Sunday, December 5, 2010

BB Converter

As with human languages, many ways were devised to allow the computers and devices to communicate and, as with their human counterpart, most of the communication is incompatible with any of the other systems. The incompatibility can be broken into two categories: the physical layer and the protocol layer What is an industrial bus? Traditionally, the industrial bus has been used to allow a central computer to communicate with a field device. The central computer was a mainframe or a mini (PDP11) and the field device could be a discreet device such as a flow meter, or temperature transmitter or a complex device such as a CNC cell or robot. As the cost of computing power came down, the industrial bus allowed computers to communicate with each other to coordinate industrial production.The physical layer and the protocol layer can be defined using the phone system as an example. Any spoken language can be carried over a phone line. As long as both the speaker and the listener(s) understand the language, communication is possible. The phone line is not concerned with the meaning of the signal that it carries, it is merely moving those signals from one point to another physically. This is the physical layer, the conduit in which communications pass from one point to another. On the other hand, the speaker and listener(s) are concerned with what is transported over the phone line. If the speaker is talking in Spanish and the listener(s) are only fluent in English, communication is not possible. Although the physical layer is working, the language or "protocol" is not correct, and communications cannot exist. The industrial world has developed a variety of different physical and protocol communications standards.

Latest in Electronics

We can no more foresee the shape or extent of their effects on the health system than our ancestors could have foreseen the blossoming of science that followed the invention of the printing press.Our original editorial solicited articles that shed light on how new electronic applications could improve people's health—yet many of the submissions reported process measures far removed from health outcomes. For example, several papers described clinical decision software but gave no information on whether its use actually improved patient care in practice.The past decade has brought a range of electronic communication tools that promised to improve health care. As editors of this theme issue, we invited submissions describing how these innovations had lived up to their promise. These are our reflections on what we did and did not receive. The editorial announcing our theme issue resulted in the submission of nearly 100 articles—more than has been submitted for any other theme issue. The snapshot they provide shows that new media and communication tools are already transforming the way in which we communicate, learn, and think. The expansion of the internet, the launch of personal electronic assistants, and the penetration of wireless networks are making new relationships between doctors and the public possible. At the same time, they are exposing the weaknesses of our conventional approaches to clinical care, education, and evaluation of new interventions.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

History of Electronic Media

"The king's (pharaoh's) thing", meaning that whoever was in power decided who could use papyrus as a form of communication (Sreberny 24). When this medium was brought to the people, readers and writers were born which in turn gave educated society slightly more power. The printing press brought more power to both the common people and the powerful people in charge. Books, magazines and newspapers were now available to the masses and this made it so more...Studying media is important for several reasons, especially today when we have the ability to look back and see how far ideas and technologies have come and where they are headed. As Annabelle Sreberny-Mohammadi suggests in her article, "Forms of Media as Ways of Knowing", examining history and how media are utilized and changing in the past and in the present can help us see how far we have come. It allows us to appreciate the forms of media we have today and how it is being shaped and controlled as time goes on. And finally, it can provide us with the insight we need to further build upon our knowledge and technology to bring us into the future.
As Sreberny took us though the advances in media throughout history, we were able to see that each person built upon some form of media which was already available. Each new medium which was brought to our attention required some sort of advancement socially, such as when Sreberny said, "Print requires writers and readers. Electronic Media demand organized production and audiences (Sreberny 24)." Each time the people with power found a new way to bring information and forms of communication to the masses, it demanded some sort of response from society.
History also shows us how power has been shifted among certain individuals throughout the journey. At first, the power rested in the hands of the political figures and royals who decided who could use which mediums. For example, in Sreberny's paper when she describes the advent of papyrus and how it literally means "The king's (pharaoh's) thing", meaning that whoever was in power decided who could use papyrus as a form of communication (Sreberny 24). When this medium was brought to the people, readers and writers were born which in turn gave educated society slightly more power. The printing press brought more power to both the common people and the powerful people in charge. Books, magazines and newspapers were now available to the masses and this made it so more...

Next generation Electronics

Describes the need to keep updated with the state of the art electronics. Examines what the future has in store for the naval engineering industry. Everyday of our lives we are always looking for the next big thing, so to say. The next fashion trend, the latest music, the newest technology, and the latest craze. In other words we are always trying to keep up with the state of the art ideas and inventions. Many things around us have changed since we were little tikes running around the house with toy cars and action figures as toys. Now we find enjoyment with going online, hanging out at the mall with friends, listening to music, playing with video games and watching movies. State of the art doesn't always have to deal with technology; it can involve for an example fashion, books, and etc. so how will I keep up the state of the art during my career Currently I'm looking to get into.....

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Light and Heavy Vehicles

The proposed classification and tracking algorithm is implemented in matlab considering vehicles (Light and Heavy Vehicles) as targets and audio signal as signal source. The classification of the target is done along predictive tracking and the energy consumed per unit time in the sensor network is calculated. The overall response of the classifier for varied signals is also tested and accuracy percentages were determined. Thus the project forms a complete solution for implementation of intrusion detection, identification and tracking of targets using wireless sensor network technology

wireless sensor networks

A wireless sensor network (WSN) is made of numerous small independent sensor nodes, which consist of a battery, radio, sensors, and a minimal amount of onboard computing power and has wireless communication capabilities among sensor nodes. Application of sensor nodes is quite common in the field of Agricultural monitoring (for climate sensitive crops), structural monitoring etc. However object detection, classification and tracking using WSN is more challenging and involves sensing and recognizing an object that enters the network area by collecting signals (acoustic, magnetic etc.) and processing them not only in real time but also involving restricted power consumption constraints. The real time applications include vehicle tracking, inventory tracking inside factories, military tracking and identification of hostile intrusion vehicles, and automatic tollgate collection based on two wheelers or four wheelers.

Nodes of Sensors

Sensor nodes are distributed in an optimized pattern and by taking in to account the limited power sources of sensor nodes, the tracking of object or target with random movement patterns is done by an energy efficient tracking algorithm, called selective activation combined with prediction. Audio signals are used to detect and classify the objects among the known classes. Specific parameters called feature vectors are calculated from the sampled audio signals for various objects and are used to train the classifier for classifying the object to its class. The selection of appropriate classifier and feature vectors proved to be very significant for achieving high accuracy percentage in classification. Thus a highly customized version of classifier and tracking algorithm specifically suitable for WSN is achieved

Envirionment testing tools

This testing will help the manufacturer to accelerate the aging process of the product to predict its lifecycle, analyse the modes of failure and filtering out those products that are not fit to be shipped out to the customers. In order for the testing to be carried out, equipments are needed to perform this test. One has to analyse and calculate whether itis worthwhile to invest in the equipments or to just perform the reliability tests in test houses. Many of these test houses are able to offer consultancy services as to the standards and test methods that will be used with regards tothe electronic products that will be tested. The reliability testing is one of the secret that makes a world of difference between a good product to another.Most design engineers will design a good product that works well during the initial stages of development and testing. However, how do you ensure that when the product goes into mass production, most of them are still in good working condition after using them for a long period of time? In other words, how do you ensure the quality and reliability of this product when it is operated for an extended period of time under varying environmental conditions. Environmental testing is the answer to this question. This testing will help the manufacturer to accelerate the aging process of the product to predict its lifecycle, analyze the modes of failure and filtering out those products that are not fit to be shipped out to the customers. In order for the testing to be carried out, equipments are needed to perform this test. One has to analyse and calculate whether itis worthwhile to invest in the equipments or to just perform the reliability tests in test houses. Many of these tes thouses are able to offer consultancy services as to the standards and test methods that will be used with regards tothe electronic products that will be tested. The reliability testing is one of the secret that makes a world of difference between a good product to another.Some of the basic equipments that are needed for the environmental testings are temperature and humidity chambers, thermal shock chambers, vibration machines and salt-fog chambers. Other more specialised equipments are needed depending on the types of products that will be tested.Ever since I was a student years ago, I was always fascinated by the world of wireless and wondered how they worked. The projects below will provide a good understanding and information of the world of remote controls. The projects includes schematic diagrams and parts list to enable one to construct and experiment with the concept of infrared, ultrasonic and FM transmitters. This door monitor project uses an infrared beam to monitor door & passageways or any other area. When the beam is broken a relay is tripped which can be used to sound a bell or alarm. Suitable for detecting customers entering a shop, cars coming up a driveway, etc.This project is based on integrated circuit from Holtek Semiconductor HT6221/HT6222. These ICs are commonly used in television and VCR infra red remote controls, garage door controllers, car door controllers, security systems and other remote control applications.

Electronics Project Design

This Electroncs Project Design site will be updated from time to time with new articles and tips, so remember to check back here occasionally. If you find this site useful and would like to contribute ideas to be included in this site, you are most welcome to email the author. Your comment on the contents of this Electronics Project Design.Good Electronics Project Design References and Tips Can Accelerate Your Practical Know-How in Electronics. Getting good and timely information on the electronics project that you are embarking on sometimes can be time consuming and frustrating. Hence, the objective of this site is to bridge this gap. This site is dedicated to all electronics enthusiasts whether you are a student, a teacher, hobbyist or even an electronics engineer. The end result of an electronics project is determined by a few factors. It normally starts with the strong enthusiasm in the project chosen, going on to schematic or circuit design, printed circuit board design, software programming if microcontroller is involved and building protoypes. This site provides schematics and parts lists of various projects that you can experiment yourself. It also include articles on the importance of reliability testing, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing, failure mode effect and Analysis (FMEA), fundamental of electronic parts and test/measurement tools that are needed before you embark on your journey of building your own electronics project. This Electroncs Project Design site will be updated from time to time with new articles and tips, so remember to check back here occasionally. If you find this site useful and would like to contribute ideas to be included in this site, you are most welcome to email the author. Your comment on the contents of this Electronics Project Design.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Quantifying Electronics

Based on manufacturer and retailer feedback on actual and potential compliance costs for additional state systems. Some industry respondents cited substantial one-time compliance costs for development of a point-of-sale ARF system, but noted that costs any additional system would be less. a national system is assumed to require registration, reporting and product identification as do these 4 state programs – but compliance would be directed to a single recipient under a single set of requirements. Quantifying the percentage of state compliance costs that are duplicative dead weight requires analysis of the compliance burden in each state and the national model. If compliance costs were equal across all 4 states, and equal to compliance costs of a national program, then 75% of the existing state compliance burden would be considered dead weight costs. However, compliance costs vary across state programs and national program compliance costs would be anticipated to be relatively high. Given this, compliance costs under a single national system are assumed to be 50% of the current costs to comply with the 4 state systems. Thus 50% of the total estimated recurring costs for this cost driver is considered dead weight for the purposes.

E-Scrap

Data were gathered from different stakeholders to develop quantified estimates of total costs to comply with existing state electronics recycling programs. Once these data were extrapolated to stakeholder-wide estimates, each cost driver was analyzed to determine what, if any, portion of those costs would be required in a national electronics recycling system. Costs identified as higher in state systems than would otherwise be the case under a comprehensive national system were identified and classified as dead weight costs. This analysis was performed using the following assumptions, data, analysis and methodology. E-scrap collection done locally with financing from a centralized Collection Incentive Payment (CIP) system or similar national-scale financing mechanism
There will be one coordinated administrative system to oversee financing, coordinate reporting, enforcement and other program requirements E-scrap is treated as an interstate commodity and will move across state lines without consideration of the state of origin, and costs for policing importation of used electronics into the U.S. are negligible (Canadian provinces are developing their own comprehensive programs and therefore no policing necessary; may be required near population centers near the U.S.-Mexican border

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Laws of Electronics

Maryland also passed a law in 2004 that sets up a five-year pilot program for recycling desktop computers, laptops, and computer monitors from any source (business, household, institutional). Under the program, manufacturers of these products must register with the State and pay an annual $5,000 fee. If the manufacturer implements a take-back program, the fee is reduced to $500 after the first year. The collected registration fees go into a state recycling trust fund that can be used by local governments to fund collection and recycling programs.The most recent mandatory electronics recycling program was enacted in Washington State in March, 2006. Washington State’s program is yet another approach in which manufacturers are assigned complete financial responsibility for collecting and recycling desktop computers, laptops, televisions and computer monitors generated by households, small businesses, small governments, charities and school systems. By state law, manufacturers fulfill their obligations through participation in a mandatory state-created authority, or through independent plans approved by the state meeting specific legislated criteria. Decisions about whether manufacturers will pay based on their share of returned brands or on new product sales – or some combination – will be made by the authority.

Programmable Electronics

Since 2001there has been a flurry of activity at the state level on many levels, from voluntary programs to the passage of mandatory legislation. The mandatory programs have received the most attention primarily due to the contentious legislative battles that play out regarding who pays, and how much. Each of the 4 existing state-mandated programs in the U.S. is summarized below.
In 2003, California was the first state to enact a law creating a statewide program that is financed by an advanced recycling fee (ARF) of $6, $8, or $10 paid by the consumer at the point of sale on certain computer monitors, TVs, and laptop computers. The revenue generated by the ARF goes into a state fund that is then used to pay qualified collectors and recyclers for used products received from California businesses, households and institutions. The Maine program covers TVs, computer monitors and laptop computers under a law passed in 2004. However, under Maine’s approach, the funding for the system is the responsibility of product manufacturers once local governments have collected products from Maine households and delivered them to state-approved “consolidators.” These consolidators count the number of brands from each manufacturer, and then send each manufacturer a bill for the amount that their brands represent plus an additional amount for “orphan” products whose original manufacturer no longer exists and no successor can be found by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection

Cost driven Electroncis

Aside from overall system costs driven higher by a state patchwork approach, this study also identified additional factors that create potential inequities in the programs. Equity or “fairness” issues do not directly affect bottom line program costs , but program compliance is likely to decline and enforcement costs rise if certain stakeholders perceive these inequities. These patchwork inequities are presented on a qualified basis at the end of Part 2 of this report.
Finally this study collected data from numerous primary sources to quantify the costs wherever possible. Drawing from actual costs reported by corporations complying with existing programs and government officials responsible for state program implementation, estimates of each cost driver were developed, totaled and analyzed to produce a best estimate of the dead weight costs associated with the patchwork of current and projected future programs.
For each cost driver, costs are provided in the following categories:
• Direct Labor. For purposes of this study direct labor costs are assumed to be all employers’ personnel expenses dedicated to performing tasks attributable to that employer’s primary mission (e.g., recycling electronics, administering a government program, etc.).
• General and Administrative (G&A) costs are any management, financial, and other expense for the general management and administration of the company or agency as a whole. G&A costs also include expenses typically provided by outside parties (legal and accounting services, monitoring and reporting services, printing materials, etc.).
• Capital Investments are costs supporting the acquisition or development of property or other long-term asset (e.g., information systems, spare plant and equipment, etc

Study methods of electronics

The first step in development of this study was the identification of the primary aspects of the patchwork system that potentially cause the costs to be higher than would otherwise be the case under a comprehensive national system (i.e., what we are calling the cost “drivers”). These cost drivers were separated into two basic categories. The first category, which ultimately proved easier to quantify, focuses on increases in Administrative and Compliance costs associated with the multiple state programs. The second category of costs is presented on a qualified basis and includes the higher per unit Materials Handling and Processing Costs attributable to having only some states impose recycling requirements versus the economies of scale that would be realized under a national system. For purposes of identifying whether a state patchwork or single national electronics recycling system would incur higher costs, the study assumed a set of generic characteristics as shown in Part 3. Each cost driver was analyzed in relation to a hypothetical national program, and costs that clearly would not exist in a single national program are called “dead weight” costs. Where costs or cost savings were not clearly supported by collected data, discussion of these costs were either removed from the study or presented only on a qualified basis

Electronic survelliance

Providing the information and tools necessary to evaluate the threat of surveillance and take appropriate steps to defend against it. Surveillance Self-Defense (SSD) exists to answer two main questions: What can the government legally do to spy on your computer data and communications? And what can you legally do to protect yourself against such spying? After an introductory discussion of how you should think about making security decisions — it's all about risk management — we'll be answering those two questions for three types of data:First, we're going to talk about the threat to the data stored on your computer posed by searches and seizures by law enforcement, as well as subpoenas demanding your records. Second, we're going to talk about the threat to your data on the wire — that is, your data as it's being transmitted — posed by wiretapping and other real-time surveillance of your telephone and Internet communications by law enforcement. Third, we're going to describe the information about you that is stored by third parties like your phone company and your Internet service provider, and how law enforcement officials can get it.In each of these three sections.

Electronic recycling.

An assumption articulated by different stakeholders involved in the development of electronics recycling systems is the assumed extra burden created by multiple state programs in comparison with a national approach. This assumption was cited repeatedly in the recently released report from the U.S. Commerce Department, noted by private sector policy positions , cited by Members of Congress , and has even been articulated in multiple conference proceedings by officials implementing state programs. To date, however, no one has attempted to isolate and quantify this assumed state patchwork burden, thus creating uncertainty about the size and scale of such a burden – or whether it even actually exists. This study attempts to answer these questions.
As a step towards understanding the effects of multiple states enacting differing, independent electronics recycling systems, the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER) authors this study under the National Electronics Recycling Infrastructure Clearinghouse (NERIC) initiative. This study attempts to identify and quantify the existing and potential effects of ever-expanding state-level electronics recycling requirements. This study does not address the inherent benefits or drawbacks of any of the mandatory approaches, only the effects of the state patchwork approach on different stakeholders. This study also does not analyze the potential dead weight of harmonized programs implemented across multiple states, which could reduce dead weight costs to some extent. Nor does this study advocate the passage or defeat of any proposed legislation at the state or federal level. The study does analyze the effect of legislation already passed and enacted in the 4 mandatory state programs to date – California, Maine, Maryland, and Washington – and estimates the economic effect of additional programs potentially enacted during the next few years

Electronic Environment and Safety

At Global, protection of the environment is our top priority. Electronic waste contains significant quantities of lead, mercury, lithium, cadmium, and beryllium. Global maintains a flawless record with regard to environmental compliance. With our closed loop hazardous waste tracking program, we will ensure proper disposal of hazardous waste contained in your end of life electronic Global's team of trained experts are specialists in the recovery of precious metals from scrap electronics. Global processes thousands of tons of circuit boards and other precious metal.
Global is a Single Source Primary Contractor for the United States Department of Defense, providing demilitarization and secure certified destruction of sensitive military technology. Global maintains more than 450,000 square feet of secure facilities to ensure segregation of equipment required for certified destruction.
Our secure certified destruction facility combines manual disassembly with dual shredding and separation systems to ensure complete destruction and proper recycling of electronic equipment. This high security, limited access facility meets stringent guidelines set by the Department of Defense.

Patent in electronics

US International Trade Commission. The USITC has said early in the patent trial -- in which Apple is the plaintiff -- that "the evidence will not establish a violation" on Nokia's part, elaborating that portions of some patents were invalid and others simply weren't infringed at all. The judge in the case isn't expected to lay down the law (quite literally) until next February -- and he isn't obligated to take the USITC's side on the matter -- but we're sure the boys and girls over in Finland are high-fiving a bit on the news. We don't know what's crazier, the fact that each year the black friday sales get started earlier and earlier, or the fact that LCDs are down right cheap these days. Seems like just yesterday that we paid $4000 for a 30-inch LCD TV -- still in service, although very wavy -- and this weekend you can pick up a Vizo 32-inch at Walmart for $298! But yeah, these days 32-inch is small so you might as well step up and get the 55-inch version for $898 (full list of models on sale after the break). Of couse if you're persuaded by the mighty Kenny Powers, then you'll get a 2D Sony TV instead -- those not offended by profanity should search Youtube for powers vizio.

Latest trends in electronic mobiles

The ARM business model doesn't work like that of AMD or Intel. ARM comes up with the architecture for a processor, but never physically makes the CPU. Instead, it licenses out the design to companies like TI, Samsung and Qualcomm, who in turn make SoCs based on the architecture either at their own fabs or at foundries like TSMC. TI's ARM based SoCs are branded OMAP, while Qualcomm's custom Cortex A8-based SoC sounds slightly more tangible with its Snapdragon name.Apple and Palm had more motivation to go the performance route with their handsets. They were sold at a premium and performance had to be as high as possible to enable the sort of usage models Apple / Palm were targeting. But the Cortex A8 is built using 65nm transistors, which makes it roughly twice the size (and thus twice the cost to manufacture) of an ARM11 core. That means expensive phones get to use it, while cheaper phones don't.We just pinged Skyfire for comment and they say it's not Apple's fault;demand for a Flash video workaround is apparently so high that the company's having server issues and decided to pull the app rather than introduce new users to a sub-par experience. Skyfire assures us that it's adding servers as quickly as it can, but didn't provide an ETA on when we might see the app once more.
Update: While we're not sure how an digital app can be "sold out," that's exactly what the company says happened to its $2.99 browser today -- after quickly becoming the top grossing app in the iTunes App Store, Skyfire is "temporarily not accepting new purchases" and says it will issue Facebook and Twitter status updates when the next batch of licenses is available. In other words, Skyfire's throttling the flow of purchases from now on. PR after the break