Third Generation Solid State Drives

Hard Disk Drives

A hard disk drive, commonly referred to as a hard drive , hard disk or fixed disk drive, is a non-volatile storage device which stores digitally encoded data on rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces. Strictly speaking, “drive” refers to a device distinct from its medium, such as a tape drive and its tape, or a floppy disk drive and its floppy disk. Early HDDs had removable media; however an HDD today is typically a sealed unit with fixed media.

Strictly speaking, an HDD is a rigid-disk drive, although it is probably never referred to as such. By way of comparison, a so-called “floppy” drive has a disc that is flexible. Originally, the term “hard” was temporary slang, substituting “hard” for “rigid”, before these drives had an established and universally-agreed-upon name. some time ago, IBM’s internal company term for an HDD was file.

Introduction

The explosion of flash memory technology has dramatically increased storage capacity and decreased the cost of non-volatile semiconductor memory. The technology has fueled the proliferation of USB flash drives and is now poised to replace magnetic hard disks in some applications. A solid state drive (SSD) is a non-volatile memory system that emulates a magnetic hard disk drive (HDD). SSDs do not contain any moving parts, however, and depend on flash memory chips to store data. With proper design, an SSD is able to provide high data transfer rates, low access time, improved tolerance to shock and vibration, and reduced power consumption. For some applications, the improved performance and durability outweigh the higher cost of an SSD relative to an HDD.

Intel Corporation introduces its highly anticipated third-generation solid-state drive (SSD) the Intel Solid-State Drive 320 Series. Based on its industry-leading 25-nanometer (nm) NAND flash memory, the Intel SSD 320 replaces and builds on its high-performing Intel X25-M SATA SSD. Delivering more performance and uniquely architected reliability features, the new Intel SSD 320 offers new higher capacity models, while taking advantage of cost benefits from its 25nm process with an up to 30 percent price reduction over its current generation.

Nand -Flash Memory Array Architecture

NAND flash memory chips arrange the memory cells in a logical “not-and” (NAND) configuration. This arrangement strings together all of the cells for a common input / output (I/O) bit across all memory pages.

 Single And Multiple Level Cells

The control gate voltage necessary to form the N-channel is controlled by the charge on the floating gate. The required voltage is called the gate threshold voltage and is labeled Vth. With SLC flash memory, there is only one programmed state in addition to the erased state. The total of two states allows a single data bit to be stored in the memory cell.

Intel Third-Generation Ssd 320 Series

For the better performance of Intel Third-Generation SSD 320 Series , the intel introduces a new processor called as  Intel 3D Tri-gate Transistor for 22nm Processors . Enter Intel’s new 22nm Tri-Gate transistors which can be packed onto smaller chips than current 2D 32nm transistors while consuming less than half the power. The new transistors will also enable exciting advances in portable electronics, as they are 37 percent more powerful when operating at low voltages. Intel already has plans to produce and ship a new breed of Ivy Bridge processors that utilize the Tri-Gate transistors by 2012, extending Moore’s law well into the future.

 Conclusion

As the Solid State Drives is a new innovative technology which will provide high data transference, high data security & enhanced reliability. And the most speculious highlighting feature is, the power consumption which can be contributed by the Intel third generation Solid State Drives with the help of the Intel 3-D Tri-Gate processors.

Synchronous Optical Networking

About

Synchronous optical network (SONET) offers cost-effective transport both in the access area and core of the network. For instance, telephone or data switches rely on SONET transport for interconnection.

Two Types of SONET Ring

There are two types of SONET ring One switches individual paths (path switched) and the other switches the entire optical line capacity (line switched). A key difference is the number of fibers used. Path switched rings use only two fibers while line switching can use either two or four fibers.

Linear Deployment vs. Ring Deployment

SONET operates in several different modes. A major distinction in operation is whether the service is deployed in a linear fashion or as one of several ring types. As shown in figure six, a linear deployment is vulnerable to interruption because the fiber cable has only a single path to the endpoints.

Sonet Hierarchy

Figure  illustrates how signals are carried in SONET. First, SONET packages a signal into containers. It then adds the section overhead so that the signal and the quality of transmission are all traceable. The containers have two names depending on size: virtual tributary (VT) or a synchronous payload envelope (SPE). The path overhead contains data to control the facility (end to end) such as for path trace, error monitoring, far-end error, or virtual container (VC) composition.

Digital Access Cross Connect Systems and Add Drop Multiplexers

SONET systems are accessed within carrier central office equipment through digital access cross connect systems (DACS) which provide the interface between the digital input signal and the backbone SONET channel. The ability to use 'add-drop' capabilities is essential to making SONET a widespread and deploy-able technology.

FDDI And DQDB

The Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) and the Distributed Queue, Dual Bus (DQDB) protocols are both intended as a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) solution for high performance requirements. Both FDDI and DQDB use a double ring topology. Both of these approaches impose no restrictive distance limitation, no terminal limits, and no limits on the total span of the network. FDDI is an ANSI standard that operates at the lower level within the OSI IEEE 802 architecture, as does DQDB, the 802.6 standard.

Introduction

High capacity fiber optic facilities and total service consistency are becoming critical aspects of the corpo¬rate enterprise network as businesses become more reliant on high bandwidth data applications. SONET optical interface standards, combined with end-to-end architectures based on four fiber, bi-directional line switched rings, provide the highest possible level of service assurances, while guaranteeing bandwidth ranges to support the most demanding business appli¬cations. This Technology Guide examines the SONET architecture, within the context of a national tail-safe ring structure. It explores the manner in which the four fiber, bi-directional ring approach is uniquely suited to trouble free service, while enabling efficient network management and equipment interoperability.

Conclusion

Synchronous optical network (SONET) is a standard for optical telecommunications transport formulated by the Exchange Carriers Standards Association (ECSA) for the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which sets industry standards in the U.S. for telecommunications and other industries.

Radio Frequency Identification

Introduction

RFID is an area of automatic identification that has quietly been gaining momentum in recent years and is now being seen as a radical means of enhancing data handling processes, complimentary in many ways to other data capture technologies such as bar coding. Developments in RFID technology continue to yield larger memory capacities, wider reading ranges, and faster processing. The object of any RFID system is to carry data in suitable transponders, generally known as tags, and to retrieve data, by machine-readable means, at a suitable time and place to satisfy particular application needs. Data within a tag may provide identification for an item in manufacture, goods in transit, a location, the identity of a vehicle, an animal or individual.

Modulation

        To transfer data efficiently via the air interface or space that separates the two communicating components requires the data to be superimposed upon a rhythmically varying (sinusoidal) field or carrier wave. This process of superimposition is referred to as modulation, and various schemes are available for this purposes, each having particular attributes that favour their use. They are essentially based upon changing the value of one of the primary features of an alternating sinusoidal source, its amplitude, frequency or phase in accordance with the data carrying bit stream.

Rf Transponder Programmers

        Transponder programmers are the means by which data is delivered to write once, read many (WORM) and read/write tags. Programming is generally carried out off-line, at the beginning of a batch production run, for example. For some systems re-programming may be carried out on-line, particularly if it is being used as an interactive portable data file within a production environment, for example. Data may need to be recorded during each process. Removing the transponder at the end of each process to read the previous process data, and to programme the new data, would naturally increase process time and would detract substantially from the intended flexibility of the application.

Carrier Frequencies

        In wired communication systems the physical wiring constraints allow communication links and networks to be effectively isolated from each other. The approach that is generally adopted for radio frequency communication channels is to separate on the basis of frequency allocation. This requires, and is generally covered by government legislation, with different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum being assigned to different purposes.

Basic Features Of An RFID Transponder

The transponder memory may comprise read-only (ROM), random access (RAM) and non-volatile programmable memory for data storage depending upon the type and sophistication of the device. The ROM-based memory is used to accommodate security data and the transponder operating system instructions which, in conjunction with the processor or processing logic deals with the internal "house-keeping" functions such as response delay timing, data flow control and power supply switching.

About

        RFID is an area of automatic identification that has quietly been gaining momentum in recent years and is now being seen as a radical means of enhancing data handling processes, complimentary in many ways to other data capture technologies such as bar-coding. The object of any RFID system is to carry data in suitable transponders, generally known as tags, and to retrieve data, by machine-readable means, at a suitable time and place.

Conclusion

        In the near future, tags may become more than just identifiers of objects in space- they might also monitor status, history, and events, just as some boxes with fragile equipment  now sport “excess G-force  tags  that turn red when the box is dropped beyond a set  distance. Electronic tags might well keep a continuously updated history of sensed events over time.

Paper Battery

Life Of Battery

Even if never taken out of the original package, disposable (or "primary") batteries can lose 8 to 20 percent of their original charge every year at a temperature of about 20°–30°C. [54] This is known as the "self-discharge" rate and is due to non-current-producing "side" chemical reactions, which occur within the cell even if no load is applied to it. The rate of the side reactions is reduced if the batteries are stored at low temperature, although some batteries can be damaged by freezing. High or low temperatures may reduce battery performance. This will affect the initial voltage of the battery. For an AA alkaline battery this initial voltage is approximately normally distributed around 1.6 volts.

Paper Battery

Energy has always been spotlighted. In the past few years a lot of inventions have been made in this particular field. The tiny nuclear batteries that can provide energy for 10 years, but they use radioactive elements and are quite expensive. Few years back some researchers from Stanford University started experiments concerning the ways in which a copier paper could be used as a battery source. After a long way of struggle they, recently, concluded that the idea was right. The batteries made from a plain copier paper could make for the future energy storage that is truly thin.

    You can fold it in different shapes and forms plus it as light as feather. Output voltage is modest but it could be increased if we use a stack of papers. Hence the voltage issues can be easily controlled without difficulty. Usage of paper as a battery will ultimately lead to weight diminution of batteries many times as compared to traditional batteries.

Properties of Carbon Nanotubes

• Ratio of Width: Length: 1:107

• High tensile Strength (Greater than Steel).

• Low Mass density & High Packing Density.

• Very Light and Very Flexible.

• Very Good Electrical Conductivity (better than Silicon).

Abstract

        The Batteries form a significant part of many electronic devices. Typical electrochemical batteries or cells convert chemical energy into electrical energy. Batteries based on the charging ability are classified into primary and secondary cells. Secondary cells are widely used because of their rechargeable nature. Presently, battery takes up a huge amount of space and contributes to a large part of the device's weight. There is strong recent interest in ultrathin, flexible, safe energy storage devices to meet the various design and power needs of modern gadgets. New research suggests that carbon nanotubes may eventually provide the best hope of implementing the flexible batteries which can shrink our gadgets even more.

Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure. Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1, significantly larger than any other material. These cylindrical carbon molecules have novel properties, making them potentially useful in many applications in nanotechnology, electronics, optics, and other fields of materials science, as well as potential uses in architectural fields. They may also have applications in the construction of body armor. They exhibit extraordinary strength and unique electrical properties, and are efficient thermal conductors.

Conclusion

                            One of the major problems bugging the world now is Energy crisis. Every nation needs energy and everyone needs power. And this problem which disturbs the developed countries perturbs the developing countries like India to a much greater extent. Standing at a point in the present where there can’t be a day without power, Paper Batteries can provide an altogether path-breaking solution to the same.

Electronic Nose

Principle Of E-Nose

Mimicking the nose is a challenging task. The human nose can smell 10,000 different odour molecules mixed in air. Odour in a substance is due to certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which easily evaporate and get carried by an air stream. An e-nose can smell and estimate odours quickly though it has little or no resemblance to the human nose. A human nose has receptors, which serve as binding sites for VOCs. A receptor is just a molecular structure on the surface of the nerve cell to which an odorous molecule with the right shape binds. The receptor and the binding molecule fit exactly as in a key and lock arrangement. These odour-sensing nerve cells line the upper part of the cavity in the human nose. Once an odour molecule binds to a receptor, a chain reaction follows which ultimately transmits an electrical signal to the brain. A specific odour of coffee or wine is usually caused not by one, but a mixture of hundreds of organic compounds. So, the brain has a mammoth task of processing signals received from the nerve cells originating from the nose, to identify the nature of smell. The exact working of the brain in processing these signals is yet to be fully understood.

 Abstract

        In an ever-developing world, where electronic devices are duplicating every other sense of perception, the sense of smell is lagging behind. Yet, recently, there has been an urgent increase in the need for detecting odours, to replace the human job of sensing and quantification.

Nose on a Chip

When he arrives home from vacation, Clarence’s smart alarm system deluges him with messages. Natural gas is leaking from the furnace. Smoke is present in a guest bedroom. Food is spoiling in the refrigerator. In the garage, a paint can lid apparently has come loose, and a container of insecticide is leaking. Such a warning capability may be possible someday, thanks to ORNL’s invention of a “nose on a chip.” This wireless electronic nose can simultaneously detect and measure a variety of vapors in the air and signal a receiver to sound an alarm or display a message. Already tests of this first battery-operated cantilever array sensor chip set have shown it can simultaneously sense various combinations of hydrogen, nitric oxide, mercury vapor, and alkane thiols in the air. Because the device is inexpensive and can provide instant results, it could soon be incorporated into household gas appliances to warn of hazardous leaks.

Introduction

 In the past decade, electronic nose instrumentation has generated much interest internationally for its potential to solve a wide variety of problems in fragrance and cosmetics production, food and beverages manufacturing, chemical engineering, environmental monitoring, and more recently, medical diagnostics and bioprocesses. Several dozen companies are now designing and selling electronic nose units globally for a wide variety of expanding markets. An electronic nose is a machine that is designed to detect and discriminate among complex odours using a sensor array. The sensor array of consists of broadly tuned (non-specific) sensors that are treated with a variety of odour-sensitive biological or chemical materials. An odour stimulus generates a characteristic fingerprint (or smell-print) from the sensor array. Patterns or fingerprints from known odours are used to construct a database and train a pattern recognition system so that unknown odours can subsequently be classified and identified. Thus,electronic nose instruments are comprised of hardware components to collect and transport odours to the sensor array – as well as electronic circuitry to digitise and stored the sensor responses for signal processing.