GKB is launching seven new 800 TVL cameras: GKB 3818, 3518, 5418,1318, 6018, 4218, 6918 and 2718. These cameras are designed with Sony's latest Effio-V sensor. The Sony Effio-V technology is able to capture the accurate color picture in the extremely bright as well as dark environments. This innovation technology helps cameras easier to identify objects in challenging lighting situations, such as tunnel, parking lots, and entrance of commercial building.Outstanding performance in the challenge light conditions"Being able to identify object in the dark is a huge advantage when securing your property and protecting your people," said Jim Lin, senior R&D manager at GKB. The Effio-V cameras' 3D-DNR is able to reach the minimum of object-blurred while the object is moving at low light condition. In addition, the Effio-V cameras provide the Real WDR function, which display double shutter image and intelligent image processing for improving visibility under extreme high contrast conditions.Diverse situational mode options for easy setting upGKB's Effio-V cameras offer several automation scenes such as indoor, outdoor, extreme backlight, and ITS (intelligent transportation system) options for efficient and easy-to-installation. Besides, the camera supports UTC Controller (Up the Cable), allowing you to easily control the Effio-V cameras' OSD menu from the remote DVR.Full spectrum of housing choiceGKB provides the full line-up of its new Effio-V Analog Series cameras, available in indoor dome, vandal dome and outdoor vandal bullet versions.

Have you ever wanted to make your machines 15% smaller and 10% faster? ABB's new IRB 1200 allows you to do exactly that.With the introduction of the IRB 1200 ABB addresses the needs of the material handling and machine tending industries for flexibility, ease of use, compactness and short cycle times while still maintaining large working envelopes."We are excited to introduce the IRB 1200," says Phil Crowther, Small Robots Product Manager. "Our exhaustive market analysis and development process has resulted in a robot that is incredibly compact, allowing for maximization of useable working range and operation as close to the work piece as possible."The IRB 1200's functional form factor is a feature which is not merely a cosmetic enhancement. Its smooth surfaces make it easy to keep clean and maintain in environments such as CNC machine tending and material handling in the food industry. This theme of efficient design is one which can be found across the entire spectrum of IRB 1200 features.For instance, both electrical and air connections can be made to the robot via side ports or an underline option. In addition an Ethernet port makes it easy to integrate with other equipment. These connections are routed internally on the robot from very close to the wrist flange all the way to the foot thus enhancing the compactness of the package.The IRB 1200 comes in two variants which can handle a wide range of applications and are cost effective due to commonality of parts. The 700 mm reach variant can carry a payload of up to 7 kg, while the longer reach 900 mm variant can carry up to 5 kg. Both variants can be mounted at any angle and come with IP 40 protection as standard. IP 67 protection is also available as an option.By design, the IRB 1200 has no offset in axis two. This innovation results in a longer stroke than other robots, meaning the IRB 1200 can be placed very close to the work piece and still be functional. One particular benefit of this long stroke is that it allows for a much more compact installation when the robot is mounted on the ceiling inside a small cell, such as in electronics machining or polishing applications.As a complete solution, the IRB 1200 excels in situations that require a compact package without sacrificing working range or functionality. Shorter travel distances between operations results in faster cycle times in as small a cell as possible, meaning you can do more with less.All ABB Robotics' products are fully supported by the ABB Robotics' global sales and service organization in 53 countries and over 100 locations.Visit http://www.abb.com/robotics for further information.

In this article, we will discuss how to maximize the value from the use of emulation systems on SoC development projects.What has changed in emulation usage modelsFor many years, the principal emulation system use model was to take simulation-debugged RTL and map it as "early silicon" in reprogrammable hardware, and then operate it with real software while connected to a real physical environment. The goal was to gain confidence that the SoC would actually work as intended before committing to silicon. This verification methodology is referred to as in-circuit emulation, or ICE. In ICE, with the emulator running much slower than the connected physical environment, each system-level interface typically requires a data buffering mechanism to match the emulation system to the environment. In such environments with design specific hardware configurations comprising the verification environment, the emulation system access is essentially restricted to a single project at a time.Maximizing the value of today's emulation systems requires taking different approaches than those of the past- namely: the use of virtual test environments and optimization of verification flow via a better mix of verification methods.Virtual test environments simplify the use model on today's complex SoCs and increase accessibilityThere has been a large shift from ICE to transaction-based accelerated verification in which the emulated DUT interacts at very high speeds with a virtual environment. The key driver for this is the ever increasing number of external interfaces on SoCs - a tablet, wireless phone, or digital TV SoC may have >20 external connections, running the gamut of peripheral and communications protocols.The implementation of a transaction-based verification methodology provides many benefits over an in-circuit emulation methodology. The entire design is contained within its hardware and its associated PC: no target board is required, nor external cabling, level shifters or speed-adapters. Instead, the external environment is modeled as a group of transactor models for each aspect of the SoC interface; e.g. PCIe, USB, keypad, LCD display and camera sensors. The front end of each transactor that communicates at a high-level of abstraction with each peripheral is modeled in C on the PC (Figure 1).Emulation transactors (VIP) typically are comprised of three elements. At the core is a synthesizable protocol specific element, usually a BFM or full IP implementation that is placed in the emulation hardware along with the DUT. Advanced systems like ZeBu have dedicated resources for these elements, to optimize the performance in the system (Figure 2). In the normal two-way data flow, communications between the host and DUT in the emulator are transaction-based, maximizing the system performance. On the downstream side, the protocol block converts the transaction-level signals to pin-level signals, and interfaces to the DUT's protocol specific physical interface.A well architected emulation system can accommodate dozens of such protocol specific transaction-level interfaces.The beauty of transaction-based verification methodology is that all the interfacing from the DUT to the external test environment is software configurable and downloadable. Changing the system from one block to another, or testing multiple blocks in parallel, or even shifting from one SoC design to another, can all be done through software configurations from anywhere on a network. The system, accessed as a networked resource, offers much more flexibility and value than if used for ICE based verification.Use the right methodology at the right timeA factor in obtaining the best out of the emulation system is to use a mix of verification methods appropriate to different stages on a project. During early architectural design, high-level models in virtual prototypes are used to make tradeoffs and optimize different parts of the design. With much of today's SoCs consisting of major blocks being re-used from prior designs or licensed from third parties, there is considerable RTL available very early in the project.In such cases, hybrid emulation - emulation environment can be used where the RTL models can be exercised in the emulator, and the blocks of the design are exercised in the virtual prototype. The full visibility into the RTL within the emulator can prove extremely useful in identifying implementation problems in the RTL blocks while exploring your design alternatives.Once RTL is all available, typically block-level designs are initially tested with simulation. Once the bug discovery frequency drops to a reasonable level, maybe a bug a day, users frequently will move the block-level testing to an emulation system and begin running more exhaustive tests at speeds unattainable with simulation. At this point, firmware may be introduced to verify the initial hardware - software interactions.After running initial regression tests in simulation on the entire SoC, many teams quickly move their full SoC testing to emulation where they can greatly expand the real-time cycles on their designs. Typically at this point, early versions of drivers and other low level software are available and testing can begin moving into realistic system test scenarios.When the RTL design is stable enough, it's time to give emulation system access to the software development teams, whom up to that point may have been using non-cycle accurate transaction-level models for development. It may also be optimal to provide multiple, high performance FPGA-based prototypes, like our HAPS systems, to the software team to accelerate their development.ConclusionGetting the most value and productivity of your emulation system generally requires that you*Leverage virtual test environments to simplify the use model and increase accessibility*Adopt the most appropriate verification methodology at the right time to optimize your entire verification flow.Figure 1: The front end of each transactor that communicates at a high-level of abstraction with each peripheral is modeled in C on the PCFigure 2: The back end that converts high-level commands into bit-level protocols is mapped to hardware within the emulation system's RTB architecture

Apple has introduced a new 21.5-inch iMac starting at US$1,099. Featuring an ultra-thin design, a 21.5-inch display, Core i5 processors and the latest OS X operating system, the new iMac will be pushed to focus on the entry-level desktop market.The new 21.5-inch iMac features a 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz, Intel HD 5000 graphics, 8GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive. All iMac models include next generation 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and two Thunderbolt ports and four USB 3.0 ports.The new 21.5-inch iMac is available through the Apple Online Store, Apple's retail stores and select Apple authorized resellers. Configure-to-order options include a 1TB hard drive, a 1TB Fusion Drive, and up to 256GB flash storage.Apple 21.5-inch entry-level iMac all-in-one PCPhoto: Company

Amazon has unveiled Fire, the first smartphone designed by the company and features Amazon's Dynamic Perspective and Firefly. Dynamic Perspective uses a new sensor system to respond to the way consumers hold, view, and move the Fire. Firefly quickly recognizes things in the real world, web and email addresses, phone numbers, QR and barcodes, movies, music, and products, and lets consumers take action in seconds, all with a press of the Firefly button.Dynamic Perspective uses four ultra-low power specialized cameras and four infrared LEDs built into the front face of Fire, a dedicated custom processor, real-time computer vision algorithms, and a new high-performing and power-efficient graphics rendering engine.Dynamic Perspective features include one-handed gestures for auto-scroll, tilt, swivel and peek for quicker, easier navigation and a better media and entertainment experience; and the enhanced carousel for developers to customize the contents of their dynamic app and how it responds to user actions, Amazon claimed.Firefly combines Amazon's catalog of physical and digital content with multiple image, text and audio recognition technologies to quickly identify web and email addresses, phone numbers, QR and barcodes, plus over 100 million items, including movies, TV episodes, songs, and products.Fire is built using materials including Gorilla Glass 3 for the rear and front, aluminum buttons, stainless steel details and a rubberized polyurethane grip area. The smartphone also features Qualcomm's quad-core Snapdragon 2.2GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 4.7-inch HD display, global LTE and connectivity with nine bands of LTE, four bands of GSM, five bands of UMTS for better voice coverage and faster data speeds, 802.11ac support, Wi-Fi channel bonding, NFC, and Bluetooth.The smartphone is also equipped with a custom-tuned 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with backside illumination, LED flash, 5-element f/2.0 lens, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), and HDR capabilities, and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera.Fire ships on July 25 and is available exclusively on AT&T. Fire with 32GB is available for US$199 with a two-year contract.Amazon Fire smartphonePhoto: Company

AAEON, a major developer of industrial computing solutions, has released the world's smallest network appliance, the FWS-2250.The compact chassis and use of the Intel Atom E3815 processor has resulted in a highly affordable SMB/SOHO desktop unit. Equipped with four GbE ports with Intel controllers and with up to 8 GB installed in the two memory slots, there is ample memory, processing power and networking capability for applications such as small firewalls, IDS/IPS, load balancing, network access control, bandwidth management, web filters and anti-spam applications. Drawing only about 20 watts, the low power consumption is an added benefit.The AAEON FWS-2250 also offers a good selection of I/O ports. In addition to the LAN ports, there are also a CompactFlash socket, an RJ-45 console port and three USB ports. Furthermore, there is an optional Mini-PCIe port and bypass on one pair of the Ethernet ports.The greatest benefit considered to its compact size. "Compared to our competitors, the FWS-2250 is about 30% smaller in size, which save customers' shipping expense and provides SMB/SOHO users with secure and stylish network appliance" said Wayne Chen, CTO of AAEON. "We also offer a competitive price within the fanless solution market."About AAEONAAEON is a leading manufacturer of advanced industrial and embedded computing platforms. Committed to innovative engineering, AAEON provides integrated solutions, hardware and services for premier OEM/ODMs and system integrators worldwide. Reliable and high quality computing platforms include industrial motherboards and systems, industrial displays, rugged tablets, PC/104 modules, PICMG half-size and full-size boards and COM modules, embedded SBCs, embedded controllers and related accessories. AAEON also offers customized end-to-end services from initial product conceptualization and product development on through to volume manufacturing and after-sales service programs. AAEON is an Associate member of the Intel Internet of Things Solutions Alliance. http://www.aaeon.com/

Good Way Technology, a global leading USB peripherals and Docking solution provider, has announced the USB3.0 4K Ultra HD Docking station at COMPUTEX Taipei 2014, which shows its cutting edge of 4K display technology development.More and more 4K ultra-high resolution displays are in the markets. They are more affordable with features offering an amazing picture for work or even entertainment. Good Way Technology's USB3.0 4K Ultra HD Docking station is one of the major launch products this year in COMPUTEX, which is enabling DisplayPort display technology and 4K video over USB3.0 interface for Notebooks and other Desktop PCs. This result is great news for an industry on the cusp of widespread adoption of 4K video technologies. Good Way Technology is targeting the mass market with the desktop-friendly design of USB3.0 Docking station, which allowing user to display 4K resolution even through popular HDMI ports.This docking station is built-in USB 3.0 ports which could enable the Super Speed data transfer between USB peripherals and provide full backwards compatibility with older USB specifications. Also, Supporting BC1.2 charging port design is fitting the flexible demands on charging various mobile devices.The Docking station equipped with three USB3.0 downstream ports, one DisplayPort and one HDMI port and both with resolution up to 3840x2160, one DVI-I port with resolution up to 2048x1152, one stereo audio out, one mic in port and one Gigabyte Ethernet port. To meet the demands for handling massive files in 4K video production to proper displaying with different sized ultra-high resolution displays, Good Way Technology's solution is well tested and performed with Windows 8.1 DPI scaling enhancements to massively improve user experience.USB3.0 4K Ultra HD Docking Features• Support 4K UHD displays with DPI optimized capability • Backup of video display with resolution up to 2048x1152 through DVI-I ports• Support 4K UHD displays for HDMI or DisplayPort with resolution up to 3840x2160• Coexist with USB Battery Charging 1.2 specificationFor more information, please visit: www.goodway.com.tw.

Maxim Integrated announced that its lithium-ion (Li+) battery monitor is being used by Nissan for the Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, a sport utility vehicle for the North America market. The Li+ battery system for the Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid is supplied by Hitachi Automotive Systems. Hitachi Vehicle Energy developed the system and incorporated Maxim's IC.Maxim's Li+ battery monitor provides self-diagnostics and robust daisy-chained data communications that easily handles the high-voltage requirements of the automotive industry. Maxim's highly integrated solution enables a smaller, lighter weight, and high-performance Li+ battery system in the hybrid. Using Hitachi's battery system with Maxim's Li+ battery monitor IC, the Pathfinder Hybrid achieves greater driving range than competitive systems and improves the overall safety of the battery system."Maxim's battery cell-monitoring IC was integral to achieving the highly reliable, smaller, lighter, and high-power Li+ battery system required for the newest hybrid car," said Mr. Koji Masui, Department Manager, Lithium Ion Battery Development Dept., Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd."The automotive market is a major focus for Maxim, and I am pleased that Nissan selected our cell-monitoring IC for its Pathfinder Hybrid," said Kent Robinett, Managing Director, Automotive Marketing for Maxim Integrated. "Maxim is advancing into a next-generation EV/HEV powertrain system, and we will continue to develop highly integrated products for this important market."Maxim, a leader in analog innovation and integration, is unique among semiconductor companies in its ability to integrate extensive and different analog functions on a single chip. Maxim's highly integrated solutions help customers produce smaller systems with greater energy efficiency.

The Delta Group today announced the release of the new education-focused Vivitek D755WTIR ultra-short throw interactive projector at Computex Taipei 2014. Ideal for small and space limiting environments with big presentation requirements, the compact D755WTIR can be easily installed in a space-limited classroom without compromising performance or user experience. With the optional finger touch interactive kit installed, the D755WTIR is turned into the ultimate and fun classroom study device to stimulate instruction and learning. The Vivitek D755WTIR combines a native WXGA projection with ultra short-throw technology and interactive whiteboard (IWB) functionality. The D755WTIR allow users to project larger images from shorter distances. From a distance of about 44.5cm (17.5") from the projection surface, this ultra-short throw projector can display a large 100-inch (diagonal) picture. The D755WTIR offers full IWB functionality with standard pen support and finger touch interactivity with the optional finger touch kit installed. With the finger kit installed, this enables a user(s) to just use their finger(s) to write or interact in a natural, intuitive and fun way. This interactivity allows for two way communications for simultaneous use between a teacher and student, and collaborative learning. The Vivitek D755WTIR features a brightness of 3300 lumens, a contrast of 5,000:1 and Texas Instrument's DLP BrilliantColor technology, ensuring stunning image quality. It can be easily integrated into a school's network, with the IT administration benefitting from the machine's system administration capability via RJ45. As is usual with Vivitek projectors, the D755WTIR feature multiple display connectivity ports, including HDMI, VGA-In, Composite, Video Out, and more. At 5kg (11lbs), the D755WTIR is compact in size and quiet in use at about 29dB (in ECO mode). It also has a convenient top-loading, sliding cover for quick and easy lamp replacement. Designed to be filter- and dust-free, the D755WTIR enables cool and efficient operation, which eliminates the need to replace or discard filters. This fabrication keeps the projectors running at top energy efficient levels. Vivitek D755WTIR Source: Company

At Computex Taipei 2014, WD, a Western Digital company, is demonstrating its first hard drive with PCI Express (PCIe) support. Technological cooperation with its partners has resulted in the creation of a storage product prototype that uses the SATA Express interface, allowing computers to easily exceed previous performance limits.With cloud computing and big data technologies advancing and telecoms gearing up for 4G LTE services, terminal data output rates have been increasing. Therefore, it can be anticipated that in tomorrow's digital world, data will be generated faster and users will be more demanding in terms of real-time data transmission. Although front-end access speeds have continued to improve, transmission speeds of the mainstream terminal storage interface SATA has been limited at 550MB/s. If this bottleneck could not be overcome, current and future high-speed applications would continue to be restricted.The SATA-IO organization spent three years developing the SATA Express specifications, which was announced and introduced in 2013, with a goal to create an environment where PCIe and SATA would co-exist, and the relatively superior bandwidth capabilities of PCIe could be used to enhance the read/write speeds of SATA storage devices. One year after the SATA Express specifications were unveiled, WD and its technology partners have built a corresponding prototype storage product to allow computer manufacturers to adopt SATA Express into their motherboards running on the Intel 9 series chipsets.WD's Senior Director of Platform Engineering Kevin Peterson has showcased the world's first-ever hard drive with PCIe support at Computex 2014.According to Kevin Peterson, in the future, the speed of global data creation is likely to dramatically increase, especially with IoT applications becoming more widespread, which will likely result in a steep growth. This will come as a strong contrast to the relatively flat growth of storage devices. This demand gap between the two sectors will create endless opportunities for hardware equipment vendors. However, whether or not they will be able to seize this business opportunity will depend on whether or not there is a high-speed interface available for speeding up data processing rates. It is clear that the SATA 6G specifications alone cannot meet user expectations.With SATA Express, vendors can use a new type of connector to simultaneously route both PCIe and SATA interface signals, thereby integrating the world's most popular computer bus with the world's most popular storage bus. This innovative combination allows users to use a single bus for SSDs, SSHDs, or HDDs. It also allows SATA's transmission speed to exceed the 550MB/s limit, further advancing toward the second-generation PCIe x2 interface's 900MB/s, or even the third-generation PCIe x2 interface's 1,800MB/s. Many of the storage applications that have been available in recent years have been developed around standard SATA technology, which is why SATA Express is an extremely meaningful development for users. SATA Express has the ability to provide a path for significant improvements to the existing applications environment.SATA Express features the SRIS (Separate RefClock with Independent SSC) technology that allows the removal of the PCIe Sync line. This means that PCIe components that support SRIS will automatically produce their own clock signals, without the main system and device having to jointly send reference clock signals, thereby achieving the benefits of SSC. This way, computer manufacturers can maintain synchronization between the main system and devices simply by using a general PCIe connection, thereby reducing overall connection costs.Kevin Peterson stressed that WD is at the forefront of SATA-based technologies, and clearly sees a future market where SATA Express will be the mainstream. This is why it is showcasing its SATA Express prototype at Computex 2014. This brand-new platform is built around a SATA Express core architecture in a dual hard drive environment consisting of a 128GB SSD and 4TB HDD. It also uses a standard AHCI driver, providing compatibility with existing user-end operating systems.Extensive tests have shown that the read/write speeds provided by this architecture are consistently maintained at 680-700MB/s, clearly exceeding the performance of traditional SATA technologies.However, there is clearly still room for taking the performance beyond 700MB/s to approach the 900MB/s limit of the second-generation PCIe x2 interface. Therefore, WD hopes that motherboard manufacturers will continue to work on it to boost performance to almost 900MB/s by using SSDs and HDDs with even better specifications, as well as optimizing the designs of their architectures. Furthermore, WD is looking to extend its partnerships from the PC motherboard sector to the server or even testing equipment sector, creating a diverse environment for the development of ubiquitous end-to-end high-speed storage applications.Kevin Peterson, Senior Director of Platform Engineering at WD