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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 31, 1997Intel, others eye performance-modeling standardA quiet initiative that may facilitate the high-level modeling of computer systems has been launched by Intel Corp. in cooperation with several of its suppliers. Called the Portable Simulation Initiative (PSI), the effort is aimed at driving a standard methodology for providing interoperable performance models.
ITC sees first commercial mixed-signal BISTThe first commercial built-in self-test (BIST) solution for mixed-signal ICs will emerge here at the International Test Conference this week. The technology will come from the only company specializing in BIST solutions: LogicVision Inc.
Virtual components a real issue at Euro forumThe need for the electronics industry to take up the use of virtual components emerged as the major theme of the European Electronics executives forum, organized here last week by Future Horizons (Sevenoaks, England).
Xilinx to invest in reconfigurable computingTrying to bring the notion of reconfigurable computing into the the light of day, Xilinx Inc. has earmarked $10 million to invest in companies that are taking steps to create systems that can be reprogrammed on the fly using FPGAs.
Internet2 body tips networking appsThe Internet2 (I2) consortium, which is setting up a high-speed alternative to the Internet for research and educational collaboration, has demonstrated some of the possibilities offered by the system.
M/A-Com revamps RF integration unitMoving to advance its RF and microwave role, M/A-Com, an AMP Inc. company, has launched a surface-mount-technology integration-solutions (IS) group to exploit cross-company expertise for advanced wireless communications.
Thursday, October 30, 1997Kennard confirmed as new FCC chiefThe Senate Wednesday confirmed William Kennard, formerly the FCC's general counsel, as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
Computation taps DNA chemistryAn interdisciplinary team of physicists and biologists have demonstrated a method for using DNA reactions to encode and solve a difficult computational task known as the maximal clique problem. The technique builds on efforts by researchers in recent years to harness natural molecular systems as parallel processors.
LCD viewing system makes evidence shineA technique that uses weak fluorescent emissions from organic molecules to tag crime-scene evidence normally invisible to the naked eye has been developed at Sandia National Laboratory. The technique, using a timed light source coupled to a special liquid-crystal-shutter viewing system, lets the viewer instantly pick out organic evidence such as fingerprints or blood traces in ambient light conditions.
Vendors seek Rx for strict medical regulationsContract manufacturers in the medical-device arena are centering their businesses on particular special ties or on more electronics work, especially as small companies face off against unfamiliar regulations written specifically for the medical field.
Internet2 body tips networking appsThe Internet2 (I2) consortium, which is setting up a high-speed alternative to the Internet for research and educational collaboration, has demonstrated some of the possibilities offered by the system.
Silicon pressure sensors touted for sensitivityEtching a diaphragm into a semiconductor is not as costly as the critics of micromachining would have us believe. With a bulk machining process, yields will be better with a sensor than with a 32-bit microprocessor. And silicon makes for easy integration between sensors and signal-conditioning circuitry.
Wednesday, October 29, 1997Drop tariffs, China's leader toldChinese President Jiang Zemin, who will meet with President Clinton today, is being pressed by U.S. computer firms to eliminate tariffs on information technology products.
Southeast Asia currency fall halts local PC-market growthUntil late this summer, Southeast Asia's decade of double-digit growth was the envy of the world. The recent up-to-45-percent decline in their currencies versus the U.S. dollar has left these economies stalled, however. The currency devaluations will, of course, lower the cost of PC components manufactured in these countries.
Neural-network chips roll in TaiwanLong a philosophical and theoretical electronic-engineering darling, neural-net (NN) ICs have yet to gain widespread commercial acceptance. The entrance of the commercially pragmatic Taiwanese onto the neural-net stage is a signal that commercial viability for the technology has arrived.
Seagate's 'Cheetah' makes generational leapSeagate Technology Inc. has unveiled the second generation of its 10,000-rpm Cheetah disk drive, boosting performance to record levels while trimming power consumption. The lower consumption, achieved by using smaller platters, is expected to ignite the market for these high-performance drives after a sluggish start.
Xilinx taps 0.25-micron process for FPGA lineXilinx Inc. last week unveiled a family of field-programmable gate arrays ranging from about 4,800 logic blocks to roughly 8,700. The devices use the company's existing XC4000XL architecture, with its increased interconnect resources, but implemented in an entirely new process.
Graphics-IC maker Trident takes audio plungeMaybe no other single feature has caused more trouble for personal-computer OEMs than audio. On the one hand, there are no mission-critical applications that require audio-PC sound capabilities tend to be used for games, listening to CDs and other nonprime-time pursuits.
DSP Group to market National RISC CPU coresSometimes a technology accord turns out to be a win for both partners. That appears to be the case with an alliance between DSP Group Inc. and National Semiconductor Corp. For DSP Group, which through its intensive licensing program has spread the Oak and Pine DSP cores across low-end signal processing, it means the addition of a family of microcontroller cores to its portfolio.
Tuesday, October 28, 1997VHDL faces shaky system-level futureAs VHDL heads for its 10th anniversary as an IEEE standard later this year, backers are eyeing system-level design as the language's next frontier. But as last week's VHDL International Users Forum (VIUF) here showed, controversy still exists about how to get there.
Dram takes single-electron tackHitachi will detail a 128-Mbit memory chip based on single-electron devices at February's International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco. The company believes the chip will be the first application of single-electron technology to a memory of leading-edge capacity.
Chip makers eye RF-bandwidth push past 1.8 GHzSemiconductor makers are grappling with how to boost the bandwidth of RF devices beyond 1.8 GHz and, at the same time, prepare for the inevitable consolidation of the receiver with the digital back-end, executives at the European Electronics Industry Forum said last week.
New database to help Avant! handle 0.18ý designsAvant! Corp. has come out with a product that appears to be the foundation of a promised new placement-and-routing system it aims to ship late this year. Milkyway is a common database that promises to unite Avant!'s IC design-and-analysis tool suite into a solution that can handle designs at 0.18 micron and below.
Costello stuns EDA world with an abrupt exitThe sudden departure of Joseph Costello as president and chief executive officer of Cadence Design Systems Inc. has EDA vendors, users and investors grappling with the implications. Costello, one of the most influential and charismatic figures in EDA, left last week to join an educational startup called Knowledge Universe.
Are users ready for analog behavioral modeling?Analog designers are not ready for high-level behavioral modeling. That was the conclusion of a series of presentations and panel sessions here at BMAS '97, an IEEE-sponsored conference on behavioral modeling and simulation that was co-located with the recent VHDL International Users Forum (VIUF).
Monday, October 27, 1997'Prisoner' still captures EEsThis month marks the 30th anniversary of what is arguably the most unusual television series ever produced--The Prisoner. And for many in the engineering and technical community, the U.K.-made program still holds a deep fascination, both for its spare, enigmatic style and for its provocative views on technology, privacy and individualism.
Consumer firms ally on digital interfaceThe quest for a standard set of application programming interfaces (APIs) for digital consumer entertainment products has spawned an uneasy alliance among six leading Japanese and European consumer-electronics companies. While it remains fuzzy on the particulars, the group is determined to fend off challenges from the American-led PC industry, which has intensified its efforts to invade the consumer space with products based on Microsoft's Window CE operating system.
Coalition seeks more fed funds for basic R&DSeeking to reverse years of declining federal spending on civilian R&D, a bipartisan coalition of politicians and science and engineering groups has come together to make research a budget priority over the next decade.
NEC spins wireless 1394 spec for home LANWith the 1394 serial interface taking on importance in consumer electronics, NEC Corp. is proposing a wireless transmission scheme for a home local-area network based upon it. The company has developed a set of optical wireless infrared repeaters that, when connected to a pair of digital products with the 1394 interface, establishes IR wireless transmission at 125 Mbits/second.
Lawsuit could put Rockwell 56k modems on holdResearcher Brent Townshend has tossed a wild card into the 56-kbit modem race in the form of a lawsuit that has the potential to derail the efforts of Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, the market leader of one of the two rival technology camps.
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