to better enable designers to produce Cortex-A9, Cortex-A15 and Cortex-A7 processor-based designs faster and with improved performance and power results. This solution is complemented by Synopsys' Virtualizer™ Design Kit (VDK) for ARM big.LITTLE processing, as well as by Synopsys' Discovery Verification IP and Protocol Analyzer for the AMBA 4 ACE specification.

In addition to using the ARM processor-optimized methodologies with Synopsys' Galaxy tools, designers can also use Synopsys' Lynx Design System for additional productivity and predictability through a tapeout-validated, SoC-level implementation flow. Synopsys provides optimized processor implementation training and design assistance to help customers achieve their target performance and power in their chosen semiconductor process technology. Synopsys will also optimize the Discovery Verification Platform for ARM IP. Discovery VIP and Protocol Analyzer integrate additional tests, system monitor checks and other features to accelerate verification of AMBA 4 ACE interconnect-based designs.
"Synopsys tools are used in a significant portion of leading-edge implementations of ARM processor-based SoCs, and our customers are pushing for extreme performance and power efficiency," said Deirdre Hanford, senior vice president, global technical services at Synopsys. "This expanded collaboration enables Synopsys and ARM to deliver the optimized solutions that SoC designers need to meet the power and performance requirements for their ARM-powered designs."

About ARM

ARM designs the technology that is at the heart of advanced digital products, from wireless, networking and consumer entertainment solutions to imaging, automotive, security and storage devices. ARM's comprehensive product offering includes RISC microprocessors, graphics processors, video engines, enabling software, cell libraries, embedded memories, high-speed connectivity products, peripherals and development tools. Combined with comprehensive design services, training, support and maintenance, and the company's broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies. Find out more about ARM by following these links:

• ARM website: http://www.arm.com/
• ARM Connected Community: http://www.arm.com/community/
• ARM Blogs: http://blogs.arm.com/
• ARMFlix on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ARMflix
• ARM on Twitter:
  • http://twitter.com/ARMMobile
  • http://twitter.com/ARMCommunity
  • http://twitter.com/ARMEmbedded
  • http://twitter.com/ARMSoC
  • http://twitter.com/KeilTools
  • http://twitter.com/ARMMultimedia

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys' comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, system-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology-leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has approximately 70 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com/.

ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Limited. Synopsys is a registered trademark of Synopsys, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of their respective owners.

Synopsys Announces Results of Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition

News release:

Synopsys Announces Results of Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition

Annual Competition Recognizes Student Achievements in Optical Design

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Synopsys, Inc., a world leader in software and IP for semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing, announced today that University of Rochester students Anthony Visconti and Brett Sternfield and University of Alabama in Huntsville student Josh Walters are the winners of the 2012 Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition. The competition was established in 2000 by Optical Research Associates (ORA^®), now the Optical Solutions Group at Synopsys, and was named in honor of ORA's former president and chief executive officer Robert S. Hilbert. The annual competition is open to students in North America working toward a bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D. degree who utilize Synopsys' CODE V^® or LightTools^® software to perform optical design and engineering research. Awards are granted to students who have submitted papers that demonstrate optical design excellence.
Anthony Visconti of the University of Rochester was recognized for his work on infrared optical imaging using CODE V in his paper titled, "Optical Passive Athermalization Using Schott Chalcogenide Glasses." Applications of Visconti's project include thermal imaging for night vision systems, as well as remote sensing for aerial photography and satellite data collection. Brett Sternfield, also of the University of Rochester, was recognized for his work on a machine vision imaging system using CODE V in his paper titled, "190 Degree FFOV Fisheye for Autonomous Robots." Sternfield presents a method to improve a robot's ability to navigate a new environment and capture images, which can be useful for a wide range of tasks, including search and rescue missions, intelligence gathering and even fast food delivery.
Josh Walters of the University of Alabama in Huntsville was recognized for his project using CODE V titled, "Non-Sequential Modeling of Multi-Aperture Lenslet Array Spectropolarimetic Imager." The goal of Walters' design is to reduce crosstalk in an imaging system that uses an array of lenslets, so that the resulting image of each channel is clearly distinguished. This work will aid those researching the benefits of non-traditional imaging systems, similar to the compound eye found in insects.
"We believe it is important to encourage the next generation of optical engineers by recognizing and showcasing their talents in our annual student design competition," said George Bayz, vice president and general manager of the Optical Solutions Group at Synopsys. "The entries we received reflect strong design concepts that were well executed and presented and show promise for optical systems across a broad range of applications."
The three projects will be on display at SPIE Optics + Photonics (August 12-16, 2012, San Diego, Calif.) in Synopsys' booth 417.
About the Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition
The annual Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition recognizes excellence in optical design projects completed by students. The competition honors the memory of Robert Hilbert (1941-2008), former president and chief executive officer of Optical Research Associates, who was deeply committed throughout his career to fostering technical innovation in optics and supporting optics education. The competition is open to students enrolled in a post-secondary degree program in North America, working toward a bachelor's, master's or Ph.D. degree. To participate, students can enter an optical design class assignment or thesis work that uses CODE V or LightTools software. Awards totaling $4,000 are granted each year. For more information, visitwww.opticalres.com/student.
About Synopsys' Optical Solutions Group
Synopsys' Optical Solutions Group, formerly Optical Research Associates, is one of the world's leading developers of optical design and analysis tools, with CODE V imaging design software, LightTools illumination design software and RSoft products for photonic and optical network design. The group also provides optical systems design services, with more than 4,800 completed projects in imaging, illumination and optical systems engineering.
About Synopsys
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys' comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, system-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology-leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has approximately 70 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com.

Synopsys Launches Industry's First Technical Community Site Dedicated to Users of Verification IP

Press release:

Synopsys Launches Industry's First Technical Community Site Dedicated to Users of Verification IP

VIP-Central.org Serves as an Online Resource Connecting Protocol and Verification IP Experts to SoC Verification Engineers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), a world leader in software and IP used in the design, verification and manufacture of electronic components and systems, today announced the launch of VIP-Central.org, the first industry-wide, technical community site focused on system-on-chip (SoC) verification engineers and users of verification IP (VIP). The site provides a centralized online resource of relevant forums and blogs focused on verification of industry-standard protocols. VIP-Central.org is the go-to source for the latest technical information and discussions on the use of verification IP and advanced verification methodologies to verify protocol-based IP as well as IP integration, SoC sub-systems and full SoCs. VIP-Central.org aggregates information from industry experts across the verification community, providing best practices and ideas for better verification performance, protocol debug, methodology, verification planning, coverage management and ease-of-use.
"As each new SoC adds the next generations of different IP blocks, IP subsystems and frequent releases of new protocols, SoC companies are required to quickly ramp their verification teams to embrace these changes," said Rich Wawrzyniak, senior market analyst for ASIC and SoC at Semico Research. "The launch of VIP-Central.org as a technical resource for protocol-based verification will improve ramp times, act as a repository of knowledge and expertise for designers, and also enable the verification IP experts in the industry to share their best practices with the verification community."
With the increasing number of complex protocols used in SoCs, verification engineers face a tough challenge to quickly acquire the protocol expertise needed to verify a SoC as well as all of its on-chip fabrics and off-chip interfaces. The challenge is made tougher by the frequent release of new and more sophisticated generations of protocols to improve performance, power and quality of service. Verification engineers must complete many tasks requiring both protocol and methodology expertise including developing environments, integrating VIP, using and modifying test sequences, debugging complex protocol results and analyzing coverage data. VIP-Central.org is designed to help engineers quickly understand the intricacies and foibles of each protocol and how to effectively utilize industry-available verification IP to verify these protocols while employing methodologies such as UVM, OVM and VMM.
"VIP-Central.org represents an important milestone for the VIP user community," said Janick Bergeron, verification fellow at Synopsys. "As protocols become more intricate and SoC verification complexity continues to grow, VIP-Central.org offers a community-driven portal to share the learning from our successful customer VIP engagements, and enable exchange of ideas with other VIP experts, users and the entire SoC verification community."
About VIP-Central.org
VIP-Central.org is an industry-wide community site for system-on-chip (SoC) verification engineers and users of verification IP. It provides a centralized online resource of relevant forums and blogs focusing on verification of today's industry-standard protocols. Visit VIP-Central.org online at http://www.vip-central.org/.
About Synopsys
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys' comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, system-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology-leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has approximately 70 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com/.

Avnet Electronics Marketing Executive to Present on End-to-End Supply Chain Visibility at Upcoming Supply Chain Events

March 28, 2012 - Avnet Electronics Marketing Executive to Present on End-to-End Supply Chain Visibility at Upcoming Supply Chain Events

PHOENIX -- The landscape of supply chain infrastructure is rapidly changing. To address some of the challenges that companies face today, Lalit Wadhwa, senior vice president, global supply chain operations at Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), will present at two upcoming supply chain industry events. As part of a global company, Avnet Electronics Marketing facilitates the global supply chain – enabling customers to design in one region, and manufacturing for it in another. Using case studies from Avnet customers, Wadhwa will demonstrate ways to obtain accurate cost-to-serve models, as well as ways to utilize collaborative technologies to create greater visibility with the supply chain.

Click to Tweet: Avnet's Lalit Wadhwa to present at two upcoming supply chain events: Supply Chain World http://avnet.me/24203 & http://avnet.me/55140

Lalit Wadhwa

On Tuesday, April 3, 2012, Wadhwa will be presenting at Supply Chain World North America in Miami. His talk, "Leveraging Visibility in Extended Supply Chains to Analyze Total Cost-to-Serve" delves into best-practices and real-world examples of ways to model supply chain activities in order to obtain accurate cost-to-serve pricing. Wadhwa's talk begins at 11:00 a.m. EDT. For more information about this talk, visit the Supply Chain Worldwebsite.

On Wednesday, April 4, 2012, Wadhwa will give a talk at the Aberdeen Supply Chain Management Summit in Chicago. This presentation titled, "End-to-End Supply Chain Visibility and the Use of Collaborative Technologies: An Avnet Case Study," will detail how leveraging collaborative technology can lead to greater visibility and a more efficient supply chain. This talk will take place at 3:30 p.m. CDT in the Zurich Ballroom. For more information, visit the Supply Chain Management Summit website.

Wadhwa noted, "It's both a challenging and an exciting time in supply chain management. New technologies and methodologies are making it easier for companies to create more efficient supply chains than ever before. Avnet's customers rely on our expertise and ability to remain at the forefront of the logistics industry; we take great care to help our customer avoid pitfalls and missteps along the way. These presentations illustrate how Avnet is leveraging our expertise to help our customers deliver the technology of tomorrow — today."

Based in Phoenix, Wadhwa and his team assist Avnet customers seamlessly move their supply chain from one region of the world to another, across multiple sites. He is a 20-year Avnet veteran.

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About Avnet Electronics Marketing
Avnet Electronics Marketing is an operating group of Phoenix-based Avnet, Inc. that serves electronic original equipment manufacturers (EOEMs) and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers in more than 70 countries, distributing electronic components from leading manufacturers and providing associated design-chain and supply-chain services. The group's website is located atwww.em.avnet.com.

About Avnet, Inc.
Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT), a Fortune 500 company, is one of the largest distributors of electronic components, computer products and embedded technology serving customers in more than 70 countries worldwide. Avnet accelerates its partners' success by connecting the world's leading technology suppliers with a broad base of more than 100,000 customers by providing cost-effective, value-added services and solutions. For the fiscal year ended July 2, 2011, Avnet generated revenue of $26.5 billion. For more information, visit www.avnet.com.

Conflict Minerals

Excerpt from an article in

The New York Times

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Use of ‘Conflict Minerals’ Gets More Scrutiny

By EDWARD WYATT

WASHINGTON — An iPhone can do a lot of things. But can it arm Congolese rebels?

That is the question being debated by a battalion of lobbyists from electronics makers, mining companies and international aid organizations that has descended on the Securities and Exchange Commission in recent months seeking to influence the drafting of a Dodd-Frank regulation that has nothing to do with the financial crisis.

Tacked onto the end of that encyclopedic digest of financial reform is an odd provision. It requires publicly traded companies whose products use certain minerals commonly mined in strife-torn areas of Central Africa to report to shareholders and the S.E.C. whether their mineral supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The measure is aimed at cutting off the brutal militia groups that have often taken over the mining and sale of so-called conflict minerals to finance their military aims. Just about every company affected by the law says they support it, but many business groups have also been pushing aggressively to put wiggle room in the restrictions, calling for lengthy phase-in periods, exemptions for minimal use of the minerals and loose definitions of what types of uses are covered.

Nearly every consumer product that includes electronic parts uses a derivative of one of the four minerals: columbite-tantalite, which when refined is used in palm-size cellphones and giant turbines; cassiterite, an important source of the tin used in coffee cans and circuit boards; wolframite, used to produce tungsten for light bulbs and machine tools; and gold, commonly used as an electronic conductor (and, of course, jewelry).

Given their broad application, the minerals have been a primary target of humanitarian groups concerned about genocide, sexual violence, child soldiers and other issues that have been common outgrowths of conflicts in Central Africa.

News Release from Avnet - Agreement with EMC

March 13, 2012 - Avnet Technology Solutions Americas Expands Agreement with EMC Corporation to Include Avnet Embedded

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Avnet Technology Solutions, an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), announced today an expanded distribution agreement with EMC Corporation to now offer EMC solutions through Avnet Embedded, a division of Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas. Avnet Embedded maintains a shared selling organization supporting both Avnet Technology Solutions Americas and Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, two business regions of Avnet, Inc.

This expanded agreement leverages the success of the long-standing relationship between Avnet and EMC. As one of the primary distributors of EMC technologies, Avnet Technology Solutions has helped partners grow their mid-market storage business profitably with EMC solutions for more than 12 years.

Avnet Embedded will now offer EMC® VNX and VNXe® unified storage solutions, EMC Isilon® scale-out NAS systems, and the EMC Atmos® Cloud Storage Platform as part of its Build OEM Better™ program. This program provides a lower total cost of ownership, reduced manufacturing time, flexibility and scalability via a global footprint of integration and service support for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and independent software vendors (ISVs). The addition of EMC enables Avnet to offer OEMs the opportunity to customize their storage and software solutions and capitalize on a single interface, often leveraging a single (IP) fabric to more easily implement back-up recovery. Avnet customers can also virtualize their applications to increase ease and consistency of deployment; consolidate physical infrastructure (in development and in the field); offer their application as a service (from their own or hosted data centers); and improve reliability and scale.

Utilizing EMC's proven portfolio of bundled storage, software and application solutions, OEMs can move quickly from design to deployment of end applications ranging from telecommunications to manufacturing, media to life sciences-all backed by Avnet's technical expertise and outstanding customer support team.

"By leveraging the highly-acclaimed Build OEM Better™ program, Avnet's OEM customers can easily embed EMC's industry-leading systems and software within their OEM solutions, as well as take delivery of integrated, turnkey systems for rapid deployment to their end-customers," said Joe Eazor, executive vice president for Global Accounts and OEM at EMC. "EMC is excited to work with Avnet Embedded to help its partners deliver customers proven technology solutions that are reliable, efficient and easy to use."

"Our OEM customers are looking for IT storage solutions that are simple, reliable and repeatable," said Chuck Kostalnick, senior vice president, Avnet Embedded. "Adding EMC to our Americas offering provides Avnet's customers with a faster way to deliver enterprise-class performance and next-generation solutions."

Connect with Avnet Embedded

Follow Avnet on Twitter 

Contribute to our technical forums 

View product and company videos 

Buy our components 

Learn more about Build OEM Better

Follow Avnet Technology Solutions, North America, on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AvnetAdvantage

About Avnet Technology Solutions

As a global IT solutions distributor, Avnet Technology Solutions collaborates with its customers and suppliers to create and deliver services, software and hardware solutions that address the business needs of their end-user customers locally and around the world. For fiscal year 2011, the group served customers in more than 70 countries and generated US $11.5 billion in annual revenue. Avnet Technology Solutions (www.ats.avnet.com) is an operating group of Avnet, Inc.

About Avnet Electronics Marketing

Avnet Electronics Marketing is an operating group of Phoenix-based Avnet, Inc. that serves electronic original equipment manufacturers (EOEMs) and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers in more than 70 countries, distributing electronic components from leading manufacturers and providing associated design-chain and supply-chain services. The group's website is located atwww.em.avnet.com.

About Avnet

Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT), a Fortune 500 company, is one of the largest distributors of electronic components, computer products and embedded technology serving customers in more than 70 countries worldwide. Avnet accelerates its partners' success by connecting the world's leading technology suppliers with a broad base of more than 100,000 customers by providing cost-effective, value-added services and solutions. For the fiscal year ended July 2, 2011, Avnet generated revenue of $26.5 billion. For more information, visit www.avnet.com.

News Release from Avnet

March 8, 2012 - Avnet Express' Drive for Innovation Celebrates Six Months of Inspiring People and Technology

Traveled 14,414 miles through 17 states and interviewed 500+ people at 100 companies

Phoenix and San Francisco -- Innovation: dead in America? Hardly. After six months of driving around the nation and interviewing more than 500 engineers, entrepreneurs, inventors, educators and students, our research shows quite the opposite -- innovation is thriving in America.

Avnet Express' Drive for Innovation – a year-long, cross-country road trip focused on uncovering innovation in the electronics industry, is celebrating six months of uncovering inspiring people and innovation in technology. Now at the half-way point of this exciting journey, we're pausing to note just a few of the innovation stories from our log book. They range from the sublime and sophisticated to the simple and powerful:

• Nanoforge, a startup company emerging from Duke University in N.C. is bringing to market copper nanowires using a low-cost, high-volume production process. Nanoforge's nanowires can be used in displays, solar cells and other applications and promises to lower cost and upset conventional application assumptions.
• Nextreme Thermal Solutions is making small, inexpensive devices to harvest energy from thermal differentials. Clamp the prototype onto a homeowner's sink's hot- and cold-water pipes and it generates enough power to illuminate a small light bulb.
• Two buddies, one a hockey coach, the other an embedded designer, are working together to make a helmet-mounted shock sensor able to send a constant stream of data to iPad and iPhone apps for coaches and parents.
• When Rockwell Collins teamed up with Lectronix, in Lansing, Mich. to build more effective and compact communications systems for police squad cars, Lectronix's chief executive officer put his experience as a pilot to great use in the design.
• To encourage and nurture engineering and computer-science students at the University of Massachusetts, administrators and professors have created a crash pad of sorts. In the subterranean M5 maker-space, students have access to space, parts, computers, software, probes and snacks to work on school projects and just be technologically creative.

"The Drive for Innovation is about finding and telling stories of great engineering everywhere," said Brian Fuller, editorial lead on the Drive for Innovation. "Whether it's Middleton, Wis., Schaumberg, Ill., Wilmington, Mass., Huntsville, Ala. or College Park, Md., the story is always about standing on the shoulders of the inventors of the past and moving the technology and the economy forward, relentlessly."

Since July 2011, the Chevrolet Volt has been making periodic stops throughout the journey, where Fuller, the driver of the Chevrolet Volt, has been blogging and posting video updates about his experiences. Fuller has travelled 14,414 miles and through 17 states. Fuller has made 100 interview stops, interviewed more than 500 people at 100 companies. Additionally, he has completed 114 blog entries uploaded 130 videos as well as 261 images. The multi-faceted program is anchored by a website that features content from the road trip, a drive tracker and an interactive map that highlights the tour as well as games and prizes to fuel community engagement.

"When Avnet Express embarked on this journey we weren't sure exactly what to expect," said Beth Ely, senior vice president, Avnet Express. "As we've followed along, the rich stories that Brian has uncovered have truly shone a bright spotlight on the innovation that Avnet sees everyday in our customers," said Beth Ely, senior vice president, Avnet Express. "As we progress, we look forward to helping share these incredible stories of American innovation with the rest of the world."

Avnet Express gives design engineers and purchasing professionals online access to the world's largest catalog of electronic component products, which tops five million parts. Avnet Express offers parametric searching capabilities and the ability to upload a bill of materials (BOM) for easier sourcing of products and a consistent global platform of localized content. The site can be accessed in nine languages and 13 currencies.

Check www.driveforinnovation.com for upcoming locations and to sign up to follow the stories and request that the Volt pull into your town or city for a visit. Upcoming stops on the "Drive for Innovation" road trip include:

• Phoenix
• Los Angeles
• San Jose, Calif.
• San Diego, Calif.
• and more

To learn more about Avnet Express, visit avnetexpress.com. To follow the "Drive for Innovation" and the Chevrolet Volt as it travels across the United States, visit www.driveforinnovation.com. Follow the "Drive for Innovation" on Facebook and Twitter.

News Release from Symantec - GALAXY

Norton Mobile Security Protects Samsung GALAXY Smartphone Users Worldwide

 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – March 6, 2012 – Norton by Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced that Samsung Electronics will provide Norton Mobile Security, an application for Android OS, to select smartphone users worldwide. Samsung will offer a full-featured, complimentary 90-day subscription of Norton Mobile Security in multiple languages to Samsung GALAXY users through Samsung Apps.

“We are pleased to extend our valued relationship with Samsung by helping to protect more of its customers’ devices and data from theft, loss and mobile threats,” said Janice Chaffin, group president, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec. “With smartphone sales now outpacing PC sales, cybercriminals are devising new threats everyday to steal from mobile users. Consumers need to be protected more than ever.”

Norton Mobile Security combines anti-theft features with powerful antimalware to protect user’s important data from loss, theft, viruses and other threats through the following features:

• Remote Locate — Shows you the location of your smartphone so you can find if it’s lost or stolen.
• Remote Lock — Lets you remotely lock your lost or stolen phone via the Internet or SMS to keep critical data safe and block unauthorized access.
• Remote Wipe — Lets you remotely erase the data on your phone via SMS, blocking access to your private information. In addition, your phone is instantly locked if its SIM card is removed or replaced, so it can’t be used with another SIM card.
• Anti-malware — Scans all files and application updates downloaded to your mobile phone and automatically detects and removes threats without slowing you down.
• SD Card Scanning — Gives you the option of automatically scanning SD (Secure Digital) memory cards for threats when you plug them into mobile phone.
• Automatic LiveUpdate — Automatically downloads and installs security updates keeping you a step ahead of cybercriminals.

Norton Mobile Security can be downloaded from the ‘Utility’ category in Samsung Apps or by entering ‘Norton Mobile Security’ into the search query at the Samsung Apps. Norton Mobile Security supports all Samsung Galaxy Android smartphones, including Galaxy S2 LTE, Galaxy S2, Galaxy Neo, Galaxy S Hoppin and Galaxy A. It is available in nine languages, including Korean, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, and Traditional Chinese languages. A one-year license costs $29.99USD.

Wearable Electronics

Excerpt from an article in The New York Times

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Wearable Electronics Are Making a Statement - Novelties

By ANNE EISENBERG

RHINESTONES, sequins and gold lamé can still add traditional glitter to evening wear. But if you really want to shine at your next dinner party, consider the sparkle that a jacket with light-emitting diodes or a corsage with fiber optics could provide.

Wearable electronics are starting to dress up gowns, handbags and even tuxedos, and not just in one-of-a-kind costumes worn by the likes of Fergie, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga or other divas.

For the rest of us, designers and others are starting to offer such merchandise online — giving it bling by way of conductive thread, sensors, batteries and small microprocessors. And daytime computerized wearables are on the way, like T-shirts and coats that can show full-length videos or use GPS to point you to your destination.

Moon Berlin, a German fashion label of the company Franken & Bruns, recently opened an online shop that sells chiffon dresses with white LEDs beneath the sheer fabric. The LEDs twinkle softly at first, then shine more intensely as the wearer moves, says Christian Bruns, co-owner of Franken & Bruns. (The batteries are good for 8 or more hours. You can always turn them off if want to save power.)

Already popular on the Web site are accessories like fiber-optic brooches and LED-illuminated clutch pocketbooks. And men’s dinner jackets with a touch of LED glitter are on the way, Mr. Bruns says.

If you want to try your own hand at creating a computerized, electronic glow, Adafruit Industries, a New York company that makes and sells kits and components, will soon introduce a small, wearable microprocessor called Flora to control LEDs or other electronic adornments. Becky Stern, who leads the company’s wearable electronics group, will develop projects and kits based on it for crafters.