August 26, 2016 - The WAN Show Document

[LinusTech]

 

Main News Topics

AMD Releases Architectural Details on Zen

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/647151-amd-releases-mo OP: HKZeroFive

Source 2: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/234354-a-state-of-zen-amd-u

• AMD unveiled information at Hot Chips about upcoming “Zen” CPU core and architecture

• Zen’s design goals, to intelligently share resources between CPU cores, while simultaneously hitting higher frequencies and higher execution efficiencies than AMD’s previous CPU core, K10

• AMD suggested that the difficulty of repairing Bulldozer was significant enough that they opted to build a new core from scratch

  • Much of what was wrong with it was in it’s cache architecture

Slide Images

Cache Architecture

Zen’s Cache Hierarchy

CPU Core

Decode

Fetch

Execute

Floating Point

TL:DR

Zen Performance & Power Improvements

• Better core engine

  • Two threads per core

  • Branch mispredict improved

  • Better branch prediction with 2 branches per BRB entry

  • Larger op cache

  • Wider micro-op dispatch 6 vs 4

  • Larger instruction schedulers

  • Larger retire 8 ops vs 4 ops

  • Quad issue FPU

  • Larger retire queue 192 vs 128

  • Larger load queue 72 vs 44

  • Larger store queue 44 vs 32

• Better cache system

  • Write back L1 cache

  • Faster L2 cache

  • Faster L3 cache

  • Faster load to FPU: 7 vs 9 cycles

  • Better L1 and L2 data prefetcher

  • Close to 2x the L1 and L2 bandwidth

  • Total L3 bandwidth up 5x

• Lower power

  • Aggressive clock gating with multi-level regions

  • Write back L1 cache

  • Large OP cache

  • Stock engine

  • Move elimination

  • Power focus from project inception

  • Low power design methodologies

What’s Inside Microsoft’s Hololens and How It Works

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/647952-full-hololens-bloc OP: It’s me!

Source 2: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/mcirosoft-hololens-components-hpu-28nm,3

Optics

• Unlike VR headsets, which produce visuals via OLED displays situated in front of your eyes, HoloLens is a passthrough device

  • You see the real world through the device’s clear lenses, and images (holograms) are projected out in front of you

  • This can be several meters away

• Components of the optical system break down into:

  • Microdisplay → imaging optics → waveguide → combiner → gratings (that perform exit pupil expansion).

• With a VR HMD, you have two tiny monitors millimeters from your face

  • By contrast, the HoloLens spits out a projected image, which is then combined, diffracted and layered to produce images you can see in a space

Sensors

• Sensor bar on the HoloLens, comprises four “environment understanding cameras,” two on each side

  • Depth camera; an ambient light sensor; and a 2MP photo/HD video camera

  • Some are off the shelf parts, while Microsoft built the others

• Environment sensing cameras provide the basis for head tracking

• Time of flight depth cameras serves two roles

  • Helps with hand tracking

  • Performs surface reconstruction

• Sensors work with the optics module and the IMU

Heart of the System

• Contains a custom mainboard

• 64GB eMMC SSD

• 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM

• Based on x86 and runs Windows 10

• Cherry Trail SoC

• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connectivity

• Four microphones

Diagram of System Architecture

HPU 1.0 (Holographic Processing Unit)

Specifications

PCI Express 4.0 Brings 16 GT/s (they clarified that there is NOT 300 watts per slot, 75 watts per slot, same as always)

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/646758-pci-express-40-br OP: It’s me!

Source 2: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/pcie-4.0-power-speed-express,32525.html

• Next iteration of PCI Express will double the bandwidth per lane

  • Tomshardware sat down with Richard Solomon, Vice President of PCi-SIG

PCIe Roadmap

• PCI-SIG consists of more than 730 paying members that provide input and a board of directors to help the process

  • Standard body is days away from releasing version 0.7 of PCIe Express 4.0 specifications to members

• Final specification for PCIe Express 4.0 should come by the end of 2016

• Group is already beginning to work on PCIe 5.0

Speeds of PCIe Versions

PCIe Express 4.0 Usage

OCuLink: PCIe “Outside-the-Box”

• We’ve seen companies build external graphics housings that route back to a small form factor PC via external cabling

  • Problem could be that product from company a won’t work with company b

  • PCI-SIG looks to end interoperability issues with the OCuLink standard

MIT Discovers a Cleaner, More Efficient, Smelting Process

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/648596-mit-discovers-a-cl OP: HalGameGuru

Source 2: https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/24/mit-accidentally-discovered-a-cleaner-sm

• MIT Professor of Materials Science Donald Sadoway had originally intended to test a new chemical configuration of a high capacity battery

  • Experiment wouldn’t hold a charge

• Sadoway explained “We found that when we went to charge this putative battery, we were in fact producing liquid antimony instead of charging the battery”

  • New element added to the experimental battery acted as an ionic conductor

    • Causing the antimony sulfide in the experiment to separate

• Battery was performing electrolysis

  • Metal that it was producing was 99.9% pure

• Traditional smelting produces large quantities of greenhouse gas, and is a significant contributor of air pollutants

  • Sadoway’s process produced almost none

• Team did further tests, and said the process could apply to other metals such as copper and nickel

Android 7.0 Nougat Released

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/647343-android- OP: Trixanity

Source 2: http://www.anandtech.com/show/10587/android-7-nougat-released

• Officially releasing Android 7.0 as of August 22, 2016

• Will begin rolling out to select Nexus devices over the next few weeks

  • Including the Nexus 5X, 6P, 6, 9, Player, Pixel C tablet, and General Mobile 4G, as well as an OTA

• Nexus 5 and 7 (2013) not eligible for update

• LG V20 will be the first new device that will ship with Nougat installed

• Samsung’s President of Mobile stated that an update should come to the Note 7 in perhaps the next 2-3 months

• HTC stated the HTC 10, One A9, and One M9 will all be receiving this update eventually

• Some Nougat features:

  • Split-screen mode

  • Double-tapping the overview button to switch between two most recently used apps

  • Ability to bundle notifications together

  • Performance and battery life improvements

  • Official support for Vulkan API

  • Security enhancements

• More features not in the above list

 

Rapid Fire

Design Defect Breaking a ton of iPhone 6 Pluses

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/647836-a-design- OP: patrick3027

Source 2: http://ifixit.org/blog/8309/iphone-6-plus-gray-flicker-touch-death/

• Gray, flickering bar that you can see across the top of iPhone 6 and especially iPhone 6 pluses

  • Unresponsive touchscreen

Picture of Problem

• Lots of repair shops are experiencing the same influx of faulty iPhones, with this same problem

• Replacing the touch screen doesn’t fix the problem

  • Gray bar eventually shows back up on the new screen as well

• It's the two touchscreen controller chips, or Touch IC chips, on the board inside the phone causing the issue

• Apple hasn’t addressed the issue, and their in house teams can’t fix the issue

  • Third party micro soldering specialists, mostly unauthorized to do Apple repairs have been helping to fix people's phones

SK Hynix & Samsung Discuss ‘Low-Cost HBM’, HBM2 & HBM3

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/646931-sk-hynix-samsun OP: HKZeroFive

Source 2: https://www.computerbase.de/2016-08/sk-hynix-samsung-hbm2-hbm3/

Source 3: https://www.pcper.com/news/Memory/Samsung-and-SK-Hynix-Discuss-F

• Samsung and SK Hynix were in attendance at the Hot Chips Symposium in Cupertino, California

  • To talk about the future of High Bandwidth Memory

HBM3

• As currently planned, HBM3 features double the density per layer and at least double the bandwidth of current HBM2 (So far, only being used in NVIDIA’s planned Tesla P100)

• New memory technology offers up to 16GB (~2GB) per layer and as many as eight layers can be stacked together using TSV’s into a single chip

• HBM3 doubles the bandwidth versus HBM2 with 512GB/s of peak bandwidth per stack

• Samsung claims HBM3 will operate at similar clocks to HBM2, but will use much less core voltage

Picture of Stacked HBM Memory on an Interposer Surrounding a Processor

Low Cost HBM

• Will enable HBM to be used in systems and graphics cards most people purchase

• Samsung said low cost HBM will offer up to 200GB/s per stack of peak bandwidth

  • While being much cheaper to produce than HBM2

• In order to reduce costs, there is no buffer die or ECC support, and number of Through Silicon Vias (TSV) connections has been reduced

• Samsung would like low cost HBM to support traditional silicon as well as potentially cheaper organic interposers

The Nosulus Rift

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/648599-the-n OP: NumLock21

Source 2: http://www.polygon.com/2016/8/19/12550744/south-park-fractured-but-wh

• South Park: The Fractured But Whole was featured at Gamescom 2016

• Also featured, was the Nosulus Rift by Ubisoft

  • Sole purpose is to deliver a potent fart smell during specific in game moments

• Farting is a key component in South Park: The Fractured But Whole

  • A command you can use anytime with a button press

  • After you fart in game, the Nosulus floods with a smell that only gets stronger as you progress

• Comes from oils within the device

• Apparently it’s very potent

Picture of Megan Farokhmanesh from Polygon wearing the device

Xbox Onesie

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/647725-xbox-onesie-perf OP: GoodBytes

Source 2: http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/23/12602520/all-i-want-for-christmas-is-an-xb

Picture

• Comes in both black and white

• Features highlighted in Microsoft's press release:

• Enlarged pockets to fit your Xbox Controller and Media Remotes

• Arm pouch to offer quick and easy access to your mobile phone€”

• Roll-able legs and arms to cater for all temperatures and seasons

• Forearm grips to prevent slipping on those ‘edge of your seat' moments

• Extra-large hood to accommodate headsets for the ultimate gaming sessions

• Customized Gamertag embroidery

North Korea Launches its Own Streaming Service named “Manbang”

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/647537-north-korea-lau OP: NumLock21

Source 2: https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/19/north-koreas-manbang-is-state-approved-stre

• You can’t watch Netflix in North Korea

• Democratic People’s Republic has Manbang

  • State-approved set-top box

• Service’s on demand content focuses on Juche ideology and documentaries about North Korean leaders

• Viewers also have access to educational programs designed for people to learn english and russian

• Manbang ironically translates to “everywhere”

  • Only available to citizens of Pyongyang, Siniju and Sariwon

McDonald’s Recalls Happy Meal Fitness Trackers After They Injure Kids

Source 1: http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/08/mcdonalds-recalls-happy-

• McDonald’s recalling millions of wristband toys after reports of blistering

• Wristband toys were given away in Happy Meals

  • Intention was to help get kids moving

• So far, there have been 70 reports of injuries from the toys

• In a notice posted on their website, McDonald’s said it did test the trackers and is investigating the issue

US Senator Suggests Swapping College Instructors for Videos

Source 1: http://globalnews.ca/news/2897197/us-senator-suggests-swapping-college-instructors

• U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has an idea to make colleges cheaper - ditch instructors and play online videos for students

  • Called higher education a “cartel” and suggested colleges could cut the number of instructors and increase the use of online videos

• “If you want to teach the Civil War across the country, are you better off having, I don’t know, tens of thousands of history teachers, who, you know, kind of know the subject?”

• “Or would you be better off popping in 14 hours of Ken Burns’ Civil War tape and having those teachers proctor based on that excellent video production already done?”

Blizzard Rolls out Livestreaming from Battle.net to Facebook

Source 1: http://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-rolls-out-livestreaming-from-battlenet-to-facebook/

• Currently in beta, but works really well

• Back in June Blizzard announced that Facebook livestreaming was being incorporated into Battle.net

  • Today, the option has gone live

• Once updated, the Battle.net client will have a camera icon in the upper right corner, beside your name

  • First time you click it, it will ask to log into your Facebook account and provide all necessary permissions

• Once setup, simply hit stream and you’re good to go

Intel Announces Their 600P Series of M.2 SSDs

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/649125-intel-releases-t OP: Castdeath97

Source 2: http://www.overclock3d.net/news/storage/intel_announces_their_600p_series_o

• Offering capacities of up to 1TB and speeds greatly exceeding that of traditional SATA SSDs

• Will offer different speeds depending on the capacities of your Intel 600P series SSD

Intel SSD 600P Series Specifications

ASRock Rack and SuperMicro Announces Xeon Phi System

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/648100-asrock-rack-and-supe OP: NumLock21

Source 2: http://www.anandtech.com/show/10584/supermicro-rollsout-superserver-and-super

Picture

• Supermicro has released two systems featuring Intel’s many-core Xeon Phi x200 processors

  • Workstation and ultra-dense server

• Platforms support up to 384GB or DDR4 memory

  • Based on Intel C612 PCH

  • Due to high TDP of Intel’s Knights Landing CPUs, Supermicro had to use a custom closed-loop liquid cooling for its SuperWorkstation SYS-5038K-i

• Intel launched Xeon Phi x200 many-core Knights Landing platform in June

  • Every Xeon Phi x200 in LGA packaging has up to 72 cores runnion at up to 1.5GHz, with up to 36MB of L2 cache, 16GB on on-package high performance memory, six channel DDR4 DRAM controller as well as 36 PCIe 3.0 lanes

Picture: Super Server SYS-5028TK-HTR

• Packs four hot-swappable half-width nodes based on company’s K1SPi motherboards into a 2U form-factor

• 12 3.5” hot-swappable SATA/SAS storage devices

• 2000W redundant PSU

• K1SPi carries one P1 socket, six DDR4 DIMM slots (for up to 384 GB of DDR4), two PCIe 3.0x16 low-profile slots, a PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, an Intel i350 dual port GbE controller,

• Supports Intel Xeon Phi x 200 processors with up to 250-260W TDP

• Machines supporting Knights Landing models will be announced at a later date

Picture: SuperWorkstation 5038K-i

• Desktop machine featuring companies K1SPE motherboard

  • Self contained unit, with CPU, DRAM, storage, PSU and cooling

• Chassis can fit in two 5.25” ODD’s, six 3.5” and four 2.5” storage devices

• Tower equipped with multiple fans and come with one 750W power supply by Seasonic

  • Custom-made closed loop liquid cooling with two 120mm fans

• K1SPE motherboard features :

  • one P1 socked (with eight-phase power delivery)

  • six DDR4 DIMM slots

  • two PCIe 3.0x16 slots

  • PCIe 3.0x4 slot

  • 10 SATA connectors

  • two GbE ports

  • IPMI LAN port

  • Aspeed AST2400 for graphics

  • USB 3.0 ports

Google to Punish Mobile Websites Which Show Hard-to-dismiss Popup Ads

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/648220-google-to-punish OP: Tech_Dreamer

Source 2: https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/23/good-riddance/

• Google announced on August 23rd two major changes related to mobile search results

• 1) Google removing the “mobile-friendly” label that highlighted pages easy to read on mobile from mobile search results

  • Doing so because 85% of sites it lists are being labeled as “mobile friendly”

• 2) Starting on January 10, 2017, Google will start punishing mobile pages that show intrusive ads when a user first opens a page

  • Making that page rank lower in search results

Pizza Drone Deliveries Start Testing in New Zealand

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/648641-pizza-drone-de OP: RS2007GOD

Source 2: http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11700291

• Aerial pizza delivery

• Domino’s has been given the green light to test New Zealand pizza delivery via drones

  • Partnered with Flirtey to launch the first commercial drone delivery service, later this year

• Domino’s Group CEO Don Meij says the company had been investigating new delivery methods as business has grown

  • Included looking at robotic delivery, which the gov’t is still considering

• New method will be used alongside regular delivery methods

• Will offer drone delivery specials at launch of trial with plans to extend dimensions

  • Based on results and customer feedback

• Company won’t offer full range of products for drone delivery, only customers within a certain distance will be able to use the service

Dominos DRU Drone Delivery Video (0:43 Seconds Long)

New Tesla Model S Now the Quickest Production Car in the World

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/647878-tesla-release-10 OP: oliverguy

Source 2: http://uk.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-announces-p100d-battery-for-t

Source 3: https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/blog/new-tesla-model-s-now-quickest-pr

• Model S P100D with ludicrous mode is the third fastest accelerating car ever produced

  • 0-60mph time of 2.5* seconds

• The LaFerrari and Porsche that hold ranks one and two, were limited run, million dollar vehicles

  • These vehicles were only 2 door, while the Model S is a four door

• The 100kWh battery also increases range substantially to an estimated 315 miles on the EPA cycle

  • 613km on the NEDC cycle

  • Making it the first to go beyond 300 miles and the longest range production electric vehicle by far

• Larger battery pack is also available on the Model X

All Nexus will get Free Unlimited VPN Support on Public WiFi Networks

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/648402-all-nexus-will-get-free- OP: Arty

Source 2: https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/6327199

Nexus Statement

• Keep your connection speed high and data bill low with Wi-Fi assistant

  • Feature allows you to automatically and securely connect to more than a million, free open Wi-Fi hotspots

• Originally a project Fi exclusive feature

  • Now expanding to all Nexus users in US, Canada, Mexico, UK and Nordic countries

• Will roll out to users over the next few weeks

HP Sure View Screens Strive to Stop Shoulder Surfing

Source 1: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/08/hps-sure-view-screens-st

• Press F2 and the person next to you won’t be able to read your screen

• Sure View feature being offered on HP EliteBook 1040 and Elitebook 840

  • One button will flip from regular viewing angle mode into private mode

  • Slashing the off-axis visibility of the device

• Effect is significant

  • On-axis visibility drops a small amount, while off-axis visibility drops substantially

• Other privacy filters like this do exist, but this is a direct integration into the product

• Sure View embeds the filter, developed by 3M, into the screen itself

• While in privacy mode, the battery life of your system will be slightly reduced

• Sure View currently only works with TN (twisted nematic) style screens

  • HP says they’re working on bringing this technology to IPS screens

    • Also considering building monitors with this feature for environments like cubicle farms and banks

Pokemon GO Hype Dying, According to Recent Analytics

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/647517-pokemon-go-hype-dy OP: Tech_Dreamer

Source 2: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-22/these-charts-show-that-pokemon

Source 3: http://www.cnet.com/news/pokemon-go-fever-shows-signs-of-fading/

• App has peaked and is already in decline

  • According to investment advisor Axiom Capital Management

• Analytics collected by Sensor Tower, Survey Monkey and Apptotpia

  • Was supplied to Bloomberg by Axiom

• Not long after Pokemon GO launched in July, users were spending more time on average playing the game than on social media sites

• Google shows that interest in augmented reality has died down, while interest in VR remains stable

Apptopia - Pokemon GO Worldwide Daily Active Users Chart

Apptopia - Pokemon GO Engagement

Google - Trends for VR & AR

PlayStation Now Coming to PC

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/647863-play OP: GoodBytes

Source 2: http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/23/12608318/playstation-now-streaming-pc

• Sony has unveiled that PlayStation Now game streaming is coming to PCs

• Will be available in parts of Europe soon and will come to North America shortly therafter

• Recommending the following specs if you plan to use the service on your PC

  • Windows 7 (SP1), 8.1 or 10

  • 3.5 GHz Intel Core i3 or 3.8GHz AMD A10 or faster

  • 300 MB or more; 2 GB or more of RAM

  • Sound card; USB port

• Also announced a new wireless USB adaptor to connect a Dualshock 4 controller to Mac or PC

  • Adapter available next month for $24.99

 

 

 

 

 

[Daniel644]

First, Sorry had to, I was First on everything on the video too.

[Master Disaster]

@LinusTech If you still have all those socks and genuinely don't like them then you should consider donating them to a homeless charity, Autumn/Fall is imminent and I'm sure there are lots of homeless people who'd make good use of them for you. Just a thought. 

[Tech_Dreamer]

Wooah We're really late!!

 

 

#Just as planned!!

[xnamkcor]

Linus, you need to pay for Google Slides Red to multitask with it.