    |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|
  Headlines and summaries from the pages of Electronic Engineering Times. Previous editions are available from the 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997 News Archives.
Friday, December 12, 1997iReady launches Internet thrustLooking to seduce today's Web-savvy consumers with a slew of Internet-ready products, Ready Corp. today will launch the second-generation version of its Internet Tuner with support for JPEG and GIF graphic formats as well as network communication protocols
Geos slims down, gets face-lift for smart phonesAiming to conquer a still-unproven emerging market, Geoworks Corp. disclosed last week that it has rewritten its flagship Geos systems software from the ground up as a smart-phone-centric operating system.
Startup denies theft of Microchip secretsA patent battle has intensified in recent weeks as microcontroller juggernaut Microchip Technology Inc. tries to halt shipments of the first product from a startup here, Scenix Semiconductor Inc. Last summer, Scenix announced a new microcontroller that executes a superset of the Microchip 16C5x instruction set at up to 50 Mips peak. But Microchip answered the announcement with a suit, charging Scenix with violation of six Microchip patents.
DSL gets marching orders: simplify, interoperateThe ADSL Forum Summit convened in a pressure cooker here this month as system vendors and semiconductor suppliers heard calls to simplify digital-subscriber-line (DSL) installations, cut component costs and ensure interoperability across platforms. With cable modems turning up the competitive heat on xDSL at last month's Western Show, xDSL-modem vendors realize that they must deliver the goods--and that carriers must deliver the services.
Oak lawsuit charges UMC infringes CD-ROM patentOak Technology Inc. has sued United Microelectronics Corp. (Hsinchu, Taiwan), charging that UMC-built CD-ROM controllers infringe a patent granted to Oak late last year. The suit follows a grievance Oak filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission in July.
Thursday, December 11, 1997Microworld captured in hologramsElectron holography, a technique for imaging materials at atomic dimensions, is switching into high gear thanks to the recent availability of high-power electron microscopes that feature coherent electron emitters. As evidenced by a symposium on electron holography at the recent Materials Research Society Meeting here, new information could revolutionize fields such as high-temperature superconductors, DRAM capacitor design and nanostructured materials.
A first step to 'digital paper'A bi-stable form of nematic liquid-crystal display (LCD) has been developed by scientists at a branch of the British government's Defense Electronics Research Agency (Dera) here. With bi-stability an LCD can be electronically addressed and it can store the image once power is removed.
Synopsys opens memory-modeling marketMemory-modeling tools have become a commercially competitive marketplace, now that Synopsys Inc. has unveiled its MemPro model generator. The tool will directly compete with Memory Modeler from Denali Software Inc. (Palo Alto, CA). This class of tools allows designers to automatically create memory models and link them to VHDL and Verilog simulators.
RAM tester runs at 1 Gbit/sIn just a few years, memory architectures for PCs will come in with bandwidths of 1.6 Gbytes/second. The question is: How can such fast memories be tested? Teradyne Inc. is fielding an answer in the Aries RAM test platform, which operates at data rates to 1 Gbit/s as it tests up to 16 devices in parallel.
ADI to launch PC audio/modem IC for Win 98With its rollout of the SoundMax 64 architecture earlier this month, Analog Devices Inc. joined the front ranks of silicon vendors offering a new class of merged PC audio/modem controllers for the PCI bus. With SoundMax 64, modem and audio can move from the aging ISA bus to PCI, thus allowing a PC to use a single PCI controller and PCI bus load to handle those features.
Motorola readies LCD-based, matchbox-sized viewerMotorola Inc. has developed an LCD-based display module named VirtuoVue as an all-in-one unit for a personal-view platform for consumer markets. Motorola has allied with Kopin Corp. for the display-module business and will combine Motorola's technologies such as semiconductor and optical units with the Massachusetts-based Kopin's Cyber Display technology.
Wednesday, December 10, 1997Livingston, Lucent upgrade security softwareLivingston Enterprises Inc. and Lucent Technologies Inc. (Murray Hill, N.J.) are updating security software products as a prologue to Lucent's planned year-end acquisition of Livingston.
UTMC's controller can turn RAM into CAMUTMC Microelectronic Systems Inc. has devised a way to turn blocks of standard DRAM or SRAM into content-addressable memory (CAM), thus giving system designers a way to bypass the high selling prices typically associated with CAMs. UTCAM-Engine is a single-chip device that can address 8 kbytes to 32 Gbytes of off-chip memory.
National targets PC monitorsNational Semiconductor Corp.'s LM2403 is a three-channel video-deflection amplifier for new-generation PC monitors. Each channel can deliver a 40-V peak-to-peak signal in less than 4.5 ns. That makes the device useful for 17-, 19- and 21-inch monitors, with 1,600 x 1,200-pixel resolutions, and scanning frequencies up to 95 kHz. The LM2403 will support pixel clock frequencies up to 160 MHz.
Bridge chips target Socket 7 desktop, portable PCsAcer Laboratories Inc. has unveiled a Socket 7-compatible chip set--the Aladdin V--for desktop and portable systems. Both versions are intended to be compatible with forthcoming CPUs with 100-MHz buses expected from Advanced Micro Devices and Cyrix Corp., as well as with all other Socket 7 processors with lower CPU bus frequencies.
Oak's integrated CD-ROM controller runs at 24xOak Technology Inc. has upgraded its integrated CD-ROM controller chip, adding an improved DSP core and increasing the speed to 24x. The DSP block utilizes a proprietary design that the company says is more suited to the disk drives, improving servo capability and simplifying drive design.
Helium' chip supports multichannel ATM servicesNetworking-technology company Advanced Telecommunications Modules Ltd. (ATML) has unveiled its second asynchronous-transfer-mode protocol conversion and support chip.
Tuesday, December 9, 1997Hearing provides glimpse of Microsoft, U.S. strategiesMicrosoft and government lawyers sparred in federal court last Friday, landing few blows in their bout over the software giant's alleged anticompetitive practices but revealing bits of their future strategy should the case drag on.
EE shortage or hidden agenda?When industry, government and academic officials gather here next month to discuss an alleged shortage of information-technology professionals, they'll be touching a raw nerve for engineers.
Private-sector trust seen as key to cyber securitySharing private data about threats to public networks is emerging as a key legal issue for a presidential advisory panel charged with developing a national strategy for protecting critical U.S. networks from cyber attacks.
TI, ADI fire up low-cost DSPs for motor controlPositioning themselves for a market that analysts expect to take off next year, key suppliers of DSP motor-control chips last week unveiled low-cost optimized solutions for a range of applications.
Monday, December 8, 1997Cadence launches Scottish ventureIn a bid to create the "next Silicon Valley," Cadence Design Systems and the Scottish government are expected to announce this week the formation of a large chip-design center in Livingston, Scotland.
Intergraph, SGI chase the video workstationA battle of digital multimedia technologies worthy of a Star Wars sequel is quietly gearing up as Intergraph Corp. seeks to unseat market leader Silicon Graphics Inc. and gain control of a rapidly emerging category of professional computer--the "video workstation," which is used to create content for Hollywood films and for television.
DSL Vendors Push to Simplify, InteroperateThe pressure was on at last Wednesday's ADSL Forum Summit here for system vendors and semiconductor suppliers alike to simplify user aspects of Digital Subscriber Line installations, to lower component costs, and to prove interoperability across platforms. With the very real pressure of cable TV modems being spotlighted at this week's Western Show in Anaheim, xDSL vendors realize they must stand and deliver -- and that carriers must promote the service aggressively.
A humbled Intel redraws PC road map for digital TVAdmitting the "smashing failure" of its initial digital-TV strategy, Intel Corp. has laid out new plans--independently of DTV Team partners Compaq and Microsoft--for bringing the PC into the digital-television age.
Licensing deals expand system-chip role of RISCTwo deals to be announced this week illustrate the changing fortunes of RISC processors. While no longer a significant player in the Intel-dominated desktop, the CPU cores are becoming an increasingly hot item in the portfolios of chip makers as they pursue the market for systems-on-silicon across a range of embedded designs.
Year 2000 may hold embedded time bombIt is January 1, 2000. Far to the south in the Lower 48, information systems managers are shaking off the effects of the New Year's Eve party of the century, and checking in to verify that their data-processing systems all survived the change of calendar. But here on the North Slope, there is a somewhat more pressing problem.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
RSS
 |
Home | About | Editorial Calendar | Feedback | Subscriptions | Newsletter | Media Kit | Contact | Reprints|  RSS| 
Digital|  Mobile |
|
| Network Websites |
|
|
International |
|
|
Network Features |
|
|
|
All materials on this site Copyright © 2009 TechInsights, a Division of United Business Media LLC All rights reserved. Privacy Statement | Terms of Service | About |
