Showing posts with label arm holdings. Show all posts
2017
promises to be an exciting year for servers and the competitiveness of
compute offerings. This year will see this scope of impact not only
include enterprise datacenters and the public cloud, but extend to the
emergence of "edge computing". Edge computing is defined as compute
required to deal with data at or near the point of creation. Among other
things, these devices will include the “ocean” of remote, smart
sensors, commonly included in internet of things (IoT) discussions.
Here
is a list of a few things to we’ll see concerning specific CPUs.
It
should come as no surprise that Intel INTC -0.16% continues to dominate
(>99%) the server market but is under enormous pressure on all fronts. Xeon
and its evolution continue to be their compute vanguard. Xeon-Phi (and now the
addition of Nervana) make up their engines for high-performance computing /
machine learning. Phi has seen some success, but it isn’t clear yet how Nervana
offerings will materialize.
Advanced
Micro Devices AMD -0.57% (AMD) has their best shot in years for fielding an
Intel competitor that just about everyone (except perhaps Intel) is eager to
see. If the AMD Zen server CPU is simply good enough (meaning, it shows up,
works and has at least some performance value), it will take market share
simply by being an x86 competitor. AMD is encouraged by early indicators. They
also have their ATI GPGPU technology which will provide additional
opportunities.
ARM
Holdings will continue to dominate the mobile and embedded device space, but
the fight is hard in these segments. The more likely opportunity for ARM
expansion will be at the "edge" and not so much in the server space.
The death of Vulcan by Avago, the acquisition of Applied Micro Circuits (APM)
and their plan to find a place for X-Gene leaves the Cavium CAVM +0.69%
ThunderX, the "yet to be launched" Qualcomm QCOM -0.02% Centriq CPU
and a few other very focused ARM initiatives still standing. After years of
"This is the Year for ARM Servers", the outlook could be better, and
if AMD produces a plausible Intel competitor (capable of running x86 software),
it will put extreme pressure on whole ARM server CPU initiative.
OpenPOWER
seems on the other hand to have a lot of momentum but to date has not
significantly impacted the x86 server market. 2017 may end on a different note.
OpenPOWER‘s (IBM IBM -1.27%) willingness to embrace NVIDIA NVDA -0.74% (the
darling of the machine learning segment) and embed an NV-Link interface is
going to play well with much of AI and HPC communities. By the end of the year,
we will have seen some interesting OpenPOWER offerings emerge based on advanced
silicon process technology from a variety of sources, and 2018 may see a whole
different story. Especially if an embrace from Google GOOGL -0.14%, who has
been flirting with OpenPOWER for a while now, materializes and creates a
tipping point.
The
real challenge to all CPUs is the way they do work. Their philosophy is built
on the principle that data must come into the chip, be operated on by the chip,
with results or even new data being pushed out of the chip. This whole process
creates a natural bottleneck that we've flirted with for decades. As the
magnitude and scope of data increases, something has got to give, and a
favorite candidate is more parallelism. So far, this has favored GPGPUs or
accelerators.
At
the bigger-picture business level for datacenters and the public cloud, the
real question is not so much which CPU (in fact, the business folks probably
couldn't care less), but the economics of private, public or hybrid solutions.
It is safe to say enterprise computing will not disappear any time soon, and
while there is much activity, the implementations and economics of hybrid
solutions have proven to be difficult. According to Gartner, by 2020 more
compute power will have been sold by IaaS and PaaS cloud providers than sold
and deployed into enterprise datacenters. The fact that companies (especially
smaller ones) are either being born in or moving to the cloud at a rapid pace
is undeniable. However, NOT all are seeing the expected saving materialize from
this move. 2017 will certainly see some careful thinking and maybe even some
rethinking of strategy.
The
explosion of data at the edge is simply going to change data processing as we
know it and will create a variety of computing problems that are difficult to
do in the cloud (even though the results may end up there). However, they may
not be in the enterprise datacenters as we know them either, and we may find
them “stuck” all over the place. For more than sixty years, we have seen
compute follow the data. First from the original mainframe datacenter to the
desktop, to departmental servers, into enterprise datacenters, and now
significantly into the cloud. It is my opinion, that If you plan to put just
your data into the cloud, economics (the cost of network usage) will drive your
compute there sooner or later. You want to consider this carefully based on
your actual needs and usage. There might be a better overall business outcome,
depending on your size and ability to operate, in your own datacenter.
The
major emerging source of data is at the edge and will drive the need for much
compute there. By the way, all the CPUs mentions here should be able do the
edge reasonably well so … Game on again!
Disclosure:
My firm, Moor Insights & Strategy, like all research and analyst firms,
provides or has provided research, analysis, advising, and/or consulting to
many high-tech companies in the industry including Advanced Micro Devices,
Applied Micro Circuits, ARM Holdings, IBM, Intel, NVIDIA and Qualcomm. I do not
hold any equity positions with any companies cited in this column.
Perhaps this will succeed where Windows RT failed.
Microsoft dipped its toe in the ARM waters with Windows RT but it ultimately proved a failure, primarily because of the lack of applications. That doesn't mean the company is going to give up on the dominant mobile market processor, however.
At the WinHEC show in China last week, Microsoft announced it has finally created a native version of Windows 10 running on Qualcomm Snapdragon processors with full x86 compatibility. This isn't Windows RT, it's full Windows 10, but you’ll be able to run Win32 apps and Windows Universal Apps.
The initial version of ARM Windows 10 only supports 32-bit apps, but that's not a big deal since most mobile devices have 4GB of memory or less anyway. And it should be noted this is Windows 10 on Snapdragon, not Windows 10 on ARM. Sure, Qualcomm's processors are fairly ubiquitous but they aren't everywhere. You won't be running Windows 10 on an iPad any time soon.
This enables Microsoft to get down into the lower-cost mobile market. The Surface tablets and notebooks are nice but they aren't cheap. That's partly due to being essentially x86 PCs. An ARM-based tablet has an overall lower cost of materials and lower price, so it gets Windows into places Microsoft currently isn't playing with the Surface line.
"For the first time ever, our customers will be able to experience the Windows they know with all the apps, peripherals, and enterprise capabilities they require, on a truly mobile, power efficient, always-connected cellular PC," said Windows chief Terry Myerson in a blog post announcing the breakthrough, along with other WinHEC news.
"With Windows 10 on cellular PCs, we will help everyone make the most of the air around them. We look forward to seeing these new devices with integrated cellular connectivity and the great experiences people love like touch, pen and Windows Hello, in market as early as next year," he added.
PCWorld (a sister publication of Computerworld) reports that the emulation will be built around a new, unreleased chip the Snapdragon 835 that's in production now and is due to ship in the first half of 2017, according to Qualcomm. The first Windows-on-ARM devices are expected by the second half of next year.
This will be a major challenge for Qualcomm. Emulation is always tricky business. Remember Transmeta? The difference here is Intel has basically given up on the mobile market. It bailed out of the tablet and smartphone business last year, basically handing it to ARM. So at least they don't have to deal with Intel on the hardware side.
But Qualcomm still faces a considerable challenge of ARM-to-x86 emulation. We don't know anything on the performance specs of the 835, only that it's a 10nm part.
Parties to work together to accelerate virtualized BBUs based on General-Purpose Processors
SAN JOSE, CA December 8th, 2016 - Today, Cavium, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAVM), a leading provider of semiconductor products that enable intelligent processing for Enterprise, Telco, MSP and cloud data centers, announced an agreement with China Unicom to accelerate the design and development of Virtualized BBU and provide a path for 5G adoption. The collaboration will focus on commercializing vBBU systems using general purpose hardware based on Cavium’s ThunderX® workload optimized data server processors which are built on ARM architecture. In addition, Cavium has joined the China Unicom CORD Industry Alliance and will drive adoption of open source architecture and technologies in China together with China Unicom.
China Unicom and Cavium will work together on new innovative fronthaul solutions, system architecture and vBBU performance and deployment. This collaboration allows Cavium to align with China Unicom’s commercial networks technology development and innovation, research feasibility of Next Generation Virtualized Wireless Access Network, perform lab and field testing, evaluate results, drive deployment of developed technologies into commercial network, carry out lab and field performance test and assessment, accelerate pilot and application of new technical innovations in real-world networks.
“We are very pleased to collaborate with China Unicom in this critical area. As network capacity continues to be stretched and the user demands continue to grow the industry is faced with significant challenges which cannot be solved by traditional means,” said Raj Singh General Manager of the Wireless Broadband Group at Cavium. “The use of advanced general purpose hardware such as Cavium’s ThunderX workload optimized data severs allows us to provide a highly scalable virtualized solution for these requirements.”
“Virtualized network based on general purpose hardware and open source technologies represents the overall direction for future network changes. China Unicom partners with Cavium, a leader in virtualized BBU technology field, to drive R&D of virtualization products based on general purpose processors, thus laying a solid foundation for building new generation of network infrastructure,” said Dr. Tang Xiongyan, CTO of Network Technology Research Institute, China Unicom.
About Cavium
Cavium, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAVM), offers a broad portfolio of integrated, software compatible processors ranging in performance from 1Gbps to 100Gbps that enable secure, intelligent functionality in Enterprise, Data Center, Broadband/Consumer, Mobile and Service Provider Equipment, highly programmable switches which scale to 3.2Tbps and Ethernet and Fibre Channel adapters up to 100Gbps. Cavium processors are supported by ecosystem partners that provide operating systems, tools and application support, hardware reference designs and other products. Cavium is headquartered in San Jose, CA with design centers in California, Massachusetts, India, China and Taiwan. For more information, please visit: http://www.cavium.com.
Media Contact
Angel Atondo
Sr. Marketing Communications Manager
Telephone: +1 408-943-7417
Email: angel.atondo@cavium.com
Microsoft has been already in the news for the latest upcoming devices that are reported to be waiting in the pipeline to be released once 2017 sets in. And it’s back in the headline yet again but this time for a completely different reason. It is reported that Microsoft will be tying up with Qualcomm to enable the availability of Windows 10 desktops apps on ARM chipsets.
The news has come in that Windows 10 will be able to support ARM chipsets and the announcement has been made by the officials of both Microsoft and Qualcomm. This means that the desktop windows app will be available on the mobile devices like smartphones, laptops and tablets. And such compatible devices might come out “as early as next year” as the company officials have suggested.
It is also reported that the new Windows 10 which is going to support ARM chipsets from Qualcomm will be able to run desktop x86 Win32 apps besides the Universal Windows apps. This will surely make things much better particularly after the discontinuation of the Windows RT platform which did not feature any desktop apps. But it remains to be seen how well the apps perform because it is expected that the apps will still run better on the x86 chipsets made by Intel.
However, the latest developments have put under the scrutiny the relationship between Microsoft and Intel which many believe that might just have fallen out. But Terry Myerson, Executive Vice President of Microsoft, absolutely dismissed such possibilities. He has been quoted telling The Verge, “We’re working closer with Intel than we ever have before. The collaboration is better than ever before. It’s just the case where Qualcomm does have these chips with integrated connectivity and better idle power performance which enables new devices to get built.” Thus the speculations that the collaboration between Microsoft and Intel might come to an end in distant future should die down for the time being.
Regarding the availability of the PCs which would be coming out after such collaboration between Microsoft and Qualcomm, it is speculated that it might be very early in 2017. Qualcomm has been quoted saying that the Windows 10 based on Qualcomm Snapdragon processors are “expected to be available as early as next year.” so the tech enthusiasts across the world would be eager to watch out how these new devices perform when they are brought out in the market.
A video demonstrating Windows 10 and Adobe Photoshop running on an ARM-based device is reproduced below, with Qualcomm and Microsoft promising to launch the first units some time next year.
Microsoft has announced a partnership with Qualcomm to bring Windows 10 - real Windows 10, not the aborted cut-down version formerly known as Windows RT - to the company's ARM processors.
Microsoft's previous attempts at playing with non-x86/AMD64 platforms have not exactly set the world aflame. The company has long offered an embedded Windows release which supports ARM and other non-x86/AMD64 architectures, and recently made that available to a wider audience under the moniker Windows 10 IoT Core. Although Windows 10 IoT Core does indeed run on ARM-based devices, in particular the popular Raspberry Pi single-board computer, it's not Windows as most users would know it; instead it's a cut-down operating system designed to run a single application at a time, and built with the intention of winning over embedded developers from Linux and other non-Windows kernels to the Windows ecosystem.
The closest Microsoft has ever come to a true release of a consumer-centric Windows version on ARM was Windows RT, launched alongside Windows 8 on Microsoft's Surface family of tablets. While one or two hardware partners licensed Windows RT, it was soon abandoned by both third parties and Microsoft itself: Microsoft confirmed in 2015 that Windows RT would not be updated to a Windows 10-based version, and sank the final nail into its coffin a few months later by leaving Windows RT out of its so-called 'Universal' Windows Platform.
Now, though, Microsoft is having another crack of the whip, and it's convinced Qualcomm to come along for the ride. Devices built around Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon processors will, the companies have jointly announced, be able to run Windows 10 - and this time it's truly the same release of Windows you'd find on an x86/AMD64 device. Not only will it run Windows 10, mind you, but also Windows 10's considerable ecosystem of applications - including those compiled exclusively for Win32 under the x86 architecture and the Universal Windows Platform.
'To deliver on our customers' growing needs to create on the go, we announced today that Windows 10 is coming to ARM through our partnership with Qualcomm,' explained Microsoft's Terry Myerson in a blog post late last night. 'For the first time ever, our customers will be able to experience the Windows they know with all the apps, peripherals, and enterprise capabilities they require, on a truly mobile, power efficient, always-connected cellular PC.'
Technical details of how the system will work have not yet been released, but the secret lies in emulation: a translation engine will take the x86/AMD64 instructions from the operating system and the software it's hosting and translate them into ARM instructions for the host processor. It's a tried-and-tested approach which gave machines like the Acorn Archimedes and Commodore Amiga basic x86 support in the 1980s and 1990s, though one which typically comes with a considerable performance hit - something for which Qualcomm's latest chips, it is to be hoped, can compensate.
A video demonstrating Windows 10 and Adobe Photoshop running on an ARM-based device is reproduced below, with Qualcomm and Microsoft promising to launch the first units some time next year.
Packet’s not-so-secret weapon: energy-sipping bare-metal servers using ARM processors.
A
little-known startup is making a big bet that it can parlay new ARM chips, and
backing from a Japanese investment giant, to make its presence felt among the
cloud computing giants.
The
company, Packet, on Tuesday is launching new rentable “bare metal” computing
services based on the ARM v8 chip architecture from its data centers in New
Jersey, Northern California, Amsterdam, and Tokyo. Customers can set up and
launch these resources within minutes, Packet said
The
move is unusual because ARM chips are not commonly found in the servers that
power corporate data centers or public cloud computer services, such as those
sold by Amazon AMZN -1.47% Web Services. They do, however, dominate the
smartphone market—scratch an Apple AAPL
-1.87% iPhone (God forbid) and you’ll
see an ARM chip. And many techies see ARM’s energy-efficient design as an
interesting option for servers going forward.
Bare
metal servers, unlike typical cloud-based servers, are not virtualized. That
means they can run certain jobs, like databases, faster than virtualized cloud
servers. IBM IBM -2.15% , Rackspace RAX 0.00%
and some other cloud companies already offer bare metal options for
rent.
New
York-based Packet, which disclosed $9.4 million in funding from Softbank in
September, aims to satisfy what it sees as a growing market for bare-metal
computing on demand. Softbank is a great ally for Packet, since it is buying
ARM Holdings for $32 billion. ARM Holdings is the U.K. company that controls
and licenses ARM processor designs to manufacturers.
Packet
CEO Zachary Smith acknowledges that this is a David and Goliath tale in many
ways. Intel chips dominate cloud computing services and equipment, as they do
inside corporate data centers. And Amazon Web Services and Microsoft MSFT -0.71%
Azure are the behemoths in the public cloud market; both organizations
sell (or rent) massive amounts of computing power to customers from their
Intel-dominated data centers.
Smith
has no problem stipulating that Intel owns “99 point whatever percent” of the
data center chip architecture, with a smattering of IBM-backed Power chips and
Oracle ORCL -1.42% SPARC chips here and there. Likewise, he
admits that Intel INTC 0.23% x86 chips work with everything, that Intel
fields a huge partner ecosystem of software, hardware and add-on providers, and
that it also owns the biggest-and-best fabrication facilities.
But,
he also insists that big changes over the past year are shifting the balance of
power. “There are a billion smartphones out there with ARM chips,” Smith noted.
As a result, there many manufacturers and plenty of ARM licensees working with
the technology. What that means is ARM now has an ecosystem all its own, which
is something Softbank and Packet hope to capitalize on.
Taking
on established cloud giants like Amazon Web Services is a long shot but there
are some critical nuances to consider.
First,
the market for rentable computer resources is growing fast enough now to float
many boats, including newcomers, provided they have funding and innovative
services that corporate developers and their IT strategy overlords want.
Second,
even cloud giants admit that new chip technologies will be critical as cloud
computing matures. Energy-efficient ARM chips that already power an estimated
95% of smartphones are bound to get a look, especially if their use can reduce
data center power requirements. Microsoft and Google also talk up x86
alternative chips for some uses. And Amazon last year bought Annapurna Labs, an
ARM chip licensee. Clearly, there is interest here.
Smith
contended that the widespread use of ARM chips in other scenarios is also
making it easier for cloud service providers (and others) to get early previews
of the technology and to develop offerings using it.
Cavium and Leading Partners Showcase ThunderX® ARM-based Server Platforms, QLogic® FastLinQ Ethernet Adapters and Fibre Channel HBAs for High Performance Computing at SC16
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 15, 2016 --
Cavium, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAVM), a leading provider of semiconductor
products that enable intelligent processing for enterprise, data center,
cloud, wired and wireless networking, today announced the showcasing of
ThunderX based workload optimized server platforms and the QLogic
FastLinQ Ethernet Adapters and Fibre Channel HBAs for High Performance
Computing, Data Analytics, Scale Out Storage and Hyperscale Data Centers
at SC16 in the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The show Expo dates are from Monday, November 14th to Thursday, November 17th.
ThunderX is Cavium's 64-bit ARMv8server processor family
for next generation high performance computing and hyperscale
workloads. With up to 48 high-performance custom cores, single and dual
socket capability, high memory bandwidth and capacity, and integrated
hardware accelerators, ThunderX enables best-in-class ARMv8 performance
per dollar and performance per watt. The ThunderX family includes
multiple SKUs that enable servers optimized for compute, storage,
network and security workloads in the cloud, and is widely supported by
industry-leading OS, hypervisor, software tool and application vendors.
ThunderX is also optimized for networking specific workloads such as
Network Functions Virtualization (NFV).
From
the heart of the data center, to the edge of the enterprise, and in the
cloud, QLogic® Fibre Channel and Ethernet adapters deliver an
uncompromising suite of features, performance and reliability with a
comprehensive suite of offerings that span 10GbE to 100GbE, and 8GFC to
32GFC (Gen6). QLogic Fibre Channel adapters are the gold standard in
SAN connectivity, trusted with running mission critical applications
across the world, and the QLogic FastLinQ Ethernet adapters are the most
flexible data networking solutions in the industry supporting FCoE,
iSCSI and RDMA transports. Together, these products make Cavium the
industry leader in high performance network connectivity solutions.
Show Highlights and Demonstrations
Cavium
executives will be available to discuss the broad range of ThunderX
based production platforms, which are ideal for critical workloads such
as highly parallel HPC applications, scale out storage with CEPH, Apache
Hadoop for Big Data Analytics, distributed data bases such as MySQL
& Cassandra, and Web Serving with NGINX. In addition to the ThunderX
based ODM and OEM platforms, Cavium's QLogic® FastLinQ Ethernet
Adapters and Fibre Channel HBAs will be on display at Cavium's booth
#4057 including:
- QLogic FastLinQ 10/25/40/50/100 Gb Ethernet Adapters
- QLogic Enhanced Gen5 and Gen6 Fibre Channel Adapter
- ThunderX System Partners including: Aewyn, E4, Gigabyte and Lenovo
Cavium
representatives will also be presenting more details on ThunderX at a
number of partner sponsored events during the week. These events
include the ARM HPC User Group as well as presentations at the Red Hat
and SUSE booths during the week at the Convention Center.
To schedule a meeting at SC16, please send an email to sales@cavium.com and enter SC16 Meeting Request in the subject line.
About Cavium
Cavium, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAVM), offers a broad portfolio of integrated, software compatible processors ranging in performance from 1Gbps to 100Gbp that enable secure, intelligent functionality in Enterprise, Data Center, Broadband, Mobile and Service Provider Equipment, highly programmable switches which scale to 3.2Tbps and Ethernet and Fibre Channel adapters up to 100Gbps. Cavium processors are supported by ecosystem partners that provide operating systems, tools and application support, hardware reference designs and other products. Cavium is headquartered in San Jose, CA with design centers in California, Massachusetts, India, Israel, China and Taiwan.
Cavium, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAVM), offers a broad portfolio of integrated, software compatible processors ranging in performance from 1Gbps to 100Gbp that enable secure, intelligent functionality in Enterprise, Data Center, Broadband, Mobile and Service Provider Equipment, highly programmable switches which scale to 3.2Tbps and Ethernet and Fibre Channel adapters up to 100Gbps. Cavium processors are supported by ecosystem partners that provide operating systems, tools and application support, hardware reference designs and other products. Cavium is headquartered in San Jose, CA with design centers in California, Massachusetts, India, Israel, China and Taiwan.
Media Contact
Angel Atondo
Sr. Marketing Communications Manager
Telephone: +1 408-943-7417
Email: angel.atondo@cavium.com
Angel Atondo
Sr. Marketing Communications Manager
Telephone: +1 408-943-7417
Email: angel.atondo@cavium.com
MILPITAS, CA--(Marketwired - October 24, 2016) - Open-Silicon, a system-optimized ASIC solution provider and ARM Approved Design Partner, today announced it will participate in a panel discussion titled, "Creating Custom SoCs for IoT: Easier Than You Might Think," at ARM TechCon 2016 in Santa Clara, CA. The company will also demonstrate its ARM® Cortex®-M Based IoT Custom SoC Platform.
Panel Session:
- Title: "Creating Custom SoCs for IoT: Easier Than You Might Think"
- Panelists:
- Nandan Nayampally, VP of Marketing and Strategy, ARM
- Swamy Irrinki, Senior Director of Marketing, Open-Silicon
- Jeff Miller, Product Marketing Manager, Mentor Graphics
- Paul Martin, Director of Engineering, Sondrel
- When: Thursday, October 27, 11:00am -- 11:30am
- Track/Location: Expo Theater (Free), Exhibition Floor, Santa Clara Convention Center
Abstract: The hardware
industry finds itself in a new wave of innovation driven by custom SoC
development for mixed signal IoT devices. These devices span an incredibly
diverse market space, from medical to white goods and everything in between.
Despite the diversity, they share common characteristics where analog circuits
connect the real world to processors and fuel the drive to innovate, reduce
cost and differentiate. In this panel session, experts from ARM, Mentor
Graphics, Open-Silicon and Sondrel will discuss why it is now easier than ever
to design custom SoCs. The panel will look at the paths to low-cost silicon and
try to debunk the belief that devices must be created on the latest nodes to be
competitive. The panel will look at the tools that can help companies create
mixed-signal devices, including devices incorporating MEMS sensors. The panel
will explore how companies without experienced resources available can get to
market.
Booth Demonstration:
- Booth #935 - Exhibition Floor, Santa Clara Convention Center
Wednesday, October 26, and Thursday,
October 27, from 10:30am - 6:30pm
ARM Cortex-MBased IoT Custom SoC Platform - Demonstrates
end-to-end communication between sensor hubs and a cloud platform through a
gateway device. Depending on the type of radio technology, the sensor hubs can
be used outdoors, on the factory floor or inside a room. This industrial IoT
system setup is part of Open-Silicon's Spec2Chip IoT Platform, which allows IoT
ASIC designs to be evaluated at the system level.
About Open-Silicon
Open-Silicon transforms ideas into system-optimized ASIC solutions within the time-to-market parameters desired by customers. The company enhances the value of customers' products by innovating at every stage of design -- architecture, logic, physical, system, software and IP -- and then continues to partner to deliver fully tested silicon and platforms. Open-Silicon applies an open business model that enables the company to uniquely choose best-in-industry IP, design methodologies, tools, software, packaging, manufacturing and test capabilities. The company has partnered with over 150 companies ranging from large semiconductor and systems manufacturers to high-profile start-ups, and has successfully completed over 300 designs and shipped over 120 million ASICs to date. Privately held, Open-Silicon employs over 250 people in Silicon Valley and around the world. www.open-silicon.com
Open-Silicon transforms ideas into system-optimized ASIC solutions within the time-to-market parameters desired by customers. The company enhances the value of customers' products by innovating at every stage of design -- architecture, logic, physical, system, software and IP -- and then continues to partner to deliver fully tested silicon and platforms. Open-Silicon applies an open business model that enables the company to uniquely choose best-in-industry IP, design methodologies, tools, software, packaging, manufacturing and test capabilities. The company has partnered with over 150 companies ranging from large semiconductor and systems manufacturers to high-profile start-ups, and has successfully completed over 300 designs and shipped over 120 million ASICs to date. Privately held, Open-Silicon employs over 250 people in Silicon Valley and around the world. www.open-silicon.com
Open-Silicon is a
trademark and service mark of Open-Silicon, Inc. registered in the United
States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective holders.
Contact Information:
Purvi Shenoy
Open-Silicon
408-240-5772
Email contact
Media Contact:
Jennifer DeAnda
208-794-7113
Email contact
Purvi Shenoy
Open-Silicon
408-240-5772
Email contact
Media Contact:
Jennifer DeAnda
208-794-7113
Email contact
At the World Robot Conference 2016, which ran from Friday to Tuesday in a southern suburb of Beijing, some companies complained that the event is unlikely to help them due to the overheated market. Manufacturers looking to automate have had a hard time finding workers to operate their robots, and the industry is still struggling with how to better integrate operation systems. The frenzy in China's robotics market is cooling, and people are raising more practical questions about how to best implement robotics in manufacturing.
Beijing-based Yaskawa Shougang Robot Co showcases its industrial robots at the World Robot Conference 2016 in Beijing. Photo: Chen Qingqing/GT
On
a chilly Friday afternoon, dozens of attendees at the World Robot Conference
2016 in suburban Beijing gathered around an industrial robotic arm
demonstrating its delicate grip and wide range of motion.
The
six-axis robotic arm can be used in a wide range of applications such as
assembly, dispensing, materials handling and packaging.
"I
am not surprised by the progress these exhibitors have made in automation. I
know many Chinese factories are equipped with industrial robots to increase
efficiency," an attendee surnamed Zhang told the Global Times on Friday at
the conference, which ended on Tuesday.
China
has been considered a growth market for industrial robots over the last few
years, Vitaly Nedelskiy, president of the Russian Association of Robotics, said
at the conference on Friday.
China's
supply of industrial robots grew by a robust 17 percent in 2015, Nedelskiy
noted. Companies installed 68,000 robots last year, though the ratio of robots
to workers remains far below the global average.
Globally,
the average ratio of robots to workers, known in the industry as robot density,
stood at 69 installed robots for every 10,000 employees in 2015, according to
the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
By
comparison, China's average robot density is about 49 robots per 10,000
workers, Nedelskiy noted.
Under
its "Made in China 2025" or China's "Industry 4.0," the
Chinese government has set a target for China to have 150 robots per 10,000
workers by 2020.
To
achieve the goal, the country's industrial enterprises would have to add
600,000 to 650,000 industrial robots by the end of the decade, according to the
IFR.
Because
the government is encouraging Chinese manufacturers to install more automated
machinery and robots to boost efficiency, about 3,400 companies around the
country are now engaged in the robotics business, domestic industry news site
robot.ofweek.com reported in May.
However,
the development of China's robotics industry has been uneven and the market has
grown overheated, leaving major challenges that need to be addressed, industry
experts said during the conference.
Men
and machines
Despite
the rapid growth of China's robotics industry, which had about 20 percent of
the domestic market share in 2015, the country lacks workers trained to run the
machines, said Qu Daokui, president of Shenyang SIASUN Robot & Automation
Co. The lack of workers is one of the major issues many Chinese factories are
facing today.
With
the government so clearly behind the robotics industry, factories have jumped
to acquire automated machinery. The city of Dongguan, South China's Guangdong
Province, often referred to as "the world's factory," has adopted a
strategy called "Robotics-powered Smart Manufacturing" to improve the
productivity of local manufacturers.
There
are nearly 200 robot manufacturers in Dongguan, according to a document the
local government sent to the Global Times in February. So far, 400 factories
have been equipped with a total of 10,000 robots.
Although
they have the robots, they still need people to operate them, said Qu, whose
company acquired a German vocational training institution in February.
"More
and more factories are asking us to teach them how to use [industrial robots],
instead of just installing them, which illustrates how important it is to
educate more skillful workers," Qu told the Global Times.
The
lack of trained workers has weighed on some small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) in the Pearl River Delta, said an employee in charge of automation at an
original equipment manufacturer in Dongguan, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity. Dongguan is an industrial powerhouse in the Pearl River Delta
region.
The
situation also jeopardizes the government's goal of automating more of the
city's manufacturing industry.
"It's
hard to find sufficient skillful workers who can handle those machines, and
some factories only use automated machines when local officials visit their
production lines, and they go back to labor-intensive production after [the
officials] leave," the employee told the Global Times on Sunday.
The
factories benefit from the government subsidies they receive for rebranding
themselves as an "automated business," but few local SMEs actually
benefit from installing industrial robots, the employee said.
As
it turns out, operating a robot is a multidisciplinary task involving the
integration of software, hardware and core technologies, experts said.
A
lot of people just think "I'll buy a robot and place it and connect
it", but they end up with a lot of problems, said Oussama Khatib, director
of robotics laboratory at Stanford University.
Technology
and the future
For
those who focus on research and development (R&D) in the robotics sector,
more effort needs to be made to make the machine smarter by introducing more
advanced technologies, but China has a long way to go, industry representatives
said.
The
rise of China's robotics industry has encouraged a growing number of companies
to enter the field, but many of them don't bother with developing their own
core technology and stick to manufacturing low-end products, said Gan Zhongxue,
chief technology officer of the ENN Group.
"Some
elements like the RV reducer and controller are still produced by foreign
companies," he told the Global Times on Friday. An RV reducer, one of
reduction gears, is used for transmission and the controller is used for
controlling the machine.
Purchasing
those components from overseas raises the manufacturing costs for Chinese
robotics companies.
As
far as technological trends are concerned, companies will be concentrating on
the collaboration between humans and machines, simplified applications and
light-weight robots, the IFR said in its World Robotics Report 2016.
And
the demand for industrial robots will likewise be driven by a whole assortment
of factors, such as the handling of new materials, energy efficiency, and
better developed automation concepts, the report said.
For
now, a large part of industrial robots are operating under digital control
systems, but a more harmonized human-robot interaction requires greater
flexibility and autonomous operation in unstructured environments, which is
unlikely to be achieved for the moment, said Zuo Shiquan, head of the equipment
industry institute at the CCID Institute affiliated with the Ministry of
Industry and Information Technology.
"Although
the application of robots in China has expanded in recent years, the next step
ought to be to improve R&D, which will help keep us from falling behind our
foreign competitors," he told the Global Times.
By Chen Qingqing Source:Global Times Published: 2016/10/24 19:38:39
