Engineering Seminar Topics and Seminar Topics

Download Full Article Hyper-Threading

           Hyper-Threading technology is a groundbreaking innovation from Intel that enables multi-threaded server software applications to execute threads in parallel within each processor in a server platform. The Intel® Xeon™ processor family uses Hyper-Threading technology, along with the Intel® NetBurst™ microarchitecture, to increase compute power and throughput for today’s Internet, e-Business, and enterprise server applications. This level of threading technology has never been seen before in a general-purpose microprocessor. Hyper-Threading technology helps increase transaction rates, reduces end-user response times, and enhances business productivity providing a competitive edge to e-Businesses and the enterprise. The Intel® Xeon™ processor family for servers represents the next leap forward in processor design and performance by being the first Intel® processor to support thread-level parallelism on a single processor.

           With processor and application parallelism becoming more prevalent, today’s server platforms are increasingly turning to threading as a way of increasing overall system performance. Server applications have been threaded (split into multiple streams of instructions) to take advantage of multiple processors. Multi-processing-aware operating systems can schedule these threads for processing in parallel, across multiple processors within the server system. These same applications can run unmodified on the Intel® Xeon™ processor family for servers and take advantage of thread-level-parallelism on each processor in the system. Hyper-Threading technology complements traditional multi-processing by offering greater parallelism and performance headroom for threaded software.

Overview of Hyper-Threading Technology

         Hyper-Threading technology is a form of simultaneous multi-threading technology (SMT), where multiple threads of software applications can be run simultaneously on one processor. This is achieved by duplicating the architectural state on each processor, while sharing one set of processor execution resources. The architectural state tracks the flow of a program or thread, and the execution resources are the units on the processor that do the work: add, multiply, load, etc.

         Dual-processing (DP) server applications in the areas of Web serving, search engines, security, streaming media, departmental or small business databases, and e- mail/file/print can realize benefits from Hyper-Threading technology using Intel® Xeon™ processor-based servers.

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Download Full Article Computer memory based on the protein bacterio-rhodopsin

        Since the dawn of time, man has tried to record important events and techniques for everyday life. At first, it was sufficient to paint on the family cave wall how one hunted. Then came the people who invented spoken languages and the need arose to record what one was saying without hearing it firsthand. Therefore, years later, earlier scholars invented writing to convey what was being said. Pictures gave way to letters which represented spoken sounds. Eventually clay tablets gave way to parchment, which gave way to paper. Paper was, and still is, the main way people convey information. However, in the mid twentieth century computers began to come into general use . . .

        Computers have gone through their own evolution in storage media. In the forties, fifties, and sixties, everyone who took a computer course used punched cards to give the computer information and store data. In 1956, researchers at IBM developed the first disk storage system. This was called RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control)

        Since the days of punch cards, computer manufacturers have strived to squeeze more data into smaller spaces. That mission has produced both competing and complementary data storage technology including electronic circuits, magnetic media like hard disks and tape, and optical media such as compact disks.

        Today, companies constantly push the limits of these technologies to improve their speed, reliability, and throughput — all while reducing cost. The fastest and most expensive storage technology today is based on electronic storage in a circuit such as a solid state “disk drive” or flash RAM. This technology is getting faster and is able to store more information thanks to improved circuit manufacturing techniques that shrink the sizes of the chip features. Plans are underway for putting up to a gigabyte of data onto a single chip.

        Magnetic storage technologies used for most computer hard disks are the most common and provide the best value for fast access to a large storage space. At the low end, disk drives cost as little as 25 cents per megabyte and provide access time to data in ten milliseconds. Drives can be ganged to improve reliability or throughput in a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID). Magnetic tape is somewhat slower than disk, but it is significantly cheaper per megabyte. At the high end, manufacturers are starting to ship tapes that hold 40 gigabytes of data. These can be arrayed together into a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Tapes (RAIT), if the throughput needs to be increased beyond the capability of one drive.

        For randomly accessible removable storage, manufacturers are beginning to ship low-cost cartridges that combine the speed and random access of a hard drive with the low cost of tape. These drives can store from 100 megabytes to more than one gigabyte per cartridge.

        Standard compact disks are also gaining a reputation as an incredibly cheap way of delivering data to desktops. They are the cheapest distribution medium around when purchased in large quantities ($1 per 650 megabyte disk). This explains why so much software is sold on CD-ROM today. With desktop CD-ROM recorders, individuals are able to publish their own CD-ROMs.

        With existing methods fast approaching their limits, it is no wonder that a number of new storage technologies are developing. Currently, researches are looking at protien-based memory to compete with the speed of electronic memory, the reliability of magnetic hard-disks, and the capacities of optical/magnetic storage. We contend that three-dimensional optical memory devices made from bacteriorhodopsin utilizing the two photon read and write-method is such a technology with which the future of memory lies.

    In a prototype memory system, bacteriorhodopsin stores data in a 3-D matrix. The matrix can be build by placing the protein into a cuvette (a transparent vessel) filled with a polyacrylamide gel. The protein, which is in the bR state, gets fixed in by the polymerization of the gel. A battery of Krypton lasers and a charge-injection device (CID) array surround the cuvette and are used to write and read data.

        While a molecule changes states within microseconds, the combined steps to read or write operation take about 10 milliseconds. However like the holographic storage, this device obtains data pages in parallel, so a 10 Mbps is possible. This speed is similar to that of slow semiconductor memory.

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Download Full Article  Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines

          ADSL technology is asymmetric. It allows more bandwidth downstream –from an NSP’s central office to customer site – than upstream from the subscriber to the central office. This asymmetry, companied with always-on access (which eliminates call setup), makes ADSL ideal for Internet/intranet surfing, video- on –demand, and remote LAN access. Uses of this application typically download much more information than they send.

             ADSL transmits more than 6 Mbps to a subscriber, and as much as 640Kbps more in both directions. Such rate expands existing access capacity by a factor of 50 or more with out new cabling. ADSL can literally transform the existing public information network from one limited to voice, text, and low-resolution graphics to a powerful, ubiquitous system capable of bringing multimedia, including full motion video, to every home this century.

           ADSL will play a crucial role over the next decade or more as telephone companies enter new markets for delivery information in video and multimedia formats. New broadband cabling will take decades to reach all prospective subscribers. Success of these new services will depend on reaching as many subscribers as possible during the first few years. By bringing movies, television, video catalogs, remote CD-ROMs, corporate LANs and the internet into homes and small businesses, ADSL will makes these markets viable and profitable for telephone company and application suppliers.

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Download Full Article Computer Forensic

The proliferation of computer use in today’s networked society is creating some complex side effects in the application of the age-old greed, jealousy, and revenge. Criminals are becoming much more sophisticated in committing crimes. Computers are being encountered in almost every type of criminal activity. Gangs use computers to clone mobile telephones and to re-encode credit cards. Drug dealers use computers to store their transaction ledgers. Child pornography distributors use the Internet to peddle and trade their wares. Fraud schemes have been advertised on the Internet. Counterfeiters and forgers use computers to make passable copies of paper currency or counterfeit cashiers checks, and to create realistic looking false identification. In addition, information stored in computers has become the target of criminal activity. Information such as social security and credit card numbers, intellectual property, proprietary information, contract information, classified documents, etc., have been targeted. Further, the threat of malicious destruction of software, employee sabotage, identity theft, blackmail, sexual harassment, and commercial and government espionage is on the rise. Personnel problems are manifesting themselves in the automated environment with inappropriate or unauthorized use complaints resulting in lawsuits against employers as well as loss of proprietary information costing millions of dollars. All of this has led to an explosion in the number and complexity of computers and computer systems encountered in the course of criminal or internal investigations and the subsequent seizure of computer systems and stored electronic communications.

                Computer evidence has become a ‘fact of life’ for essentially all law enforcement agencies and many are just beginning to explore their options in dealing with this new venue. Almost overnight, personal computers have changed the way the world does business. They have also changed the world’s view of evidence because computers are used more and more as tools in the commission of ‘traditional’ crimes. Evidence relative to embezzlement, theft, extortion and even murder has been discovered on personal computers. This new technology twist in crime patterns has brought computer evidence to the forefront in law enforcement circles.

WHAT IS COMPUTER FORENSICS?

                Computer forensics is simply the application of disciplined investigative techniques in the automated environment and the search, discovery, and analysis of potential evidence. It is the method used to investigate and analyze data maintained on or retrieved from electronic data storage media for the purposes of presentation in a court of law, civil or administrative proceeding. Evidence may be sought in a wide range of computer crime or misuse cases.

                Computer forensics is rapidly becoming a science recognized on a par with other forensic sciences by the legal and law enforcement communities. As this trend continues, it will become even more important to handle and examine computer evidence properly. Not every department or organization has the resources to have trained computer forensic specialists on staff.

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Download Full Article RESILIENT_PACKET_RING_TECHN

An important trend in networking is the migration of packet-based technologies from local Area Networks to Metropolitan Area Networks. The rapidly increasing volume of data traffic in metro networks is challenging the capacity limits of existing transport infrastructures based on circuit-oriented technologies like SONET and ATM. Inefficiencies associated with carrying increasing quantities of data traffic over voice-optimized circuit-switched networks makes it difficult to provision new services, and increases the cost of building additional capacity beyond the limits of most carriers’ capital expense budgets. Packet-based transport technology, a natural fit with the now ubiquitous IP protocol, is considered by many to be the only alternative for scaling metro networks to meet the demand.

The emerging solution for metro data transport applications is Packet Ring technology. It offers two key features that have heretofore been exclusive to  SONET: efficient support for ring topology and fast recovery from fiber cuts and link failures. At the same time, Packet Ring technology can provide data efficiency, simplicity, and cost advantages that are typical to Ethernet. Even though there is currently no standard for Packet Rings operating at Gigabit speeds and higher, many vendors are developing and introducing Packet Ring technologies to address this emerging market.

                To be a viable contender for data transport in the MAN, Packet Ring technology should provide support for multi-Gigabit data speeds and integrate seamlessly with existing Ethernet and SONET networks. Packet Ring solutions should be available in various form factors and link speeds, and at prices that are competitive with Ethernet. Finally, an industry standard that defines the link layer.

Packet Rings needs to be developed to achieve vendor interoperability and customer acceptance.

Limitations of SONET and Ethernet

SONET

Most metro area fiber is in ring form. Ring topology is a natural match for SONET-based TDM networks that constitute the bulk of existing metro network infrastructure. However, there are well-known disadvantages to using SONET for transporting data traffic (or point-to-point SONET data solutions, like Packet over SONET [POS]). SONET was designed for point-to-point, circuit-switched applications (e.g. voice traffic), and most of limitations stem from these origins. Here are some of the disadvantages of using SONET Rings for data transport:

Fixed Circuits.

SONET provisions point-to-point circuits between ring nodes. Each circuit is allocated a fixed amount of bandwidth that is wasted when not used. For the SONET network that is used for access in Figure 2 (left), each node on the ring is allocated only one quarter of the ring’s total bandwidth (say, OC-3 each on an OC-12 ring). That fixed allocation puts a limit on the maximum burst traffic data transfer rate between endpoints. This is a disadvantage for data traffic, which is inherently bursty.

Waste of Bandwidth for Meshing.

If the network design calls for a logical mesh, (right), the network designer must divide the OC-12 of ring bandwidth into 10 provisioned circuits. Provisioning the circuits necessary to create a logical mesh over a SONET Ring is not only difficult but also results in extremely inefficient use of ring bandwidth. As the amount of data traffic that stays within metro networks is increasing, a fully meshed network that is easy to deploy, maintain and upgrade is becoming an important requirement.

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