Econa ARM-Based Processors Are Energy Efficient

Cavium's energy efficient Econa CNS3XXX ARM-based SoC processors are now available from Ismosys. The single- and dual-core ARM SoC processors are said to enable high performance, while reducing power and cost for next-generation gateways, storage and consumer electronics devices. The integrated Econa CNS3XXX processors are said to feature a rich set of integrated hardware accelerators and a range of I/Os for glueless voice, video and data connectivity.

Power-management techniques enable the devices to deliver low-power operation starting at less than 1W. The devices target applications including FTTH broadband gateways, network attached storage appliances, multimedia picture frames, media and print servers, IP cameras and wireless access points. At the heart of the Econa CNS3XXX devices is an integrated power-management unit that enables a total of six different power-saving modes during operation, including: wake-on-LAN support; dynamic control of CPU power-per-core; and automatic shutdown of non-operational logic.

On-chip voltage regulators enhance the effectiveness of this PMU, enabling power consumption figures ranging from less than 1W for the single-core version to less than 2.5W for the highest-end dual-core version. Devices in the Cavium Econa CNS3XXX family are built around high-performance ARM11 MPcore processors and caches including Superscalar, ARM11 MPcore processors operating at up to 700MHz, each with 32KB I-cache, 32KB D-cache and a large 256KB L2 cache to provide more than 1,400 Dhrystone MIPS (DMIPS). Each ARM11 MPcore processor comes with instruction set extensions for digital signal processing (DSP) and media processing, and integrates a vector floating point unit (VFP) and memory management unit (MMU).

The cores also incorporate ARM's Jazelle technology, which enhances the performance of Java applets running on the CNS3XXX family. The high-performance cores combined with large caches deliver non-blocking, wire-speed performance for voice, video and data applications. DSP extensions on the ARM11 MPcore processors drive enhanced voice applications including support for wideband codecs, DECT and advanced call-control features such as conferencing.

Additional features of the SoC processors include: advanced acceleration engines, which include a packet switch for wire-speed switching; hardware-based NAT and QoS engine; TCP offload; packet processing engine (PPE) for wire-speed packet processing; content inspection engine for L7 application processing and filtering, Raid 5/6 XOR engine, 2D graphics engine with an integrated LCD controller, and a security engine for high-performance IPSec, SSL, intrusion prevention and anti-virus processing. The devices also support acceleration for the popular standards-compliant video codecs.

High-bandwidth, low-latency integrated memory, system and networking interfaces provided by the Econa CNS3XXX family include: intelligent x16/x32-bit, 800MHz DDR2 memory controller; three Ethernet MAC interfaces supporting RGMII/GMII/MII, Dual USB2.0/SATA2/PCIe - all with integrated PHYs; TDM/PCM LCD interface; SDIO camera interface and system interfaces including GPIO, SPI, UART, I2S and I2C. The Econa CNS3XXX software development kit (SDK) builds upon Cavium's existing Octeon and Octeon Plus SDK and includes: Linux SMP; GNU Toolchain; Simple Executive for fast path applications; performance tools; simulator; feature rich APIs for hardware acceleration; and reference applications.

Aoki Blow-Moulding Machine Is Energy Efficient

Meredith-Springfield has equipped its facility with two moulding machines and more space to deliver environmentally safe blow-moulded plastic products. Blow-moulding is the plastic conversion process used to make bottles, containers and other hollow articles from plastic resin pellets. Step by step, more plastic bottles that contain liquids, food and health and beauty substances are being made with PET resin.

PET is polyethylene terephthalate and may exist both as an amorphous (transparent) and as a semi-crystalline material. A thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family, it is used in beverage, food and other liquid containers, thermoforming applications and engineering resins often in combination with glass fibre. In other words, it is the type of improved barrier technology plastic or non-leaching plastic that will not allow for carcinogenic or other contamination of liquids that are contained within.

PET is what the plastic industry calls 'green' or 'soda bottle plastic' because it is widely recyclable by consumers. The machines chosen are referred to as 'one-step' injection-stretch blow-moulding machines manufactured in Nagano, Japan, by Aoki Technical Laboratories. This equipment is energy efficient and, because of Aoki's Direct Heatcon technology, technical bottles can generally be produced at a lower cost and higher quality than those made with other blow-moulding processes.

VGS Power Supplies Are Efficient And Compact

CUI Europe's power division V-Infinity has announced a the VGS series of efficient and compact internal switching power supplies that feature a no-load power consumption of 0.5W. The VGS series includes 25, 50, 75, and 100W versions with cooling by free air convection and efficiencies of up to 89 per cent. The series is compact with the 25W model (VGS-25) measuring 3.09 x 2.00 x 1.11in.

It is ideal for a range of applications where energy consumption is a consideration, including industrial control, networking, automation, and test-and-measurement equipment. The VGS series offers a universal input (88-264VAC) and single output voltages of 3.3, 5, 12, 15, 24, and 48VDC. Other features include: an LED indicator when power is on; 105C long-life electrolytic capacitors; and an operating temperature range of -25C to 70C, derating linearly from 100 per cent load at 50C.

Protections include short-circuit, overload, over-voltage, and brown-out (low AC input voltage). All models are approved to UL, cUL, and TUV safety standards and come with a three-year warranty.