The compatibility testing of SDN-based equipment using OpenFlow protocol

End-to-end quality of service for video telephony over 4G mobile networks

End-to-end quality of service for voice over 4G mobile networks

When it comes to testing your user experiences, there are plenty of methods you can use that will get you the information you need. From interviews to assistive technology testing, these methods offer a more streamlined and beneficial process capable of revealing the insights you need to revolutionize your UX. But how can you know […]

The post Testing: User, Usability, and Others You Should Be Using appeared first on Usability Geek

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, fueled by the internet of things (IoT), is dramatically reshaping the manufacturing landscape. This new era, often referred to as Industry 4.0, integrates advanced digital technologies with traditional manufacturing processes, creating a highly automated and interconnected production environment. From factory floors to our daily lives, sensors are now ubiquitous, connecting disparate systems and driving unprecedented innovation and advancements in productivity, efficiency, and automation.

Our nation’s mobility ecosystem is now in the early innings of a similar transformation. Simply put, the mobility ecosystem can be defined as the critical infrastructure—physical and digital—that touches people’s lives every day. It’s where vehicles get fueled, charged, washed, serviced, and repaired. And it’s where travelers get their necessities.

Modernization of the convenience store

This industry is becoming increasingly complex. And as driver expectations evolve, technology advances and a multi-energy future takes shape, there is an urgent need to digitize, connect, and optimize these operations. One prime example of this need is the modern convenience store.

These stores are becoming go-to destinations and now offer a range of essential services, including fueling, charging, car wash, craveable food, beverages, and other on-the-go staples. A recent survey by Vontier found that American drivers are not only prioritizing convenience and a one-stop-shop experience but are also willing to pay more and even drive a little out of their way to get it. Nearly 60% of respondents indicated they would be happy to pay a markup on convenience store products if it meant making only one stop. This suggests a growing consumer demand for convenience and efficiency that aligns with the broader trends of digital transformation. However, many of these assets and services still operate in silos like they did decades ago, missing out on valuable data and insights that could enhance efficiency and revenue.

Imagine a future where the early morning rush at a bustling convenience store is seamlessly orchestrated. The store owner, feeling confident and prepared, watches as her employees anticipate the familiar routine. An Amazon delivery driver rolls in for his usual fill-up and coffee, while a family on their way to the beach picks up sandwiches to go while charging their electric vehicle (EV). Behind the scenes, linked payment systems can make this a reality, streamlining transactions and providing valuable data insights. By leveraging advanced analytics, businesses—from large convenience store chains like Circle K, 7-Eleven, Wawa, and Sheetz, to the small family-run businesses—can understand driver behavior, tailor offerings for digital-savvy consumers, track asset usage, optimize maintenance, avoid downtime, anticipate trends, improve workflows, and perhaps most importantly, exceed customer expectations and improve customer loyalty.

The commercial fleet market

A similar transformation is happening in the commercial/industrial fleet vehicle market. As the industry looks to modernize and decarbonize, integrating traditionally disparate systems and data can help fleets make better, quicker decisions and improve their key performance metrics. Managing mixed fleets (gas, diesel, natural gas, EV, and hydrogen fuel types) and deciding the right time to transition fleets is a major challenge and requires multiple technologies and capabilities across telematics, route planning, fuel logistics, EV network management, and energy management. An integrated platform can help make recommendations on how to best manage and fuel fleets at the lowest total cost of ownership while helping achieve sustainability and compliance goals. It can also provide valuable visibility, planning, monitoring, reporting, and control across the entire fleet, optimizing operations and reducing costs.

It’s time for the mobility industry to seize this opportunity and pioneer a smarter, more sustainable and connected ecosystem. By leveraging IoT principles, we can digitize and improve operations, unlocking new revenue streams, improving customer experiences, and enhancing productivity, uptime, safety, and sustainability,

Industry 4.0 has paved the way. To achieve Mobility Ecosystem 4.0, we must break down the silos that have traditionally hindered progress. The stakes are nothing short of monumental: increased productivity, efficiency, and a more sustainable future for all. 

Mark Morelli is president and CEO of Vontier. 

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“The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti

Apple is using more of its excess cash to secure the future of its satellite services with Globalstar.

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After missing a chance to capitalize on the AI boom, "Samsung's profit has plunged," reports CNBC, and "around $126 billion has been wiped off its market value, according to data from S&P Capital IQ." It's gotten so bad that "an executive issued a rare public apology about the company's recent financial performance." [A]s AI applications such as OpenAI's ChatGPT rose in popularity, the underlying infrastructure required to train the huge models they rely on became a bigger focus. Nvidia has emerged as the top player in this space with its graphics processing units (GPUs) that have become the gold standard used by tech giants for AI training. A crucial part of that semiconductor architecture is high-bandwidth memory, or HBM. This next generation of memory involves stacking multiple dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, but it had a small market before the AI boom. That's where Samsung got caught out and failed to invest... SK Hynix saw this opportunity. The company aggressively launched HBM chips which were approved for use in Nvidia architecture and, in the process, the South Korean firm established a close relationship with the U.S. giant. Nvidia's CEO even asked the company to speed up supply of its next generation chip, underscoring the importance of HBM to its products. SK Hynix posted record quarterly operating profit in the September quarter... Analysts said that Samsung is lagging behind competitors for a number of reasons, including underinvestment in HBM and the fact that it is not a first-mover. "It is fair to say that Samsung has not been able to close the gap with SK Hynix on the HBM development roadmap," said Kazunori Ito [director of equity research at Morningstar]. Samsung's ability to make a comeback in the short term appears to be closely linked to Nvidia. A company must pass a strict qualification process before Nvidia approves it as a HBM supplier — and Samsung has not yet completed this verification. But a green light from Nvidia could open the door for Samsung to return to growth and compete more effectively with SK Hynix, according to analysts.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Sodium-ion batteries are cheaper than lithium-ion batteries — and they're also more environmentally friendly. And "In the past few years, sodium-ion battery production has increased in the United States," reports the Washington Post, with a new factory planned to manufacture them "in the same way as lithium-ion batteries, just with different ingredients. Instead of using expensive materials like lithium, nickel and cobalt, these will be made of sodium, iron and manganese..." Last month, sodium-ion battery manufacturer Natron Energy announced it would open a "gigafactory" in North Carolina that would produce 24 gigawatt hours of batteries annually, enough energy to charge 24,000 electric vehicles. But sodium-ion batteries are still early in their development compared with lithium-ion, and they have yet to hit the market on a massive scale. "It's unlikely sodium-ion could displace lithium-ion anytime soon," said Keith Beers, polymer science and materials chemistry principal engineer at technical consultancy firm Exponent... The biggest limitation of sodium-ion batteries is their weight. Sodium weighs nearly three times as much as lithium, and it cannot store the same amount of energy. As a result, sodium-ion batteries tend to be larger. Jens Peters, an economics professor at the University of Alcalá in Madrid, said the energy density could be improved over time in sodium-ion batteries. But, he added, "what we found out so far in our assessments is that it is not a game changer." Sodium-ion batteries are touted to be the environmentally friendly alternative to their lithium-ion counterparts, thanks to their raw materials. Sodium, iron and manganese are all abundant elements on the planet, so they require less energy to extract and cost less... Sodium-ion batteries also last longer than lithium-ion ones because they can withstand more charge cycles, said Wendell Brooks, co-CEO of Natron Energy. "Our product can have millions of cycles," said Brooks, "where lithium-ion would have three to five thousand cycles and wear out a lot faster...." Sodium-ion batteries aren't the best fit for smartphones or electric vehicles, which need to store lots of energy. However, one advantage is their low cost. And they could be a good candidate in situations where the size of the battery isn't a concern, like energy storage. "When something is built out to support grid or backup storage, it doesn't need to be very dense. It's staying put," Beers said. Natron will invest nearly $1.4 billion in the factory "to meet the rapidly expanding demand for critical power, industrial and grid energy storage solutions," according to their announcement. "Natron's high-performance sodium-ion batteries outperform lithium-ion batteries in power density and recharging speed, do not require lithium, cobalt, copper, or nickel, and are non-flammable... Natron's batteries are the only UL-listed sodium-ion batteries on the market today, and will be delivered to a wide range of customer end markets in the industrial power space, including data centers, mobility, EV fast charging, microgrids, and telecom, among others."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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