More material on power managment that QUIK has/is working on...

Power Management

IoT will require advanced power management and EDA companies are addressing the problem.  Rob Aitken, also a ARM fellow, said:” We see an opportunity for dedicated flows around near-threshold and low voltage operation, especially in clock tree synthesis and hold time measurement. There’s also an opportunity for per-chip voltage delivery solutions that determine on a chip-by-chip basis what the ideal operation voltage should be and enable that voltage to be delivered via a regulator, ideally on-chip but possibly off-chip as well. The key is that existing EDA solutions can cope, but better designs can be obtained with improved tools.”

Kamran Shah, Director of Marketing for Embedded Software at Mentor Graphics, noted: “SoC suppliers are investing heavily in introducing power saving features including Dynamic Voltage Frequency Scaling (DVFS), hibernate power saving modes, and peripheral clock gating techniques. Early in the design phase, it’s now possible to use Transaction Level Models (TLM) tools such as Mentor Graphics Vista to iteratively evaluate the impact of hardware and software partitioning, bus implementations, memory control management, and hardware accelerators in order to optimize for power consumption”

Figure 2: IoT Power Analysis (courtesy of Mentor Graphics)

Bernard Murphy, Chief Technology Officer at Atrenta, pointed out that: “Getting to ultra-low power is going to require a lot of dark silicon, and that will require careful scenario modeling to know when functions can be turned off. I think this is going to drive a need for software-based system power modeling, whether in virtual models, TLM (transaction-level modeling), or emulation. Optimization will also create demand for power sensitivity analysis – which signals / registers most affect power and when. Squeezing out picoAmps will become as common as squeezing out microns, which will stimulate further automation to optimize register and memory gating.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Weighs In On The Future Of Wearables

Posted By David Nield on Jan 15, 2015

We already know Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is interested in wearable technology thanks to his company’s $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR last March. Now Zuckerberg has been talking about where he sees the wearables market going in the next few years.

“In another 10 to 15 years we can imagine there will be another platform that’s more natural and more built into our lives than mobile phones are right now,” said Zuckerberg at a public Q&A session in Columbia. “I think it’s pretty easy to imagine that, in the future, we will have something we can wear.”

He did admit that today’s wearables – including Google Glass and Facebook’s own Oculus Rift – still have a way to go to win consumers round. “[Future wearables] will look just like normal glasses,” Zuckerberg said, “[they] won’t look weird like some of the stuff that exists today.” He went on to compare the early wave of wearables with the very first mobile phones – chunky, awkward, and not much fun to use.

Ultimately, the Facebook CEO sees wearables as devices that can free us from our attachments to our smartphones. “You’ll just be able to get context about what’s going on around you in the world,” he added. “And communicate with people, and not have to disrupt your conversations by looking down.”

Few would disagree with Zuckerberg’s comments: Much of today’s wearable tech is still clunky and experimental, but progress is quickly being made. Like smartphones, many wearable devices will soon get to a stage where they’re stylish, long-lasting, powerful and almost invisible.

Facebook also picked up the fitness and health app Moves last year, so Zuckerberg and his company are definitely committed to a wearable future, whatever it looks like. Once we’ve all grown tired of scrolling through news feeds and tapping away at smartphones, Facebook will be ready.

INTC job opening...

Job Description - Hardware Platform Validation Manager - Wearables (755200)

Job Description 

Hardware Platform Validation Manager - Wearables - 755200  Description   Job Description: Intel's New Devices Group is responsible for developing exciting new "wearable" devices and technology. NDG's business is considered to be one of the most exciting new growth opportunities for Intel. New Devices Group HW platforms are complex and made of a collection of ingredients (SoC, Memory/storage, PMIC/battery charger, Audio, Display, Comms, USB, Security, connectivity :BT-LE, GPS, Wifi,..., Analog components etc) integrated on very optimized board solutions. Architecting, designing and validating these products requires extensive system architecture knowledge, sub system/component architecture, system software/FW stack and pre-silicon and post-silicon validation methods. The HW Platform Validation Manager has the responsibility to contribute to deliver fully validated HW platforms to the product/device/SW groups. The key responsibilities of the HW Platform Validation Manager are : Build and manage a team of validation engineers   Work with the team to build exhaustive, high coverage validation plans with the objective of zero HW bugs found downstream during product/device and SW integration steps. Power-On of the HW platform working jointly with the SW/FW and PEG teams. Complete all electrical and HW compliance testing High debug skills to debug the HW issues across all ingredients (board, SoC, PMIC, RF/Analog, memory, storage, security, etc., ...) Build use case validation on HW platforms to fully enable FW/SW and device teams Maintain a validation dashboard with tracking and indicators Work during pre-si and prototyping phases to enable HW/SW shift left validation. Build right emulation and pre-si platforms for critical complex HW platforms. Ensure validation actitivities compliance to the product life cycle (PLC) from definition to handoff to productization.    Qualifications   Bachelors of Science degree in Electrical/Computer engineering.. Preferred would be a Master's of Science degree or PhD. Must have 4-6 of expereince in managing a team of validation engineers 4 years of expereince as well building and implementing validation plans Must have experience in system and HW platforms validation, system level debug, validation methodologies/tools, debug tools, debug methodologies  Knowledge of the system architecture, features, flows and use cases, components.  Must possess debug skills with a full system view      Job Category : Engineering  Primary Location : USA-California, Santa Clara  Full/Part Time : Full Time  Job Type : Experienced  Regular/Temporary : Regular  Posting Date : Feb 12, 2015  Apply Before : Ongoing

Nice move QUIK..

PMIC?

It's

Power management integrated circuits (power management ICs or PMICs) are integrated circuits (or a system block in a system-on-a-chip device) for managing power requirements of the host system. A PMIC is often included in battery-operated devices such as mobile phones and portable media players.

Yeah is about another new job in Sunnyvale... as follows.

b Description

Senior ASIC design position is part of the Silicon Platform Development Engineering group, reporting to the Director of Silicon Platform Architecture. This is a critical role within the company with primary responsibility for developing QuickLogic next generation SOC, involving full chip ASIC front end design activities in low power design that integrate major blocks, but not limited to, ARM Cortex CPU, power management function, and various interface such as SPI, I2C, and PLL. Strong ASIC design implementation skill and backend knowledge are a must. Experience in COT environment and ability to collaborate with multiple engineering disciplines at different geographical location worldwide are essential in the success of this position.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Electronics Engineering with minimum 7 years of experience in High Performance design/Micro architecture.

• 7+ years of experience in Verilog RTL development experience in a SOC and ASIC environment

• Must have very strong background in logic design skills (micro architecture development & implementation).

• Must have design experience in ARM cortex CPU and low power implementation. PMIC usage experience is a plus

• Must have a strong background in all aspects of ASIC implementation, especially with Synthesis flow, Static Timing Analysis, DFT methodologies and tools.

• Must have the ability to develop understanding of new standards and new analog blocks • Familiarity and working knowledge of product ATE test program

• Expertise and experience with Systems architecture with ability to partition hardware based on requirements

• Knowledge of at least one scripting language is desirable

• Prior experience Excellent communication skills, both in written and verbal form

• Prior experience working with multi-site, multi-cultural teams 

Every gap I find- they fill it with someone with that base of knowledge.

Jawbone takes on IoT

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BY CLAUDIA BACCO ON FEBRUARY 13, 2015INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT)

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When you think of Jawbone you don’t think of the “Internet of Things.” You think of fitness trackers, speakers and headsets. If this is your view of Jawbone, like mine used to be, you’d be wrong. The company has a vision for IoT and is well down the path to realizing that vision.

Today there are three categories that tend to dominate the wearable market related to activity trackers:

• Devices such as smartwatches and glasses that extend smartphone functionality. They don’t really fit the bill for an integrated solution, however, due to size, battery life and the lack of a 24-hour wearable form factor.
• Fitness/exercise/workout trackers have the same issues as the first category and many require additional sensors to take measurements.
• Lifestyle trackers, such as the Jawbone products, need to be comfortable for 24-hour wear, have an extended battery life, be something you can sleep in and basically disappear on you. In other words, you stop realizing that they are there.

Commentary;  these are bands, the smallest batteries of the wearables.  They want you to wear it 24 hrs a day, not take it off and charge it at night.  This is where QUIK would shine.

What do all of these solutions lack? Integration with other “things” and analytics that keep users engaged and using the products. Jawbone shared some statistics that dashboard-only products have a drop in usage after 90 days. Basically, users wear  a product that tracks some statistics and then  have to figure out how to either act on that data themselves or follow stock recommendations from the product that go to every user with a similar profile. This is exactly why I say wearables are boring. I agree that this model alone can’t have an extended life.

Instead of the IoT, Jawbone talks about the Internet of You. In order to enable that vision there is hardware that you wear combined with software that pulls everything together in the cloud and analyzes it to create recommendations. While that might sound like the same process, the context makes it different. There’s a lot of discussion related to context across the telecommunications industry today, basically pertaining to services or traffic flows that have a specific behavior based on the context around them. What a service is being used for, who is using it, how the traffic flows, etc. In the world of IoT this is a new concept.

So how would context apply in relation to an activity tracker and IoT? One of the examples Jawbone provided was smart thermostats. Today we can program them to adjust the temperature at certain times of the day, we can program them remotely if we are away and the situation at home changes, and we can track what the current temperature is when we’re not home and adjust it accordingly. But what if a smart thermostat knew what to do when you walked into the house and said “I’m cold” or “I’m hot.” Without the thermostat knowing what those terms mean to you specifically, the outcome might not be appropriate. Context requires a device to capture data about you, to be smart enough to interpret that data and then have the ability to link to other things.

Jawbone worked with data scientists to bring contextual awareness into its lifestyle products, and today the company’s platform allows integration with over 2,500 apps with more on the way. In September, Jawbone announced open APIs to enable interoperability with smartphones, watches and apps. The open platform is already working with the likes of Nest to connect your smart thermostat, as well as Whistle, to check out your dog’s daily movements. This is just a couple of real examples, more can be found on its website.

Why is all of this so important? As I said earlier, wearables alone are boring, and it seems the statistics agree with me. Being able to integrate wearables with the IoT is the first step toward longevity of the products and better understanding of their value by consumers, and hopefully results in more willingness to buy the products. Adding the data science to provide context opens up a whole new set of value-added services that could be developed. You wake up, your lights turn on, the temperature in your house changes, your coffee brews, your music plays and the car is warmed up and ready to go when you leave the house. That, I can see value in.

NTT to roll out indoor navigation using smartphone sensors
Designed for Japan’s complex rail hubs, the service would guide users based on their steps
Tim Hornyak (IDG News Service) on 19 February, 2015 23:54

This map from Zenrin DataCom shows what a new navigation service fro Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo will look like. The service uses motion and barometric sensors in smart phones to determine location in indoor environments where GPS signals may not reach.
This map from Zenrin DataCom shows what a new navigation service fro Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo will look like. The service uses motion and barometric sensors in smart phones to determine location in indoor environments where GPS signals may not reach.
Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo wants to go beyond GPS with a more granular smartphone navigation system for complex indoor spaces.

DoCoMo has partnered with mapping company Zenrin DataCom to develop the navigation system that makes use of sensors in smartphones. It’s designed to help users find their way through Japan’s dense indoor spaces such as subway complexes or underground malls where GPS signals may not reach.

Japan has some of the busiest and largest rail hubs in the world, with multiple floors, overlapping rail lines and subterranean shopping arcades. The new platform uses smartphone motion sensors to track direction when a user walks around. The data is plotted against preloaded maps from Zenrin, which supplies mapping apps for all DoCoMo mobile phones.

Atmospheric pressure sensors, or barometers, in some smartphones can also be used to detect when users of the navigation service climb or descend stairs or use elevators, according to DoCoMo. When that happens, the appropriate map for the floor or outdoor environment is automatically called up.

“There’s strong demand for a low-cost indoor navigation service,” Takuya Ori, a spokesman for NTT DoCoMo, said via email, adding there are no comparable navigation apps that use sensors in smartphones.

DoCoMo plans to roll out the feature from April in Japan as an add-on to its Android map application. It will start with 320 indoor locations around the country, and the monthly user fee will likely be around ¥300 (US$2.50).
The service will likely start with Android smartphones that have the appropriate sensors. DoCoMo also carries the iPhone 6, which includes a barometer that can determine relative elevation.

Hi RC, this info is in answer to your Q.

Google Glass Needed Better Vision

FEBRUARY 13, 2015 / LEAVE A COMMENT

By Karen Lightman, Executive Director, MEMS Industry Group

Alas, poor Google Glass, I never really got to know you. I wanted to, really. I was there when Google unveiled you at its Google I/O lovefest by parachuting on top of Moscone Convention Center with live video feed of the extravaganza. That was so cool! I learned from insiders and friends at Google that you were adorned with many MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) and sensors – so of course, I loved that! I was so close to having you…and yet…

I could never rationalize the $2,000 starter price to walk around with another set of glasses in addition to the specs that I need to actually see. I could never accept the stigma attached to them — that I was another “Glasshole” who could track, record and digitize every aspect of my life — personal and professional. I was never comfortable with that level of intimacy with a wearable that was so un-wearable

I guess I was not alone in my decision not to don a pair of Google Glasses. And as announced recently by Google, the project was shelved and given for a reboot to the head of Nest, the smart thermostat folks recently purchased last year by Google for $3.2 billion.

So what explains the “epic fail” of Google Glass? Why the decision to drop the project within a week of Microsoft’s announcement of its virtual reality (VR) wearable glassesHoloLens? Will Microsoft’s HoloLens also fail? And what makes a successful wearable?

I know these are loaded questions and there are no definite answers. Let me begin by answering the last question in hopes that it will help shed light on the other two.

For a wearable to be successful, the user should not be aware that he/she is wearing it, according to my friend and human-computer interaction (HCI) expert, Mark DiPerri. The wearable should be seamless, powered efficiently and effectively and should enhance the user’s quality of life. Google Glass did all these things poorly, and that is why it failed.

That said, I have seen a successful use of smart glasses by Vuzix, who in partnership with enterprise software firm SAP, is marketing an augmented reality offering designed for industrial applications, and in particular, distribution centers. A video demonstration shows some exciting possibilities for a forklift operator.

Clearly, this is a good use of smart glasses and I wonder why Google didn’t directly address such a market. Maybe it was not sexy enough for them — but alas, sex appeal can only last so long. Eventually the honeymoon is over and you’re left with a pair of smart glasses that you don’t want to wear in public.

I wonder if designers, architects, and warehouse workers will ever use Microsoft’s HoloLens or will its appeal be limited to gamers glued to their Xboxes? I have heard the reviews of these babies are pretty solid, though I have yet to see a pair worn in public.

At the 2015 International CES, I saw some pretty awesome VR glasses from Virtuix that gave users a realistic feeling of being in the battlefield of a video game. But given that I am not a video gamer, these glasses still aren’t for me.

I can’t help but wonder what else a system like the Virtuix Omni can enable. Can’t we use these glasses for real-time on-the-job training for police, firefighters, paramedics and other rescue personnel? What about remote surgeries? What about teachers and students in an interactive classroom? Heck, maybe I can have a pair of smart glasses that can help me cook a decent meal without burning part of it. That would be a great quality of life improvement for my family!

Yes, we can push the envelope of where and how we use smart glasses. I am sure we will. Thanks to the MEMS and sensors inside them, along with sensor fusion algorithms and smart data analytics, we can and will create smart glasses that I’ll want and treasure. I am excited to see where the next, post-Google Glass generation of smart glasses will take us.

Current conclusion from all this stuff?

Tim Saxe last yr

• Lower power means you can add more sensors to improve accuracy
• Off-loading computation allows more computation to improve accuracy

the slide deck with the ring laser info.

that Andy and Co. have been talking accuracy since day one of the S1.

Indoor location has to be accurate.

The built the FFE to be a Kalman engine, it can run error corrections like nobodies biz, and more often if that gives a better result.


The conclusion is that where accuracy becomes important it bodes well for QUIK.

Their focus is right where a part owner of the biz wants it to be.

Somehow that  fact that Ring laser gyros are 10000 times more accurate than MEMS gyros is stuck on my mind.  Time to learn more...the nugget is in red if you just want to read the conclusion from this reading.

why?

We want that accuracy for PDR so we can be nuts on for Indoor location.

The battle between MEMS and FOGs for precision guidance

C. Goodall, S. Carmichael, B.Scannell -January 21, 2013

Fiber optic gyroscopes (FOGs), previously the low-cost equivalent to other technologies such as ring laser gyroscopes (RLG), have some fresh competition. Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) gyroscopes are beginning to take market share away from traditional FOG applications. Specifically, antenna array stabilization, agricultural machine control, and general vehicle navigation are the battlegrounds where MEMS and FOGs faceoff.

To determine the similarities between the two technologies for use in navigation applications, a comparison of select high-end MEMS gyroscopes to low-end FOG gyroscopes is explored. The navigation software and test cases are controls used in the analysis to determine whether MEMS are truly prepared to function at tactical navigation performance levels.

1. MEMS for Precision guidance

In the last few years the navigation industry has seen MEMS gaining traction due to improved error characteristics, environmental stability, increased bandwidth, better g-sensitivity, and the increasing availability of embedded computational power that can run advanced fusion and sensor error modeling algorithms.

Ah a light goes off, software to fix a hardware issue, Kalman’s are error correction equations.
Lowest power guy what does he do?

He runs more Kalmans, tweaks them, Kalmans ARE error correction equations (thats what they were invented/ used for.)
THey BUILT the FFE to run Kalman’s thats what the FFE does. IF ANYONE can make a MEMS more accurate, ie to move them toward the gold standard of a ring laser- its QUIK- thats what they are doing when they take both devices out to the Mall….SOFTware, its Domain knowledge, how to optimise it- so important here. We have been at work on this for some time now. Very cool

Open question:  Is it possible for QUIK to take MEMS gyros accuracy up 10000 fold to a ring laser?  I  don't know, but I do believe they have loftly goals and will move it  as far as they can.

New precision inertial navigation system (INS) markets are materializing and MEMS technology is also entering markets that were previously dominated by FOG technology. An apparent transition from FOG to MEMS technology is in antenna array stabilization applications.

Machine control applications could also benefit from the advancements in MEMS technology. Traditionally, users have gravitated towards FOG or RLG navigation systems costing $30,000+ because the performance has been 20 times more accurate and reliable than a representative $1,000 MEMS navigation system. Precision agriculture and UGV/UAV/USV are two examples of applications that would greatly benefit from improvements of low-cost MEMS navigation.

2. Real-time navigation hardware

The navigation system used in this work was designed to provide high rate attitude outputs to a motor, which then stabilized an antenna array on the roof of a vehicle. The antenna array’s purpose was to maintain communication with a geostationary satellite.

The navigation system was used as a strapped down INS/GNSS navigator, which provided high rate positions and velocities. Inertial measurement unit (IMU) data flowed to the navigation filter at 1,000 Hz and these data packets were used to predict the position, velocity, and attitude solution. GNSS positions, velocities, and headings derived from dual antennas were used as updates to the navigation filter. When GNSS was not available a magnetometer was used to help initialize the heading. A barometer was also used to aid altitude.

Special calibration routines occurred in parallel to the navigation filter. These routines calibrated the magnetometer, the dual-antenna mounting misalignment, the IMU mounting misalignment, and the level of vehicle vibrations for static period detection.

The system was designed to operate in two hardware configurations. The first configuration consisted of two FOGs (for heading and pitch angles), one MEMS gyroscope (for roll), a tri-axial MEMS accelerometer, a tri-axial MEMS magnetometer, and a MEMS barometer with a total sensor hardware bill-of-materials (BOM) cost of about $8,000 for low volumes.

The second configuration contained three MEMS gyroscopes (for all attitude angles), the same tri-axial MEMS accelerometer, tri-axial MEMS magnetometer, and MEMS barometer as the previous configuration with a total cost of about $1,000 for low volumes. The prices of these systems can fluctuate with market conditions and volume, but generally FOGs are eight to ten times more expensive than the MEMS.

The MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers chosen for this design have very good bias stability, orthogonality, g-sensitivity, and bandwidth within their price class.  The primary constraint of this system is the high bandwidth requirement. Many MEMS accelerometers offer a high bandwidth, but MEMS gyroscopes typically have 100 Hz bandwidth or less.

This is fine for typical vehicle navigation, but the application for which this system was designed needed to accommodate high rate control. Moreover, several MEMS gyroscopes are available that provide good bias stability, but have reduced bandwidths or high noise. The MEMS gyroscopes chosen for this system balanced bandwidth with performance. The actual specifications of the MEMS

chosen are given in Table 1

.

All jobs → C Developer – Contractor
C Developer – Contractor
Chicago, Illinois, United States · Engineering
DESCRIPTION

Meet Rithmio

Rithmio’s gesture recognition software works with motion-sensing devices such as wearables, smartphones or connected sports equipment to learn, track and analyze motion. Brands leverage Rithmio’s platform to create accurate and personalized gesture-based products.

Company Background

Rithmio was founded in 2013 by Adam Tilton and Dr. Prashant Mehta through the University of Illinois. With offices in Champaign and Chicago, IL, Rithmio boasts seven full-time team members that are building the world’s leading platform for gesture recognition.

Who We’re Looking For

We’re looking for an associate to senior-level C Developer for a contractor position to be filled immediately. In this role, you’ll work closely with our Senior Algorithms Engineer to build out our C Library, conduct testing and collaborate closely with the product team. You will report to our Chicago office, located downtown two blocks from the Merchandise Mart at Catapult Chicago.

Responsibilities

Work closely with senior engineer, algorithms team, project manager, designer and the rest of team to implement new features and systems
Maintain the integrity of codebase
Optimization of code libraries with real-time applications. (computational and memory efficient)
Participate in peer code reviews
Create test data and conduct unit tests
Assures quality, security and compliance for supported systems and applications.
REQUIREMENTS

Required:

You have been a high performing member of a software development team for at least two years
Minimum two years of C programming experience
Working knowledge of mathematical modeling constructs
You are self-motivated while also able to collaborate within the team
You are fluent in English
Position is for a role in Chicago, IL. Telecommuting is not supported for this role
You can commit to a minimum of 15 hours a week
Nice to have:

Java experience preferred, but not required
Python experience preferred, but not required
You have worked on a team that uses agile practices, such as Scrum

I see this all the time in job opening, but I don’t know what it is 
You have made interesting contributions to the open source community, or have shipped your own product
Exhibit a passion for embedded technology
BENEFITS

This position is for a contractor role. Healthcare benefits are not included.

Who’d want that job?

Perks we offer:

Friendly, down-to-earth, close-knit team of passionate peers
Access to the latest wearable technology devices for prototyping and testing purposes
An opportunity to work on a cutting edge product offering, our gesture recognition platform for motion-sensing devices
Convenient office location at Catapult Chicago. Two blocks walking distance to the Merchandise Mart ‘L’ stop.

A few comments….their location is bad, You have to be in the Coffee houses of sensor fusion to hear what is going on today. QUIK is in the coffee house of sensor fusion in solid fashion now.

They have no sensor hub.

Bob West thoughts on the increasing IMPORTANCE of having both the silicon and the software, a really good Domain knowledge of both so that you can optimise the fusion for low power, and that requires QUIKs approach.

start to glimpse just how powerful QUIK can grow in software- context, gesture, & soon audio.