What is meant by Ovonic Unified Memory?

There is much requirement in the IT industry for a high – speed memory plus that is non–volatile too. A solution to this is provided by the ovonic unified memory. 

- Ovonic Unified Memory is an approach to such a memory. Further, it offers reduced bit rate and cost. 

- There are some other characteristic features of this memory:

1. High endurance
2. Low power consumption
3. Non – volatile RAM
4. Readily scaled.
5. Merged memory/ logic simplified

- Since the ovonic unified memory is readily scaled it is not required to scale the barriers of flash and DRAM memories.

- This represents a new semiconductor technology – a creation of the Energy Conversion Devices, inc. however later it was licensed to the ovonyx inc.

- This technology makes use of a structural phase change that is reversible i.e., from a crystalline phase to the amorphous phase. 

- The material used here is the thin–film chalcogenide alloy. 

- This all constitutes the data storage mechanism of ovonic unified memory (OUM). 

- Each memory cell consists of an active medium in a small volume that acts as the programmable resistor. 

- This resistor switches between the low and high resistance in the dynamic range of greater than 40x. 

- The phase change technology is currently being used in the PD, CD RW, DVD RW and DVD RAM. 

- The basic advantage offered by OUM is in the terms of performance and cost when compared to its conventional counterparts namely the flash and the DRAM memories. 

- OUM has got compatibility with the merged memory/log. 

- A conventional CMOS process is used in the OUM technology along with some additional layers in order to form the memory elements. 

- The OUM products have been commercialized under various licensing agreements. 

- The alloy used in OUM consists of Se and Te elements.

- They exhibit the property of electronic threshold switching phenomenon because of which the OUM memory cells can be programmed at quite low voltages irrespective of which state they are in i.e., whether conductive or resistive. 

- The measurement of the resistance of cell is used to read the information stored. 

- The programming of the OUM devices is done electrically by the alteration of its structure of the alloy. 

- These OUM devices show metallic behavior are independent of the temperature.

- The OUM devices are known for their excellent data retention property in the case of high density array applications. 

- Also, the OUM cells have more than normal life cycle i.e., they can tolerate up to 10¹³ write and erase cycles without any failure. 

- These devices possess quite a large dynamic range.

- This allows them to be programmed for enabling the multi–state data storage at intermediate resistance values.

- For multi–stage data storage, every cell needs to support multiple–bit storage. 

- The technology behind the ovonic unified memory is the device modeling. 

- Here, simple analytical methods show the trends in the properties and size of the material for structures that are spherically equivalent. 

- Other numerical models are inclusive of the mesh evaluation plus the device geometry.

- The behavior of the OUM devices can be predicted using the numerical simulation. 

- The behavior of the OUM material depends up on its bulk properties which have a characteristic that they can be quantified. 

- There are 3 considerations of this model:

1. Phase–change: It includes heat of fusion, crystal growth and nucleation.
2. Electrical: It includes current density, electric field and percolation conduction.
3. Thermal: It includes percolation conduction and the heat equations.

Apart from the cost, another advantage of OUM is its near – idle memory qualities such as:

1. Static
2. Random accessible
3. Non – destructive read

Explain the concepts of (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) IEEE 829 standard?

The contributions in the field of electrical and electronics engineering by the IEEE or the institute of electrical and electronics engineers are not hidden from the world. The institute has its official head quarters situated in the city of New York.

It emerged as a non profit organization and since then is comprised of professionals from the fields of electrical and electronics engineering. The main aim of the association has always been to continually make excellent technological advancements in the field of electrical and electronics engineering.

ABOUT IEEE & IEEE 829

- IEEE currently has been reported to have around 40,00,00 members world wide and across 160 plus countries.

- Around 45 percent of the member population is from other countries besides United States.

- The history of the IEEE dates back to the 19s. IEEE was started as a non profit association in the New York City in the year of 1963.

- It was formed as a resultant the merging of 2 great individual non- profit institutes of that time namely the American Institute of electrical engineers (AIEE) and the institute of radio engineers (IRE).

- AIEE and IRE were formed in 1884 and 1912 respectively and in 1963 they merged together to give rise a new association i.e., institute of electrical and electronics engineers.

- Since then, IEEE has given so many standards for many fields like electrical, electronics and software testing etc.

- One such standard given in the field of software testing is “IEEE 829 – 1998” often called as “829 standard for software test documentation”.

- This standard has been designed especially for the documentation of the whole software testing process.

- It specifies what all documents are to be included in the currently defined 8 stages of the software testing cycle.

- Each stage has been stated with its individual document specifications.

- The IEEE 829 – 1998 standard just not specifies the documents to be produced but also lays down their formats.

But, it does not give any clear answer for whether or not all of the specified documents should be produced? Not only this, it also does not states what all content is to be included in these documents.

WHAT DOCUMENTS ARE PRODUCED?

As per the standard, the below mentioned documents are to be produced:

1. Test plan
The document that gives the management features of the testing cycle and includes:
(a) How the testing will be carried out?
(b) System under test or SUT configurations
(c) Who will carry out the testing?
(d) Estimated time
(e) Test coverage and quality level of the testing

2. Test design specification
The document listing all the detailed conditions as well as results and passing criteria.

3. Test case specification
The document specifying the input data for test cases.

4. Test procedure specification
The document having detailed description on how to run each and every specified test case and also describes the set up conditions and the steps to follow.

5. Test item transmittal report
The document giving the reports of one stage of the testing cycle after its completion.

6. Test log
The document maintaining the records of the test cases i.e., their title, executor, and final status i.e., pass or fail.

7. Test incident report
The document detailing the observations of the test cases that didn’t pass. It gives the causes of the failures of the test case and the expectations. The failure of a test case is often treated as an incident rather than a fault.

8. Test summary
The document providing a brief report of the whole testing cycle and also covers up the aspects that were not covered up in any of the above listed documents like software quality, quality of the testing efforts etc.

What are different aspects of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)?

ABOUT IEEE
- The institute of electrical and electronics engineers is often abbreviated and called as IEEE.
- The institute has its head quarters in the city of New York.
- It is a non profit organization and is comprised of professionals from the fields of electrical and electronics engineering.
- The main aim of the association is to continually make excellent technological advancements in the field of electrical and electronics engineering.
- IEEE currently has around 40, 00, 00 members world wide and across 160 plus countries.
- Around 45 percent of the member population is from countries other than United States.
- IEEE was started as a non profit association in the New York City in the year of 1963.
- It was formed as a resultant the merging of 2 great institutes of that time namely the American Institute of electrical engineers (AIEE) and the institute of radio engineers (IRE).
- AIEE and IRE were formed in 1884 and 1912 respectively and in 1963 they merged together to give rise a new association i.e., institute of electrical and electronics engineers.

IRE AND AIEE
- The IRE was mostly concerned with the works regarding radio engineering.
- It was composed several small associations dealing with their own subjects like wireless technology and telegraph engineering etc.
- On the other hand, the AIEE was involved with the technology of wire communications like telephony and telegraphy, power systems, light systems and so on.
- The field of electronics engineering saw a huge rise in 1930s.
- At that time it was obvious for an electronics engineer to become a member of IRE.
- It happened so because with the advent of technological advancements it was getting difficult to keep the technology of IRE and AIEE from mixing with each other.
- The competition between the 2 organizations continued till the end of World War II.
Soon after that the 2 separate organizations were consolidated and a new association IEEE took birth.

FORMATION OF IEEE
- The formation of the IEEE was officially declared on the date of 1st January, 1963.
- Following were some prominent and influential presidents of IEEE:


Elihu Thomson (1890, AIEE)
Alexander Graham Bell (1892, AIEE)
Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1902, AIEE)
Lee De Forest (1930, IRE)
Frederick E. Terman (1941, IRE)
William R. Hewlett (1954, IRE)
Ernst Weber (1959, IRE; 1963, IEEE)
Ivan Getting (1978, IEEE)

AIM OF IEEE
- The main aim of the IEEE is to make theoretical and practical advancements which are educational and scientific and in the field of electronics, electrical, computer engineering, communications, related sciences and arts, and the other allied branches of engineering.

- IEEE also organizes conferences and publishes scientific journals on the related matters.

- IEEE is also responsible for organizing standards in the industrial area like:

bio medical technology
electric power
energy
information assurance
information technology
consumer electronics
aerospace
telecommunications and
nanotechnology

DEVELOPMENT OF IEEE
- Till date IEEE has developed over 900 technical standards.
- Therefore, it can be concluded it is also an organization for standards development.
- It conducts various programs in the institutes of higher learning.
- The merging of the two institutes can be seen in the logo of IEEE.
- It consists of a diamond shape which resembles the kite of Benjamin Franklin.
- In the kite there is an illustration of the right hand thumb rule.
- IEEE is a dual nature institute and has following 2 parts:
1.Technical focus: it refers to the computer society of IEEE.
2.Geography: it refers to the Philadelphia and South Africa section.

Apart from these there is one more unit that is managed by IEEE namely organizational unit IEEE- USA. The purpose of this unit is to implement the strategies and policies.

Nanotechnology - a key for enhancing fuel cell performance

Nanotechnology is being used to reduce the cost of catalysts used in fuel cells to produce hydrogen ions from fuel such as methanol and to improve the efficiency of membranes used in fuel cells to separate hydrogen ions from other gases such as oxygen.

Fuel cells that are currently designed for transportation need rapid start-up periods for the practicality of consumer use. This process puts a lot of strain on the traditional polymer electrolyte membranes, which decreases the life of the membrane requiring frequent replacement. Using nanotechnology, engineers have the ability to create a much more durable polymer membrane, which addresses this problem. Nanoscale polymer membranes are also much more efficient in ionic conductivity. This improves the efficiency of the system and decreases the time between replacements, which lowers costs.

Modern fuel cells have the potential to revolutionize transportation. Like battery-electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles are propelled by electric motors. But while battery electric vehicles use electricity from an external source and store it in a battery, fuel cells onboard a vehicle are electrochemical devices that convert a fuel's chemical energy directly to electrical energy with high efficiency and without combustion. These fuel cells run at relatively low temperature (<100°C) and therefore need catalysts to generate useful currents at high potential, especially at the electrode where oxygen is reduced (the cathode of the fuel.

Carbon Nanohorns provide a unique combination of strength, electrical conductivity, high surface area and open gas paths making them an ideal next generation electrode for various fuel cell applications. Nanotechnology is playing an increasing role in solving the world energy crisis. Platinum nano-particles produced and marketed under the trade name P-Mite are ideal candidates as a novel technology for low platinum automotive catalysts and for single-nanotechnology research. Lanthanum Nanoparticles, Cerium nanoparticles, Strontium Carbonate Nano-particles, Manganese Nanoparticles, Manganese Oxide Nanopowder, Nickel Oxide Nanopowder and several other nanoparticles are finding application in the development of small cost-effective Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC). And Platinum Nanoparticles are being used to develop small Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEM).