World IPv6 Launch Day

by rakesh | Jun 5, 2012 | Science & Technology

On the occasion of the ‘World IPv6 Launch Day’ tomorrow (on 6th June 2012), major Internet Service Providers, networking equipment manufacturers and web companies around the world are coming together to permanently enable IPv6 for their products and services. This day, being organized by Internet Society, represents a major milestone in the global deployment of IPv6.It builds on the successful one-day ‘World IPv6 Day’ event held last year on 8 June wherein , top websites and Internet Service Providers around the world, joined together for a successful 24-hour global-scale trial of the new Internet Protocol, IPv6.

As a result of the initiatives undertaken by Department of Telecommunication (DoT), majority of the major service providers in India are ready to handle traffic & offer IPv6 services at present. Despite the readiness of the major service providers, there are issues to be addressed so as to ensure that the complete ecosystem migrates to IPv6. The service providers have mainly three challenges i.e. readiness of the content providers, equipment vendors and end user devices. To tackle the above challenges, a lead has been taken by DoT and the respective stakeholders are being pursued with by DoT through extensive discussions and meetings.

India has at present 35 million IPv4 addresses against a user base of about 360 million data users. In addition, Government is planning to have a target of 160 million and 600 million broadband customers by the year 2017 and 2020 respectively. Moreover, there is a strong security requirement to provide unique IP address to each individual data user. As IPv6 is not backward compatible with IPv4, the transition to IPv6 is likely to be a complex, mammoth and long term exercise during which both IPv4 and IPv6 will co-exist. In order to facilitate the widespread introduction of IPv6 in India, a policy document titled ‘National IPv6 Deployment Roadmap’ was released by the DoT in July 2010. The first initiative of its kind by a Government anywhere in the world, the roadmap’s main focus was to educate/ sensitise the Indian ecosystem about the issues related to IPv6 and enable it to take the first step in the transition towards IPv6. Accordingly, following policy decisions were taken:

i) All major Service Providers will target to handle IPv6 traffic and offer IPv6 services by December-2011
ii) All Central and State government ministries and departments, including its PSUs, shall start using IPv6 services by March-2012.
iii) Formation of IPv6 Task Force

An India IPv6 Task Force Task Force headed by Secretary (T) was formed and has a 3-tier structure consisting of Oversight Committee, Steering Committee and 10 Working Groups. Each tier has members from different organizations / stakeholders in PPP mode.

The current version of the Internet Protocol IPv4 has many limitations. The biggest limitation is its 32-bit addressing space resulting in about 4.3 billion IP addresses. The rapid growth of internet, wireless subscribers and deployment of NGN technology has accelerated consumption of IP addresses with the result that IPv4 addresses are almost exhausted today. To overcome this problem of shortage, Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) way back in early 1990s. The IPv6 improves on the addressing capacities of IPv4 by using 128 bits addressing instead of 32 bits, thereby practically making available an almost infinite pool of IP addresses. Besides, it also offers several other advantages over IPv4. IPv6 has been designed with many new features which make it possible to develop entirely new applications which are not possible in the IPv4 protocol, supports end-to-end security, autoconfiguration simplifies network configuration and IP Host Mobility etc.

There was a need to have IPv6 test bed in India so that the vendors and stakeholders can test their equipments for IPv6 compatibility and readiness. Accordingly, a IPv6 test bed has been installed by Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), a technical wing of DoT, to foster explicit IPv6 harmonisation across the entire ecosystem.

To address the various problems being faced by the stakeholders regarding IP address allocation from APNIC, the National Internet Registry (NIR) has been approved by APNIC in India for allocation of IPv6 address in a systematic manner with a big pool to cater to all future requirements and will start functioning shortly.
[size=xx-small]PIB: (Release ID :84697)[/size]

Giant Black Hole Kicked Out of Home Galaxy

by rakesh | Jun 4, 2012 | Science & Technology

“It’s hard to believe that a supermassive black hole weighing millions of times the mass of the sun could be moved at all, let alone kicked out of a galaxy at enormous speed,” said Francesca Civano of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), who led the new study. “But these new data support the idea that gravitational waves — ripples in the fabric of space first predicted by Albert Einstein but never detected directly — can exert an extremely powerful force.”

Although the ejection of a supermassive black hole from a galaxy by recoil because more gravitational waves are being emitted in one direction than another is likely to be rare, it nevertheless could mean that there are many giant black holes roaming undetected out in the vast spaces between galaxies.

“These black holes would be invisible to us,” said co-author Laura Blecha, also of CfA, “because they have consumed all of the gas surrounding them after being thrown out of their home galaxy.”

Civano and her group have been studying a system known as CID-42, located in the middle of a galaxy about 4 billion light years away. They had previously spotted two distinct, compact sources of optical light in CID-42, using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

More optical data from the ground-based Magellan and Very Large Telescopes in Chile supplied a spectrum (that is, the distribution of optical light with energy) that suggested the two sources in CID-42 are moving apart at a speed of at least 3 million miles per hour.

Previous Chandra observations detected a bright X-ray source likely caused by super-heated material around one or more supermassive black holes. However, they could not distinguish whether the X-rays came from one or both of the optical sources because Chandra was not pointed directly at CID-42, giving an X-ray source that was less sharp than usual.

“The previous data told us that there was something special going on, but we couldn’t tell if there were two black holes or just one,” said another co-author Martin Elvis, also of CfA. “We needed new X-ray data to separate the sources.”

When Chandra’s sharp High Resolution Camera was pointed directly at CID-42, the resulting data showed that X-rays were coming only from one of the sources. The team thinks that when two galaxies collided, the supermassive black holes in the center of each galaxy also collided. The two black holes then merged to form a single black hole that recoiled from gravitational waves produced by the collision, which gave the newly merged black hole a sufficiently large kick for it to eventually escape from the galaxy. The other optical source is thought to be the bright star cluster that was left behind. This picture is consistent with recent computer simulations of merging black holes, which show that merged black holes can receive powerful kicks from the emission of gravitational waves.

There are two other possible explanations for what is happening in CID-42. One would involve an encounter between three supermassive black holes, resulting in the lightest one being ejected. Another idea is that CID-42 contains two supermassive black holes spiraling toward one another, rather than one moving quickly away.

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Both of these alternate explanations would require at least one of the supermassive black holes to be very obscured, since only one bright X-ray source is observed. Thus the Chandra data support the idea of a black hole recoiling because of gravitational waves.

The source is located in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field, a large, multi-wavelength survey. The other co-authors are Giorgio Lanzuisi (CfA), Thomas Aldcroft (CfA), Markos Trichas (CfA), Angela Bongiorno (Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPIA), Garching, Germany), Marcella Brusa (MPIA), Andrea Comastri (National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Bologna, Italy), Avi Loeb (CfA), Mara Salvato (MPIA), Antonella Fruscione (CfA), Anton Koekemoer (Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD), Stefanie Komossa (Max-Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Garching, Germany), Roberto Gilli (INAF, Bologna, Italy), Vincenzo Mainieri (XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre, ESA, Madrid, Spain), Enrico Piconcelli (University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy), and Cristian Vignali (Max-Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany).

These results will appear in the June 10 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., controls Chandra’s science and flight operations.

For Chandra images, multimedia and related materials, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/chandra

For an additional interactive image, podcast, and video on the finding, visit:
http://chandra.si.edu

New Science Museums in India

by rakesh | Jan 8, 2010 | Science & Technology

[size=xx-small][Source: PIB][/size]

Stereoscopic 3D HD to Home

by rakesh | Jan 5, 2010 | Science & Technology

Next3D has Stereoscopic 3D Full high definition encoding and player technology for nearly every platform: PCs, Mac, Xbox 360, PS3, Blu-ray disc and television set top boxes. Content encoded with Next3D’s enabling technology delivers full stereoscopic 3D in 1080P high-definition to the home over a broadband, cable or satellite TV connection. Next3D has demonstrated its proven technology to the videogame industry, Hollywood studios and broadcasters.

“We are uniquely positioned to provide turnkey or customizable solutions to our partners with proprietary stereo 3D encoding and playback technology that works flawlessly with off-the-shelf components already in the market and in millions of homes,” said Steve Heyer, Chairman of Next3D. “From movies to live sports to videogames, Next3D encoding delivers a stunning and immersive 3D HD experience to the living room.”

Next3D will be showcasing its technology on the NVIDIA 3D Vision System at the 2010 Consumer Electronic Show, January 7-10. NVIDIA’s widely-distributed 3D Vision technology brings immersive 3D gaming, movies, photographs, and Web browsing to personal computers. NVIDA Booth, Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall 4 #35912.

[size=xx-small][SOURCE Next3D via PRNEWSWIRE][/size]

IIT Kharagpur got Charles Babbage Grant from Synopsys

by rakesh | Sep 10, 2009 | Science & Technology

KHARAGPUR, India, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) , a world leader in software and IP for semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing, today announced that the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IITKGP) is the first institution of higher education in India to receive the Charles Babbage Grant from Synopsys. Through the grant, IITKGP receives licenses of Synopsys’ comprehensive electronic design automation (EDA) software and intellectual property. The grant also enables the Institute to purchase compute hardware for the planned Synopsys CAD Laboratory at IITKGP, which would focus exclusively on core EDA and CAD research. Although details are yet to be finalized, additional funding provided by Synopsys is planned to assist with the operational costs of the lab as Synopsys and IITKGP faculty collaborate on joint research goals and establish milestones to further expand VLSI education at the Institute. Synopsys also intends to provide support and training to the students working at the Synopsys CAD Laboratory to help them maximize their research efforts.

IIT Kharagpur and Synopsys have had strong and enriching research collaborations, especially related to verification methodologies, for close to a decade and a half. The two organizations have taken leading steps in fostering state-of-the-art education and research in the domain of VLSI and EDA. Synopsys was a co-founder in the Advanced VLSI (AVLSI) Design Laboratory at IIT Kharagpur and subsequently in the AVLSI Consortium, both being the first of their kind in India. The establishment of the Synopsys CAD Laboratory at IIT Kharagpur would further expand the collaboration between Synopsys and IIT Kharagpur, and extend the focus of their advanced and industry-relevant education and research beyond verification to other areas of core EDA.

“IIT Kharagpur and Synopsys have closely collaborated over the last decade to foster state-of-the-art research and education in the domains of VLSI and CAD,” said Dr. Partha P. Chakrabarti, professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering and Dean of the Sponsored Research & Industrial Consultancy at IIT Kharagpur. “We are further expanding this relationship by working to establish the Synopsys CAD Laboratory at IIT Kharagpur, which will be utilized for advanced, leading-edge research in the EDA space, including CAD. The Laboratory would not only serve as a platform for the creation of new methodologies and tools, but also allow students the opportunity to use the latest EDA technologies, thus helping to develop the next generation of industry leaders.” Dr. Chakrabarti continued, “At IIT Kharagpur, we greatly appreciate our time-tested, close collaboration with and support from Synopsys, and look forward to continuing to produce high-impact results with them.”

Access to industrial design tools for advanced research and microelectronic design is a common challenge facing universities today. Synopsys helps resolve this issue through initiatives like the Charles Babbage Grant and its Worldwide University Program, which provide select universities with design software for modern electronic design flows and leading IC fabrication processes. Previous grant recipients in the USA include Case Western Reserve University, North Carolina State University, Purdue University, San Jose State University, Southern Methodist University and Syracuse University. Other recipients include the Chinese Academy of Sciences in China, Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology in Russia and Southampton University in the United Kingdom.

Chi-Foon Chan, president and COO at Synopsys, formally opened the Synopsys CAD Laboratory during a September 8th ceremony at IIT Kharagpur and delivered an invited Institute Lecture to students and faculty.

“Many of the early EDA pioneering efforts in India were carried out by a handful of technologists, many of whom have their roots at IIT Kharagpur. Synopsys has been working very closely with IIT Kharagpur for longer than a decade on verification-related challenges,” commented Manoj Gandhi, senior vice president and general manager of the Verification Group at Synopsys. “Through the Charles Babbage Grant and our expanded scope of collaboration, Synopsys will help enable the university to further its reputation as a leading academic institution and give its students access to the latest EDA tools and equipment.”

“Synopsys India has been actively associated with IIT Kharagpur through the inception of the Advanced VLSI Laboratory, Advanced VLSI Consortium and now the Synopsys CAD Laboratory,” added Pradip Dutta, corporate vice president and managing director of Synopsys India. “We intend to use this grant to help carry out research in multiple areas of EDA tools and also enable IIT Kharagpur to enhance its reach in the field of VLSI education.”

About the Charles Babbage Grant

The Charles Babbage Grant provides select universities worldwide with state-of-the-art EDA tools, training, support and technology. It enables institutions of higher education to enhance their expertise in microelectronics circuits and system design. Use of the Synopsys tools on modern, powerful computers from the grant helps universities to better prepare their graduates for the future by providing hands-on experience with current industry practices, modern design techniques, and actual design tools and compute hardware. This enhances their understanding of how learning applies to the real world of IC design. The grant is named after British mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage, who designed and built mechanical computing machines on principles that anticipated the modern electronic computers of today over 150 years ago. For more information about the Synopsys Worldwide University Program, visit us at http://www.synopsys.com/Community/UniversityProgram/Pages/default.aspx.

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys’ comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, software-to-silicon verification and time to results. These technology leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has more than 65 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com/.

About the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur was set up by an Act of Parliament and was formally inaugurated in the year 1951. As the oldest and most diversified among the IITs, this institute is synonymous with the world famous “IIT System.” Today, IIT Kharagpur has come a long way to its present position of pre-eminence with nineteen departments, seven centres, seven schools of excellence and several sophisticated laboratories and central facilities. The institute has the student strength of about 8,000, faculty strength of more than 500 and a large base of supporting staff. In the recent convocation the institute awarded more than 1,600 degrees including about 600 Bachelor’s degrees, 800 Master’s degrees and 228 Ph.D degrees. Recently it has ventured into intellectual property law and medical science and technology. It has carried out sponsored research worth more than Rs.171 crores in the last financial year.

Synopsys is a registered trademark of Synopsys, Inc. Any other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of their respective owners.