Google Chrome OS - sneak peek

Here is a sneak peak of the Google Chrome OS. Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks.  According to the official google blog, speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS.  Here is a slideshow of the OS as reviewed by PC Magazine:

http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l%253D246319%2526a%253D246243%2526po%253D1,00.asp

You can download and get involved in the development of the Chrome OS here. You need to have Linux. 
and have the following:

Ubuntu (Hardy 8.04 or newer, Karmic 9.10 recommended)
An account with root access (needed to run chroot and modify the mount table)
Chromium prerequisites (needed to build a Chromium-based browser as part of building Chromium OS)

Exhibition at Philconstruct

This week, the sales team had an exhibit at the SMX (SM exhibition center) featuring several product lines including, embedded DVRs, PC based DVRs, web based DIDO and central monitoring system.  Some of the pics are shown below

Above.  The Central Monitoring Station console

Camera and Audio visual presentation

A busy week for the team

Understanding a DVR

What are the major components of a DVR?  This is a diagram of a typical security DVR where you will see the major components starting with the CPU, the compression chip, video encoder and decoder and various sub systems.

Scalability

Scalability key to viability

Software capability determines product application and scale. Aside from the basic client software bundled with the units, some large and midsize companies also offer software development kits or SDKs. Certain designs even provide Wiegand for intercom with access control.Software compatibility, however, restricts product variety. With no official industry standard to solve equipment or platform mismatches, makers are limited to only a few available types of software and hardware.

Most DVS models from China are based on RISC CPU (ARM9) + ASIC or RISC CPU + DSP architecture, which is similar to embedded DVRs. DSP is mostly adopted in high-end products because of its flexibility. ASIC, which has lower cost and a shorter manufacturing period, is mostly used in low-end and midrange models.

The commonly utilized DSP solutions are TI’s DM64x, NXP’s PNX-1500 and 1700, ADI’s Blackfin BF53x and Equator’s BSP-15. ASIC solutions are sourced from HiSilicon, Faraday, Softlogic, Vweb and Nextchip. Of these, HiSilicon’s Hi3510 is widely adopted. Makers said it provides complete technology support at lower cost.

Adoption of SoC is also rapidly expanding, with some suppliers of ASIC and DSP solutions already promoting SoCs, such as HiSilicon’s Hi3510 and Hi3511, TI’s DaVinci platform and NXP’s PNX8550 and PNX8950.

One  SOC is SOLOs 6010

Softlogic has been developing security chips since 2002 and it has been developing all ASIC IP, embedded software for embedded system; DDK driver for PC based DVR and the hardware of reference boards.

SOLO6010the newest announced chip in Jan. 2007. SOLO6010 will be a main solution for the most security systems with 16channel video multiplexer, quadruple speed D1 MPEG4 video CODEC and quadruple speed D1 motion JPEG encoder. Application such as 4/8(9)/16 channel DVR/ NVS/PCI card can be developed easily, and different performance and cost effective solution with SOLO6010 platform.

Latest news from Techwell

Techwell Introduces Two Multi-Channel Video Decoder Solutions With Embedded PCI
Express Interface to Simplify Hardware Design

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 3, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Techwell, Inc. (Nasdaq:TWLL),
a leading designer of mixed signal video semiconductor solutions for the
security surveillance, automotive, and consumer electronics markets, today
announced two multi-channel video capture products, the TW6864 and the TW6868.
These devices feature Techwell's premium quality 4-in-1 video decoder technology
-- which has the best weak signal performance in the industry, four
high-performance audio ADCs, and an integrated PCI Express interface. This high
level of integration simplifies the PC DVR card hardware design and reduces
production costs.

Demonstrated at the CPSE show in Shenzhen, China earlier this week, the TW6864
and TW6868 take advantage of the significantly faster speed and overall larger
data bandwidth of the PCI Express interface -- a feature in high demand for
security surveillance systems utilizing a software compression PC DVR card.

The TW6864 and TW6868 support both real time and non-real time video and can
output multiple video resolutions including D1, half D1, and CIF, providing
maximum application flexibility. Techwell's proprietary video locking technology
enables a non-real time switching speed that is faster than competitive
products, allowing for the highest possible frame rate per channel. In addition,
both ICs contain a high-performance proprietary DMA controller that fully
utilizes the PCIe x1 bandwidth, enabling video and audio data transfer at an
optimal throughput rate.

The TW6864 can decode and transfer four channels of real time D1 video (up to 16
channels of non-real time video) and four channels of audio. In comparison, the
TW6868 can be cascaded with an external Techwell 4-in-1 decoder such as the
TW2865 to achieve eight channels of real time D1 video and 9 channels of audio.
In non-real time mode, the TW6868 (when combined with TW2865) can support up to
24 channels of video.

"The PCIe bus is becoming the dominant interface on the PC motherboard.
Fortunately, the TW6864 and TW6868 provide a versatile and scalable solution for
the software compression PC DVR card market," said David Nam, Techwell's VP of
sales and marketing. "Techwell has set the precedent for highly integrated
front-end surveillance video semiconductor solutions since 2001 and these two
new video decoder solutions demonstrate why we continue to be the market
leader."

About Techwell, Inc.

Techwell is a semiconductor company that designs, markets and sells mixed signal
integrated circuits for multiple video applications in the security
surveillance, automotive and consumer electronics markets. Techwell designs both
general purpose and application specific products that enable the conversion of
analog video signals to digital form and perform advanced digital video
processing to facilitate the display, storage and transport of video content.
Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Techwell currently has more than 200
employees in the U.S., Korea, Taiwan, China and Japan. More information is
available at http://www.techwellinc.com