Posted 09/22/08 at 01:49:11 PM by Michael Brown

In one second, the nuclear fusion process taking place inside the sun produces enough energy to satisfy the needs of the earth’s population for nearly 500,000 years. Photovoltaic cells are capable of capturing some of that energy and converting it into usable electricity; unfortunately, today’s technology can’t do this very efficiently.

French physicist Edmond Becquerel first described the photovoltaic effect in 1839. He discovered that some materials were capable of producing small amounts of electricity when exposed to sunlight. The first photovoltaic cell, however, wasn’t created until 1883, and more than 70 years passed before the next major scientific advance took place, when researchers at Bell Labs developed the first crystalline silicon photovoltaic cell in 1954.

More on the solar cell after the jump!

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white paper, michael brown, r&d, solar panel, Science, photovoltaic cells

Posted 09/16/08 at 01:11:36 AM by Michael Brown

We invariably refer to the video memory in modern videocards as GDDR, differentiating it only by version (GDDR2, GDDR3, GDDR4, and now GDDR5), but the technology’s full acronym is actually GDDR SDRAM, which stands for Graphics Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.

“Double data rate” describes the memory’s capacity for double-pumping data: Transfers occur on both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal. This endows memory clocked at 800MHz with an effective data-transfer rate of 1.6GHz. “Synchronous” refers to the memory’s ability to operate in time with the computer’s system bus. This allows the memory to accept a new instruction without having to wait for a previous instruction to be processed, a practice known as instruction pipelining.

Think you know everything about GDDR? Read on.

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hardware, in the lab, white paper, michael brown, r&d, features, gddr memory

Posted 07/21/08 at 06:42:14 PM by Zack Stern

The shiny, new hatchback you nudge in a street race dents slightly on the driver’s side door. Although you’re playing a PC game, created with beaucoup equations, the bend looks almost real. The 3D renderer sculpts all those numbers into images, with help from the video API (application program interface). However, several completely different rendering techniques can be the source of those images. Currently, the hardware and software industries are debating how to best utilize two graphics-rendering techniques: ray tracing and rasterization.

Hit the jump to see how 3D game rendering is changing with hardware advancements. 

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cpu, gpu, 3D gaming, 3D animations, white paper, r&d, pixel, raster, ray tracing, rays

Posted 07/08/08 at 02:01:31 PM by Zack Stern

We tend to take things for granted when they work exceptionally well. Take Ethernet, for instance; it’s almost magical: Plug a simple cable into a computer, and it can exchange data with another rig—or many others. Peek behind the curtain and you’ll discover a brilliantly simple yet continually evolving networking system.

But let's make one thing clear: Ethernet technology doesn't actually contain ether.

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Ethernet, white paper, features, how it works

Posted 05/27/08 at 03:33:29 PM by Gord Goble

RFID: modern marvel or an easy way for Big Brother to keep tabs on us?

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white paper, features, rfid, radio frequency

Posted 04/29/08 at 03:29:47 PM by Zack Stern

These technological beasties can take on lives of their own—much like their biological namesakes

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virus, white paper, r&d, features

Posted 03/30/08 at 03:01:57 PM by Zack Stern

Hollywood math: HDCP + AACS = PITA²

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drm, encryption, mpaa, copy protection, HDCP, bd+, aacs, slysoft, anydvd

Posted 03/03/08 at 02:38:24 PM by Zack Stern

It's finally time to put that old rig down, but what happens to your PC in the afterlife?

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white paper, r&d, computer recycling