Eurotech

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Eurotech S.p.A.
Type Public (BIT: ETH)
Industry Embedded Computers
Founded 1992
Headquarters Amaro, Udine Italy
Key people Roberto Siagri, President & CEO
Products Embedded Boards & Modules, Embedded Systems, Pervasive Computing Devices, Supercomputers
Employees 594 (end of September 2008)
Website eurotech.com

Eurotech is a company dedicated to the research, development, production and marketing of miniature computers (NanoPCs) and high performance computers (HPCs).

Contents

[edit] Description

Created in 1992, the company is a pocket multinational[clarification needed] that operates in multiple countries. It follows the technological paradigm of Pervasive Computing. The concept of pervasive or ubiquitous computing, involves miniaturisation and the distribution in the environment of intelligent devices and their possibility of communicating. In this respect, NanoPCs and HPCs are the two major classes of devices that, by connecting to and co-operating, form a computing infrastructure labeled the pervasive GRID or pervasive computing grid.[citation needed]

[edit] History

In 1995 Eurotech was the first to introduce a PC/104 module based on the Intel 32-bit 486DX processor. In 1997 the company inked agreements with European distributors. Eurotech moved its headquarters to Amaro (province of Udine in North-East Italy) and the company became a joint-stock company (Italian short form = S.p.A.). In 1998 Eurotech signed distribution agreements in America, Asia and Australia. Eurotech set up Neuricam S.p.A., a spin-off of the Trento institute for scientific and technological research.[1] In 1999 Eurotech started to co-operate with INFN (Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics) for the study and implementation of its third generation of Array Processor Experiment supercomputers, called APEmille.[2] Eurotech's HPC business unit began with this cooperation.[citation needed]

In 2000 the company opened a commercial branch in the United States, and announced clusters based on CompactPCI. In 2001 private equity fund First Gen-e of Meliorbanca Spa and Friulia, development finance company of the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia Region, invested 3,7 million Euros. In 2002 the company acquired IPS Sistemi Programmabili S.r.l. (Varese, Italy). In 2003 Eurotech acquired Parvus Corporation (Salt Lake City, USA). In 2004 Eurotech acquired French company Erim Développement S.a.s and Finnish company Vikerkaar Oy, now Eurotech France and Eurotech Finland, respectively. In 2005 the company presented its apeNEXT supercomputer, realized in collaboration with INFN. A research centre on pervasive computing was activated at Nanjing University of Technology (NJUT) in China. The group created a Scientific Committee dedicated to identifying future trends. To finance its international growth, Eurotech went public on November 30. The company is listed in the Star segment (high performance equities segment) of the Italian Stock Exchange (Borsa Italiana), raising 23.64 million Euros at IPO.[citation needed]

In 2006 Eurotech acquired Arcom Control Systems Ltd (based in Cambridge, England) and Arcom Control Systems Inc. (based in Kansas, USA). The company created EthLab in the Trento area to become the Group's research centre. Eurotech issued common shares for a total value of € 109.24 million. It presented the first prototype of the wrist-worn computer Zypad at the 2006 Soldier Technologies Conference in London, and winning the prize for the most innovative product. Eurotech signed a partnership agreement with Finmeccanica SpA. In 2007 Eurotech acquired Applied Data Systems (ADS), an American company controlling 65% of Chinese R&D company Vantron. In September, Arcom Control Systems Ltd changed its name to Eurotech Ltd. In October Eurotech acquired the 65% of the outstanding shares of the Japanese Group Advanet. In 2008 the company presented Janus, the new generation of supercomputers born from an Italian-Spanish collaboration involving several Universities and Research Institutes. Eurotech completed the merger between United States-based subsidiaries Arcom Control Systems Inc and Applied Data Systems into Eurotech Inc,, which became the main US subsidiary. On November 5, Finmeccanica acquired 11.1% of Eurotech.[citation needed]

[edit] Operating units

The Eurotech Group is composed of nine main operating units:

Eurotech S.p.A. is the parent company, based in Amaro (Udine, Italy). It designs and produces NanoPC modules, systems and devices for the transportation, defence, medical and industrial sectors. Through its division near Varese (IPS Sistemi Programmabili s.r.l.) Eurotech develops, manufactures and sells intelligent human-to-machine (H2M) and machine-to-machine (M2M) interfaces for harsh industrial applications. Eurotech has also a division active in the field of HPCs, which designs, produces and markets high performance computers for extremely demanding applications: these supercomputers are used in the fields of nano and bio-technologies, healthcare, high energy physics and in other applications requiring complex simulations and hence a great computational power.

EthLab is the Group's research centre based in the Trento area and has a satellite office in Amaro (Udine), close to the Group's headquarters.

Eurotech France is based in Lyon (France). It operates in the field of NanoPCs, mainly in the transportation and in the industrial sectors. Eurotech France participates to the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative.

Eurotech Ltd is based in Cambridge (UK) and operates in the field of NanoPCs and emphasizing industrial and communication sectors.

Eurotech Finland is based in Helsinki (Finland) and markets to the Far East, with a focus on South and Southeast Asia.

Eurotech Inc is based in Columbia, Maryland (USA) and has a satellite office in Kansas City, Kansas (USA). It designs and builds embedded systems for the transportation and the industrial sectors. Eurotech Inc is an Associate Member of Intel's Embedded and Communications Alliance.[3]

Parvus is based in Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). Its focus is on COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) ruggedized systems for the defense industry.

Advanet Group is based in Okayama (Japan). It manufactures single board computers, I/O, data acquisition, and communications products for embedded systems markets. Advanet products include VME, CompactPCI, PCI & PMC boards for PowerPC and Intel Pentium architectures.

Vantron is located in Chengdu, in China's Sichuan province. It develops hardware and software components for embedded solutions and offers embedded platforms for mobile and multimedia applications to its local market.

[edit] Mission

Eurotech's mission is to improve everyday life, making it simpler, safer and more pleasant through the ubiquitous and pervasive use of technology. To achieve its mission, Eurotech integrates computing and communication technologies to develop applications.

[edit] Research cooperation with Universities

The Eurotech Group focuses on the study and development of innovative solution based on cutting-edge technologies, employing around 40% of its staff in R&D programs. Eurotech has always operated in close connection with the Universities of Milan, Trento, Trieste and Udine, with IRST (Institute for Scientific and Technological Research of the Trentino region), with Sissa (International School of Advanced Studies based in Trieste) and with INFN (Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics).

As of 2011, Eurotech focused on new-generation supercomputers, wearable PCs and Grid computing.

[edit] Markets and products

Eurotech Group's NanoPC offers three lines of products and solutions, each dedicated to a specific vertical market.

TMS (Transportation - Mobility - Surveillance), focuses mainly on mobile devices. ICN (Industrial - Commercial - Networking), focuses mainly on fixed devices. DSA (Defence, Security & Aerospace), focuses mainly on rugged devices.

[edit] 2011 products

'Catalyst is an embedded module based on the Intel Atom processor. For typical applications, the module operates at under 3W.

Zypad is a wrist-worn personal computer. Wearability and hands-free operation make it of interest to Logistics, Emergency Services, Security, Defense, Healthcare, Maintenance.

PCN-1001 Passenger Counter is based on noncontact stereoscopic vision. It is able to count individuals entering or leaving buses, trams or trains. The device can record time and date information for later statistical analysis.

JANUS is a High Performance Computer that is the result of an Italian-Spanish partnership among university research centres including: the physics departments of the University of Ferrara; Rome's La Sapienza; the Institute of Biophysics and Complex Systems of Physics of Saragozza (BIFI); the University of Zaragoza; the Institute of Engineering Investigation of Argon; Madrid's Complutense University and the University of Extremadura[4], Badajoz. Running the specific calculations for which it was designed, Janus provides 8 PetaOps (i.e. 8 million billion operations per second) while consuming just 10 kW.

Aurora is a liquid-cooled supercomputer family developed in collaboration with Aurora Science consortium. Aurora systems were among the first liquid cooled HPC systems. Aurora supercomputers support coexistence of 3D Torus and Infiniband networks (although the 3D Torus is an optional feature) and for its synchronization networks. In 2011 Eurotech released a machine based on the Intel Xeon E5, enabling a standard rack delivering more than 100 Teraflops.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ IRST)
  2. ^ APE
  3. ^ ECA)
  4. ^ Extremadura

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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