Engineering Project Recommendations

Engineering Project
Recommendations (5)

http://www.chineseowl.idv.tw

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(:)
In our working group meeting last week, we
discussed our companys difficulty in ensuring that PDA users can
receive updated information in a timely manner, given the limitations of
conventional GIS systems. Geographic-based
information is increasingly used in daily living. There is always the need
to know, Where am I going to? and, How do I get there? in cases
such as visiting a friend, going somewhere for business, sightseeing,
making holiday plans, and so on. The required geographic information
may be as simple as an address, or as complex as the complete path
and estimation of time. Many kinds of geographical information are
needed for various purposes. Additionally, many convenient
applications that provide such information on PDAs are available in the
market today, with an increasing number of consumers using these
applications. However, the passive mode of accessing
information fails to transmit effectively geographic-based information to
PDA users. (NOTE : Add 3-4 sentences that describe characteristics
of the problem or statistics that reflect its severity)
(:)
For instance, although users cannot use the
system all of the time, critical geographic-related information may
appear when users are busy on other tasks. In some cases, they must
be informed immediately. If they have answers on time, they may save
time, resolve an emergency, or even avoid an accident. Unfortunately,
no system can actively page users. The inability
of PDA users to receive updated information in a timely manner will
limit PDA use to within a narrow range. Such a limitation may
discourage PDA use. Most people will not buy such an expensive
notepad when they dont think its functions are useful. Only the
evidently useful and convenient functions may change peoples life
styles and become essential. The conventional GIS systems in PDAs
are not so advantageous as to be killer applications.
(:)
Therefore, we recommend designing a GIS-based architecture
that supports an automatic reporting service through handheld mobile devices.
To do so, the coordinates of a PDA user can be obtained using a
GPS module. These coordinates can then be transmitted to the back-end server
through a wireless network and used as the filter to query the database. Next,
query results can be sent back to the PDA, triggering an event to inform the PDA
user. As anticipated, the GIS-based architecture can automatically
page PDA users through a wireless network when desired local information
becomes available. Using the global positioning system (GPS) feature, the
system can periodically send the position of the use to the server. The server can
then check for any local news about disasters or roadblocks, and for
advertisements. The results can also be sent back to the users machine and an
event triggered to remind the user. Moreover, the proposed GIS-based
architecture can enable PDA users to access information with their geographic
positions functioning as a filter. This avoids sending too much junk information to
users. Limited only by bandwidth and the speed of a wireless
network, the proposed architecture can also offer strategies for data storage that
involve a robust multi-tier architecture. A large amount of geographic data is
placed on the server, and only required data are transferred to the client host
through the network.
(:)
Management supervisors recently expressed concern over
the high costs and low speed of emulators to verify hardware reliability.
As IC designs become increasingly complicated and larger, hardware
emulation is essential for their verification. However, emulators
such as our emulation solution are too expensive and too slow. (NOTE : Add
3-4 sentences that describe characteristics of the problem or statistics that
reflect its severity) For instance, a Quickturn emulator
costs more than a million US dollars and only works below 1 MHz, which is
markedly lower than the frequency required in newly developed devices.
Such a high cost prevents us from verifying the designs of
platforms, and the low speed makes testing difficult and the results unrealistic,
because most devices, which are designed for 66MHz, 100MHz and 133MHz
systems, cannot function normally in the 1MHz environment. Moreover, testing
in an emulator takes an extremely long time, such that a benchmark that
requires 20 minutes in a real system requires 24 hours to complete in an
emulated one.
(:)
Therefore, we recommend developing an emulation
method, costing less and performing more efficiently than conventional
methods. To do so, appropriate types of FPGA, e.g.,
Virtex E of Xilinx or APEX of Altera, with a retail value of around
US$10,000, can be selected according to size and speed requirements
in order to emulate an actual chip. An FPGA synthesis tool, for example,
FPGA compiler or Synplify PRO, can then be adopted to map the
design net-list into an edif file for FPGA. Next, software for placing and
routing FPGA can be employed to construct an emulation database in
FPGA. Additionally, timing constraints can be established to enhance
the emulation. Moreover, the database can be downloaded into FPGA
to initiate emulation and debug new designs. As
anticipated, the proposed method can reduce the costs and time of
developing a 10MHz frequency by 95%, whereas the conventional
method can only be used at a frequency of 1MHz.
Importantly, the proposed method can reduce testing time,
include new devices that cannot function at 1MHz, and allow our
company to verify the design with numerous platforms.
Further details can be found at
http://www.chineseowl.idv.tw

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