China Product
History of the NTCIP Development
NEMA initiated the development of the NTCIP in 1992. In early 1993, the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) brought together transportation industry representatives to discuss obstacles to installing field equipment for new Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The representatives said that the number one priority was the need for an industry-wide standard data communications protocol. Since the NEMA Transportation Section members had already started work on a new industry standard, they offered to expedite and expand the scope of their activities.text.
The key objectives of the new NTCIP protocol were the interchangeability of similar roadside devices, and the interoperability of different types of devices on the same communications channel. fetal doppler
In 1996, the FHWA suggested a partnership of standards developing organizations to expand both user and industry involvement. AASHTO and ITE signed an agreement with NEMA to establish the Joint Committee on the NTCIP, and to work together on developing and maintaining the NTCIP standards. heartbeat monitor
NTCIP Benefits test glucose meter
NTCIP standards offer increased flexibility and choices for agencies operating transportation management systems. NTCIP standards usage removes barriers to interagency coordination and allows equipment of different types and different manufacturers to be mixed on the same communications line. For these reasons, operating agencies benefit from specifying that NTCIP be included in all future acquisitions and upgrades, even if NTCIP is not initially used.
According to the NTCIP Guide, use and application of the NTCIP provides the following benefits to Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) deployers:
Avoiding Early Obsolescence While retrofitting legacy equipment and systems with NTCIP support is not practical in most situations, most manufacturers offer NTCIP support in their ITS devices. It is possible to migrate a system gradually, since it is possible to operate a mixture of NTCIP and non-NTCIP devices in the same system, though not on the same communications line. Equipment may also continue to use a current protocol even though the device may also support NTCIP as a second protocol. Integrating legacy equipment and systems with NTCIP-conformant upgrades in this manner ensures that an operating agency systems and equipment remain useful and compatible long into the future.
Providing a Choice of Vendor Since a computer system that supports NTCIP can communicate with any device from other vendors that are NTCIP-conformant, the number of vendors and systems, field devices, or software that can be considered for procurement increases greatly. While vendor-specific features may only be available to other software and ITS devices from the same vendor, the basic functionality described in an NTCIP standard is available regardless of vendor. This requires that agency specifications (procurement documents) adequately specify the mandatory and optional conformance requirements that support the agency functional requirements. However, NTCIP makes it easier for an agency to gradually change its software, controllers and other field devices from one vendor to supporting multiple vendors for the entire system.
Phased Procurement and Deployment Specifying NTCIP allows agencies to procure devices and center systems in phases, over several financial cycles. For example, many agencies procure a few signs one year, then a few more the next year, and so on. Sometimes devices are procured from one vendor, and sometimes from multiple vendors. Specifying NTCIP standards means that multiple deployment phases, over multiple years, can be integrated, with little difficulty. The initial deployment establishes an ITS communications infrastructure that can be leveraged by future deployment phases resulting in improved cost/benefit for ITS projects.
Enabling Interagency Coordination NTCIP allows agencies to exchange information and (with authorization) basic commands that enable any agency to monitor conditions in other agencies systems, and to implement coordinated responses to incidents and other changes in field conditions when needed. Such data exchange and coordinated response can be implemented either manually or automatically. One agency can monitor, and issue basic commands, if authorized, to field devices operated by another agency, even though those devices may be from a different vendor than those used by the monitoring agency. Potential applications of interagency coordination include:
(a) Coordinating timed transfers at a shared transit center,
(b) Coordinating traffic signals across jurisdictional boundaries,
(c) Providing traffic signal priority for selected, e.g., behind schedule, transit vehicles,
(d) Providing real-time information to a shared traveler information center,
(e) Monitoring traffic volumes on another agency roadway,
(f) Coordinating the operation of a freeway ramp meter with an adjacent traffic signal, or
(g) Posting a warning message on another agency dynamic message sign.
Use One Communications Network for All Purposes NTCIP allows a management system to communicate with a mixture of device types on the same communications channel. For example, with the addition of appropriate application software in the system computer, a dynamic message sign could be installed near a signalized intersection, and the computer could communicate with the sign controller using the communications line or channel already in place for the traffic signal controller, if certain aspects of the communications protocols, that is, the Data Link and Physical layer protocols are the same. Similarly, a wide area network interface installed for communications with a system operated by another agency can be used for communications with any number of other systems, of any type, if NTCIP and the C2C Data Dictionaries and Message Sets of other efforts, such as the Traffic Management Data Dictionary (TMDD), are used. The communications network is usually one of the components of a transportation management system that requires the most resource investment. NTCIP ensures flexibility in the future use of that component.
NTCIP Communications Standards
Center to Field Device Communications
NTCIP has enabled the center to field communication and command/control of equipment from different manufacturers to be specified, procured, deployed, and tested. NTCIP communications standards for field devices are listed below: (the corresponding NTCIP document number is shown in parentheses):
Traffic signals (NTCIP 1202)
Dynamic message signs (NTCIP 1203)
Environmental sensor stations (NTCIP 1204)
Closed circuit television cameras (NTCIP 1205)
Vehicle count stations (NTCIP 1206)
Freeway ramp meters (NTCIP 1207)
Video switches (NTCIP 1208)
Transportation sensor systems (NTCIP 1209)
Field master stations for traffic signals (NTCIP 1210)
Transit priority at traffic signals (NTCIP 1211)
Street lights (NTCIP 1213)
Center to Center Communications
Center to center (C2C) communication involves peer-to-peer communications between computers involved in information exchange in real-time transportation management in a many-to-many network. This type of communication is similar to the Internet, in that any center can request information from, or provide information to, any number of other centers.
An example of center to center communications is two traffic management centers that exchange real-time information about the inventory and status of traffic control devices. This allows each center system to know what timing plan, for example, the other center system is running to allow traffic signal coordination across center geographic boundaries. Other examples of this type of communication include:
Two or more traffic signal systems exchanging information (including second-by-second status changes) to achieve coordinated operation of traffic signals managed by the different systems and to enable personnel at one center to monitor the status of signals operated from another center;
A transit system reporting schedule adherence exceptions to a transit customer information system and to a regional traveler information system, while also asking a traffic signal management system to instruct its signals to give priority to a behind-schedule transit vehicle;
An emergency management system reporting an incident to a freeway management system, to a traffic signal management system, to two transit management systems and to a traveler information system;
A freeway management system informing an emergency management system of a warning message just posted on a dynamic message sign on the freeway in response to its notification of an incident; and
A weather monitoring system (environmental sensors) informing a freeway management system of ice forming on the roadway so that the freeway management system is able to post warning messages on dynamic message signs as appropriate.
NTCIP communications standards for center to center communications are listed below: (the corresponding NTCIP document number is shown in parentheses):
Data Exchange - DATEX-ASN (NTCIP 2304)
Web Services - XML (NTCIP 2306)
The NTCIP has coordinated with other information level standards development organizations during development of the center-to-center application profiles and supports the: ITE Traffic Management Data Dictionary (ITE TMDD), IEEE 1512 Incident Management (IEEE 1512), APTA Transit Communications Interface Profiles (APTA TCIP), and SAE J2354 Advanced Traveler Information Systems standards.
NTCIP Standards Framework
The NTCIP Framework is based primarily on the open standards of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and ISO, plus NTCIP data dictionary standards specific for the task of ITS device communications. A layered, or modular, approach to communications standards, is used to represent data communications between two computers or other electronic devices.
NTCIP refers to evels in NTCIP, rather than ayers to distinguish the hierarchical architecture applied from those defined by the Open System Interconnection Reference Model (OSI Model) of ISO and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The five NTCIP levels are: information level, application level, transport level, subnetwork level, and plant level.
The figure below (used with permission) shows how the NTCIP Information, Application, Transport, Subnetwork, and Plant Levels.
NTCIP Framework.
To ensure a working system, deployers should select and specify at least one NTCIP protocol or profile at each level. A discussion of each level, and NTCIP standards that apply at that level, follows:
NTCIP Information Level Information standards define the meaning of data and messages and generally deal with ITS information (rather than information about the communications network). This is similar to defining a dictionary and phrase list within a language. These standards are above the traditional ISO seven-layer OSI model. Information level standards represent the functionality of the system to be implemented.
NTCIP Application Level Application standards define the rules and procedures for exchanging information data. The rules may include definitions of proper grammar and syntax of a single statement, as well as the sequence of allowed statements. This is similar to combining words and phrases to form a sentence, or a complete thought, and defining the rules for greeting each other and exchanging information. These standards are roughly equivalent to the Session, Presentation and Application Layers of the OSI model.
NTCIP Transport Level Transport standards define the rules and procedures for exchanging the Application data between point 'A' and point 'X' on a network, including any necessary routing, message disassembly/re-assembly and network management functions. This is similar to the rules and procedures used by the telephone company to connect two remotely located telephones. Transportation level standards are roughly equivalent to the Transport and Network Layers of the OSI model.
NTCIP Subnetwork Level Subnetwork standards define the rules and procedures for exchanging data between two 'adjacent' devices over some communications media. This is equivalent to the rules used by the telephone company to exchange data over a cellular link versus the rules used to exchange data over a twisted pair copper wire. These standards are roughly equivalent to the Data Link and Physical Layers of the OSI model.
NTCIP Plant Level The Plant Level is shown in the NTCIP Framework only as a means of providing a point of reference to those learning about NTCIP. The Plant Level includes the communications infrastructure over which NTCIP communications standards are to be used and has a direct impact on the selection of an appropriate Subnetwork Level for use over the selected communications infrastructure. The NTCIP standards do not prescribe any one media type over another. In most cases, communications media selections are made early in the design phase.
The NTCIP Framework does not preclude combinations beyond those expressly indicated on the diagram.
References
^ a b NEMA - NTCIP
^ US Department of Transportation ITS Standards Program
^ a b c d e f g The NTCIP Guide
External links
NTCIP (Official website)
The NTCIP Guide (NTCIP 9001 v04)
Testing Guide for NTCIP Center-to-Field Communications (NTCIP 9012 v01)
US Department of Transportation ITS Standards Program (USDOT)
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
Categories: Intelligent transportation systems | Application layer protocols | Open standards
Monday, May 3, 2010
National Transportation Communications for Intelligent Transportation System Protocol
DVD recorder
China Product
Technical information
Originally, DVD recorders supported one of three standards: DVD-RAM, DVD-RW (using DVD-VR), and DVD+RW (using DVD+VR), none of which are directly compatible. As a general rule, however, most current drives support both the + and - standards, while few support the DVD-RAM standard, which is not directly compatible with standard DVD readers.
Recording speed is generally denoted in values of X (similar to CD-ROM usage), where 1X in DVD usage is equal to 1.321 MB/s, roughly equivalent to a 9X CD-ROM. In practice, this is largely confined to computer-based DVD recorders, since standalone units generally record in real time, that is, 1X speed. fetal doppler
DVD recorders use a laser (usually 650 nm red) to read and write DVDs. The reading laser is usually not stronger than 5 mW, while the writing laser is considerably more powerful. The faster the writing speed is rated, the stronger the laser is. DVD burner lasers often peak at about 100-400 mW in continuous wave (some are pulsed). Some laser hobbyists have discovered ways to extract the laser diode from DVD burners and modify them to create laser apparatus that can cause burning. heartbeat monitor
Computer-based DVD drives test glucose meter
Further information: Optical disc drive
DVD recorder drives have become standard equipment in many, though not all, computer systems currently on the market, after being initially popularized by the Pioneer/Apple SuperDrive; aftermarket drives as of early 2007 can cost as little as $23 . DVD recorder drives can be used in conjunction with DVD authoring software to create DVDs near or equal to commercial quality, and are also widely used for data backup and exchange. As a general rule, computer-based DVD recorders can also handle CD-R and CD-RW media; in fact, a number of standalone DVD recorders actually use drives designed for computers.
Most internal drives are designed with parallel ATA interfaces, with serial ATA becoming more readily available. External drives almost always use USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394, with eSATA becoming an option as well.
DVD recorder drives are required[by whom?]to respect DVD region codes when reading a disc, but do not impose a region code on written discs unless the code has specifically been written into the disc's content.
DVD duplication systems are generally built out of stacks of these drives, connected through a computer-based backplane.
Standalone DVD recorders
When the standalone DVD recorder first appeared on the Japanese consumer market in 1999, these early units were very expensive, costing between $2500 and $4000 USD. However, as of early 2007, DVD recorders from notable brands are selling for US$200 or 150 and less, with even lower "street prices". Early units supported only DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs, but the more recent units can record to all major formats DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R DL and DVD+R DL. Some models now include mechanical hard disk drive-based digital video recorders (DVRs) to improve ease of use. Standalone DVD recorders generally have basic DVD authoring software built in; however, the appearance of the finished DVD is very basic and usually completely under the control of the unit.
Some believed that DVD recorders would supersede the VCR as the standard television-recording device; however as technology progresses, Panasonic introduced the world's first Blu-ray disc recorder which is capable of recording both DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
DVD recorders have several technical advantages over VCRs, including:
Superior video and audio quality
Easy-to-handle smaller form-factor disc media, and more durable than magnetic tape.
Random access to video chapters without rewinding or fast-forwarding (serial access)
Onscreen multilingual subtitles and labeling not available on VCRs
Reduced playback wear and tear
High-quality digital copying, with little or no generation loss
Improved editing, at least on rewritable media
Playlisting
No risk of accidentally recording over existing content or unexpectedly running out of space during recording
Easy to find recordings due to chapter menus
It does have some disadvantages
Slow initial access/load times due to the optical nature of the disc
Limited rewritability on DVDRW(+RW) discs (typically around 1000). DVD-RAM is better suited for high frequency re-recording (around 100,000 rewrites)
Relatively short life of the laser diodes (average of about 2 years depending on usage).
However, an inconvenience exists in which DVDs recorded with DVD recorders must be finalized to view in other DVD players. (This disadvantage does not apply to DVD-RAM or DVD+RW discs, which require no finalization due to their 'random access' nature.) Also, the implementation of MPEG-2 compression used on most standalone DVD recorders is required to compress the picture data in real time, producing results that may not be up to the standard of professionally rendered DVD video, which can take days to compress.
The United States is converting its over-the-air television broadcasts to digital "ATSC" in June 2009, however this will have very limited impact in ending the need for DVD recorders to perform realtime MPEG-2 encoding or transcoding. The only setup where ATSC could conceivably eliminate MPEG-2 encoding/transcoding in a DVD recorder would be where an antenna is hooked directly into a DVD recorder that has an integrated ATSC tuner. Even then however, the DVD recorder will have to transcode the ATSC MPEG-2 into DVD-Video-legal MPEG-2 if the ATSC MPEG-2 stream isn't already DVD-Video-compatible. This would require transcoding for all high-definition broadcasts and some if not all standard-definition broadcasts. The same general situation applies to digital cable service; only DVD recorders with integrated digital cable ("QAM") tuners can possibly avoid transcoding, and then only if the digital cable system is already sending a DVD-Video-compatible MPEG-2 stream, which again requires transcoding of all HD content and some if not all SD content. All other setups (digital cable box's analog outputs to DVD recorder, satellite box's analog outputs to DVD recorder, DVD recorder tuning and recording analog cable channels which are still permitted after 2/2009, etc.) usually always involve an analog step with MPEG-2 encoding being necessary inside the DVD recorder.
A number of manufacturers have combined DVD recorders with mechanical hard disk drive-based digital video recorders, allowing for recording to large fixed disks, and the ability to view these recordings off the hard disk at a later date.
In Japan, AVCREC recorders, which are able to record MPEG-2 or AVC high definition video from ISDB broadcast with or without re-encoding, get increasingly popular. Initially, AVCREC recorders use DVD recordable discs, but newer models are able to record onto Blu-ray discs as well onto hard disk drives.
ATSC standalone DVD recorders
As a result of the North American digital switchover, tuner-equipped devices manufactured or imported into the United States are now required by the US Federal Communications Commission to include digital tuners.
This has caused most new VHS recorders to be implemented as DVD/VCR combo units, or to be manufactured without tuners. The US requirement of ATSC compatibility forces inclusion of MPEG-2 decoding hardware, which is already part of all DVD players but which otherwise would not have been needed in an analog-only VCR.
An ATSC-capable DVD unit can also serve as a more-powerful alternative to digital television adapters, which allow DTV reception with older NTSC analog televisions. The DVD recorders offer additional capabilities, such as automated VCR-style timeshifting of programming and a variety of output formats, that are deliberately not included in the most common mass-market US ATSC converters.
Unlike the more common digital television adapter boxes, newer DVD recorder units are able to tune both analog and digital signals - an advantage when receiving low-power television and foreign (analogue) signals. Some, however, do suffer from many of the same design limitations as the less costly converter boxes, including poorly-designed signal strength meters, incomplete display of broadcast program information, incompatibility with antenna rotators or CEA-909 smart antennas and inability to add digital channels without wiping out all existing channels and rescanning the entire band.
A DVD recording of an over-the-air HDTV broadcast is at DVD resolution, which is inferior to the original broadcast with 720p or 1080i resolution. Some units also provide limited USB or flash memory interface capability, often only supporting viewing of digital camera still photos or playback of MP3s with no ability to write video to these media.
A small number of DVD recorders are also capable of recording to SVCD, VCD and even Audio CD formats. Recording to DVDs can be done at different speeds giving between 1 and 6 hours on a standard (single sided 12 cm) blank DVD. With some trade off between recording time and video quality.
MiniDVD recorders
8 cm miniDVDs are widely used on some digital camcorders, primarily those meant for a consumer market ("point and shoot"); such discs are usually playable on a full-sized DVD player, but may not record on a full-sized DVD recorder system. Though popular for their convenience (in the manner of VHS-C), DVD camcorders are not considered suitable for more than casual use due to the much higher level of compression used compared to MiniDV and the difficulty of editing MPEG-2 video.
See also
Digital video
Digital video recorder (DVR)
DVD
Optical disc recorder
Videocassette recorder (VCR, video recorder)
Video scaler "Upconverting"
References
^ FCC - DTV enforcement
^ "LITE-ON Black 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM ATAPI/E-IDE CD Burner - CD / DVD Burners". Newegg.com. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106085. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
v d e
Digital television in North America
Digital television
Terrestrial
Digital broadcasting
ATSC tuners Digital subchannels Virtual channels Distributed transmission system Datacasting (Guide Plus National Datacast UpdateLogic) Metropolitan Television Alliance Grand Alliance
Digital switchover
All-Channel Receiver Act SAFER Act Digital channel election Set-top boxes Digital television adapter U.S. Converter Box Coupon Program (boxes, legislation) Analog passthrough DVD recorders Digital video recorders
Digital standards
ATSC Standards (ATSC ATSC-M/H 8VSB A-VSB E-VSB PSIP PMCP full list) Standard-definition TV (480i 576i) Enhanced-definition TV (480p 576p) High-definition TV (720p 1080i 1080p) Serial digital interface Smart antennas (CEA-909)
Digital networks
see Template:American broadcast television
National deployment
List by country Canada Mexico United Kingdom United States (HDTV transition wireless spectrum auction)
Cable
Digital cable
Digital-cable-ready TV (QAM tuners) Interactive-digital-cable-ready TV (OpenCable Application Platform Advanced Common Application Platform) Must-carry Tru2way
Subscription TV
Encryption CableCARD Downloadable Conditional Access System
Satellite TV
DVB-S (Dish Network GlobeCast World TV Free-to-air receiver Bell TV) DigiCipher 2 (4DTV Shaw Direct) Digital Satellite Service/DVB-S2 (DirecTV)
Technical issues
14:9 Active Format Description Broadcast flag Channel protection ratios HDTV blur Hierarchical modulation Pirate decryption Standards conversion Video on demand
Categories: RecordersHidden categories: Articles lacking sources from June 2009 | All articles lacking sources | All articles with specifically-marked weasel-worded phrases | Articles with specifically-marked weasel-worded phrases from March 2009 | Articles needing cleanup from June 2009 | All pages needing cleanup
Alliance Boots
China Product
History
Merger
Main articles: Alliance UniChem and Boots Group popcorn poppers
Alliance Boots was formed following the merger of a pan-European company, Alliance UniChem Plc, and a British company, Boots Group PLC. Whilst the creation of Alliance Boots was billed as a "Merger" it was technically an acquisition of Alliance Unichem PLC by the larger Boots Group PLC, which then renamed itself "Alliance Boots". hobart mixer
Alliance UniChem was formed at the end of 1997, when Alliance Sant S.A. merged with the UK company UniChem PLC to form Alliance UniChem Plc, and between 1998 and 2006, Alliance UniChem expanded into additional markets throughout Europe and Russia with a widespread program of takeovers, resulting in the company expanding and entering the FTSE 100 share index in 2002. meat slicer
Alliance Sant stem from Alleanza Salute Italia, which was founded in 1977 by present Alliance Boots Executive Chairman Stefano Pessina. Through his investment vehicle Alliance Sant Participations S.A, at the time of the merger Pessina owned just under 15% of Alliance Boots plc (some 145,300,001 shares) together with 299,108 shares Pessina holds personally. Ornella Barra, Stefano Pessina's partner and director of Alliance Sant Participations S.A owned 559,021 shares. Taken together, the couple owned 15.106% of Alliance Boots plc.
John Boot opened his original shop in 1849 . Boots remained an independent company from its inception through to the merger with Alliance UniChem. Boots' business strategies have generally been successful, as evidenced by its steady, if unspectacular growth over the years. There have, however, been several unsuccessful strategies in pursuit of growth, such as locating Boots stores within larger Sainsbury out of town supermarkets at one point even considering the sale of sex toys in Boots stores..
In October 2005 it was announced, after a short period of speculation amongst financial analysts, that Boots would merge with Alliance UniChem in a deal valuing both companies equally and said to be worth around 7 billion.
The merger process completed without any major intervention from the Office of Fair Trading on Monday 31 July 2006, although 96 shops were sold to comply with a condition laid down by the OFT. Technically, the merger was in fact a takeover by Boots, with Boots Group PLC - the holding company of The Boots Company PLC - acquiring the entire share capital of Alliance UniChem and issuing 1.332 Boots Group PLC shares for every 1 Alliance UniChem share held. Upon completion of the process, Boots Group PLC renamed itself to Alliance Boots plc. The benefit of this process allowed The Boots Company PLC and Alliance UniChem Plc to remain intact under one parent company, and eliminating time consuming and expensive legal work which would have been necessary to merge the two companies together into one new company.
Following the merger process, former Boots Group shareholders held 50.2% of the new company, with former Alliance UniChem shareholders getting 49.8%.
Despite the Office of Fair Trading not imposing any restrictive conditions on the deal, the merger only received final approval in February 2006 after the Competition Appeal Tribunal rejected rival firm Celesio's challenge to the deal. Celesio own the Lloydspharmacy Chain.
Acquisition by KKR
On the 25 April 2007, Alliance Boots was approached with a buy-out offer by New York City-based Private Equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in conjunction with Alliance Boots' then Executive Deputy Chairman, Stefano Pessina, for an estimated 12.4billion. Alliance Boots has become the first company on the FTSE 100 share index to be bought-out by a private equity firm. On 25 July, it was reported that UK banks that are part of the debt syndication have had trouble obtaining buyers for the debt.
On 31 March 2008 Alliance Boots GmbH, of Zug, Switzerland, acquired the trading business from AB Acquisitions Holdings Limited (KKR and Pessina's acquistition vehicle) in exchange for the issue of share capital, and became a subsidiary of that company. The canton of Zug is a favoured location for major company headquarters due to its generous corporate tax regime.
Operations
Alliance Boots operations are split into three areas, Retail, Wholesale, and Contract Manufacturing.
Retail operations
A typical Boots store in Gunwharf Quays, UK.
Interior of a Boots store
A typical Boots store
Boots
Boots The Chemists forms the backbone of Alliance Boots retail operations. Nearly all the former Alliance Unichem stores have now been rebranded as Boots. Boots has a history stretching back over 150 years and is a familiar sight on Britain's high streets.
Boots outlets are typically larger than those of Alliance Pharmacy, often occupying prominent high street/city centre locations. Most branches have a pharmacy (only 300 of 3000 stores do not) and focus on healthcare, personal care and cosmetic products, with most stores selling over the counter medicines, many stores also feature traditional photo processing and/or a Kodak picture kiosk where users of digital cameras and camera phones can create professional quality prints. Larger stores usually offer a range of electrical equipment such as hairdryers, curlers and foot massagers, whilst selected stores often offer a range of sandwiches, baguettes, wraps, salads and beverages.
Over the last three years, Boots has opened 48 larger out of town stores to compete with out of town supermarkets and electrical outlets, over the past few years, Boots have suffered intensive competition from the major supermarket chains, especially Tesco and Asda stores featuring a pharmacy and photo processing area, and electrical retailers such as Argos and Dixons selling photographic and beauty electrical items. The pharmacy side of the business is also facing competition from community pharmacies with a stronger heathcare focus, such as Lloydspharmacy, Co-op and Rowlands.
Larger stores typically offer a variety of healthcare services in addition to dispensing prescriptions, such as flu vaccination, Cholesterol screening, weight loss advice, hair retention treatment, smoking cessation advice and products, and Chlamydia testing & treatment (private service). Boots is also a big player in the provision of services to Care Homes across the UK. Optician services are also offered in many larger stores, with Boots providing eye tests along with the sale of spectacles and contact lenses. Boots supplied 800,000 pairs of spectacles in 2005/2006
Boots has a well developed internet site www.boots.com which allows online shopping in the United States, Canada, Norway, Romania, Russia, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Thailand.
Advantage Card - billed as the most generous customer loyalty card in Britain, Boots Advantage card has 15,000,000 regular users and users earn 4 points (worth 1p each, so 4p per 1) for every 1 spent. (In Ireland, users earn 4c for every 1 spent).
Alliance Pharmacy
The original Alliance Pharmacies were typically smaller shops focusing mainly on filling prescriptions, selling healthcare products and providing medical advice. Alliance Pharmacies tend to be in less prominent locations, closer to GP surgeries or located in housing estates rather than town centres, in locations more suited to the needs of those needing prescriptions and over the counter medicines.
Since the merger, Alliance Pharmacy stores were re-branded to 'Your Local Boots Pharmacy' and now carry the Boots logo. The changes began in January 2008 and a majority of stores have now been rebranded.
Moss Pharmacies
E.Moss Limited was acquired by UniChem in 1991 and through 2005 was re-branded as Alliance Pharmacy. Any remaining Moss Pharmacy stores will be re-branded as Boots along with the Alliance Pharmacy stores.
Internationally
Alliance Boots operates a further 400 pharmacies in Norway, the Netherlands, Thailand, Republic of Ireland, Italy and Switzerland (through an associate) and has a presence in various other countries such as Russia, Romania, Canada and the USA through implants in other major retail partners. In Norway the group operates the Alliance Apotek chain with 140 outlets, and the Boots Apotek chain with 60 outlets.
Wholesale operations
Alliance Healthcare
Alliance Healthcare is the backbone of Alliance Boots wholesale and distribution service, with twice daily deliveries to around 5,700 pharmacy shops in the UK alone. Internationally, Alliance Boots distributes drugs and cosmetics to around 125,000 outlets and operates from 380 delivery depots.
In addition to supplying Alliance Pharmacies, the Alliance Healthcare distribution subsidiaries also deliver to NHS central warehouses and hospitals in the UK, along with private hospitals, GP surgeries, local health centres and private pharmacies throughout Europe, Asia and Australasia.
Almus
Almus is a brand of generic prescription drugs sold throughout the Alliance UniChem sphere of operations.
Almus is an umbrella brand for the wide range of lower cost generic medicines, which by the end of 2006 will total 200 different drugs and doses. Alliance Boots has placed considerable emphasis on the design of the packaging in an attempt to reduce the number errors by the dispensing chemist and by the patient relating to incorrect dosage which can result in either a dangerous accidental overdose or an equally dangerous under dose. Almus have won numerous awards for the design of their packaging and documentation.
Contract manufacturing operations
Boots Contract Manufacturing
BCM Limited is the manufacturing subsidiary of Alliance Boots and manufactures a range of own-brand and third-party medicines, and cosmetic product ranges such as No 7, Kangol, Toni & Guy, FCUK, Soltan and Botanics. Some are sold through Boots stores whilst others are sold through third party stores such as French Connection and Toni & Guy. Boots Contract Manufacturing has facilities in the UK, Germany, France and Poland.
BCM Cosmtique is the company's manufacturing division in France.
BCM Kosmetik is the company's manufacturing division in Germany.
BCM Specials manufacture bespoke non-licenced medicines for UK hospital and retail pharmacies.
Subsidiary companies
Alliance Boots plc is the direct parent company of The Boots Company plc and Alliance UniChem plc, with The Boots Company plc and Alliance UniChem plc remaining parent companies of their respective subsidiaries. There has been no change in the structure of either company during the merger process.
Financial performance
Boots Group
Year ended
Revenue (m)
Profit before tax (m)
Net profit (m)
Basic eps (p)
31 March 2006 *
5,027.4
348.9
303.4
44.5
31 March 2005
5,469.1
427.6
302.4
40.9
31 March 2004
5,325.0
579.9
411.5
52.8
31 March 2003
5,325.2
494.9
301.6
36.0
31 March 2002
5,328.3
595.8
404.3
45.9
31 March 2001
5,220.9
492.2
333.2
37.9
31 March 2000
5,187.0
561.7
399.0
45.0
Alliance UniChem
Year ended
Revenue (m)
Profit before tax (m)
Net profit (m)
Basic eps (p)
31 December 2005
9,171.2
278.9
211.3
58.3
31 December 2004
8,898.4
253.0
187.7
52.3
31 December 2003
8,799.3
209.9
N/A
37.3
Corporate governance
As of July 2009 the board of directors are:
Stefano Pessina - Executive Chairman
Andy Hornby - Group Chief Executive
George Fairweather - Group Finance Director
Marco Pagni - Group Legal Counsel & Chief Administrative Officer
Ornella Barra - Chief Executive, Pharmaceutical Wholesale Division
Steve Duncan - Executive Chairman, Health & Beauty
Alex Gourlay - Chief Executive, Health & Beauty Division
Dominic Murphy - Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Mattia Caprioli - Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Sergio D'Angelo - Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Nick Land - Non-executive Director
Chris Britton - Non-executive Director
Tony De Nunzio - Non-executive Director
Etienne Jornod - Non-executive Director
See also
Boots Group
Alliance UniChem
References
^
^ Alliance Boots Key Facts & Figures
^ BBC News 3rd October 2005
^ Article from ABC Money website
^ Boots learning Store
^ Office of Fair Trading - Notification by Sainsbury's and Boots
^ BBC News 22nd October 2004
^ BBC News
^ a b Alliance Boots IR
^ Terra Firma drops Boots bid plan
^ KKR lines up to buy Boots debt on the cheap
^ a b Digital Look Accessed 2nd November 2006
^ Boots The Chemists Website
^ Boots Opticians website information
^ Boots online country selection
^ a b c Alliance Boots corporate information
^ BBC News3rd October 2005
^ Almus Media Centre
^ a b Alliance Boots Results Archive
^ Alliance Boots - Our Directors
External links
Alliance Boots
The Boots Company
Boots the Chemists
Alliance Pharmacy
UniChem Wholesalers
Boots Contract Manufacturing
BBC News Coverage of the Merger
v d e
Alliance Boots plc
Corporate directors
Sir Nigel Rudd Stefano Pessina Richard Baker George Fairweather Ornella Barra Steve Duncan Scott Wheway Guy Duncan Adrian Loader Tim Parker Hlne Ploix Patrick Ponsolle Manfred Stach
Alliance Boots plc subsidiaries
The Boots Group plc Alliance Unichem plc
Boots Group subsidiaries
Boots The Chemists Ltd Boots Opticians Ltd Boots Beauty International Ltd Boots Property Ltd Boots Manufacturing Ltd BCM Cosmtique BCM Kosmetik
Alliance Unichem subsidiaries
UniChem Ltd Interpharm BV Alliance UniChem CV Spo (97.1%) Holtung AS Alliance Sante SA (99.8%) Alleanz Salute Italia Spa Safa Galenica SA Alloga SA E. Moss Limited Alliance UniChem Norge AS De Vier Vijzels BV
Alliance Unichem associates
Alliance UniChem Farmaceutica SA (49%) Andrae- Noris Zahn AG (29.99%) Galenica AG (25.5%) Hedef Alliance Holding AS (50%) Pharmapartners BV (40%) UniDrug Distribution Group Limited (50%) Unifarma Distribution Srl (36%)
Brands
17 Boots Expert Botanics Boots Collagenese Detox FCUK Feel the Difference Fresh! Hackett Lee Stafford v Mark Hill Luminese Mediterranean Naked Natural Collection No7 Ruby & Millie Sabai-arom Skin Kindly Sleep Soltan Ted Baker The Sanctuary Time Delay Time Dimensions Toni & Guy Trevor Sorbie Umberto Giannini
Annual revenue: 17.195 billion GBP (Year ended 31 March 2009) Website: www.allianceboots.com
Categories: Companies of Switzerland | Wholesalers | Private equity portfolio companies | Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts companies | Companies established in 2006
Home automation
China Product
Home wiring history
A typical domestic patch panel.
Traditionally, homes have been wired for four systems: power, telephones, cable TV outlets, and a doorbell. Typically, components and wiring for these are kept within a closet or a patch panel. motorola bluetooth hs850
Home automation has been around since World War I. A television remote was first patented in 1950,[citation needed] and a remote control device was first used by the Germans in World War I to control motorboats. From there, the evolution of controllers and automation has been growing and still continue to grow to this day. e2c
In advanced installations, rooms can sense not only the presence of a person but know who that person is and perhaps set appropriate lighting, temperature, music or television levels taking into account the day of the week, the time of day, and other factors. hs850
Other automated tasks may include setting the air conditioning to an energy saving setting when the house is unoccupied, and restoring the normal setting when an occupant is about to return. More sophisticated systems can maintain an inventory of products, recording their usage through an RFID tag, and prepare a shopping list or even automatically order replacements.
Some practical implementations of home automation are for example when an alarm detects a fire or smoke condition, then all lights in the house will blink to alert occupants. If the house is equipped with a home theater, a home automation system can shut down all audio and video components to alert the user to a possible fire or a burglar.
Standards and bridges
Specific domestic wiring and communication standards include BACnet, INSTEON, X10, PLC BUS, KNX (standard), System Box, LonWorks, C-Bus, SCS BUS with OpenWebNet, Universal powerline bus (UPB), UPnP, ZigBee and Z-Wave that will allow for control of most applications. Some standards use communication and control wiring, some embed signals in the powerline, some use radio frequency (RF) signals, and some use a combination of several methods. Control wiring is hardest to retrofit into an existing house. Some appliances include USB that is used to control it and connect it to a domotics network. Bridges translate information from one standard to another (eg. from X10 to European Installation Bus).
Technology
Transmission medium
Transmission speed
Maximum distance to the device
Ethernet {IEEE 802.3}
Unshielded twisted pair
10 Mbit/s 1 Gbit/s
100 m
Optical fiber
1 Gbit/s 10 Gbit/s
2 km 15 km
HomePlug {IEEE P1901}
Electrical wiring
14 Mbit/s - 200 Mbit/s
200 m
Universal Powerline Association
Electrical wiring
200 Mbit/s
200 m
ITU G.hn {G.9960}
Electrical wiring / Telephone line / Coaxial cable
up to 1 Gbit/s
N/A
HomePNA {G.9951, G.9952, G.9953, and G.9954}
Telephone line
10 Mbit/s
300 m
Wi-Fi {IEEE 802.11}
Radio frequency
11 Mbit/s 248 Mbit/s
30 m 100 m
FireWire {IEEE 1394}
Unshielded twisted pair / Optical fiber
400 Mbit/s 3.2 Gbit/s
4.5 m 70 m
Bluetooth {IEEE 802.15.1 (v1.1 only)}
Radio frequency
1 Mbit/s 10 Mbit/s
10 m 100 m
IRDA
Infrared
9600 bit/s 4 Mbit/s
2 m
C-Bus
Twisted pair / Electrical wiring / Radio frequency / Infrared / Ethernet / Wi-Fi
1200 bit/s 9600 bit/s
1000 m
LonWorks {ISO/IEC 14908}
Twisted pair / Electrical wiring / Radio frequency / Infrared / Coaxial / Optical fiber / IP tunneling
1.70 kbit/s 1.28 Mbit/s
1500 m 2700 m
INSTEON
Electrical wiring / Radio frequency
1.2 kbit/s
1,000 m+ (Electrical wiring), 50 m+ (Wireless)
X10
Electrical wiring
50 bit/s 60 bit/s
European Installation Bus / KNX {ISO/IEC 14543-3}
Twisted pair / Electrical wiring / Radio frequency / Infrared / Ethernet
1200 bit/s 9600 bit/s
300 m 1000 m
EHS
Twisted pair / Electrical wiring
2.4 kbit/s 48 kbit/s
Batibus
Twisted pair
4800 bit/s
200 m 1500 m
ZigBee {IEEE 802.15.4 (radio-layer only, not protocol)}
Radio frequency
20 kbit/s 250 kbit/s
10 m 75 m
Z-Wave
Radio frequency
9.6 kbit/s 40 kbit/s
1 m 75 m
USB
Twisted pair
12 Mbit/s 480 Mbit/s
5 m
System
The elements of a domotics system are:
hardware controllers or software controllers
sensors
actuators
Architecture
From the point of view of where the intelligence of the domotic system resides, there are three different architectures:
Centralized Architecture: a centralized controller receives information of multiple sensors and, once processed, generates the opportune orders for the actuators.
Distributed Architecture: all the intelligence of the system is distributed by all the modules that are sensors or actuators. Usually it is typical of the systems of wiring in bus.
Mixed Architecture: systems with decentralized architecture as far as which they have several small devices able to acquire and to process the information of multiple sensors and to transmit them to the rest of devices distributed by the house.
Interconnection
By wire:
optical fiber
cable (coaxial and twisted pair), including:
xDSL
powerline, including:
INSTEON
X10
Wireless:
radio frequency, including:
INSTEON
Wi-Fi
GPRS and UMTS
Bluetooth
DECT
ZigBee
Z-Wave
ONE-NET
EnOcean
infrared, including:
Consumer IR
Both Wireless and Wire
INSTEON
Classifications of domestic network technologies
Device interconnection:
FireWire
Bluetooth
USB
IrDA
Control and automation nets:
C-Bus (protocol)
Universal Powerline Bus
Konnex
Lonworks
X10
ONE-NET
EIB
EHS
BatiBUS
ZigBee
EnOcean
SCS BUS - OpenWebNet
Data nets:
Ethernet
Homeplug
HomePNA
WiFi
Tasks
HVAC
Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) solutions include temperature and humidity control (climotics). This is generally one of the most important aspects to a homeowner. An Internet-controlled thermostat, for example, can both save money and help the environment, by allowing the homeowner to control the building's heating and air conditioning systems remotely.
Lighting
Lighting control systems involves aspects related to controlling electric lights.
Extinguished general of all the lights of the house
Automation of switched off / ignition in every point of light
Regulation of the illumination according to the level of ambient luminosity
Natural lighting
Natural lighting control involves controlling window shades, LCD shades, draperies and awnings. Recent advances include use of RF technology to avoid wiring to switches and integration with third party home automation systems for centralized control.
Audio
Major companies associated with Audio Distribution include: Crestron, [Russound], NuVo, Control 4, and Niles.
There are three components that allow the consumer to listen to audio throughout your home, or business:
CAT 5e/ CAT6 cable from Audio central unit.
2 sets of speaker cabling (4ply from amplifier, and 2 ply from key pad to ceiling or wall speakers).
A keypad to control your volume and sources.
This category includes audio switching and distribution. Audio switching determines the selection of an audio source. Audio distribution allows an audio source to be heard in one or more rooms. This feature is often referred to as 'multi-zone' audio.
Video
This includes video switching and distribution, allowing a video source to be viewed on multiple TVs. This feature is often referred to as 'multi-zone' video.
Integration of the intercom to the telephone, or of the video door entry system to the television set, allowing the residents to view the door camera automatically.
Security
Control and integration of security systems.
With Home Automation, the consumer can select and watch cameras live from an Internet source to their home or business. Security cameras can be controlled, allowing the user to observe activity around a house or business right from a Monitor or touch panel. Security systems can include motion sensors that will detect any kind of unauthorized movement and notify the user through the security system or via cell phone.
This category also includes control and distribution of security cameras (see surveillance).
Detection of possible intrusion
sensors of detection of movement
sensors of magnetic contact of door/window
sensors of glass breaking
sensors of pressure changes
Simulation of presence.
Detection of fire, gas leaks, water leaks (see fire alarm and gas alarm)
Medical alert. Teleassistance.
Precise and safe closing of blinds.
Intercoms
An intercom system allows communication via a microphone and loud speaker between multiple rooms.
Ubiquity in the external control as much internal, remote control from the Internet, PC, wireless controls (p.ej. PDA with WiFi), electrical equipment.
Transmission of alarms.
Intercommunications.
Robotics
Control of home robots, using if necessary domotic electric beacon.
Home robot communication (i.e. using WiFi) with the domotic network and other home robots.
Other systems
A homemade Internet-enabled cat feeder.
Using special hardware, almost any device can be monitored and controlled automatically or remotely.
Including:
Coffee pot
Garage door(s)
Pet feeding and watering
Plant watering
Pool pump(s) and heater, Hot tub and Spa
Sump Pump (need info and links)
Costs
An automated home can be a very simple grouping of controls, or it can be heavily automated where any appliance that is plugged into electrical power is remotely controlled. Costs mainly include equipment, components, furniture, and custom installation.
Smart Grid
In 2009 President Barack Obama asked the United States Congress "to act without delay" to pass legislation that included doubling alternative energy production in the next three years and building a new electricity "smart grid". On April 13, 2009, George W. Arnold was named the first National Coordinator for Smart Grid Interoperability. In June 2009, the NIST announced a smart grid interoperability project via IEEE P2030.
Home automation technologies like Zigbee, INSTEON and Zwave are viewed as integral additions to the Smart Grid. The ability to control lighting, appliances, HVAC as well as Smart Grid applications (load shedding, demand response, real-time power usage and price reporting) will become vital as Smart Grid initiatives are rolled out.
Organizations
CEDIA
Continental Automated Buildings Association
CENELEC
Fast Track Team SmarterHome
Microsoft
MIT AgeLab
SIMO TCI
DLNA
Insteon
Honeywell
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Home automation
Building automation
Crestron
DASH7
Digital home
e-Home Automation
Emergency light
Energy harvesting
EnOcean
Floor plan and house navigation system
Gate operator
Hall Research
Home automation for the elderly and disabled
Home of the future
HVAC
Information appliance
LinuxMCE
Nice
Power line communication
Power over Ethernet (PoE)
Speech recognition and Text To Speech (TTS)
Touchscreen/Touch panel
Xanadu Houses
The Virtual Crib
References
^ "Remote control technology was first developed for military use". Inventors.about.com. 2009-10-30. http://inventors.about.com/od/rstartinventions/a/remote_control.htm. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
^ "Home automation costs". Totalavcontrol.co.uk. http://www.totalavcontrol.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
^ "Obama's Speech on the Economy". New York Times. 2009-01-09. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/us/politics/08text-obama.html?pagewanted=4.
^ "NIST Announces Three Phase Plan for Smart Grid". National Institute for Standards and Technology. 2009-04-13. http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/smartgrid_041309.html.
^ "NIST announces smart grid interoperability project via IEEE P2030, June 2009". Nist.gov. 2010-02-03. http://www.nist.gov/smartgrid/. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
^ "About Us". InsteonSmartGrid.com. http://www.insteonsmartgrid.com/About-Us.html. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
^ Fast Track Team Smarterhome as "intelligent" home automation system
^ Microsoft Grace system
^ Miscrosoft's "Grace"-system
External links
Home Automation at the Open Directory Project
Home Automation Guides Provides advice for DIY home automation projects, including weather sensing, furnace control, voice recognition, and surveillance
Categories: Home automation | Domestic technology | Building engineeringHidden categories: Articles needing cleanup from September 2009 | All pages needing cleanup | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from September 2009
Gastrolobium spinosum
China Product
www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/publications/bayer-publications/71.Aust.Syst.Bot.15_619-739.pdf.
"Gastrolobium spinosum". FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia. http://florabase.dec.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/3924.
"Gastrolobium spinosum". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?taxon_id=53934. divan beds
This Faboideae-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. wicker chair
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PowerVR
China Product
Implementations
Dreamcast
The second generation PowerVR2 ("PowerVR Series 2", chip codename "CLX2") chip found a market in the Dreamcast console between 1998 and 2001. As part of an internal competition at Sega to design the successor to the Saturn, the PowerVR2 was licensed to NEC and was chosen ahead of a rival design based on the 3dfx Voodoo 2. Thanks to the performance of the PowerVR2, several Dreamcast games such as Quake III Arena could rival their PC counterparts in quality and performance. However, the success of the Dreamcast meant that the PC variant, sold as Neon 250, appeared a year late to the market and was at that time mid-range at best. motorola bluetooth hs850
KYRO and KYRO II e2c
Kyro II. hs850
In 2001, STMicroelectronics adopted the third generation PowerVR3 for their STG4000 KYRO and STG 4500 KYRO II (displayed) chips. The STM PowerVR3 KYRO II, released in 2001, was able to rival the more expensive ATI Radeon DDR and NVIDIA GeForce 2 GTS in graphic benchmarks of the time, despite not having hardware Transform and lighting (T&L). Unfortunately, as games were increasingly optimized for hardware T&L, the KYRO II lost its performance advantage. Today it is no longer supported by new released games.
STM's STG5000 chip was based upon the PowerVR4, which did include hardware T&L but it never came to commercial fruition.
Technology
The PowerVR chipset uses a unique approach to rendering a 3D scene, known as tile-based deferred rendering (often abbreviated as TBDR). As the polygon generating program feeds triangles to the PowerVR (driver) it stores them in memory in a triangle strip or an indexed format. Unlike other architectures, polygon rendering is (usually) not performed until all polygon information has been collated for the current frameence rendering is deferred.
In order to render, the display is split into rectangular sections in a grid pattern. Each section is known as a tile. Associated with each tile is a list of the triangles that visibly overlap that tile. Each tile is rendered in turn to produce the final image.
Tiles are rendered using a process similar to ray-casting. Rays are cast onto the triangles associated with the tile and a pixel is rendered from the triangle closest to the camera. The PowerVR hardware typically calculates the depths associated with each polygon for one tile row in 1 cycle.
This method has the advantage that, unlike a more traditional z-buffered rendering pipeline, no calculations need to be made to determine what a polygon looks like in an area where it is obscured by other geometry. It also allows for correct rendering of partially transparent polygons, independent of the order in which they are processed by the polygon producing application. (This capability was only implemented in Series 2 and one MBX variant. It is generally not included for lack of API support and cost reasons.) More importantly, as the rendering is limited to one tile at a time, the whole tile can be in fast onchip memory, which is flushed to video memory before processing the next tile. Under normal circumstances, each tile is visited just once per frame.
PowerVR is not the only pioneer of tile based deferred rendering, but the only one to successfully bring a TBDR solution to market. Microsoft also conceptualised the idea with their abandoned Talisman project. Gigapixel, a company that developed IP for tile-based deferred 3D graphics, was purchased by 3dfx, who were subsequently purchased by Nvidia. Nvidia currently has no official plans to pursue tile-based rendering.
Intel uses a similar concept in their integrated graphics solutions. However, their method, coined zone rendering, does not perform full hidden surface removal (HSR) and deferred texturing, therefore wasting fillrate and texture bandwidth on pixels that are not visible in the final image.
Recent advances in hierarchical Z-buffering have effectively incorporated ideas previously only used in deferred rendering, including the idea of being able to split a scene into tiles and of potentially being able to accept or reject tile sized pieces of polygon.
See Deferred shading for more details about how recent techniques make use of new shader models to implement deferred rendering.
PowerVR chipsets
Places where PowerVR technology and its various iterations have been used:
Series 1 (NEC)
VideoLogic Apocalypse 3Dx (NEC PowerVR PCX2 chip)
Product
Type
Chip Name
Clock Rate
Compaq 3D card
Supplied with some Presario systems
"Midas 3" chip set
66 MHz
Apocalypse 3d/3dx
3D PC add-in board
PCX-1 and PCX-2
60 and 66 MHz
Matrox m3D
3D PC add-in board
PCX-2
66 MHz
Series 2 (NEC)
Product
Type
Chip Name
Clock Rate
Dreamcast
Console
CLX2
100 MHz
Neon250
2D/3D PC Add-in Board
PowerVR 250PC
125 MHz
Sega NAOMI
Arcade Machine
CLX2
100 MHz
Sega NAOMI2
Arcade Machine
2 CLX2s + ELAN (Transform and Lighting processor)
100 MHz
Series 3 (STMicro)
Product
Type
Chip Name
Clock Rate
KYRO
2D/3D PC add-in board
STG4000
115 MHz
KYRO II
2D/3D PC add-in board
STG4500
175 MHz
KYRO IISE
2D/3D PC add-in board
STG4800
200 MHz
VGX
PowerVR VGX150
MBX
With KYRO 3 (2D/3D AIB) products shelved due to STMicro closing its graphics division, PowerVR concentrated on the portable market with its next design, the low power PowerVR MBX. It, and its SGX successors, have become the de facto standards for mobile 3D, having been licensed by seven of the top ten semiconductor manufacturers including Intel, Texas Instruments, Samsung, NEC, NXP Semiconductors, Freescale, Renesas and Sunplus, and are in use in many high-end cellphones including the iPhone, Nokia N900, Nokia N95, Sony Ericsson P1 and Motorola RIZR Z8.
There are two variants: MBX and MBX Lite. Both have the same feature set. MBX is optimized for speed and MBX Lite is optimized for low power consumption. A MBX can be paired up with an FPU, Lite FPU, VGP Lite and VGP.
Freescale i.MX31BX Lite + FPU (VFP11) + ARM1136
DAVE Embedded Systems Qong (SOM)
ELSA PAL Mini Book e-A533-L
Garz & Fricke Adelaide
TQ Components TQMa31
iCEphone
Freescale i.MX31CBX Lite + FPU (VFP11) + ARM1136
Cogent CSB733 (SOM)
DAVE Embedded Systems Qong (SOM)
Freescale MPC5121eBX Lite + VGP Lite + PowerPC e300
CherryPal C114
DAVE Embedded Systems Aria (SOM)
LimePC range (UMPC, HandheldPC, PalmPC, LimePC HDTV set)
PhaedruS SystemS CSB781
GDA Technologies Bali Reference Board
Intel CE 2110BX Lite + XScale
ASUS set-top boxes
Chunghwa Telecom Multimedia on Demand set-top boxes
Digeo Moxi Multi-Room HD Digital Media Recorder
Digeo Moxi Mate
Digital Video Networks set-top boxes
OKI Next Generation Hybrid STB
ZTE set-top boxes
Marvell 2700G - discontinued - (was Intel 2700G)BX Lite (as a companion to the Marvell (was Intel) XScale processor PXA27x)
Advance Tech M.A.G.I.C.
Advantech UbiQ-350
Advantech UbiQ-470
Compulab CM-F82 (PowerPC Module)
Dell Axim X50v
Dell Axim X51v
Dresser Wayne iX
Gigabyte GSmart t600
Gigabyte GSmart MW998
Palm Foleo
Pepper Pad
PFU Systems MediaStaff DS
NXP Nexperia PNX4008BX Lite + FPU + ARM926
Sony Ericsson M600 and M608c
Sony Ericsson P1i and P1c
Sony Ericsson P990 and P990c
Sony Ericsson W950i and W958c
Sony Ericsson W960i and W960c
NXP Nexperia PNX4009BX Lite + FPU + ARM926
Sony Ericsson G700 and G700c
Sony Ericsson G700 Business Edition
Sony Ericsson G900
Sony Ericsson P200
Renesas SH3707BX + VGP + FPU + SH-4
Sega Aurora
Renesas SH-Mobile3 (SH73180), Renesas SH-Mobile3+ (SH73182), Renesas SH-Mobile3A (SH73230), Renesas SH-Mobile3A+ (SH73450)BX Lite + VGP Lite + SH-X(SH4AL-DSP)
Fujitsu F702iD
Fujitsu F901iC
Fujitsu F902i
Fujitsu F902iS
Helio Hero
Mitsubishi D702i
Mitsubishi D851iWM (MUSIC PORTER X)
Mitsubishi D901i
Mitsubishi D901iS
Mitsubishi D902i
Mitsubishi D902iS
Motorola MS550
Pantech PN-8300
SK Teletech (SKY) IM-8300
Renesas SH-Mobile G1BX Lite + VGP Lite + SH-X2(SH4AL-DSP)
Fujitsu F704i
Fujitsu Raku-Raku PHONE III (F882iES)
Fujitsu Raku-Raku PHONE Basic (F883i)
Fujitsu Raku-Raku PHONE IV (F883iES)
Fujitsu F903i
Fujitsu F903iX HIGH-SPEED
Fujitsu F904i
Mitsubishi D704i
Mitsubishi D903i
Mitsubishi D903iTV
Mitsubishi D904i
Renesas SH-Mobile G2BX Lite + VGP Lite + SH-X2(SH4AL-DSP)
Fujitsu F905i
Mitsubishi D905i
Sharp SH905i
Sony Ericsson SO905i
Sony Ericsson SO905iCS
Fujitsu F906i
Fujitsu F706i
Sharp SH906i
Sharp SH906iTV
Sharp SH706i
Sharp SH706ie
Sharp SH706iw
Sony Ericsson SO906i
Sony Ericsson SO706i
Renesas SH-Navi1 (SH7770)BX + VGP + FPU + SH-X(SH-4A), Renesas unidentifiedBX + SuperH
Alpine Car Information Systems
Clarion MAX960HD
Clarion NAX963HD
Clarion NAX970HD
Clarion NAX973HD and MAX973HD
Clarion MAX9700DT
Clarion MAX9750DT
Mitsubishi HDD Navi H9000
Mitsubishi HDD Navi H9700
Pioneer Carrozzeria HDD CyberNavi AVIC-VH009
Pioneer Carrozzeria HDD CyberNavi AVIC-ZH900MD
Renesas SH-Navi2G (SH7775)BX + VGP + FPU + SH-X2(SH-4A)
Samsung S3C2460BX Lite + FPU + ARM926
Samsung S5L8900BX Lite + VGP Lite + FPU (VFP11) + ARM1176
iPhone
iPhone 3G
iPod Touch
iPod Touch 2nd gen
iPod Nano 4th gen
iPod Nano 5th gen
SiRF SiRFprimaBX Lite + VGP Lite + MVED1 + FPU + ARM11
Dmedia G400 WiMAX MID
CMMB K704
CMMB T700
ACCO MID Q7
ACCO P439
FineDrive iQ500
RMVB C7
Vanhe T700
WayteQ X610, X620, N800, N810, X810, X820
YFI 80T-1
Sunplus unidentifiedBX
Texas Instruments OMAP 2420BX + VGP + FPU (VFP11) + ARM1136
Motorola MOTO Q 9h
Motorola MOTO Q music 9m
Motorola MOTO Q PRO
Motorola MOTORIZR Z8
Motorola MOTORIZR Z10
NEC N902i
NEC N902iS
NEC N902iX HIGH-SPEED
Nokia E90 Communicator
Nokia N82
Nokia N93
Nokia N93i
Nokia N95 (Classic, US, SoftBank X02NK Japanese, and 8 GB versions) ( N95 RM-159 / 245 = TI OMAP DM290Z WV C-68A0KYW EI )
Nokia N800
Nokia N810
Nokia N810 Wimax edition
Panasonic P702iD
Panasonic P702iS
Panasonic P902i
Panasonic P902iS
Sharp SH702iD
Sharp SH702iS
Sharp SH902i
Sharp SH902iS
Sharp DOLCE SL (SH902iSL)
Sony Ericsson SO902i
Sony Ericsson SO902iWP+
Texas Instruments OMAP2430BX Lite + VGP Lite + FPU + ARM1136
ASUS M536
Fujitsu F1100
NEC N903i
NEC N904i
NEC N905i
NEC N905i
Palm Treo 800w
Panasonic P903i
Panasonic P903iTV
Panasonic P903iX HIGH-SPEED
Samsung SGH-G810
Samsung SGH-i550
Samsung SGH-i560
Samsung innov8 (SGH-i8510)
Samsung GT-i7110
Sharp SH704i
Sharp SH903i
Sharp SH904i
Sony Ericsson SO704i
Sony Ericsson SO903i
Texas Instruments OMAP2530BX Lite + VGP Lite + FPU + ARM1176
Thinkware iNAVI K2
Digital Cube iStation T5
APSI LM480
PowerVR Video Cores(MVED/VXD)
Marvell PXA310/312VED
Airis T483 / T482L
Blackberry Bold 9700
Geeks'Phone ONE
General Mobile DSTL1
Gigabyte GSmart MS808
HP iPaq 11x/21x
HKC Prado
HKC Mopad 8/E
HKC G920, G908
i-MATE 810F (Hummer)
Motorola FR68 and FR6000
NIM1000
NDrive S400
Pharos 565
Qigi AK007C, i6-Goal, i6-Win, i6C, U8/U8P
RoverPC Pro G7, X7, evo V7
Samsung i780, i900 Omnia, i907 Epix, i908 Omnia, i910 Omnia, SCH-M490 T*OMNIA, SCH-M495 T*OMNIA
Samsung SPH-M4800 Ultra Messaging II
SoftBank 930SC Omnia
WayteQ X520 , X-Phone
SI Electronics unidentifiedXD380
NEC EMMA 3TLXD380
Series5 (SGX)
PowerVR SGX (pixel, vertex, and geometry shader hardware)
next generation fully programmable universal scalable shader architecture
exceeding requirements of OpenGL 2.0 and up to DirectX 10.1 Shader Model 4.1
licensed to Apple Inc, Sony, Intel, Nokia, Renesas, NEC, TI, MediaTek, NXP Semiconductors, Samsung, Sigma Designs, SigmaTel, SiRF and others
size from 2.6mm 2to 12.5mm 2(@65nm)
6 variants announced:
SGX520 (7 MPolys/s, 250Mpx/s@200MHz) for the handheld mobile market
SGX530 (14 MPolys/s, ?Mpx/s@200MHz)for the handheld mobile market
SGX531
SGX535 (28 MPolys/s, 400Mpx/s@200MHz, Max Memory Band (GB/s) 4.2GB/s)for handheld high end mobile, portable, MID, UMPC, consumer, and automotive devices (Intel calls it the GMA 500)
SGX540 (twice performance of SGX530)
SGX545 (40 MPolys/s, 1000Mpx/s@200MHz)
Products that include the SGX:
Apple unidentifiedGX535 + VXD (Samsung manufactured)
Apple iPhone 3GS
Apple iPod Touch 3rd Gen (32GB/64GB)
Intel CE 3100GX535(Intel GMA500) + Pentium M
Conceptronic YUIXX
Gigabyte GN-MD300-RH
Metrological's Mediaconnect TV
Routon H3
Samsung STB-HDDVR
Toshiba Connected TVs
Toshiba Network Player
TCL IPTV
Fujitsu
Intel CE4100GX535 + Atom-based CPU
Orange STB
Intel CE4130GX535 + Atom-based CPU
Intel CE4150GX535 + Atom-based CPU
Intel System Controller Hub US15/W/LGX535(Intel GMA500) + VXD370
Abit (USI) MID-100
Abit (USI) MID-150, MID-200
Acer Aspire One AO751h
Advantech MICA-101
Aigo MID P8860, P8880, P8888
Arbor Gladius G0710
Archos 9
ASUS EeePC T91
ASUS EeePC S121, EeePC 1101HGO
ASUS R50A, R70A
Averatec (TriGem) MID
BenQ Aries2
BenQ S6
Clarion MiND
CLEVO TN70M, TN71M, T89xM
Colmek Stinger
Compal jAX10
CompuLab Fit-PC2
Cowon W2
Dell Inspiron Mini 12, Inspiron Mini 10, Inspiron Mini 1010 Tiger
Digifriends WiMAX MID
DT Research DT312
DUX HFBX-3800
EB mobile internet device
FMV-BIBLO LOOX U/C40, LOOX U/C30
Fujitsu UMPC U2010
Fujitsu LifeBook U2020
Fujitsu LifeBook U820, UH900
Fujitsu FMV-BIBLO LOOX U
Gigabyte M528
Hanbit Pepper Pad 3
Kohjinsha/Inventec S32, SC3
Kohjinsha W130, SX3KP06MS, SC3KX06A
Kohjinsha/Inventec X5
Kohjinsha PM series
Lenovo IdeaPad U8
LG XNote B831, LGX30
MaxID BHC-100, iDLMax
mis MP084T-001G
MSI Wind U115, U110
MSI X-Slim 320
NEC VersaPro UltraLite type VS
NEXCOM MRC 2100, MTC 2100, MTC 2100-MD
Nokia Booklet 3G
NOVA SideArm2 SA2I
OMRON Panel PC
Onkyo NX707
OQO Model 2+
Panasonic Toughbook CF-U1
Panasonic CF-H1 Mobile Clinical Assistant
Portwell Japan UMPC-2711
Quanta mobile internet device
Sony Vaio P series, Vaio X series
TCS-003-01595 - Intel ATOM Rugged Tablet PC 8.4"
Terralogic Toughnote DB06-I Intel Atom Industrial Grade Rugged UMPC
Terralogic Toughnote DB06-M Intel Atom Military Grade Rugged UMPC
Toshiba mobile internet device
Trigem LLUON Mobbit PS400
UMID Clamshell
Viliv (YuKyung) S5, S7, X70
WiBrain i1, M1
WILLCOM D4 (Sharp WS016SH)
Various system boards and computer on modules including:
Adlink Express-MLC
Advantech SOM-5775
AXIOMTEK PICO820
Congatech conga-CA
Congatech-IVI Starterkit
CoreExpress-ECO
Eurotech Catalyst, Isis, Proteus
IBASE IB822
Inhand FireFly
Kontron nanoETXexpress-SP, microETXexpress-SP, KTUS15/miTX
LiPPERT CoreExpress-ECO COM
MEN Micro XM1
MSI MS-9A06
MSC Q7-US15W
Portwell PEB-2736, PCS-8230, NANO-8044, WEBS-2120 (Nano-ITX), WEBS-1310/1320 (ECX)
PROTEUS COM EXPRESS
RadiSys Procelerant Z500, Procelerant CE5XL, Procelerant CE5XT
Woodpecker Z5xx Micro COM Express
Xilinx XA Spartan-3E FPGA
Intel LincroftGX + Atom-based CPU
LG GW990
OpenPeak OpenTablet 7
Aave Mobile
NEC EMMA Mobile/EV2GX530 + Cortex-A9 MPCore (Dual)
NEC NaviEngine EC-4270, EC-4260GX535 + ARM11 MPCore (Quad)
Alpine Car Information Systems (Spring 2010)
NEC Unidentified GX + PowerVR video & display
NEC Medity M2 GX + PowerVR video & display
NEC N-01A, N-02A, N-03A, N-04A, N-05A, N-06A, NEC N-07A, NEC N-08A, N-09A
NXP PNX847x/8x/9xGX531
Renesas SH-Mobile G3GX530 + SH-4
Fujitsu F-01A , F-02A, F-03A, F-04A, F-08A, F-09A
Sharp SH-01A, SH-02A, SH-03A, SH-05A, SH-06A, SH-07A, SH-06A NERV
Renesas SH-Mobile G4 (in development)GX540 + SH-4
Fujitsu (in development)
Sharp (in development)
Renesas SH-Mobile APE4 (R8A73720)GX540 + Cortex-A8
Renesas SH-Navi3 (SH7776)GX530 + SH-X3(SH-4A (Dual))
Samsung S5PC110GX540 + Cortex-A8
Samsung GT-i9000
Samsung S8500 Wave
Meizu M9
Samsung S5PV210GX540 + Cortex-A8
Texas Instruments OMAP3420GX530 + Cortex-A8
Texas Instruments OMAP3430GX530 + Cortex-A8
Nokia N900
Nokia N87
Emblaze ELSE
Palm Pre
Palm Pre Plus
Samsung i8910, i8320
Samsung (Vodafone) 360 H1, 360 M1
Sony Ericsson Satio
Motorola Droid / Milestone
Motorola MOTOROI
Motorola XT800
HTC Qilin/Dopod T8388
Texas Instruments OMAP3440GX530 + Cortex-A8
ARCHOS Android IMT
ECS T800 800Mhz
Texas Instruments OMAP3450GX530 + Cortex-A8
ECS T800 1Ghz
Texas Instruments OMAP3515GX530 + Cortex-A8
Texas Instruments AM3517GX530 + Cortex-A8
DAVE Embedded Systems Lizard (SOM)
Texas Instruments OMAP3530GX530 + Cortex-A8
Always Innovating Touch Book
Beagle Board
Beagle MID
Gumstix Overo(TM)ater, Fire
ICETEK-OMAP3530-MINI
Pandora (console)
OMAP35x EVM Mistral Solutions
ISB Corp. Android STB
Kopin Golden-i
GDA Technologies' OMAP3530 based PMP/PND
Texas Instruments OMAP3620GX530 + Cortex-A8
Texas Instruments OMAP3621GX530 + Cortex-A8
Texas Instruments OMAP3630GX530 + Cortex-A8
Synaptics Fuse
Sony Ericsson U5i "Vivaz"
Sony Ericsson U8i "Vivaz pro"
Texas Instruments OMAP3640GX530 + Cortex-A8
Texas Instruments OMAP4430GX540 + Cortex-A9 MPCore (dual)
Texas Instruments OMAP4440GX540 + Cortex-A9 MPCore (dual)
Series5XT (SGXMP)
PowerVR SGXMP variants available as single and multi-core IP
Performance scales linearly with number of cores and clock speed
Available in single to 16 core variants
SGX543 (single core) 35M poly/s @200 MHz
SGX543MP4 (four cores) 133M poly/s, fill rates in excess of 4Gpixels/sec @200 MHz
Rumoured PlayStation Portable2
SGX543MP8 (eight cores) 532M poly/s, fill rates in excess of 16Gpixels/sec @400 MHz
External links
Official website
Categories: Graphics hardware companies | Apple Inc. hardwareHidden categories: Articles needing cleanup from May 2008 | All pages needing cleanup | Articles needing cleanup from July 2008 | Wikipedia laundry list cleanup | Articles lacking sources from November 2009 | All articles lacking sources
Coffee and the environment
China Product
Introduction
It seems as though consuming a morning cup of coffee has always been a part of the routine of the average American. However, up until recently, citizens have not put a great deal of thought into where it is that their prized beverage has come from. Recently, coffee companies large and small have begun to take into account the United States' love of specialized coffee, as well as its need to help the environment. Companies like Eco Organic Coffee ("Coffee with a conscience", 1997) and Starbucks have begun to value the healthy growth of the coffee beans that they purchase. They look at whether or not they were, in fact, raised in an environmentally-friendly manner, such as through shade farms rather than sun farms (Anonymous, 2008). This socially responsible coffee can be found in forty countries, with leading locations like Peru, Ethiopia, and Mexico ("Facts about organic," 2008). In order to fully understand the goal of the coffee companies' production of socially responsible coffee, it is first necessary to look at the positive and negative effects of differing types of coffee growth, as well as ways to continue the growth of environmentally friendly coffee beans.
Coffee Companies and the Environment used riding mowers
While coffee companies have typically focused primarily on profit, some coffee companies are now placing greater emphasis on the environmental and social costs associated with coffee production, processing and trade. self propelled lawnmower
Shade-grown Coffee Farms reel lawn mowers
Traditionally coffee plants were grown under the shade of trees, which provided natural habitat for many animals and insects, roughly approximating the biodiversity of a natural forest . The trees provided a moderate climate for the plants, and leaves that dropped from the shade trees enriched the soil. Farmers also used compost coffee pulp before chemical fertilizers were available. They typically rotated crops and cultivated food alongside their cash crops, which provided additional income and food security.[citation needed]
In understanding the benefits of this shade-grown coffee, it is first necessary to understand its many types. Rustic farms are typically small, family farms, with little alternation to the original forests. There is typically 70 to 100 percent shade cover. Traditional polyculture includes a mixture of the native trees and planted trees with 60 to 90 percent shade cover. Commercial polyculture, with 30 to 60 percent shade covering, has even more trees removed to increase the number of coffee plants. Finally, shaded monoculture includes dense plantings of coffee beneath merely 10 to 30 percent of shade covering. While rustic farms are the most natural, each of these shade farms is more environmentally friendly than the typical sun farm, which provides nearly no shade covering at all ("What is shade," 2007). With regards to work conditions, the shade helps farmers to avoid the high temperatures and humidity. Additionally, shade farms help to harbor diversity, prevent soil erosion, isolate carbon, and even save forests (Blackman, Avalos-Sartorio, & Chow, 2007).
Along with the other multitudinous benefits of shade farms, if the destruction of forests can be prevented, many organisms will be able to turn coffee trees into their humble homes, where they can both live and reproduce. Coffee trees provide a home for a variety of types of birds. In a study done on bird populations found in Central Guatemala, multiple shade and sun-grown coffee farms were studied to determine the species of birds present in different habitats. It was concluded that shade-farms provide a habitat for woodland residents and migrants that sun-farms are not capable of making available. More species of birds have a tendency to migrate towards the diversely planted canopy trees, since the multitude of types resembled the many trees in their natural forest habitat ("Coffee with a conscience", 1997). "The loss of the shade trees on such a large scalecaused an estimated 20% decline in migratory bird populations in the last ten years, due to habitat loss" ("Shade Grown Coffee," 2008). Shade-grown coffee plantation habitats are necessary for the survival of many birds restricted to forest habitats, especially as the international destruction of natural forests increases. For instance, redstarts, black-throated green warblers, yellow-throated, and solitary vireos depend on shade-grown coffee farms ("Migrants and Coffee," 2008).
Sun-Grown Coffee Farms
However, in the 1970s and 1980s, during the "Green Revolution," the US Agency for International Development and other groups gave $80 million to plantations in Latin America for advancements to go along with the general shift to technified agriculture.[citation needed] These plantations replaced their shade grown techniques with sun cultivation techniques to increase yields, which in turn destroyed vast forests and biodiversity. In addition, the decline of coffee prices and the expansion of cities caused many farms in Central America to be destroyed and replaced by urban buildings and conventional farming. In this region, less than 20 percent of the country's forests still remain. This causes a loss of organisms and many cases of soil erosion. Sun cultivation involves cutting down trees, and high inputs of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Environmental problems, such as deforestation, pesticide pollution, habitat destruction, soil and water degradation, are the effects of most modern coffee farms, and the biodiversity on the coffee farm and in the surrounding areas suffer. According to "Coffee with a conscience," in the past 20 years, "30 to 40 percent of the plantations in northern Latin America alone have been converted to sun farms" (1997, p. 51). Unless problems regarding farm investment and yields, debt, poverty, urbanization, migration, and weak land use regulations can be addressed, shade-farms will soon cease to exist, along with the socially responsible coffee that they so generously produce (Blackman, Avalos-Sartorio, & Chow, 2007). While many Americans are aware of the fact that certain coffee products impact the environment in more positive ways than others, many are unaware of the detrimental effects of sun-grown coffee on the environment. Sun-grown coffee farms require fertilizers, pesticides, and other harmful chemicals to protect the coffee beans from the sun's brutal rays (Anonymous, 2008). The combination of these substances has harmed the air, the water, and the habitats of many birds ("Coffee with a conscience", 1997, p. 51). In addition, the lack of underbrush has caused an erosion of hills, hence the destruction of many species' habitats (Anonymous, 2008). Prior to 1972, sun farms were not in existence. However, as is classic of America, someone found a way to increase the production of a crop that was found to be highly valuable. Coffee beans became smaller and easier to harvest. Unfortunately, these new beans had to be grown in direct sunlight. Along with this new trend, came the devastating effects of sun farms on the environment and its species ("Shade Grown Coffee," 2008). While the American government knows the effects of sun-farms, they seem incredibly preoccupied with the speed with which they produce coffee, as opposed to the results. For instance, the United States government handed over $80 million to Latin America to update their coffee growing practices with pesticides and fertilizers (Hudson and Hudson, 2004). It seems apparent that something must be done about these sun farms to prevent their devastating effects on the depleting environment. The solution is simple: the use of shade-grown coffee plantations.
Water: Another Coffee Issue
Another issue concerning coffee is its use of water. According to New Scientist, it takes about 140 litres of water to produce one cup of coffee, and the coffee is often grown in countries where there is a water shortage, like Ethiopia.
Conclusion
According to Mark and Ian Hudson, "A recent study by the Guatemalan Commission for the Verification of Corporate Codes of Conduct found half the workers on fincas in that country earning less than $3 per day for picking 100 pounds of coffee" (2004, p. 13). Therefore, the "fair-trade" option was developed to give $1.26 or more per pound of coffee to the workers. This does not seem like a great deal of money, but it is a start in helping the workers in Central America provide for themselves and for their families. Since shade-grown coffee requires more human-labor than sun-grown, America is saving the environmentally friendly coffee in using free-trade to take care of the workers, thus continuing shade-grown coffee production (Hudson & Hudson, 2004).There has been a return to both traditional and new methods of growing shade-tolerant varieties.[citation needed] Shade-grown coffee can often earn a premium as a more environmentally sustainable alternative to mainstream sun-grown coffee. After all, coffee is not only considered a necessity in the life of many Americans, but "is the world's second most valuable market commodity after petroleum" (Hudson & Hudson, 2004, p. 13). Since the United States is responsible for the purchase of 25% of the coffee beans found in the local market, it seems that they should also be responsible for how their imported product is affecting the ever-changing environment (Hudson & Hudson, 2004). In order to do this, it is first necessary to look at the positive and negative effects of differing types of coffee growth, as well as ways to continue the growth of environmentally friendly coffee beans.
References
Shade coffee and tree cover loss: Lessons from El Salvador. Environment, 49(7), 22-32. Retrieved September 20, 2008, from ProQuest database: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1364053541&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1222789623&clientId=15031
Coffee with a conscience. (n.d.). Environment, 39(9), 50-51. Retrieved September 20, 2008, from EBSCOhost database: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=7&sid=c2ae5ed3-414d-4b3f-b959-34d312b681ef%40sessionmgr7&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#%23db=aph&AN=9711074152
Facts about organic coffee. (2008). Organic trade association. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://www.ota.com/organic_and_you/coffee_collaboration/facts.html
Greenberg, R., Bichier, P., Angon, A. C., & Reitsma, R. (1997, April). Bird populations in shade and sun coffee plantations in central Guatemala. Conservation Biology, 11(2), 448-459. Retrieved September 21, 2008, from EBSCOHost database: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=9&sid=562684ca-b825-4578-9cc0-e76f3b57c3c8%40sessionmgr9&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=8gh&AN=8172574
Hudson, M., & Hudson, I. (2004). Justice, sustainability, and the fair trade movement: A case study of coffee production in Chiapas. Social Justice, 31(3), 130-146. Retrieved September 21, 2008, from EBSCOhost database: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=8&hid=9&sid=562684ca-b825-4578-9cc0-e76f3b57c3c8%40sessionmgr9&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=15894221
Shade grown coffee. (2008). Earth easy. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://www.eartheasy.com/eat_shadegrown_coffee.htm
Smithsonian: National Zooloical Park. (2008). Why migratory birds are crazy for coffee. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/MigratoryBirds/Fact_Sheets/default.cfm?fxsht=1
What is shade grown coffee? (2007). Coffee and conservation: Are your beans for the birds? Retrieved September 30, 2008, from Coffee habitat Web site: http://www.coffeehabitat.com/2006/02/what_is_shade_g.html
External links
Coffee & Conservation - Web site devoted to sustainable coffee issues, focusing on the environment and biodiversity.
Bird-Friendly Coffee - Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center's trademarked shade coffee certification web site.
Bird Friendly Coffee - Sun grown vs. shade grown coffee information from BirdWatching-Bliss.com web site.
Coffee Contact - forum for issues concerning coffee production, growers' cooperatives, and the certification and marketing of sustainable coffees.
Problems with "sun" coffee - Brief summary of the environmental issues of modern coffee production, with links to in-depth reports.
Agriculture and Environment: Coffee - Summary of effects of modern coffee farming on habitat and biodiversity by the World Wildlife Fund.
Criteria for shade management for Smithsonian "Bird-Friendly" coffee certification
Current list of farms with Smithsonian "Bird-Friendly" coffee certification
Page with links to standards used by Rainforest Alliance for sustainable agriculture certification
Page with links to current lists of farms with Rainforest Alliance certification
What is the market share of eco-certified coffees? - Market share of eco-certified coffees as of 2006/2007 with links to references and industry sources.
Categories: Food and the environment | CoffeeHidden categories: Articles with limited geographic scope | USA-centric | Wikipedia articles needing style editing from October 2008 | All articles needing style editing | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from November 2008