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  Headlines and summaries from the pages of Electronic Engineering Times. Previous editions are available from the 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997 News Archives.
 Friday April 18, 1997Human-rights group targets land-mine component suppliersLand mines make no distinction between victims. That's why a private watchdog group is launching what it calls a "stigmatization campaign" to shame component suppliers into renouncing production of land-mine components. So far, 17 companies, led by Motorola, have agreed to stop supplying antipersonnel-mine components to manufacturers. In a report released today, Human Rights Watch identified 47 U.S. electronics firms involved in the production of land-mine components.
Search-engine firm offers unique Net-bandwidth solutionInktomi Corp., developer of the popular Internet search engine HotBot, plans to roll out a solution for network overload on corporate intranets as well as the Net. Its technology revolves around the development of "traffic servers," network-management software solutions, which will harness what is known as "caching."
Network stocks follow their own kind of logicIf the networking-acquisition game had a day of reckoning, it was Friday, Jan. 24, when Cascade Communications Corp. stock took a 36-percent loss. That pounding cut a breathtaking $2.3 billion off the high-flying stock's market value in a single day. Cascade stockholders had plenty of company, as other networking stocks were likewise punished. One result of the stock rout is that the lowered stock prices are likely to put a crimp in networking companies' ability to acquire smaller firms, the lifeblood of many networking companies.
Competition heats up the formal-verification raceThe hot formal-verification market will gain another entrant this week, when Verysys Electronic Design Automation announces its product plans.
Rambus raises license paceMitsubishi Electric and Micron Technology have licensed the Rambus interface technology needed to make 1.6-Gbyte/second Direct Rambus DRAMs. Both companies have previously been vocal proponents of other next-generation DRAM technologies.
Thursday April 17, 1997Optical network pumps gigabit dataBritish Telecommunications Laboratories (BTL) has built an optically based local-area network that operates at serial speeds of 40 Gbits/second. Called the world's fastest LAN by its developers, SynchroLAN uses a polarization-preserving optical fiber as its backbone and can support up to 16 computers each operating at 2.5-Gbits/s.
OrCAD, PADS make small but strategic buysTwo of the best-known providers of Windows-based tools have assumed new identities through small, strategic acquisitions. OrCAD Inc. purchased the EDA Bridge component-management technology from Team Corp., while PADS Software Inc. agreed to acquire signal-integrity analysis provider HyperLynx Inc.
Low-temperature laser system reflows copperA study conducted by XMR Inc., based here, has revealed a practical method for building ultrasmall copper wiring on silicon integrated circuits. While "right now, there is no real incentive to go to copper," admitted company vice president of marketing Leonard Goldfine, the familiar aluminum wiring is beginning to fall short as an interconnect material.
Student competition seeks more engineers to serve as mentorsThe winning student team of this year's National Engineers Week Future City Competition was rewarded with a trip to Disney World. EE David J. Pierce, Louisiana state coordinator for National Engineers Week, got a hug from the winners in an airport concourse. Pierce would like to see other engineers reap similar rewards by volunteering as mentors for student teams in next year's Future City Competition.
United Tech Automotive revs for a new design roleResponding to automakers' demands that suppliers take a more active role in design, United Technologies Automotive Inc. last week formed a group that combines engineers from all divisions of parent United Technologies. The Advanced Technology organization will blend various electronic technologies and combine them with other UTA products.
Wednesday April 16, 1997Hackers keep the heat on Windows NT securityA group of sophisticated hackers has stepped up the assault on the security of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The group, called the L0pht (pronounced 'loft'), has posted on the Internet a hack--called LOphtcrack--they claim can be used to retrieve NT network-domain user names and passwords and display them in plaintext. L0phtcrack follows in the wake of two separate NT hacks--PWDump and NTCrack--posted in the past two weeks by security experts in California.
Search agent embeds data-seeker in OEM appsSearch agents are popping up all over the Web to help users quickly retrieve needed data from the vast expanse of information available over the Internet and private intranets.
Red Rocket launched for digital subscriber lineThe market for mid-speed symmetrical digital subscriber lines (DSL), which the Brooktree division of Rockwell Semiconductor Systems was touting a year ago when it launched its ZipWire chip, now appears ready for prime time. Next week, newcomer Copper Mountain Networks Inc. will launch end-to-end solutions for DSL services of several hundred kilobits/second, using a subscriber modem called the Red Rocket that uses two generations of the ZipWire chip.
Synplicity adds graphical 'analyst' to SynplifySynplicity has added features typically found in more-expensive synthesis tools to release 3.0 of its Synplify product. The release includes HDL Analyst -- an option that generates register-transfer-level (RTL) and gate-level schematics -- and provides more timing-optimization controls.
MPEG-2-video test systems rollWith broadcasters finally flocking toward the long-promised digital-TV gold rush, leading testing equipment suppliers are setting up "assay offices," as they roll out families of new MPEG-2 digital-video test systems.
NEC's PowerVR accelerator respunNEC Electronics Inc. has moved VideoLogic's PowerVR 3-D graphics accelerator to a new 0.35-micron process, producing a smaller die, higher benchmark performance and a lower price, according to the company.
Tuesday April 15, 1997Toshiba ups embedded-DRAM stakesToshiba America Electronic Components Inc.is trying to steal a march on the ASIC industry by announcing an embedded-DRAM capability based on jointly developed 256-Mbit DRAM technology. The process could intensify the battle among DRAM vendors to apply their memory expertise in the ASIC arena.
Chip council promotes cooperationChip industry executives from Europe, Japan, Korea and the United States promoted greater international cooperation and reviewed market-tracking formulas during the first meeting of the Semiconductor Council here last Friday.
Compaq bids to speed Internet diversificationCompaq Computer Corp. last week put its considerable weight behind two technologies designed to speed the Internet's morphing into a viable platform for a range of communication services. The Houston company rolled out a compression technology it claimed would shave the time PCs take to load pages from the World Wide Web, and it voiced support for an effort to create standard application-layer services for measuring and billing Internet use.
Groups push pulse-code-modulated modemsProgress on a standard for pulse-code-modulated (PCM) modems is proceeding swiftly on both sides of the Atlantic, and products are being rushed to market. But the modems, billed as capable of 56 kbits/second, are not without their snags.
Two alliances press for embedded toolsIn separate partnership arrangements, NEC Corp. and Synopsys announced they are working on a verification tool for core-based embedded-system designs, while Hitachi announced a similar agreement with Mentor Graphics. The twin moves are intended to boost support for NEC's V850 microcontroller and Hitachi's SH MPU, both low-power-consumption 32-bit RISC processors that are central to each company's system-on-silicon business development.
Monday April 14, 1997Broadcaster, PC camps clash on digital-TV rolloutWith the drive to deliver digital TV in full swing, the broadcast executives who gathered here last week for the National Association of Broadcasters' annual convention sought to draw up a blueprint for quick deployment. On the table were standards for the exchange of digital program material throughout the production processes, mechanisms for delivering data services, and strategies for dealing with the PC industry's push into broadcasting.
Windows-driver delays could stall Microsoft's Memphis OSA slow transition to Microsoft's highly touted, new generation of 32-bit Windows driver technology--called WDM, for Win32 Driver Model--could place a stumbling block on the road to Memphis, developers said last week at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC). Memphis is the upcoming successor to the Windows 95 operating system.
At WinHEC, PC makers decry lack of software supportExactly one year ago, managers from Microsoft stood on the stage at the Moscone Center to lay out an aggressive mix of new technologies they wanted to drive into next-generation PCs. At this year's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), PC makers were wondering when Microsoft would catch up with its own master plan.
Xilinx spins Java tool for Web-based FPGA designXilinx Inc. has unveiled an online Java-based tool that lets designers access, customize and download optimized Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) cores.
South Korea cuts chip tariffs, wins council spotBy sharply cutting tariffs on semiconductors, South Korea joined industry leaders from the United States, Japan and the European Union at last week's inaugural meeting of the Semiconductor Council in Hawaii.
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