SAN JOSE, Calif. – Feb. 22, 2010  – The Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI), an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and advancing SystemC™ as an industry-standard language for electronic system-level (ESL) design, today announced that requirements for the configuration portion of the  SystemC Configuration, Control & Inspection (CCI) standardization effort are now available for public review.  They are currently available for download under open-source license.

The public review period of the CCI Configuration Requirements Specification extends through April 2, 2010. The worldwide SystemC community of users, architects, ESL tool developers and IP providers are encouraged to participate and provide feedback using the CCI discussion forum.

OSCI’s CCI Working Group is defining standards to improve interoperability between models and tools, streamlining the exchange of information between them. These standards will be developed incrementally with initial work on configuration, which is the focus of this requirements specification.  The end result will be a standard way to instrument models improving efficiency of the entire SystemC-centric modeling ecosystem while ensuring optimal value for model users.

“The value of ESL models is greatly improved when they can readily and easily be configured, controlled and inspected,” said OSCI CCI Working Group Chairman Trevor Wieman.  “The CCI WG is excited to provide a configuration requirements specification for public review.  This document describes a conceptual model for understanding the SystemC configuration challenge and key anticipated use cases in addition to specific requirements.  Configuration represents a first big step towards model-to-tool interoperability and the CCI WG looks forward to SystemC community input to help set a direction for this important work.”

About CCI Configuration Requirements

Today, each tool has its own preferred way for models to be instrumented. This requires model developers to provide different instrumentation for their customers using different tools, or customers and their suppliers to work together to provide bridges for any incompatibilities between model instrumentation and tool support. This can result in delays in model availability and/or diminished value for the end user.

The goal of the public review of the Configuration Requirements Specification is to gather useful feedback to prepare for the creation of a draft standard to allow models to incorporate configuration parameters, allowing any tool to connect and perform configuration. Models will be portable across simulation environments and tools, while tools are able to add value on top of the basic mechanisms, such as the reading of configuration files, interactive configuration of models in a GUI, and structured display and inspection of current parameter values. None of this affects how models must be written – as long as they follow the specification, tools will be able to effectively interact with them.

Configuration will be used to specify a system’s initial setup, orchestrate run-time operation, control system analyses and many other purposes.

RICHMOND, North Yorks., England – 22 February 2010.  Peratech Limited, the leader in new materials designed for touch technology solutions, has announced that they have been commissioned by the MIT Media Lab to develop a new type of electronic ‘skin’ that enables robotic devices to detect not only that they have been touched but also where and how hard the touch was.

The key to the sensing technology is Peratech’s patented ‘QTC’ materials.  QTC’s, or Quantum Tunnelling Composites, are a unique new material type which provides a measured response to force and/or touch by changing its electrical resistance – much as a dimmer light switch controls a light bulb.  This enables a simple electronic circuit within the robot to determine touch.  Being easily formed into unique shapes – including being ‘draped’ over an object much like a garment might, QTC’s provide a metaphor for how human skin works to detect touch.

Uniquely, QTC’s provide a ‘proportional’ response – in other words detecting ‘how hard’ they have been touched.  Further, using Peratech’s patented xy scanning technology, the robot is able to detect where on a matrix of sensors applied to areas such as the forearms, shoulders and torso, it has been touched.

As robotic devices continue to make inroads to our daily life, their ability to understand the presence and interaction with humans and other objects within a space becomes critically important.  This research project is hoped to produce results which could soon be applied to a range of robotics projects that MIT works upon.

Peratech’s QTC technology has an established track record for use in robotics, having previously been adopted by NASA for their Robonaut device and by Shadow Robot in the UK, producers of what is widely regarded as the World’s most advanced robotic hand, which have utilised QTC to sense ‘touch’.  However, this project with MIT is a World first in enabling a human to interact – through touch across the body of a robot – much as they would with another human.

About QTC

QTC’s are electro-active polymeric materials made from metallic or non-metallic filler particles combined in an elastomeric binder.  These enable the action of ‘touch’ to be translated into an electrical reaction, enabling a vast array of devices to incorporate very thin and highly robust ‘sensing’ of touch and pressure.  QTC’s unique properties enable it to be made into force sensitive switches of any shape or size.  QTC switches and switch matrices can be screen printed allowing for development and integration of switches that are as thin as 75 microns.  

QTC is also low power and interfaces can be designed with no start resistance so that without pressure, the switch draws no power and passes no current.  Importantly, when pressure is applied, the resistance drops in proportion to the amount of pressure which allows sophisticated human machine interface designs that react to variations in pressure.  QTC technology has no moving parts and requires no air gap between contacts.  This makes it extremely reliable and suitable for integration into the thinnest electronic designs and with industry leading operational life.  

About MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.  www.web.mit.edu 

About Peratech 

Peratech is the inventor and world leader in Quantum Tunnelling Composite (QTC) technology.   Already widely used in robotics and defence, Peratech commercialised its QTC technology at the beginning of 2006 and is currently working with a number of key technology clients who are implementing QTC sensing technology within their own products. 

QTC materials give enormous flexibility in the design, shape, thickness and style of a switch or pressure sensor and can be made in a range of elastomeric forms, including emulsive coatings (down to thicknesses of 10 microns), ‘bulk’ silicone or rubber and textile forms. Peratech pioneered the creation of electronic switches made from textiles as early as 2001. QTC has been recognised through numerous International awards and accolades including “Tomorrow’s World Industry Award 2002”, “Saatchi & Saatchi Innovation Award 2000” and “European Electronics Industry Award 2004”. 

QTC materials have been used by organisations such as NASA, ILC Dover, Shadow Robotics and numerous government agencies World Wide. Peratech also owns SOFTswitch the pioneering creator of textile switching and Eleksen, the world leader in touch sensitive interactive textiles for electronics interface design.   Further information is available from www.peratech.com 

For further information, please contact 

Peratech Limited, Old Repeater Station, Brompton-on-Swale, North Yorkshire, DL10 7JH United Kingdom.  Tel: +44 (0) 8700 727272  Fax: +44 (0) 8700 727273  Email: info@peratech.com  www.peratech.com