According to Everything USB, “Dubbed SuperSpeed USB, USB 3.0 promises a major leap forward in transfer speeds and capability, while maintaining backwards compatibility with USB 2.0 devices.”

What are the differences with this release of the standard:

• Higher transfer rates (up to 4.8Gbps)
• Increased maximum bus power
• New power management features
• Full-duplex data transfers
• Support for new transfer types
• Backward USB 2.0 compatibility
• New connectors and cables

So, if you were to design and verify a Superspeed USB 3.0 core on your next chip integration.  Where would you get your IP core, and where would you get your Verification IP (VIP)? After looking around, this is what we found.

VIP SuperSpeed USB

The Cadence SuperSpeed USB Verification IP (VIP) provides a mature, highly capable compliance verification solution for the USB 3.0 Protocol. Used on multiple production designs, the SuperSpeed USB VIP is applicable for IP, SoC, and system-level verification.…more

USB 3.0 Verification IP

For the SuperSpeed USB design verification needs, Perfectus announced Genie-SSU Verification-IP, fully compliant to the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 with features that far superior than any other solution available in the market….more

USB 3.0 Verification IP provides an smart way to verify the USB 3.0 component of a SOC or a ASIC. It provides backward compatibility support for earlier versions 1.0 and 2.0 of USB specifications….more

USB 3.0 Verification IP

Truechip’s USB 3.0 Verification IP provides an effective & efficient way to verify the components interfacing with USB 3.0 interface of an ASIC/FPGA or SoC….more

Verification IP for USB 3.0

Supports USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 standards Host, Device and Hub emulation…more

USB3.0_nVS

The USB 3.0 nVS is a comprehensive Verification IP solution for pre-silicon functional verification of USB designs. The USB 3.0 nVS builds upon the widely used nVS for PCI Express and the USB 2.0 nVS….more

USB-Xactor Test Environment

Your Solution to Superspeed USB 3.0 Compliance Validation. Complete solution for core through chip-level verification Superspeed USB3.0 and 2.0 OTG…more

USB 3.0 Verification IP

Sibridge Technologies’ USB3.0 Verification IP is the Industry’s most comprehensive protocol validation solution for predictable verification of USB based designs…more

Posted under Xuropa

IDG just published a very concise summary of some of the myths about cloud computing that regularly do the rounds.  Written by HP and Intel, it’s a very quick read, but useful reminder of some of the key topics related to the adoption of cloud computing.

Here are the main points:

Myth #1: The public cloud is the most inexpensive way to procure IT services

As our own analysis has shown, when your workloads are running constantly and you already have a private cloud or data center, you’re better sticking with what you have than moving to the cloud.  One of the key benefits of the cloud is flexibility and agility, not necessarily cost.

Myth #2: Baby steps in virtualization are the only way to reach the cloud

Not sure about this one.  I wonder how many IT departments would really make it a step-function move to virtualization without first moving a targeted group or portion of the data center first.

Myth #3: Critical applications do not belong in the cloud

An excellent point.  There is no reason a mission critical job should not be migrated to the cloud - if you need the compute to meet an immediate need, then why not?  The question is, “which cloud, and how?”.

Myth #4: All cloud security requirements are created equally

Not sure if I’d use this particular title.  Essentially - make sure you understand what are the real threats and manage the migration accordingly, mitigating risks appropriately.

Myth #5: There is only one way to do cloud computing

In such a nascent field, how could there possibly be only one way to execute a cloud strategy?

Posted under Xuropa

There is no shortage of ways to get a contact at a prospective account.  In the off-line world there are traditional and still powerful techniques such as partner or customer referrals and attendance at trade shows.  On-line we can connect through LinkedIn or Facebook.  We can perform an email marketing campaign.  Alternatively our storefront to the internet, our website, can provide us with contact information to follow up on.

Qualification the Hard Way

Once the contact has been collected you need to judge their propensity to buy your software.  Tracking that contacts behavior on social networks and your website is a definite way to understand their interest.  But the only true way you will know you have someone your sales team should be focused on is when they want to try your software out.

Software Downloads Don’t Work

A download of an evaluation version of your software is fraught with uncertainty.  Was the download successful?  Were they able to easily install your software?  Once they installed your software, did they actually use it?  In fact, an increasing number of your customers ban the ability to download software behind the firewall, and so this is not even an option for some of your customers.

Shipping Sales Engineers with Software is Costly

Sending your software with a sales engineer to install your software on your customers system may appear to be a sure-fire way of gauging interest and ensuring a good user experience, but that’s a very expensive way to do it.  Increasingly your customers are spread out all over the world, so you could be spending thousands on airfares and accommodations.  That may be considered a small price to pay if the ASP of your software is high enough, but what about the opportunity cost involved.  While your valuable sales engine is on the plane, in a hotel or asleep in a different time zone they cannot be serving other potentially higher qualified prospects.  Finally, after the software has been installed on-site at the prospect your sales team is blind.  They don’t know when the software is being used, how often, or if it’s being used at all.
All of this effort and cost can ultimately result in a very expensive “fishing expedition” and the potential loss of other prospects that would have been better served.  This is where Xuropa comes in.

Three Steps to Prospect Self-Qualification

By installing your software on the Xuropa Platform you now have the perfect vehicle to qualify leads from all of the globe 24/7.

Step 1: Invite Your Contacts

Take the contacts that you’ve generated from a trade show or an email campaign and invite them to try out your software on the cloud.  Using Xuropa you simply upload your contacts and send out an email from the platform.  The platform includes a link that takes your prospects directly to your software on the cloud.

Step 2: Your Contacts Self-Qualify

Those prospects that click on your invitation link will start using your software on the cloud with just their browser.  There are no downloads or installations at all.  And the whole process is extremely secure.

As your prospects use your software (or review documentation, presentations, or manuals, etc.) the Xuropa Platform is gathering data.  Everything that your prospect does is analyzed and their propensity to buy calculated.

Step 3: Automated Prioritization and Follow Up

The Enterprise level account of Xuropa provides sales analytics, lead qualification and prioritization tools.  Each prospect is literally plotted on a Sales Funnel and ranked for your marketing team and sales team to follow up appropriately.
Now you can replace the costly and vague processes of software evaluations of the past with a powerful software sales solution.  Xuropa was built from the ground up to enable your customers to qualify themselves while they use your software and provide you with complete control and visibility into your customers and how they use your software.
Check out the Case Study if you’d like to see the results that Cadence Design Systems were able to achieve.

Posted under CRM, Xuropa