efficiency
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Multi-core voltage regulator uses fast voltage scaling to curb your processor's wasteful habits
Your processor may be able to react to your every, fickle demand when it comes to churning out the numbers that make the magic happen, but when it comes to managing its own power it's a bit more lazy. Chips can throttle an individual core's consumption back, but do so slowly, a problem that Harvard grad student Wonyoung Kim appears to have solved. He's created an on-chip multi-core voltage regulator that uses what's called fast-voltage scaling, a technique of rapidly cutting power that could drastically extend battery life on mobile devices -- or, you know, make it so that your gaming rig doesn't dim the lights quite so badly when you crank it up to the gigahertz. No word on when this regulator will start making an appearance in consumer electronics, but Mr. Kim has achieved a patent for his work, so you can be sure he'll be making bank whenever it does.
Sharp's Intelligent Power Conditioner works with EVs to make your house a lean, mean, solar-powered machine
So, you've got your government-issued solar panels and you bought a plug-in EV, but being both a budget-minded and green-conscious geek, you're concerned that your home's power generation and consumption isn't exactly optimal. Put your worries aside, because Sharp has created the Intelligent Power Conditioner (IPC) to max out the electrical efficiency of your abode while working in conjunction with public utilities. It operates by temporarily storing the unused solar-generated juice from the daytime -- using both the system's batteries and the cells in your shiny new EV -- to deliver a steady stream of electrons at night. In tests with a Mitsubishi i-MiEV, the system was able to use the EV to supply 8kW of power to a home, and doled out enough electricity (4kWh) to recharge the car in a scant 30 minutes. The IPC is still in the development phase, but Sharp is looking to make it commercially available "in the near future" -- which means the finishing touches on your ultimate eco-house will have to wait.
Griffin CarTrip will track efficiency and show diagnostic reports (video)
We mentioned the CarTrip when they announced it earlier in the week, but after seeing this thing in person at CES, I really want one. Primarily because the device will allow you to clear the stupid "check engine" light in most cars made after 1996 with an ODB-II port. You see, the CarTrip features a dongle that plugs into the ODB-II port in your car, and it communicates via Bluetooth with an iOS device (in your hand or dashboard). The CarTrip can then show you certain codes from your car's "brain" and alert you to problems or clear the check engine light. Plus, a little plant sprout on the app will show you how efficiently your car is driving, and the device will track efficiency even if you don't have your iOS device in the car. Check out the video on the next page; we had a chat with Eric Weisinger from Griffin about the CarTrip. It should be available in the second quarter of 2011 for US$89.99.
AMD's Bobcat APU benchmarked: the age of the Atom is at an end
So small, and yet potentially so disruptive. AMD's 1.6GHz Zacate chip, bearing a pair of Bobcat modules, has been taken off the leash today, resulting in a torrent of benchmarks pouring down onto the internet. While perusing the sources below, you might think to yourself that it's not exactly a world beater, sitting somewhere in the middle of the pack on most tests, but compare it to Intel's dual-core Atom D510 -- its most immediate competition in the target sub-$500 laptop price range -- and you'll find a thoroughgoing whooping in progress. The highlight of these new Fusion APUs is that they integrate graphics processing within the CPU chip, and Zacate didn't disappoint on that front either, with marked improvements over anything else available in its class. The resulting chips might still not have quite enough grunt to earn a place in your daily workhorse mobile computer, but their power efficiency and netbook-level pricing goals sure do look delightful. Or dangerous, if you're Intel. Read - AnandTech Read - Tech Report Read - PC Perspective Read - Hot Hardware Read - Legit Reviews
'Steeper' project aims to boost electronics' power efficiency by 10x, eliminate vampire power
A research project with the lofty goal of reducing electronics' power consumption by ten times and virtually eliminating so-called vampire power may not ordinarily stand the best chance of being taken seriously, but this new initiative dubbed "Steeper" isn't exactly your ordinary research project. Led by IBM and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (or EPFL), the EU-funded project will use nanotechnology in an attempt to reduce power consumption at the level of transistors and nanowires, with the ultimate goal being to reduce the operating voltage to less than 0.5 volts, thereby reducing overall power consumption by one order of magnitude. As you can see from the helpful chart above, simply cutting back on vampire power alone could put a big dent in power consumption, and the researchers also note that the project would obviously not only benefit consumer electronics, but super computers and other big sources of power consumption as well. Head on past the break for the complete press release.
Wasted heat from Metro stations to heat apartment building in Paris
Close to the Centre Georges Pompidou on the Rue Beauborg, Paris Habitats renovating a residential building in an environmentally friendly manner, and it's including some pretty out of the ordinary heating methods in it. The old building has a staircase which connects to the Metro station beneath it, thus making it cost effective to build the system, which will produce heat from the bodies of the people and trains moving below, and will be used in conjunction with a traditional heating system. It is thought that it will be able to cut carbon dioxide emissions by one third when the building is completed. The project is set to get underway next year.
Cambridge scientists develop lower-than-low power WORM memory
Researchers at Cambridge University have recently published a paper on their new type of WORM (write once read many) memory which is even more low powered than the ones that came before it. The new electron-only design of the memory is solution processed, making it low cost as well as it requires no lithography. The device, using ZnO semiconductor nanoparticles to inject electrons into a polymer which is capable of conducting. The electrons are then used to program the memory by permanently lowering the conductivity of the polymer, producing insulation. This result is far lower power densities than previously recorded, by orders of magnitude. The research team believes that it can make further improvements to the device as they continue to work.
Microsoft details Vejle, the new Xbox 360's system-on-chip architecture
There aren't many unresolved mysteries with Microsoft's new console by this point -- apart from perhaps why it wasn't named the Stealthbox, like we were suggesting -- but one thing that hasn't been covered in excruciating detail yet is the new 360's splicing of the CPU and GPU into the same chip. Microsoft has remedied that today, informing us that the 45nm system-on-chip (codenamed Vejle; sorry, Valhalla fans) inside the refreshed Xbox makes do with a relatively minimal 372 million transistors, requiring only 40 percent of the power and less than 50 percent of the die space of its 2005 ancestor. A somewhat bemusing addition, noted by Ars, is the FSB Replacement sector you see in the image above. It's designed to induce lag in the system so that the Vejle chip doesn't run faster than the old stuff, something Microsoft couldn't allow to happen. Facepalm away, good people, facepalm away.
Photon enhanced thermionic emission could double efficiency of solar cells
Engineers at Stanford have developed a process which can harness the light and heat of the sun simultaneously, which could lead to solar cells that are twice as efficient as those currently available. Called photon enhanced thermionic emission -- or PETE for short -- the process differs from traditional cells which lose efficiency as temperatures rise, and the materials needed to build the cells are cheap and widely available. The engineers got around the lower efficiencies by coating a piece of semiconducting material with a thin layer of the metal cesium, which enables the material to use both heat and light simultaneously. While the materials as currently demonstrated work best in very high temperatures, the researchers indicate that in the near future, the materials could have wide enough application to make them competitive with traditional forms of energy. Hit the source for the full story.
IBM seeks patent for intelligent traffic lights
In the great pantheon of things unlikely to happen, this IBM idea ranks pretty highly, but that doesn't necessarily make it a bad one. Big Blue has applied for a patent covering a sophisticated new traffic lights system, which judges how long cars have to wait and sends them ominous-sounding "stop-engine notifications" when the pause is long enough to make switching off optimal. This is done by communicating with queuing vehicles and collecting their positional data, and subsequent start-engine notices are also distributed intelligently, as the first car in the queue gets it earlier than the second and so on right to the back. We don't know how many dudes would abide by the instructions of a lightbox up in the sky, but it's still a neat little concept -- maybe we'll see it in action when hovercars go mainstream. [Thanks, Yuka]
Levant Power's GenShock absorbs energy as well as bumps (video)
Hey, who's this charming young rogue giving Ma Earth a peck on the cheek? While opinions may differ on the utility of regenerative braking, we can't envision anyone outside of Chevron or BP's head offices complaining about suspensions that generate electricity out of the bumps you encounter on the road. GenShock is just such an invention, and its creator Levant Power claims it can improve fuel efficiency by up to six percent when implemented in hybrid or all-electric vehicles, while being affordable enough to pay for itself within 18 months of installation. The company is presently targeting heavy trucks, consumer hybrids, military vehicles, and mass transit systems for implementation of its tech, which is also claimed to result in a smoother ride. Should you doubt its actual efficacy, you'll also want to know that GenShock has so far garnered awards from the US Department of Energy, MIT, and Popular Science magazine. See it on video after the break.
Energy Star 4.0 goes into effect for HDTVs, puts 'em on a diet
Your next Energy Star-approved HDTV? Chances are it'll be a little greener than your last one, thanks to the new 4.0 ratings going into effect. These drastically reduce allowable consumption for displays, offering on average a 40 percent improvement in efficiency compared to 3.0 models, meaning a 50-inch set can consume, at most, 153 watts (compared to 318 in the 3.0 world). Beyond that, a display that has been turned "off" can consume no more than one solitary watt whilst waiting for your next command. All sets produced as of May 1 must meet these new regulations to earn that prestigious blue badge, and then in 2012 the 5.0 rules come into effect, dropping maximum consumption by roughly another 40 percent -- good news for those who love the planet as much as they love watching Nature on peripheral vision-filling display.
MIT researchers demonstrate more efficient wireless power
MIT researchers have been working on wireless power longer than most (Nikola Tesla aside), and it looks like they've now made a somewhat surprising discovery that could lead to more efficient wireless power. In addition to reducing the size of the transmitters and receives used in their system to something approaching practical, the researchers found that the system's efficiency at transmitting energy increased "significantly" if multiple devices are charged at the same time. What's more, while the amount of power transmitted in the latest experiment only amounted to 100 watts, MIT's André Kurs says that is only limited by the amplifier used for the transmitting coil, adding that the system could easily "feed power to a medium-sized room and power a dozen devices."
Caltech gurus whip up highly efficient, low cost flexible solar cell
Solar cells are cute and all, but let's be real -- these things are far too inefficient for mainstream use. Scientists at the California Institute of Technology are working hard to remedy that very issue, and they've recently concocted a "new type of flexible solar cell that enhances the absorption of sunlight and efficiently converts its photons into electrons." The solution relies on arrays of long, thin silicon wires embedded onto a polymer substrate, which uses just a fraction of the expensive semiconductor materials required by conventional solar cells. According to professor Harry Atwater, these cells have "surpassed the conventional light-trapping limit for absorbing materials" for the first time, and we're told that the arrays can convert between 90 and 100 percent of the photons they absorb into electrons, and yes, that does mean that they have a near-perfect internal quantum efficiency. Hit the source link for all the technobabble, and cross your fingers for this stuff to get the honored approval of the Governator.
Desktop PC components get rated for power efficiency, Intel rules the roost
With all the antitrust noise, threats to AMD, and conflicts with NVIDIA, it's hard to feel too charmed with Intel at the moment. But, if you're looking for the best combination of performance and power consumption possible, you'll have to swallow any animosity and put an Intel inside, with an efficiency piece at bit-tech.net finding that chips from that manufacturer were, on average, considerably more efficient than their AMD counterparts. That's just part of the story, the site testing everything from memory to power supplies and finding the best compromise of performance and efficiency. It's perhaps no surprise that high-efficiency PSUs trump older, hotter ones, but you might not expect to learn that desktop SSDs offer barely any improvement over their 5,400RPM platter-based brethren. Follow the article's advice and you can shed 104 watts without losing a single 3DMark point -- though you may shed quite a few dollars in the process.
UMich gurus greatly reduce gadget energy consumption (at the expense of awesomeness)
Mama always told us that there'd be trade-offs in life, but we aren't so sure we're kosher with this one. As the story goes, a team of Wolverines from the University of Michigan figured out a solution to an age-old problem: effectively lowering power consumption by a significant amount in electronic devices. Anyone with a smartphone yearns for better battery life, and while Stevie J may argue that no one reads for ten hours straight, we'd still rather have the option than not. The development revolves around "near-threshold computing" (NTC), which allows electronic wares to operate at lower voltages than normal, in turn lowering energy consumption. Researchers estimate that power energy requirements could be lowered by "10 to 100 times or more," but unfortunately, that low-voltage operation would lead to "performance loss, performance variation, and memory and logic failures." We appreciate the hard work, folks, but could you hit us back when the side effects are somewhat less daunting?
LED traffic lights don't melt snow, do cause accidents
A number of cold weather American states are reporting their dismay at finding out that LED traffic lights are so energy efficient that they do not produce enough excess heat to dissipate any snow that covers them. It turns out, perhaps in an homage to bad engineering everywhere, that the inefficiency of incandescent light bulbs was previously relied upon to keep traffic signals unimpeded. The new LEDs do not achieve the same effect, which has resulted in a few accidents and even a death being blamed on obstructed traffic lights. Feel free to apply palm to face now. It's not all gloomy, though, as the majority of people are said to treat a dysfunctional traffic light as a stop sign (how clever of them), and a tech fix is being worked on as we speak.
The most efficient way to make money in MMOs
Cash flow in many games is almost as big a problem as it can be in real life. We've recently had our resident EVE Online column running a series on the best ways to make ISK in the game, and you can barely throw a stone without hitting a site offering a guide to make X ludicrous amount of gold per hour in World of Warcraft. But we may have reached the end of all this maneuvering, as We Fly Spitfires has recently posted the most efficient way to make money in every game, ever. Go ahead and take a look right now, but fair warning -- it requires some out-of-game work. And your credit card. Now, before you start sending angry letters, take a moment to consider the point. It's not that the author is condoning RMT, simply that he's pointing out how much we seem to want to streamline the process of playing the game when, really, we already know the absolute fastest way to increase our virtual coffers. That doesn't make it commendable or ethical, but if we're so keen on speeding ourselves up, we might do well to remember that the journey, not the destination, is more frequently our reason for playing.
Sony dives into wireless power game, makes it way more interesting
We've been watching wireless power startups spin their wheels for years on end, and while we've netted a few contact-charging solutions along the way, there's still a dire need for bona fide wireless power. A most unlikely candidate has just shown up to deliver that very need, with Sony's wireless power supply system reportedly pushing some 60 watts of juice across 50 centimeters (nearly two feet) of crisp, cool air. Currently, the magnetic resonance setup is running at about 60 percent efficiency, but we're sure the engineers behind the breakthrough aren't satisfied yet. So, should we expect to see a prototype BRAVIA HDTV at CES 2010 that needs no AC cable to function? Please Sony, say yes. Say it emphatically. [Via Impress]
Cornell gurus look to carbon nanotubes for efficient solar cells
You know what we love? Solar-powered gadgets, and carbon nanotubes. Oh, and Ivy League schools. Boffins from Cornell University are now looking to use the multifaceted carbon nanotube instead of silicon to develop efficient solar cells, and judging by the glacial pace at which solar cell efficiency is improving, we'd say the sector could use the boost. The researchers have already fabricated, tested and measured a simple solar cell (called a photodiode, just so you know) that was formed from an individual carbon nanotube. The tube was essentially a rolled-up sheet of graphene, and while the inner workings would take days to explain, the gist of it is this: "The nanotube may be a nearly ideal photovoltaic cell because it allowed electrons to create more electrons by utilizing the spare energy from the light."So, solar-powered F-350 trucks are now a possibility for next year, right?[Via Graphene-Info]
