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Headlines and summaries from the pages of Electronic Engineering Times . Previous editions are available from the 1994 , 1995 , 1996 , 1997 , and 1998 News Archives.
Friday, April 1 7, 1998Intel tries to fuel soft DVD implementations(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/17/98)In an effort to fuel demand for its fastest processors as it faces falling margins and weak demand, Intel Corp. is quietly offering PC OEMs a software DVD decoder optimized to run on its newest Pentium II processors without the need for a hardware MPEG-2 decoder. Intel's decision to distribute the decoder coincides with its introduction of its 440-BX chip set, which provides the underlying system-bandwidth boost for such memory-intensive applications as DVD. Phoenix and Award combine BIOS forces(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/17/98)The two main players in the merchant BIOS market for desktop PCs are combining forces, as Phoenix Technologies Ltd. announced plans on Thursday to acquire Award Software International Inc. Olympus shows eyeglass-like head-moun ted display(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/17/98)Makers of head-mounted display gear are leveraging a new generation of miniature "virtual" display electronics and optics to produce ergonomic monitors that more closely approximate the look and feel of conventional eyeglasses. Olympus Optical Co. Ltd. this week demonstrated just such a product, the Eye-Trek face-mount display, which will ship in Japan in June at a price of about $500. First-class passengers on some Japan Airlines Co. Ltd. flights will get the chance to try out the gear next month. Researchers see movement away from FPGA computing(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/17/98)The annual gathering of configurable-computing mavens this week at the IEEE's Field-Programmable Custom Computing Machines conference revealed a growing trend away from off-the-shelf FPGA implementations. Digital radio goes soft on the PC(9:00 p.m. EST , 4/16/98)RadioScape Ltd. has demonstrated a software decoder that allows a PC to receive digital audio broadcasting (DAB) of audio and data services. The development could allow a PC to be equipped with a low-cost sound card or PCMCIA card that would pick up digital radio signals, relay CD-quality sound through the PC's speakers and pass any associated multimedia data to the system's screen. Internet fuels economic growth, Commerce finds(9:00 p.m. EST, 4/16/98)The Internet and information technology are fueling U.S. economic growth to a far greater degree than once thought, the Commerce Department reported this week. At the same time, Commerce Secretary William Daley warned that the next wave of electronic commerce could stumble badly unless government and industry reach a compromise on encryption policy . Work-force reductions may signal end of hiring boom(9:00 p.m. EST, 4/16/98)With Intel Corp. and Silicon Graphics Inc. having announced work-force reductions, Digital Equipment Corp. about to be absorbed into Compaq Computer Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. reporting steep quarterly losses, is the bloom off the rose for engineering hiring? Thursday, April 16, 1998FlashPoint shows how to process digital photos without a PC(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/16/98)Aiming to create a standard smart digital-camera platform that wouldn't need to be linked to a PC to process images, FlashPoint Technology Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) has rolled out a reference design based on its Digita operating environment and on hardware and software elements from platform partners Motorola Inc., Wind River Systems Inc. and SanDisk Corp. Camera makers Eastman Kodak Co., Minolta Camera Co. Ltd. and Sharp Corp. have already licensed the Digita operating system, though no ne has yet announced firm marketing plans. EDA startup leverages Chinese R&D to automate custom design(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/16/98)A new IC-CAD company promises to help automate full-custom design with software developed in the United States and China. Stanza Systems Inc. (Cupertino, Calif.) has not made any public announcements, but has already started to ship its first products. Graduates fall as positions rise(9:00 p.m. EST, 4/15/98)An American Electronics Association white paper reports that the number of BS engineering graduates fell 16 percent from 1985 to 1997, and that computer science and math degrees skidded 29 percent from 1985 to 1995. Motorola to locate chip design center in Ireland(9:00 p.m. EST, 4/15/ 98)Motorola Inc. is prepared to spend about $3.8 million to establish a semiconductor design center in Ireland that will create 120 jobs over the next three years. The center will have a mixed-signal and RF emphasis and will work on cores and chips for high-volume wireless products. It will be based at the same site in Mahon where Motorola currently operates a software development center, which employs 300 workers. SGI revamps, spins off MIPS(9:00 p.m. EST, 4/15/98)Silicon Graphics Inc. will spin off MIPS Technologies Inc. as an independent company, and will sell up to 20 percent of its stake in MIPS via an initial public offering that's expected to close in June. Mentor joins with Memscap to deliver MEMS design kits(9:00 p.m. EST, 4/15/98)EDA support for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices has received a boost from Mentor Graphics Corp., which announced plans to field design kits in cooperation with Memscap S.A. (Grenoble, France). The kits seek to make MEMS technology accessible to electronic-systems designers. Wednesday, April 15, 1998Commerce chief says U.S. falters on crypto policy(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/15/98)The United States' encryption policy, considered a key to the success of electronic commerce, is doomed to fail without a compromise between government and industry, Commerce secretary William Daley warned on Wednesday. Frontier Design migrates to IP service strategy(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/15/98)Frontier Design N.V., a 1997 spin-off from Mentor Graphics Corp., is forging a business model based around the creation and integration of intellectual property. Study advises manufacturers to embrace the Net(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/15/98)A study by Deloitte & Touche Consulting recommends that manufacturing companies implement "Internet-enabled business processes" to succeed in the next millennium. Polymer LEDs shift into high gear at materials conference(9:00 p.m. EST, 4/14/98)Researchers from Dow Chemical Co. told a standing-room-only session at the spring meeting of the Materials Research Society this week of a potent, light-emitting polymer that may be a milestone in the quest to replace inorganic light sources with cheaper, easier-to-build organic ones. Edmund Woo from Dow's Materials R&D Laboratory quoted illumination figures as high as 4,000 candelas per square meter, which are comparable to fluorescent lighting. But unlike fluorescent tubes, the unique material — a conjugated polymer made with fluorene — produces that brightness with a power supply of only 5 volts.
SGS-Thomson looks anew at integrating cores an d FPGA technology(9:00 p.m. EST, 4/14/98)SGS-Thomson Microelectronics is showing renewed interest in integrating FPGA technology with its microprocessor cores as a path to hardware-software codesign or hardware compilation, according to recent reports.
Neural signal processing studies guitar(9:00 p.m. EST, 4/14/98)A battle brewing in the commercial electric-guitar arena over an innovative neural-network system offers insight into the merit of neural vs. digital signal processing.
Tuesday, April 14, 1998NEC fires double-barreled ASIC assault(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/14/98)In a decision that illustrates the dizzying pace of process migration, NEC Corp. will move in tandem to 0.18-micron design rules for low-power ASICs and to a 0.15-micron process for high-performance designs with 400- to 500-MHz clock frequencies, according to Hirozaku Hashimoto, NEC's vice president in charge of system-on-a-chip development.
MIPS sues core startup Lexra(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/14/98)MIPS Technology Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.), a subsidiary of Silicon Graphics Inc., has filed a law suit in U.S. District Court against microprocessor-core startup Lexra Inc., claiming false advertising and trademark infringement. The suit was filed last Friday amid speculation that SGI would officially announce plans to spin off the MIPS subsidiary as an independent provider of cores.
Commerce approves U.S. weather forecasting system(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/14/98)Commerce Secretary William Daley approved a plan on Monday to begin full production and installation of an interactive weather computer and communications system in the United States.
SGS-Thomson shows single-chip HDTV decoder(9:00 p.m. EST, 4/13/98)S GS-Thomson Microelectronics' first HDTV decoder chip, unwrapped earlier this month at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention, integrates an MPEG-2 Main-Profile@High-Level decoder and an advanced display and format converter into a single chip. SGS-Thomson (Lincoln, Mass.) jointly developed the STi7000 with its strategic partner, Thomson Multimedia.
Monterey, IC-CAD startup, takes HDL focus(9:00 p.m. EST, 4/13/98)A new challenger in IC placement-and-routing, Monterey Design Systems Inc. , is preparing to field products this year. The company has received $3.5 million in first-round funding from Sevin Rosen Funds and has assembled a management team comprised largely of former executives from LSI Logic Corp. The company says it will deliver "next-generation," HDL-driven solutions aimed at deep-submicron ICs. The tools will be av ailable on Unix and Windows NT platforms.
Digital camera designers face a maze of trade-offs(9:00 p.m. EST, 4/13/98)As the market for digital still cameras climbs from curiosity toward viability, a fierce debate is flaming up inside the design community. By its nature, the digital camera requires a large amount of image processing. Microprocessor vendors, ASIC vendors and even DSP chip vendors all see this need as a potential gold mine — a huge market poised to buy their wares. And each camp thinks it has a lock on the price/performance sweet spot.
Monday, April 13, 1998Intergraph wins court round in battle with Intel(3:30 p.m. EST, 4/13/98)Desktop-workstation vendor Intergraph Corp. has won a big victory in its acrimonious legal dispute with Intel Corp., with a federal judge issuing a preliminary injunction that prohibits Intel from "taking any act ion adversely affecting . . . Intergraph," according to a copy of the decision made public by Intergraph.
Three-Five Systems buys startup's technology in mini-display bid(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/13/98)Three-Five Systems Inc. has bought the right to use backplanes and optics from startup Siliscape Inc. (Palo Alto, Calif.) in a deal aimed at making Three-Five a player in the nascent market for miniature liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) displays in cellular phones and other mobile devices.
Startup promises accurate IC characterization(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/13/98)With a mission to make silicon intellectual property more available, startup Taveren Technology is developing products and services to characterize IC cell libraries and cores. The EDA company emerged earlier this month when it tapped Callan Carpenter, former vice president of marketing for Ment or Graphics Corp., as its president and chief executive officer.
Mentor jumps into market for MEMS(3:00 p.m. EST, 4/13/98)Aiming at what could become a major new marketplace, Mentor Graphics Corp. this week will delve into micro-electromechanical systems design through a partnership with Memscap S.A. (Grenoble, France). The pair will field foundry-specific MEMS design kits in the second half.
IC layout gap could repeal Moore's Law(11:45 p.m. EST, 4/10/98)Without immediate progress in IC physical design, the density and performance gains predicted by Moore's Law could quickly vanish, according to participants of the International Symposium on Physical Design (ISPD '98) held here last week. The strongest message from the conference is that chip design must be closely intertwined with silicon process technology.
In-house CAD provides chip-to-process link(11:45 p.m. EST, 4/10/98)Where will the technology come from to link chip design to process? Speakers at the International Symposium on Physical Design (ISPD '98) here last week suggested that corporate CAD organizations and universities might be sources.
TI hoes a hard row to its flagship DSP(11:45 p.m. EST, 4/10/98)Nearly 14 months after it formally introduced the TMS320C6X, Texas Instruments Inc. is still grinding through a major transition to that radically new digital signal-processor architecture. Indeed, TI's shift to its flagship to High-level design systems story, C6X — and the manufacturing and design issues the transition has raised — is as dramatic, though less closely watched, an event as Intel Corp.'s move to its Merced processor.
Intel drags the PC industry to 100-MHz terrain(11:45 p.m. EST, 4/10/98)Intel Corp. will seek to redefine the desktop PC in two weeks when it rolls out processors and a core-logic chip set that for the first time push its external CPU bus to 100 MHz. But industry watchers fear that the associated PC-100 memory specification will leave the pack of DRAM, module and motherboard makers eating Intel's dust as they race to keep up.
Repercussions of SRAM tariffs imperil Taiwan(11:45 p.m. EST, 4/10/98)The recent U.S. decision to impose tariffs on Taiwanese SRAMs in response to a complaint by Micron Technology Inc. could have broader implications for other, far larger sectors of the Taiwanese computer industry.
Digital alumni stay afloat(11:45 p.m. EST, 4/10/98)Many of the people left adrift as Digital Equipment Corp. has foundered — with 80,000 jobs already lost and others at risk as Digital is absorbed into the maw of Compaq Computer Corp. — have found refuge on an unexpected lifeboat: Digital Alumni. Working with current and former Digital staffers, the independent organization juggles multiple duties as listener, job counselor, tracer of missing Digital persons and party planner.
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