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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, September 19, 1997MEMS process steps to five levelsResearchers at Sandia National Laboratories have discovered a number of advantages to expanding the methodology used to fabricate microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices from a three-level to a five-level polysilicon surface micromachining process. Devices made with the five-level polysilicon process offer significantly greater reliability, stiffness and robustness compared to those made in the three-level process, researchers said.
Initiative to push fabs past 0.1 micronThe recent announcement of an industry-government consortium aimed at taking fab equipment beyond 0.1-micron design rules may signal the start of a high-stakes race for dominance of the next semiconductor generation.
National preps network PC on heels of Cyrix bidWith its acquisition of Cyrix Corp. still hanging fire, National Semiconductor Corp. is already mapping out a bold plan--which may include other, smaller acquisitions--to take a leading role in developing low-cost PCs.
SDRAM challenges Taiwan's mainboard makersIntel Corp.'s rollout of its LX chip set, with 66-MHz SDRAM and accelerated-graphics-port (AGP) support, presents challenges for Taiwan's motherboard and systems companies as they grapple with a lack of standards for SDRAM modules. With Intel nearly set to sample BX chip sets, the Taiwanese vendors' headaches are about to mount as they confront the move to 100-MHz system buses.
McData wraps up its switch to Fibre ChannelAs it enters its 15th year of business, McData Corp. is completing its transition from a manufacturer of cluster controllers and channel gateways for IBM mainframes to a specialist in Fibre Channel switching. The EMC Corp. subsidiary is defining a niche as a manufacturer of enterprise-level fault-tolerant Fibre Channel switches.
Thursday, September 18, 1997RDI powers Unix laptops with Ultrasparc, PA-RISCIn an effort to broaden the tiny market for portable Unix workstations, RDI Computer Corp. is rolling out a high-end Ultrasparc-based portable, called UltraBook, that it says could practically be used in place of a desktop workstation from Sun Microsystems.
OrCAD adds three Win NT interfaces to pc-board toolsOpponents of legislation implementing a global digital-copyright treaty are marshaling their forces in advance of two days of hearings this week on the bill, H.R. 2281.
MMC introduces AnyFlow family of processorsOnly two months after launching a major packet-prioritizing chip architecture called Xstream, MMC Networks Inc. is proving it has bigger fish to fry. The new AnyFlow 5000 family, to debut this fall with a version for Fast and Gigabit Ethernet, defines a new packet-processing controller architecture positioned midway between traditional general-purpose CISC and RISC controllers, and highly optimized frame- and cell-switching ASICs.
Spectrum taps C6X to boost DSP performanceSpectrum Signal Processing has launched a line of C6X-based DSP boards and associated development tools. The first products using Texas Instruments Inc.'s latest DSP architecture include Monaco, a quad VME carrier board; Daytona, a dual-PCI carrier board; as well as a variety of PCI mezzanine-card (PMC) modules optimized for the C6X devices. In addition, the company is readying a CompactPCI solution.
Mothercard lines span a range of MPU supportSuper Micro Computer Inc. is launching two PC-motherboard families: the Super P6, which accommodates an Intel Pentium II (from 233 MHz to 300 MHz); and the Super P5, which supports a choice among Pentiums (from 75 to 233 MHz) and PC-compatible microprocessors from Cyrix, IBM and AMD.
Wednesday, September 17, 1997Intel to unveil multilevel-cell 64-Mbit flash chipIntel Corp.'s memory products group will unveil this week a long-awaited 64-Mbit flash memory chip based on its multilevel-cell (MLC) technology. The device will be able to hold 2-bits of information per cell rather 1-bit in conventional flash devices, allowing Intel to make significant improvements in on-chip storage density for a given die size.
Opposition mounts to digital-copyright billOpponents of legislation implementing a global digital-copyright treaty are marshaling their forces in advance of two days of hearings this week on the bill, H.R. 2281.
FCC changes LMDS auction rulesThe Federal Communications Commission said Monday that it is modifying rules for an upcoming auction of local multipoint distribution system (LMDS) spectrum.
Minc adds Cadence links to PLDesignerMinc Inc. has announced a special version of its PLDesigner for Cadence users, following a recent decision by Cadence Design Systems (San Jose) to discontinue OEM sales of that product. The new offering includes various interfaces to the Cadence environment.
Ethernet gets multiport MACLucent Technologies' Microelectronics Group has launched an eight-port media-access control (MAC) IC for 10/100-Mbit Ethernet.
Tester calls on CompactPCIAn open, modular instrumentation system from National Instruments leverages PC technology for industrial and manufacturing test environments. The new specification, called PXI (PCI Extensions for Instrumentation), leans on the CompactPCI form factor to bring PCI benefits to test and data-acquisition applications.
Compiler aims at DSP coreAiming to ease DSP development tasks, Lucent Technologies' Bell Laboratories has crafted a C-language environment for the recently announced dual MAC (multiply-accumulate) DSP16000 core and its first implementation, the DSP16210.
Tuesday, September 16, 1997Image sensor, signal conditioner integrated on a chipAn image sensor and signal conditioner have been integrated on a single chip for the first time by Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector in conjunction with Eastman Kodak Co. The process, called ImageMOS, yields a chip--the developers say it will supplant CCD technology--that can be produced with standard CMOS processes.
Microsoft, Euro firm ally to push voice computingMicrosoft Corp. and speech-technology developer Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products last week disclosed a strategic alliance to produce the next generation of voice-enabled computing on Windows.
Copy-protection moves cast new cloud over DVDTwo unrelated initiatives last week raised new concerns about the protection and re-use of digital video disks (DVD) that could derail the rollout of the new medium.
Much-needed tuneup taking shape for JavaDriven by engineers' demands for improved performance, Java's leading proponents are introducing new technologies to speed its execution and prove to developers that the language is ready to cut its teeth in real-world applications.
Reflective LCD lights path to color handheldsSharp Corp. last week detailed a reflective liquid-crystal display technology that combines the power-saving advantages of reflective displays with a new level in color brightness and rapid response for video.
Monday, September 15, 1997Java Virtual Machine at heart of picoJava chipSun Microsystems Inc. has taped out the picoJava core that will form the heart of its first Java-specific microprocessor, a source at the company said. The CPU incorporates a hardware-based Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that's said to deliver a tenfold performance increase over a software-only JVM implementation.
Intel fuels race for x-ray lithographyThree major semiconductor makers are putting together a government-industry consortium aimed at taking Cold War technology out of the labs and into a next-generation fab line that will target the sub-0.1-micron design realm. Intel, which is kicking in the largest share of the funding, announced the effort, called the Extreme Ultraviolet Limited Liability Company (EUV LLC), last week.
PCS infrastructure shifts into overdriveAmid the din of continued scrapping over modulation air interfaces for digital wireless services, the PCS '97 conference last week quietly launched breakthroughs in infrastructure components that promise to lower the buildout cost for new digital-wireless services at both 800 MHz and 1.9 GHz.
Moto tips plan to build and license new coresIn a gambit to become a dominant player in the emerging system-on-a-chip business, Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector lifted the lid here last week on plans to license a broad suite of new and existing microcontroller and DSP cores to customers and other IC makers.
Will Intel's power guidelines cool things down?On the heels of its long-awaited Tillamook processor introduction, Intel Corp. this week will attempt to set the stage for the future of notebook-computer design with its Mobile Power Initiative, a first-time set of recommendations for OEMs and hardware developers to budget their power consumption.
IC makers worry about 'parts abuse'Out of fears that the COTS push may be going too far, IC makers are taking steps to warn military and government contractors they will not assume liability if a chip that's improperly used in an aerospace or military system is linked to a failure or accident.
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