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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, October 3, 1997Intel spec calls for desktops to get more sleepNew-generation PCs would use 60 percent less electricity, under Intel's Power Supply '98 specification. Introduced at the first Intel Developers Forum here last week, PS'98 asks vendors to take power-saving cues from current-generation portable computers.
European gallium-arsenide group takes wingUnited Monolithic Semiconductors SA (UMS) was trying to be many things at once: a European champion in GaAs manufacture, a cost-cutting exercise for its creators and an entrepreneurial startup. After a year of behind-the-scenes activity fostered by the two companies creating it, UMS is implementing its business model as an independent company. Created to manufacture and sell gallium-arsenide RF circuits, UMS was conceived as a repository for all of Europe's GaAs manufacturing capability.
Hitachi unifies its U.S. semiconductor operationsHitachi Ltd. has completed unification of the U.S. sales and marketing division here with the Texas-based U.S. manufacturing facility to form a fast-response semiconductor operation for U.S. customers. The move should improve Hitachi's response time on products made in this country. But the most significant change may be a new focus the Japanese giant has placed on its U.S. operations.
Commerce adds voice to claims of IT shortageHigh-tech jobs are going unfilled because of a lack qualified candidates and a failing educational system, a government/industry partnership warned following the formal release of a controversial study here last week. Engineering groups have already questioned the report's accuracy, charging that it was timed to coincide with renewed dialogue on U.S. immigration policy in an effort to push for looser restrictions on visas for high-tech workers.
Sexual-harassment case against Intel dismissedA U.S. District Court Judge has dismissed a sexual-harassment case against Intel Corp. that included apparently unique allegations of the misuse of corporate computing resources to stalk one of the defendants. Sisters Anita and Meera Venkataraman, both circuit designers formerly working in Intel's Portland Development Group (PTD) here, charged that a former PTD co-worker harassed and stalked Anita.
Long Island promotes itself as 'Silicon Island'More than 140 Long Island companies, tired of the area's being overlooked as a high-tech center, have banded together to promote themselves as "Silicon Island." But the name isn't entirely unique. Formally called the Long Island Software & Technology Network (Listnet), the group's membership ranges from billion-dollar software giant Computer Associates to entrepreneurial startups, primarily in software. Listnet also has support firms, such as financial institutions, as members.
Thursday, October 2, 1997Intel buyout tips SMP moveIntel Corp. signaled its intention to push deeper into the territory of symmetric multiprocessing servers last week with the acquisition of Corollary Inc., a longtime designer of SMP chip sets and boards for the X86. Together, the two are expected to craft a new generation of eight-way SMP servers based on an upcoming high-end version of Intel's Deschutes processor. The merger casts a cloud over a handful of system manufacturers rolling out eight-way Pentium Pro systems based on their own designs.
Iridium marks deployment milestone for space-based PCSIts critics have dismissed its concept of space-based personal communications as too costly. But Iridium LLC, a coalition of companies led by Motorola Inc. and Lockheed-Martin Corp., is well on its way to silencing the skeptics.
Confab:SiGe all the rage in EuropeAssuming the technology continues to gain advantages over silicon in speed and power consumption, silicon germanium looks to be a major thrust from Europe over the next decade. Papers presented here last week at the European Solid-State Devices Research Conference (Essderc) showcased the volume of European research into SiGe and suggested the technology could take off here if the resources can be found for commercialization.
Wireless design strives for silicon radioBoth academic and industry groups are moving rapidly toward a low-cost, manufacturable wireless technology that will have at its center highly integrated radio-frequency circuits. The movement toward a radio-on-a-chip could boost such existing commercial applications as cellular-phone technology and, once in place, may stimulate new developments, such as mobile wireless sensors or small-scale wireless networks.
Fast Ethernet has 'legit' firstWhile claims for single-chip Fast Ethernet transceiver implementations are commonplace, National Semiconductor Corp. can cite a legitimate first in its new "Phyter" mixed-signal device. National's DP83483 CMOS device integrates all physical-layer, all transceiver and all physical-coding sublayer functions for 100 Base TX and 10/100 combo designs, including new functions such as autonegotiation Next Page node-hub communications.
Wednesday, October 1, 1997Notebook designers eye mobile module's meritsShould notebook-computer designers use the mobile module version of Intel Corp.'s 2.5-V Tillamook Pentium processor? Right now, opinion is divided. Some companies want to continue to design their own support logic and packaging in order to preserve their perceived technology edge. Others will use the module because corporate notebook buyers will demand it.
Hughes Aircraft claims air-traffic-control successThe Federal Aviation Administration's lead contractor on a next-generation air-traffic-control system is claiming success in fielding a prototype system for relaying navigation data.
Fujitsu's wide-viewing-angle LCD targets desktopFujitsu Ltd. is about to move into production with a novel, wide-viewing-angle LCD technology aimed squarely at the desktop-monitor market. The company is expected to show a 15-inch XGA display based on the new MVA (multidomain vertical alignment) scheme at the Japan Electronics Show next week.
Harris Semi UltraFET line slashes on-resistanceHarris Semiconductor has cut the on-resistance of its low-voltage UltraFET power MOSFETs. The HUF753 UltraFET line takes on-resistance to as low as 7.0 mư at 55 V.
Viewlogic rolls out EagleGen model generatorThe availability of models has been one of the strongest barriers to system-level design. Now, Viewlogic Systems Inc. is introducing EagleGen, a model-development tool kit for its Eaglei and EagleV hardware/software coverification tool.
Tuesday, September 30, 1997Audio effort strikes dissonance in DVDThe effort to find a successor to digital audio CDs has opened yet another fissure in the DVD Forum. The rift surfaced at the Audio Engineering Society Convention -- which opened Friday and runs through today--as two competing consumer--electronics camps demonstrated mutually incompatible solutions for DVD audio disks.
Ethernet vendors seek MII cost cuts in lower pin countFour major players in the markets for 10/100-Mbit/second Ethernet chips are jointly proposing a way to lower costs for the Media Independent Interface (MII) used in Layer 2 Ethernet switches. The Reduced MII concept would drop pin counts by 60 percent, consolidate as many as 24 asynchronous clocks into a common synchronous clock, and apply to repeaters as well as switches.
Europe's Medea backs ion-projection lithographyResearch into ion-projection lithography, an alternative to the extended UV-optical, X-ray and e-beam lithography methods being investigated to take ICs beyond 0.18-micron minimum geometries, will be supported by Europe's collaborative research program Medea. Europe could have a 0.1-micron pre-production prototype ion-projection-lithography stepper for 300-mm wafers by mid-1999.
Engineers' organization rebuts shortage claimsThe American Engineering Association has slammed predictions of a shortage of 190,000 information technology workers as "lacking in accuracy," biased and based on "overextended extensions of questionable data."
Intel software seeks to speed traffic on the WebAiming to speed traffic over the Web and to stimulate sales of PC servers to Internet service providers, Intel Corp. has rolled out a compression and caching software package called Quick Web. It provides lossy compression and caching services to speed delivery of Web pages handled by an ISP's server. ISPs including Netcom and Sprint will pilot-test a beta version of the software next month.
Monday, September 29, 1997Scheduling setback hits EmbeddedJavaIn a real--time turnabout, Sun Microsystems Inc. has scrapped longstanding plans to unveil its eagerly anticipated EmbeddedJava platform at this week's Embedded Systems Conference West, here, EE Times has learned.
Calling all cars: convergence on the dashboardThe automobile dashboard is clearly steering toward a future that integrates ever-more electronic gadgetry--from today's radios and car phones to tomorrow's GPS navigation units, pagers, DVD players and even wireless Internet--access devices. What's being hotly debated is whether that means the architecture for the entertainment and information system of the family car will ultimately look like a PC, a consumer--electronics product or some new standard specific to the automotive world.
Intel maps move into set--top CE with Pentium IIIntel Corp. has quietly discarded a plan to build a Pentium II--based motherboard designed for home--entertainment PCs and is turning up the volume to some of its OEM customers on plans to use Pentium II processors in set--top boxes running the Windows CE operating system.
32--bit CPUs grab embedded systems spotlightBig 32--bit architectures will steal the limelight at the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) here this week. The meeting will see at least one major architecture announcement, a plethora of new 32--bit offerings and the emergence of two fierce debates: one over the suitability of Windows CE version 2.0 for embedded computing, the other over whether 32--bit architectures that originated on the desktop can ever really adapt to the embedded world.
In refocus, Mentor confirms Exemplar spin--offConcern about Mentor Graphics Corp. has grown so strong in recent weeks that persistent rumors have predicted the company's breakup and sale. While fervently denying these rumors, top executives acknowledge that Mento--hit by a sales slump--is refocusing on selected core areas, and may soon spin off synthesis subsidiary Exemplar Logic.
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