IBM Scientists Achieve Storage Memory Breakthrough

IBM Research – Latest Memory Technology – Phase-Change-Memory –PCM

Scientist at IBM Research, have for the first time demonstrated reliably storing 3 bits of data for each cell utilising a latest memory technology called phase-change memory – PCM. The existing memory landscape tends toextentfrom respected DRAM to hard disk drives to universal flash. However in the last several years PCM has attracted the attention of the industry as a probable universal memory technology based on its mixture of read/write speed, non-volatility, density and endurance.

For instance PCM does not lose data when it tends to power off unlike DRAM. The technology could endure at least 10 million write cycles in contrast to an average flash USB stick that tends to top out at 3,000 write cycles. The break-through of the research has provided quick and easy storage in catching the exponential growth of data from the mobile devices as well as the Internet of Things.

IBM scientists tend to envisage standalone PCM together with hybrid application that would unite PCM and flash storage together with PCM as an exceedingly fast cache. For instance the operating system of a mobile phone could be stored in PCM permitting the phone to launch within a few seconds. In the initiative space, the complete database can be stockpiled in PCM for fast query processing for time-critical online application like financial transaction.

Two Stable States – Amorphous/Crystalline

Machine learning processes utilising huge datasets would see a rapid boost on reducing the latency overhead while reading the data between iterations. The PCM materials tend to display two stable states, namely the amorphous – without a clearly defined structure and crystalline – with structure phases, of high and low electrical conductivity, respectively. Scientists at IBM and the other institutes had successfully demonstrated the potential to store 1 bit per cell in PCM earlier. However, presently at IEEE International Memory Workshop in Paris, for the first time, the IBM scientists are presenting, successfully stored 3 bits per cell in a 64k-cell array at higher temperatures and after a million endurance cycles.

 Dr Haris Pozidis, author of the paper and the manager of non-volatile memory research at IBM Research – Zurich had informed that `phase change memory was the first instantiation of the universal memory with properties of DRAM and flash, thus answering one of the grand challenges of the industry.

Novel Coding/Detecting Scheme Employed

He further added that reaching three bits per cell seems to be a significant milestone since at this density, the cost of PCM tends to be significantly less than DRAM and nearer to flash. In order to attain multi-bit storage, IBM scientists had developed a couple of innovative enabling technologies, a set of drift-immune cell-state metrics and drift-tolerant coding with detection schemes.

The new cell-state measure a physical property of the PCM cell more precisely, which tends to remain stable over a period of time and are hence insensitive to drift, affecting the stability of the electrical conductivity of cell with time. In order to provide extra strength of the data stored in a cell over ambient temperature fluctuation, a novel coding as well as detecting scheme had been employed.

The scheme tends to adaptively change the level threshold which is used in detecting the stored data of cell so that they follow variation owing to temperature changes. The outcome is that the cell state can be read reliably over long period of time after the memory is programmed and hence offers non-volatility.

Wrist Band Device for Alcohol Monitoring Wins U.S. Prize

BACrack Wins U.S. Prize for Alcohol Monitoring Device

A U.S. government competition has been won by BACrack, a San Francisco-based company with an alcohol monitoring device which can be worn on the wrist, a latest milestone in the progress of wearable technologies that tends to monitor as well as diagnose medical conditions. The company which is a privately held medical device manufacturer, had taken the top prize of $200,00 in the National Institutes of Health – NIH, Wearable Biosensor Challenge recently with its wristband monitor that tends to measure blood alcohol levels through sweat on the skin.

 The said product named as BACrack Skyn has not been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration yet for marketing approval. The head of the NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Dr George Koob had stated that he expected the device to be a valuable resource for alcohol research community.

He further added that it could help doctors to precisely measure the drinking history of a patient and not just depend on the most recent test which could help a lot with the treatment. Medical, law enforcement as well as transportation officials have pursued improved technology in detecting blood alcohol levels. The traditional PBTs – portable breath alcohol testers are heavy, costing over $1,000 and does not provide on-going monitoring of alcohol levels.

Blood Alcohol Monitoring Devices – Big & Bulky

The president of BACrack, Keith Nothacker, had informed that the blood alcohol monitoring devices that have been used in legal and medical circles seems to be big and bulky, similar to a ball and chain for the ones utilising it and that they wanted to make something which people would want to wear.

In its present form, the device though will not be an alternative for breathalysers or blood tests utilised by law enforcement since the device does not offer real-time blood alcohol levels. It has been mentioned by Nothacker that it takes around 45 minutes for ethanol to be transmitted through the skin and the device has been designed to offer a recent history of alcohol usage.

The company had been experimenting with consumer-centric alcohol testing for many years and in 2013 had introduced the BACrack Mobile Breathalyser which syncs with the smartphone in order to track blood alcohol content. BACrack had competed with seven other smaller companies and had won the NIH competition.

Skyn Cannot Replace Breathalysers

A Santa Barbara based technology start-up, Milo, had won the $100,000 second-place prize for its design for a wearable alcohol content tracker which tends to also use skin sensor and links with a smartphone, using wireless technology. Skyn, it is said cannot replace breathalysers which the cops tend to use, since it takes 45 minutes for the alcohol to be transmitted through the skin.

 However, authorities or researchers could utilise it to monitor constantly someone’s BAC levels. The device can alert you, if one has been drinking too much particularly if one intends to drive. Moreover, it could also notify member of a family if it senses alcohol in your system while one is supposed to be on a mission for abstinence.

Though the company has not submitted Skyn to the FDA for approval yet, according to Reuters, BACrack state that it would be releasing a restricted amount this fourth quarter. One could sign up on the company’s website to get notification whenever the wearable would be ready for pre-order.

High Efficiency Power Amplifier Could Bring 5G Cell Phones

5G Devices Designed to Download/Transmit Data/Videos Quickly

Latest efficient power amplifier for electronics will assist in making it possible for the next generation cell phones, reduced-cost collision-avoidance radar for cars and lightweight micro satellites for communications. The fifth-generation or 5G mobile devices which are anticipated in 2019 would need improved power amplifiers operating at very high frequencies.

The new phones would be designed to download and transmit data and videos much quicker than the present phones, would provide improved coverage, consume less power and would meet the needs of a developing `Internet of things’ wherein daily objects will have network connectivity, enabling them to send and receive data. Power amplifiers are essential in transmitting signals.

Since the present cell phone amplifiers are made of gallium arsenide, they are unable to integrate in the silicon based technology of the phone known as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor – CMOS. The latest amplifier design is CMOS-based which means that it enables researchers to integrate the power amplifier with the electronic chip of the phone, thus reducing the manufacturing costs as well as the power consumption while enhancing performance.

Silicon Less Expensive than Gallium Arsenide

An associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University, Saeed Mohammadi states that `Silicon is much less expensive than gallium arsenide, more reliable, having a longer lifespan and if one has everything in one chip, it tends to get easier to test and maintain.

The highest efficiency CMOS power amplifier has developed in the frequency range needed for 5G cell phones and the next-generation radars’. Results are detailed in two papers, one which is to be presented during the IEEE International Microwave Symposium on 24 May in San Francisco, authored by the earlier doctoral student Sultan R. Helmi together with Mohammadi. They had authored another paper with Jing-Hwa Chen, the former doctoral student to appear in a future issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

The researcher have created the new kind of amplifier by utilising a high performance king of CMOS technology known as silicon on insulator – SOI wherein the design has many silicon transistors loaded together which reduces the number of metal interconnections generally essential between transistors, reducing `parasitic capacitance that hinders performance and could lead to damage to electronic circuits.

Eradicate Metallization between Transistors

The amplifier attains an efficiency of 40% comparable to amplifiers made of gallium arsenide. Mohammadi had commented that they have merged transistors to use less metallization around the device and that they have reduced the capacitance to achieve higher efficiencies. Moreover they are attempting to eradicate metallization between transistors. The latest amplifiers is said to bring low-cost collision-avoidance radars for cars and electronics for lightweight communications microsatellites. The CMOS amplifiers would enable researchers in designing microsatellites which are one-hundredth the weight of the present day technology. Three U.S. patents with regards to the amplifier have been issued. The research was funded partly by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.Researchers have been working on the latest version of the amplifier which would be twice as powerful. Additional work would be essential in integrating the amplifier into a cell phone chip.

A New In-Ear Devices Promises a Future Devoid of Language Barriers

Instant language translation devices have only been the element of the science fiction literature and cinema. For a long time we have been waiting for such a kind of device which can help in erasing the language barrier. As of now, we have speech recognition and translation technology which does the job fairly well but it means you must have working internet connectivity. Near real-time translation has improved immensely recently due to effort of the Apple, Google and other tech companies but we can’t still convert the videos or audios directly to other language. Over the years, a number of rumors have emerged regarding a so called GoogleX super project which is believed to developing a similar kind of language translation device. A new device has been launched named Pilot which will offer near real time language translation in a seamless fashion.

Problems associated with the development language translation devices

Real-time translation is simply hard to perform even for the machines. It has already taken more two decades to come with advanced and respectable translation services and application in the form Google translation and others. But these application and services takes a small amount of information at a time and translates into another language but accuracy is quite questionable in various cases. In simple words to offer real-time and completely error free language translation we will still require the help from the super-computer which won’t be profitable for any consumer at all.

Second major issue while developing real time language translation device is that whether they will require internet connectivity or huge amount of power or not. In order to use translation apps one is required to have working internet subscription as apps use their online data and language repository to translate the texts. Pilot works in its own unique way by wirelessly accessing the cellphone processor in order to perform the translation exercise seamlessly.

Other problems related to creating universal translator are basically revolves around the design concept and practicality of the device. Should the device be kept online at all times or should it remain offline when not required, automatic and manual functionality is also a concern.

The features of Pilot

Pilot isn’t a single earpiece gadget rather it is a two-earpiece gadget. In order to get instant language translation users has to be give one earpiece to other person who speaks a different language and put other in their own ear. Now both the person can start conversing in the language of their own choice and it will be instantly translated by the device. Sin both other earpiece has translator users will be able to understand each and other in the profound manner.

It is still in its nascent stage so there will be some glitches and shortcoming, which means simply putting the device in your ear, wouldn’t turn everyone speaking in your language. However it appears to be highly ambitious device and thus tend to offer better and more refined instant translation than the present services offered by the Microsoft’s Skype and Google translation.

FTC and FCC Shine A Light on Mobile Security Updates

Queries Raised on Security Updates on Devices by FTC & FCC

Since the Stagefright bug had been revealed, Google has started issuing monthly security updates for Android with companies like Samsung, LG and Sony dedicated to the program to also issue updates to their Android devices. Some of the queries which the Federal Trade Commission – FTC and the Federal Communications Commission - FCC have raised are – how exactly are these updates moving along, what is the process of deciding which phones tend to get updates, do manufacturers communicate to software developers when there are threatening vulnerabilities?

To seek additional information regarding how they issue security updates to address vulnerabilities in smartphones, tablets together with other mobile devices, the FTC had issued orders to around eight companies and the list of companies were not restricted to Android device manufacturers. The orders had been sent to Apple, BlackBerry, Google, HTC, LG, Microsoft, Motorola and Samsung. The requests for information include topics like `when does a company decides to disclose a susceptibility to consumers, whether companies provide unlocked variants of devices, what security testing procedures should each company follow’ and much more.

Rise in Susceptibilities with Mobile Operating System

The FTC also needs to know how the mobile device companies have responded to each weakness that could end in unauthorized code execution or compromise the confidentiality of consumer data. FCC in a blog post had mentioned that there have been a growing number of susceptibilities linked with mobile operating systems which tend to threaten the safety as well as the reliability of a user’s device that includes Stagefright in the Android operating system that could affect around 1 billion Android devices all over the world.

Yet the way the mobile device manufacturers, OS provider as well as mobile carriers have reacted to vulnerabilities could leave the user defenceless, for long period of time or even indefinitely, according to FCC. According to Google’s second annual Android security report that had been released last month, around 30% of Android devices seemed to be running the older versions of the OS which Google no longer tends to support with security updates.

As for operating system such as Android, the main reason as to why the updates do not tend to reach the consumers is due to carriers. Several of the carriers seem to delay pushing updates for a substantial period of time and generally wait for big operating system updates.

FTC/FCC – Focus on Significant Delays from Device Manufacturers/Carriers

It is said that FCC had send out orders to carriers and in a separate though parallel inquiry. The FTC and FCC intend to focus on the significant delays from device manufacturers as well as carriers in addressing vulnerabilities in order to safeguard consumers from security threats.

If this type of action tends to take place, it would be a boon for Google since it could probably fix Android’s fragmentation problem. Since its launch, security has been an uncomfortable spot for Android and with several manufacturers manufacturing Android devices with their own customization; it has become difficult for Google to control the updates. It has instead been the task of manufacturers to update devices.

Monthly security updates seems to be quite common of late though only for certain devices. Cheaper and older devices are left aside and security seems to be a problem.