New 3U VPX Single Board Computer from GE Improves Throughput While Reducing Thermal Footprint

Press release:

08 May 2012

New 3U VPX Single Board Computer from GE Improves Throughput While Reducing Thermal Footprint

 

• SBC325 takes advantage of new3rd Generation Intel® Core™ quad core processor technology
• x16 PCI Express® GPGPU connectivity allows development of High Performance Embedded Computing (HPEC) applications
• Cost-effective upgrade path for existing users

HUNTSVILLE, AL — May 8, 2012— GE Intelligent Platforms today announced a new rugged single board computer (SBC) based on the latest 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ quad core processor technology. The SBC325 brings substantially increased processing performance to customers using the 3U VPX form factor to develop and deploy demanding industrial and mil/aero applications such as command/control, ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance), radar/sonar and signal processing.

3rd Generation Intel Core processors not only offer enhanced performance per watt but can also maintain full performance at more elevated temperatures than the previous generation – offering an opportunity for the development of new capabilities in small form factor applications.

Provision of either a mezzanine XMC/PMC site for optimum flexibility and expandability or a quad fat-pipe (x16 PCI Express®) for highest performance connectivity to GPGPUs makes the SBC325 an exceptionally versatile platform suitable for a wide range of High Performance Embedded Computing (HPEC) applications.

“Many of our customers are working on demanding applications that are highly constrained in terms of size, weight and power – and the 3U VPX SBC325 provides an outstanding solution,” said Rod Rice, General Manager, Military & Aerospace Products, GE Intelligent Platforms. “The improved thermal performance of the new Intel processor helps to deliver improved response times and throughput and reduce the thermal footprint of a solution - or reduce the number of boards required in a system, minimizing its size and weight.”

The new OpenVPX platform – which is 100% compatible with the previous two generations in GE’s 3U VPXcel3 family - makes for a cost-effective, straightforward upgrade path for existing users.

The SBC325 is available in five build levels, from benign (air cooled) to fully rugged (conduction cooled) to provide customers with optimum price/performance.

The SBC325 is offered initially with the 2.1GHz Intel Core i7-3612QE processor featuring Intel Advanced Vector Extensions (Intel AVX), up to 8GBytes of DDR3 memory and a solid state disk drive of up to 32GBytes capacity. These enhanced capabilities are complemented by a broad range of I/O options including Gigabit Ethernet, SATA, USB and audio.

Supported operating systems include Windows® 7, Open Linux®, Wind River Linux and VxWorks®.

For more information, see: http://defense.ge-ip.com/products/3641
To download a data sheet, go to: http://defense.ge-ip.com/account/download/13183/3641
A high res image can be found at:www.genewscenter.com/imagelibrary/detail.asp?MediaDetailsID=4662

About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.

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IBM and Hydro One Team to Improve the Power Grid in Ontario

Smarter technologies to be tested on Hydro One's distribution power grid

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ARMONK, N.Y. and TORONTO - 27 Mar 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) and its Business Partner Telvent announced that they have been selected by Hydro One, the largest distributor of electricity in Ontario (Canada), for a new smart grid project that will help transform the province's electrical system. Together, the companies will run simulations and tests to determine the smart grid technologies that have the potential to improve power efficiency and reliability.

Installed in the 1950s, many components of Ontario's current electricity distribution system have reached the end of their service life. More recently, technological advancements, provincial governmental policy, market forces and increased environmental awareness have added pressure to the demands on Ontario's electricity distribution system.

"As equipment on our distribution system ages, it needs to be replaced. This creates an opportunity to create a world-class network with new, intelligent and sophisticated technologies to meet the changing needs of our customers," Rick Stevens, Vice President, Asset Management, Hydro One. "Our collaboration with IBM and Telvent will help Hydro One assess the next generation of distribution equipment and make the right choices for our customers looking for more reliable electricity, particularly in rural areas."

The Advanced Distribution System (ADS) project will help the utility identify and assess equipment, test new delivery models for electricity, validate the costs and benefits anticipated with a new smart grid and recommend changes to cost effectively modernize Ontario's distribution system.

The project intends to enable an increased amount of Distributed Generation into the grid as well as help increase the reliability of the current distribution system and improve outage management during large scale situations. By taking advantage of the insights gained from new data sources based on analytics, Hydro One will be able to optimize energy utilization and management for greater efficiency while accommodating consumer demand.

"Utilities around the world are investigating new smart grid technologies to help solve complex challenges caused by an aging infrastructure and increasing demand," said Guido Bartels, General Manager of IBM's Energy & Utilities Industry and Chairman of the Global Smart Grid Federation. "Together with Hydro One, we are paving the way for transformation by testing new sophisticated monitoring and control technologies that will enable the integration of renewable energy in the distribution grid while improving its reliability and responsiveness, and ensuring customer satisfaction. This will prepare Hydro One and the province of Ontario for further growth and deliver more affordable and reliable renewable energy for Ontarians."

As the overall system integrator, IBM will provide expertise in smart grid technologies, planning and implementation to oversee the reliability of the network solution. Hydro One will use the Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS), from Telvent, a real-time solution that will provide complete functionality for planning, operation and analysis of its distribution system. This will allow Hydro One to more accurately manage and plan their grid investments.

According to Telvent's Chairman and CEO, Ignacio Gonzalez, "In addition to the ADMS solution, Hydro One will benefit from the strategic collaboration between Telvent and IBM. Over the years, we have provided solutions to several large utilities to help make mid-project technology adjustments while increasing the speed of the solution development."

The project is in line with the requirements of Ontario's Green Energy and Green Economy 2009 Act ("GEGEA"), which fosters the growth of renewable and cleaner sources of energy while promoting a greener economy.

About Hydro One Hydro One provides services to 1.2 million residents of Ontario with the vast majority of its rural customers in low-density areas. Hydro One is the largest distributor of electricity with about 120,000 km of distribution lines over a rural service territory of about 640,000 square kilometers covering 75% of the province.

About IBM

IBM is involved in more than 150 smart grid engagements around the world, in both mature and emerging markets. IBM is the founding member of the Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition, a unique collaboration of utilities from around the globe who are working to accelerate the use of smart grid technologies and move the industry forward through its most challenging transformation. More about IBM's vision to bring a new level of intelligence to how the world works—how every person, business, organization, government, natural system, and man-made system interacts, can be found here: http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet. 

For more information about Smarter Energy at IBM, please visit:www.ibm.com/press/smarterenergy. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

IBM Names Worldwide Recipients of 2012 Smarter Cities Grants

IBM Names Worldwide Recipients of 2012 Smarter Cities Challenge Grants to Improve Urban Life

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ARMONK, N.Y. - 15 Mar 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today selected 33 cities worldwide to receive IBM Smarter Cities Challenge (#smartercities) grants during 2012.

Launched in 2011, this three-year, 100-city US$50 million program, IBM's single-largest philanthropic initiative, funds in-person engagements staffed by teams of top IBM experts, who study and then make detailed recommendations addressing locally important urban issues.

(Go here to read about the experience of one mayor whose city earned an IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant in 2011.) 

For year-two of the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge, cities around the world once again competed vigorously to benefit from IBM's human talent and technology. The winning cities proposed intriguing projects and areas of focus for IBM experts. They included initiatives for: 

·        Economic and Workforce Development -- attracting a diverse variety of jobs and industries

·        Transportation -- integrating bus, rail, bicycle, car and pedestrian modes of transportation

·        Sustainability -- measuring vehicle miles traveled more precisely to help lower pollution levels

·        Health -- using inhaler and air quality data to identify and reduce asthma outbreaks

·        Education -- applying data analytics to identify the most effective investments for improving an entire school system

·        Urban Planning- - revitalizing and redeveloping older neighborhoods  

Following are the cities that earned IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grants in 2012:  

Accra, Ghana

Ahmedabad, India

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Birmingham, UK

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Cheongju, Korea

Chonburi, Thailand

Curitiba, Brazil

Da Nang, Vietnam

Dortmund, Germany

Durham, North Carolina, USA

Eindhoven, Netherlands

Geraldton, Australia

Houston, Texas, USA

Ishinomaki, Japan

Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Jurong Lake District, Singapore

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Malaga, Spain

Medellin, Colombia

New Taipei City, Taiwan

Nanjing, China

Nairobi, Kenya

Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Pune, India

Rabat, Morocco

Rosario, Argentina

Siracusa, Italy

Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

Tshwane, South Africa

Toluca, Mexico

While the proposed projects were diverse, a common denominator was the willingness to exchange ideas and data freely between and among citizens, elected officials, non-profits, businesses, and city agencies so cities could make more informed and collaborative decisions.

To that end, IBM will provide special assistance to each winning city on the use of City Forward (http://www.cityforward.org), a free online site IBM created with public policy experts. Citizens, elected officials and urban planners can use the site to explore trends and statistics in a visual and accessible way, which can be adapted for the examination of any number of urban issues -- leading to better decision making. 

"The cities that have been selected are all different, but they have one clear similarity: the strong personal commitment by the city's leadership to put in place the changes needed to help the city make smarter decisions," said Stanley S. Litow, IBM vice president of Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, and President of IBM's Foundation. "These cities demonstrated a desire to set an example for other municipalities, an eagerness to collaborate with multiple stakeholders, and a strong commitment to consider implementing recommendations the city felt would be the most feasible and beneficial to their residents." 

Recommendations made by IBM to 24 year-one Smarter Cities Challenge grant recipients in 2011, and to seven pilot cities in 2010, are already making a real impact. For instance, as a direct result of IBM's work, the following cities have made public policy changes or launched important new initiatives that address longstanding issues. These include: 

·        Glasgow, Scotland (UK) is now subsidizing the heating bills of some of its seniors with the proceeds of clean-energy projects

·        Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (USA) has signed agreements with all its municipalities to develop a consolidated capital budget planning process

·        St. Louis, Missouri (USA) now more systematically coordinates efforts among agencies that touch public safety

·        Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA) fine-tuned a lifetime-learning initiative that promotes ongoing workforce development for better jobs

·        Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) now analyzes traffic data more rigorously to improve road safety

·        Chicago, Illinois (USA) will partner with corporations to open five technology schools this autumn that blend high school and community college and which provide marketable skills  

For a more in-depth discussion about the successful formulas employed by cities that want to become smarter, please click here.  

The need to use new approaches to address civic challenges has never been greater. In 2008, according to the United Nations, more than half the world's population began living in cities for the first time. These population centers are more economically powerful, politically influential, and technologically advanced than at any time in history. But they also struggle with budgetary and operational challenges.  

IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge is an outgrowth of IBM's Corporate Service Corps grants program, in which IBM deploys teams of top employees to areas in the developing world to work on projects that intersect business, technology, and society. Since the launch of Corporate Service Corps in 2008, nearly 1,400 IBM employees based in 50 countries have been dispatched on more than 140 team assignments in 24 countries. 

The Smarter Cities Challenge is sponsored by IBM's Corporate Citizenship program and IBM’s International Foundation. IBM has been a leader in corporate social responsibility and citizenship for more than 100 years.  

To learn more about IBM's corporate citizenship initiatives, visit: http://www.citizenibm.com andhttp://www.youtube.com/user/citizenIBM.  Follow us on Twitter @citizenIBM  

To find out more about IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grants, please visit IBM’s Smarter Cities Challenge Web site, or watch an overview of our work on YouTube.