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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, February 27, 1998Litho breakthrough could be in fabs by next year, researcher says(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/27/98)The head of a research team that etched 0.08-micron lines for the first time using conventional lithography said the technology could be in pilot lines as early as next year, although a host of issues remain to be ironed out.
Fabless Semiconductor Association readies test, reliability programs(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/27/98)The Fabless Semiconductor Association is finalizing its development of test-chip and wafer-reliability programs that could simplify the relationship between foundries and semiconductor vendors. If successful, the two programs could significantly cut some of the inherent advantages that fab owners still have over the fabless.
Fujitsu invests in WebTV's Japanese subsidiary(3:00 p .m. EST, 2/27/98)WebTV Networks Inc. (Palo Alto, Calif.) will work with Fujitsu Ltd. to help cultivate a Japanese market for its product.
Intel to field performance-enhancing instructions in Deschutes(6:00 p.m. EST, 2/26/98)Intel Corp. has quietly added two new instructions to its Pentium II, in a bid to boost the processor's performance in complex applications including multimedia software.
Flash vendors team up to take on Intel(6:00 p.m. EST, 2/26/98)Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and SGS-Thomson Microelectronics have agreed to develop a 64-Mbit multilevel cell flash memory that will compete directly with Intel Corp.'s premier flash products. The jointly developed product will meld NOR and DiNOR flash technologies, and the two companies have agreed to develop a common process technology to manufacture the device.
Intel's move into networking equipment raises questions(6:00 p.m. EST, 2/26/98)Intel Corp.'s move into the low and medium sectors of networking equipment raises important questions for that segment of the market and sets the stage for major shifts in both its size and characteristics as well as the types of products it will have available over the next few years. Among other things, industry observers wonder how many market segments Intel will end up participating in and whether the company will compete with its own networking customers.
Thursday, February 26, 1998Researchers plumb the depths of ultradeep-submicron production(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/26/98)Semiconductor-equipment makers hunkered down this week to tackle the physics problems associated with ultradeep-submicron IC manufacturing.
Intel to sell i740 graphics cards(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/26/98)To jump start its fledgling business in the graphics market, Intel Corp. will soon begin to sell graphics cards based on its recently introduced i740 graphics processor , and will offer financial rewards to software developers that tailor their applications to run on the new platform.
Test satellite launched by Teledesic(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/26/98)Teledesic LLC's "Internet-in-the-sky" satellite network moved a step closer to reality Wednesday night when its T1 experimental satellite was placed in orbit by a Pegasus rocket over the Pacific Ocean.
Rockwell imaging chips plug into USB(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/26/98)In an effort to reinforce its position in the emerging market for CMOS imagers, Rockwell Semiconductor Systems is now offering a digital camera engine. The Rp0352 device complements the Ri0352 A single-chip CMOS imager introduced earlier this year. When used in tandem, the digital camera engine and the imager offer a two-chip solution for PC-based video image capture and conferencing.
Color TVs turn a flat face to the world(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/25/98)The trend toward virtually flat picture tubes--manifested in Sony Corp.'s summer launch of its Wega series of color TVs in Japan--is spreading among consumer-electronics manufacturers, and some observers predict it won't be long before the tubes show up in U.S. TVs and even in PC monitors.
Industry seeks more visas for high-tech workers(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/25/98)U.S. electronics executives pressed Congress on Wednesday to raise or eliminate an annual cap on the number of foreign high-tech workers they can hire. But both sides in the immigration debate agreed that increasing immigration is only a short-term solution, with education and training the best long-term answer to a U.S. worker shortage.
Strong response greets Microsoft's loans for IT education(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/25/98)It's been less than two weeks, but already 1,700 people have applied for educational loans for training in information-technology careers at centers approved by Microsoft.
Flextronics offers design services to OEMs(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/25/98)Flextronics International Ltd., a contract manufacturer, has set up product-introduction centers (PICs) in the United States and in Europe where OEMs can get design help for their next systems.
Waiting For Wireless Media(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/25/98)With cellular phones and Internet connectivity shrinking the world, the next logical step would seem to be a wireless data network, something that can deliver the multimedia possibilities of the Internet to a mobile terminal, keeping users hooked up from just about anywhere. The demand isn't being questioned, but wireless multimedia services are far enough away for healthy debate to rage over what shape those services will take. Cellular transmission seems to be the front-runner as a carrier, but some strong alternatives are starting to make themselves known. The receiving device is a bit more in flux, with everything from minuscule handheld devices to full-blown PCs in contention.
Copyright Fight Rocks the Net(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/25/98)It was a splash of cold 1990s reality for hardcore Trekkies, devotees of the old Star Trek TV show and its associated lore, when they found nothing posted on their favorite Web fan sites but "cease and desist" letters. The reason: allegations of digital copyright infringement from Viacom Inc., which owns the rights to the show.
Web Engines Grow A Brain(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/25/98)Neural-based learning recently opened the way to a new market for bolt-on brains at Web sites and other high-transaction processing centers such as banks, credit-card sites and security networks. By matching changing usage patterns with new Web content, these bolt-on brains make "intelligent" matches between the two, rather than depend on keywords and statistical rotation techniques--the conventional "brainless" wisdom for delivering Web matter.
Slouching Toward Social Responsibility(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/25/98)Outside, it was pouring. Inside, a few dozen engineers--sleepy from wine and dinner--slouched in stiff chairs listening to a Buddhist monk, a would-be arsonist and others expound on the social implications of communications.
Wednesday, February 25, 1998Startup preps 'FED-like' integrated display technology(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/25/98)Advanced Vision Technologies Inc., a four-year-old startup, has emerged with a new display technology that it claims will beat the competition in image quality while vastly simplifying manufacturing.
Cell phones to benefit from memory-packed devices(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/25/98)Two chips introduced at the Cellular Telephone Industry Association (CTIA) Wireless '98 conference in Atlanta promise longer battery life and more efficient operation for a new generation of cellular handsets. A new DSP from Analog Devices Inc. and a CDMA voice codec from Lucent Technologies Inc. (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) include more on-chip memory than the companies' previous products for these applications.
ARM license gives Intel a handheld presence(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/25/98)Intel Corp.'s desire to be a bigger player in the market for silicon for handheld devices was made clear early this week when it announced a licensing agreement with Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. (ARM) to make, sell and enhance the StrongARM microprocessors. Intel also gains rights to companion core-logic chips that have been quietly in development.
Sessions provide 'safe haven' for Valley engineers(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/24/98)The latest joke around Silicon Valley goes something like this:
Java-based artificial life 'Floys' freely over the Net(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/24/98)Artificial life novices can get some hands-on experience with genetic-algorithm theory over the Web with a new Java-based artificial species called Floys.
Designers try to take the heat off BGAs(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/24/98)As ball-grid arrays gain acceptance as the package technology of choice for high-I/O semiconductors, BGA designers are confronting the large devices' inherent heat problems. Suggested solutions to array packages' thermal problems consumed much of the discussion in Sunnyvale, Calif., last month at the International Conference on Flip Chip, BGAs, TAB and Advanced Packaging.
Standard nondisclosure agreement proposed for EDA customers and vendors(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/24/98)The Electronic Design Automation Consortium (EDAC) has prepared a standard nondisclosure agreement that EDA tool vendors could use in dealings with customers over confidential material. EDAC is also working on a standard format for purchase agreements.
Dutch start-up targets DSP algorithms(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/24/98)With design services and intellectual property (IP) all the rage in the EDA industry, Dedris Embedded Algorithms B.V. (Tiel, Netherlands) has surfaced on cue at the Design Automation and Test Europe (DATE98) conference and exhibition in Paris.
Lone user confronts FPGA vendors(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/24/98)A lone, but influential, user confronted a panel of FPGA designers, marketers and researchers at an FPGA'98 evening panel session this week. What emerged was a plea for less hype and more predictability, and a warning.
Tuesday, February 24, 1998Zaptron's smart technology heads for process-control, factory-automation apps(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/24/98)Zaptron Systems Inc. has crafted a smart technology-combining neural networks, fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms-that the company will use in process control, factory automation and business-data analysis products. Its first product, DataX, due out later this quarter, is a shrink-wrapped ne ural network capable of learning a fuzzy model, with the help of genetic algorithms operating on historical databases.
Flash cards strive for a spot in mobile systems(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/24/98)A handful of flash-card proponents are betting that their cards will become the removable storage media of the mobile-systems future--substitutes for analog film and hard-disk drives in an array of digital cameras, souped-up organizers and smart communicators. But their gambit looks risky.
Attention turns to configuration management(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/24/98)Already convinced of the value of adaptively reconfigurable FPGAs for computing, university researchers are now beginning to focus effort on the best way to reconfigure the devices. Papers presented this week at the FPGA'98 conference in Monterey, Calif. investigated the time lost in reconfiguring FPGAs during computational opera tions, and how best to reduce this loss.
Flash isn't yet in the cards for handhelds(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/24/98)Standard flash cards have yet to gain a significant hold among handheld computers. SanDisk Corp. (Sunnyvale, Calif.), whose flash cards have gained some footing among digital-camera makers, hopes to increase its position in the handheld market with a new format develop specifically for handheld computers and smart phones. Last year, SanDisk partnered with Germany's Siemens AG to bring out the Multimedia Card (MMC) and aimed it specifically at smart phones and pagers.
EDAC readies awards competition(11:00 a.m. EST, 2/24/98)The Electronic Design Automation Consortium (EDAC) is prepared to announce an international awards program that will recognize outstanding IC and electronic systems development. The the creation of the awards program will be announced this week at th e Design Automation and Test Europe (DATE98) conference and exhibition in Paris.
ICL and NEUW to collaborate on IP creation(11:00 a.m. EST, 2/24/98)International Computers Ltd. (ICL) and NEUW, a European network of design engineers, announced an agreement at DATE98 in Paris The design automation group of to create intellectual property (IP) based on the VHDL+ hardware description language and Supervise tool set of ICL's design automation group. The work will focus on telecommunications and mobile applications.
Sagantec shares its Dream(11:00 a.m. EST, 2/24/98)This week at DATE98 in Paris, Sagantec will release a tool for its Dream (design rule enforcement and migration) process-migration environment called Companion. The tool is meant to increase development and optimization of hard cores and cell libraries.
Interest grows in reconfigurable computing(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/23/98)Reconfigurable computing is quietly exploding, according to engineers attending the FPGA'98 conference here. Attendees involved in the area say that reconfigurable computing-the art of loading task-specific or data-specific configurations into FPGAs to perform computing tasks-has gone from curiosity to strong interest in recent months, and has led in some cases to multi-thousand-unit orders.
Sony reveals "ultimate" digital speaker experiment(9:00 p.m. EST, 2/23/98)Sony Electronics has revealed the results of an experimental effort to develop a first-generation digital speaker system. The electronics of the speaker system uses the PCM output of a compact disk (or a Dolby Digital receiver), a bank of DSPs with processing power in the hundreds of Mips, and military-grade D/A converters. The amplified output is pumped into an extremely rigid speaker in a highly damped enclosure. Sony believes this combination of state-of-the-art electronics and transducer technologies will set a standard for audiophile speaker systems.
Monday, February 23, 1998Intel to run with StrongARM(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/23/98)Under an architectural license signed with Advanced RISC Machines Ltd., here, Intel Corp. has decided to manufacture, sell and develop the StrongARM 32-bit RISC microprocessor architecture originally developed by Digital Equipment Corp.
Engineers Week focuses on students, the public(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/23/98)From California to Mississippi, from the Space Station Mir to schools, museums and banquet halls, engineers and the engineering profession are being feted this week by peers, by President Clinton and, occasionally, by employers.
Mentor won't sell powerful emulator to U.S. customers(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/23/98)A longstanding court order will prevent Mentor Graphics Corp. (Beaverton, Ore.) from offering U.S. customers its new emulation engine, which Mentor says is twice as fast as anything available from competitors. Mentor announced the Celaro emulator at the Design Automation and Test Europe (DATE98) exhibition and conference in Paris.
HP expands NT workstation line(3:00 p.m. EST, 2/23/98)Keeping pace with the industry pattern of almost weekly product announcements, Hewlett-Packard Co. today will debut five new Windows NT-based workstations. The new models, all members of HP's Kayak workstation family, are the company's first NT systems to incorporate Intel Corp.'s 333-MHz Pentium II processor.
Compiled ASIC libraries ease path to 0.25-micron technologies(11:45 p.m. EST, 2/20/98)The prospect of ASIC-library support for all EDA tools has moved closer to reality, as the Silicon Integration Initiative's ASIC Council has called for compiled libraries that link to an interface called Open Library API (OLA). The compiled-language approach should greatly ease the move to 0.25-micron and deeper-submicron technologies and thus facilitate systems-on-silicon design.
Synopsys arms Windows NT for battle with Unix(11:45 p.m. EST, 2/20/98)A complete ASIC design flow on Windows NT is finally in sight, with Synopsys Inc. ready to announce that it will move most of its tools to that platform by the end of the year. The long-awaited move may be the catalyst that challenges Unix' domination of the EDA industry.
OEMs can expect Merced samples later this year(11:45 p.m. EST, 2/20/98)Intel Corp. is telling systems OEMs to expect first samples of its 64-bit Merced microprocessor in the second half of this year, EE Times has learned. Separately, Hewlett-Packard Co. is developing a proprietary core-logic chip set for Merced that will support up to 32-way multiprocessing, company executives said. HP will use the chip set as a key enabling technology for its own line of high-end, high-performance servers built around Merced. The company hasn't decided whether to offer the chip set on the merchant market.
Digital radio's ready to be put to the test(11:45 p.m. EST, 2/20/98)An industry partnership formed to develop digital radio technology plans field tests this year for an in-band, on-channel (IBOC) digital-audio broadcasting system which uses existing commercial frequencies to transmit digital audio signals. Backers claim the technology overcomes the shortcomings of earlier IBOC systems, which fared poorly in field tests conducted by the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA, Arlington, Va.) and marks a significant new effort to tune into this digital consumer-electronics market.
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