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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.
November 27 - December 1, 1997Group lays out fiber plan for 'super-Net'Representatives of more than 250 telecommunications carriers and regulators from 175 countries will gather here Dec. 7 for the first official technical meeting on an ambitious plan to deploy an alternative "super-Internet" over the next three to six years.
Parallelism triggers supercomputer rushThe supercomputer industry is regaining some of its luster, and a spate of companies are now working to get a piece of what used to be a fairly closed marketplace. Compaq Computer Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. are both using symmetric-multiprocessing architectures to play in the supercomputing world, and Hewlett-Packard Co. is pursuing parallel systems to participate in this once-rarefied industry.
Harmony eludes developers of DVD audioJapan is turning up the volume on DVD, with two factions racing to complete formats for next-generation "super" digital audio. Roughly 150,000 audiophiles got an advance earful when proponents of the 24-bit-quantization DVD Super Audio format and backers of the 1-bit-quantization, direct-stream digital Super Audio CD format came to the Audio Fair '97 here to demonstrate their technologies.
IC makers blasted for failure to back boundary scanAssailing the semiconductor industry for "doing a terrible job" conforming to the Boundary Scan Description Language (BSDL) standard, Hewlett-Packard Co. is making some back-end verification tools available via the Web for front-end IC design.
Vendors take 'network vehicles' out for a spinDisparate vendors are making moves toward the convergence of the computer and the car. United Technologies Automotive (UTA) recently licensed Microsoft's Windows CE with plans to create an architecture for multimedia and other applications. At the same time, a consortium including IBM Corp. and Delco Electronics Corp. chose last month's Comdex show to demo a "network vehicle."
ALF' format pushed as alternative to Synopsys' .libThe Synopsys Inc. bid to have its ".lib" ASIC library format accepted as the industry standard was challenged last week, as the Silicon Integration Initiative (SI2) ASIC Council formally announced it will develop a standard based on the advanced library format (ALF) and the delay-calculation language (DCL). An ASIC library standard is viewed as critical to EDA tool interoperability.
Japanese step up progress in advanced lithographyHitachi Ltd.'s announcement recently that it has vastly improved throughput for a direct-write electron-beam lithography system for volume 0.18-micron production underscores the rapid strides that are being made in Japan in advanced lithography. Even as Hitachi readies its system for demos at Semicon Japan starting Dec. 3, a national research consortium is preparing an advanced mask-creation e-beam system for X-ray lithography.
Three teams race toward eight-way PC serverA handful of design teams plan to push the PC architecture a step deeper into the territory of high-performance servers by crafting a new generation of eight-and 16-way symmetric-multiprocessing (SMP) machines. But the engineers are finding they face stiff challenges keeping pace with Intel's processor road map while they ratchet up PCI-bus performance and wait for software that can take advantage of their work.
Wednesday, November 26, 1997Opponents seek input to build case against MicrosoftOne clear message for PC makers and content developers emerged from the recent anti-Microsoft summit here: Players in information industry will have to take matters into their own hands if they want to stop Microsoft's potential multimedia monopoly.
New products, plans give momentum to 1394The 1394 interface gained momentum on several fronts late last month when vendors showed new silicon, prototype systems and peripherals that plan to use the interface for a wide array of computer and consumer applications. But proponents said several standards and software issues still need to be addressed before the high-speed serial bus begins to move into any significant deployment.
LCDs eye CRTs on desktopJust one year ago, flat-panel displays weren't any threat to the traditional cathode-ray-tube (CRT) monitor. That's about to change, if makers of liquid-crystal displays have their way.
Clock-powered circuits set efficiency recordWith advanced systems now burning in excess of 100 W, the search for more power-stingy approaches to system-level-silicon design has begun in earnest. One option that many researchers believe could slash power consumption is adiabatic circuit design.
VLSI offers single-chip GSM wireless solutionVLSI Technology Inc.'s OneC GSM processor is a third-generation, single-chip implementation for OEMs seeking to develop wireless devices for multiple Global System for Mobile Communications markets. The OneC provides a common set of tools and a common development environment that lets OEMs move silicon solutions across platforms and standards.
LG Electronics unveils its initial HDTV chip setLG Electronics Inc. showed working silicon of its first-generation digital TV chip set and detailed plans for the chip set's future at the recent Comdex show here. The Vestigial-sideband Super Star (VSS) chip set is sampling now for a whopping $1,000, a price the company hopes to trim to below $200 by the end of next year.
Tuesday, November 25, 1997Xilinx tips FPGA line amid scalability questionsXilinx Inc. today will offer more detail on its long-promised high-density FPGA architecture. Built on the existing XC4000 concepts, but with significant enhancements, the Virtex architecture will significantly boost both the in-system speed and the density of Xilinx chips beginning in mid-1998.
PC Card disk drive tops 1-Gbyte markScottish disk-drive developer Calluna Technology Ltd. has taken a lead in 1.8-inch miniature disk drives, with the development of a 1.040-Gbyte drive. This doubles the memory capacity of Calluna's current top-of-the-range drive, the 520-Mbyte CT520.
Portable cores heat up customer-owned toolingLexra Computing Engines, a startup based here, is preparing to bring portable microprocessor and DSP cores to users of customer-owned tooling (COT). By offering a competitive line of cores, a blend of soft- and hard-core approaches, and a pricing model appropriate to penny-critical COT users, Lexra hopes to own the ground floor of a rapidly expanding market.
TI, Rockwell dial up new partners in DSL dealsTexas Instruments Inc. last week agreed to purchase Amati Communications Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) for $395 million in cash, while Rockwell Semiconductor Systems (Newport Beach, Calif.) announced technology collaborations with both Northern Telecom and Orckit Communications Inc.
Mizar and Loughborough Sound Images to MergeEmbedded systems houses Loughborough Sound Images Ltd. And Mizar Inc. (Dallas) have announced their intent to merge, which would create the world's largest supplier of DSP boards, the companies said.
Monday, November 24, 1997Tool debugs embedded coresA new development methodology for embedded ASIC processor cores will debut this week when Applied Microsystems Corp. introduces its CoreTap product. The offering is a portable, networked instrument designed for use with the Eaglei hardware/software coverification product from Viewlogic Systems Inc.
Score one for cable Net accessActivity surrounding a year-old interface spec may serve to change the face of Internet access, giving cable operators--not telcos--the upper hand. As phone companies look out at a highly balkanized standards landscape, CATV multisystem operators (MSOs) are rallying around the Data Over Cable System Interface Specification (DOCSIS). When the Western Show opens here Dec. 10, an unprecedented number of chip-set and modem vendors will announce DOCSIS compliance.
China flexes standards muscleChina's government is setting systems standards in 10 targeted areas and gathering intellectual property through patent pools in an effort to increase the clout of its huge market and production prowess.
Bit-price parity looms for 16-, 64-Mb DRAMsThe bit-price crossover between 16- and 64-Mbit DRAMs came into focus last week, as the achievement of parity on Japan's spot market for extended-data-out parts prompted analysts to predict that full-blown bit-price crossover is only a few months away.
Bell cites process limits in work on a 60-nm MOSFETBell Labs researchers have built a conventional silicon MOSFET with a gate length of 60 nanometers, which is about one-sixth the size of current production devices. But, in the process, the team might have glimpsed an even more elusive prey--a phenomenon that could end the shrinking of transistors.
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