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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, Mar ch 20, 1998HP reshapes Java in 'smart-network' bid(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/20/98)In a pace-setting plan to engineer "smart networked" products that exploit the Internet, Hewlett-Packard Co. has developed an embedded implementation of Java specifically designed to power intelligent applications ranging from test-and-measurement systems and laser printers to consumer appliances such as Web phones. Microsoft will license HP's Java Virtual Machine implementation and use the technology to integrate support for Java into its Windows CE operating system. Motorola cooks AGP-like graphics bus for PowerPC(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/20/98)Motorola Inc. plans to introduce by year's end its own graphics bus technology for the PowerPC that would rival Intel Corp.'s Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP). AlliedSignal buys into copper metalization(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/20/98)AlliedSignal Inc. has joined the race to create fast semiconductors using copper metalization with its purchase of Nanoglass LLC, a developer of low-dielectric materials meant to will increase the performance of high-density chips. Nanoglass' technology may be put into production as early as next year by Texas Instruments Inc., which collaborated on its development. Sharp signs Amkor as chip-scale partner(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/20/98)Sharp Corp. has formed an alliance with Amkor Electronics Inc. (West Chester, Pa.) covering the production and development of chip-scale packaging (CSP). Sharp hopes the arrangement will turn the CSP it has developed into an industry standard. Conference spotlights crisis in design verification(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/20/98)The logic verification crisis took center stage at the International Verilog Conference-VHDL Internation al Users Group (IVC-VIUF) here last week, as speakers warned that the verification task will increase exponentially with design complexity. Two new hardware/software coverification solutions also came to light at the conference. Tektronix scopes out a test path for Java(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/20/98)Paving a path toward Java-enhanced instrumentation, Tektronix Inc. will show an oscilloscope equipped with Java technology this week at the JavaOne conference here. The Beaverton, Ore., company said it will include Java with all future high-end scopes. The object is to implement specific measurement functions in software, rather than dedicate all or part of an instrument to a single application. Sega to settle up debts in preparation for next-gen game(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/20/98)Sega Enterprises Ltd. has decided to redeem accumulated losses at Sega of America Inc. as well as the cost of clea ring dead stock of its SegaSaturn player in preparation for the release of its next-generation game machine, scheduled to hit the market next year. The decision called for the downward revision of Sega's business forecasts for the fiscal year ending this month. Consequently, Sega will be in the red for the first time since the company listed. Rival languages target Net access for portable gear(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/19/98)Compact HTML, a markup language intended to bring Internet access to small portable equipment, will face off against the competing HDML language at a mobile-access workshop hosted by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in Tokyo next month. The rival proposals will be a main item on the agenda of the W3 standards body at a two-day meeting scheduled for April 7-8. Optical storage device targets portable equipment(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/19/98)Optical-storage technology fr om Ioptics Inc. can meet the needs of handheld electronic products at prices far below those of flash memory and compact disk drives, the company says. Helped by $9.5 million in financing from Microsoft Corp. and others, the startup will finalize a compact memory module that's rugged enough for portable products because it has no moving parts. Military invests hope and dollars in MEMS technology(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/19/98)For developers of the next generation of military and space technology, big things may be coming in small packages. Thursday, March 19, 1998EDA companies commit support to OLA(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/19/98)Mere weeks after the SI2's ASIC Council decided to back the Open Library API (OLA) , EDA companies are already revving up R&D efforts to add OLA support to their tools. Execs warn EDA startups of potential pitfalls(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/19/98)With a flood of ideas and money pouring into the EDA industry, engineers harbor thoughts of starting their own firms need to consider the what, when and why of their business, according to EDA company founders and executives gathered for a panel discussion earlier this week at the IVC-VIUF conference and exhibition. A startup's success can depend on both the company's basic philosophy and on critical decisions about what to ship, and when, the panelist said. Worker shortages raise starting salaries(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/18/98)Starting salaries for computer-science graduates have risen above $40,000, as offers come in "faster than a speeding Pentium processor," according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Web service taps colleges to put alumni on JobTrak(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/18/98)While looking for employment, your definition of "networking" should expand beyond WANs, fiber optics and cable modems. Friends and professional relationships aren't your only networking options. Another resource — one many people forget about — is their alma mater. That would now be an oversight, especially with JobTrak available on the Web . IETF drafts TCP upgrade for satellite links(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/18/98)Despite the hype surrounding IP Multicast and its purported ability to deliver a more powerful and robust Internet, serious doubts about its effectiveness are emanating from the very organization touting it. A working group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has posted a new version of a draft for enhancing the Transmission Control Protocol for Internet transmissions over satellite, with an eye toward extend ing the method to other transport mechanisms as well. SIA gives qualified support to IMF bailout(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/18/98)The Semiconductor Industry Association's board of directors voted today to endorse full U.S. participation in the bail out of Asian economies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but the trade association wants the assistance to be contingent on structural reforms. NEC bolsters its chip operations in Beijing area(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/18/98)The so-called "909" project, which looks to establish leading-edge semiconductor technology in mainland China, received a boost when NEC Corp. decided to locate a design venture in Beijing. The site will be the balancing leg in NEC's strategy to establish design, fabrication, assembly and sales in China, an NEC spokesman said. U.S. seen at risk in innovation(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/18/98)The United States remains a global leader in innovation, but risks falling behind countries such as Japan and Germany, which invest more heavily in basic science and technological research. That's the preliminary conclusion of a study conducted by a pair of Harvard and MIT professors to evaluate innovation systems in the United States and 16 other OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries between 1975 and 1996. Wednesday, March 18, 1998Cadence to commercialize Motorola's hardware/software coverification solution(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/18/98)Cadence Design Systems Inc. will commercialize the technology behind the SIMez system simulation and virtual prototyping environment of Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector (Austin, Texas), and plans to incorporate it into a Cadence product that will be released in the second quarter of this year. The agreement, which was jointly announce d by the companies at IVC/VIUF in Santa Clara, Calif., is intended to create a higher-level solution for system-on-a-chip designs, the companies said. Deals bolster ARM as IPO nears(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/18/98)Bouyed by recent licensing deals with IBM Microelectronics and Intel Corp., Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. (ARM), the developer and licensor of 32-bit microprocessor cores and related technology, has announced plans to make an initial public offering (IPO). Intel expands i960 processor family(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/18/98)Intel Corp. is extending its i960 embedded microprocessor family this week with a compact JT line of devices that will be stuffed into dime-sized mini-plastic ball grid array (PBGA) packages. Copper won't divide PowerPC partners, Apple's Jobs says(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/17/98)IBM Corp.'s apparent lead in dev elopment of copper interconnect technology for its microprocessors won't push Apple Computer Inc. to drop Motorola Inc. as a key supplier and development partner of the PowerPC, Apple's interim chief executive Steve Jobs said in a keynote address today at the Seybold Seminar, here. Jobs also used the stage to unveil Apple's intentions to produce a low-cost consumer Macintosh this fall and to roll out the company's first flat-panel monitor and 1394 interface card this spring. EC to investigate financial support to German design services firm(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/17/98)The European Commission (EC) is investigating financial support that the German government has provided to Sican GmbH (Hannover, Germany), a large electronic design-services company and licensor of intellectual property. Europe preps broadband net for wireless apps(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/17/98)Early in the next decade, Europea ns could enjoy mobile reception of video, Internet and multimedia data via broadband networks if a collaborative research project being led by Deutsche Telekom's Berkom research subsidiary bears fruit. Ericsson to move GSM into private-mobile-radio turf(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/17/98)Ericsson Radio Systems (Stockholm, Sweden) will introduce a radio communications system at CeBIT that will give professional mobile radio users, such as utility and transport companies, an alternative to their current Private Mobile Radio (PMR) or Public Access Mobile Radio (PAMR) systems. Polymers hold promise for integrated laser diodes(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/17/98)Research into light-emitting polymers and other organic compounds is rapidly moving toward a radically new type of semiconductor laser that could be patterned onto virtually any substrate. Because organic materials are far easier to integrate with silicon ICs than compound semiconductor materials like gallium arsenide, the new laser technology could help launch complex optoelectronic circuits. Currently, light-emitting polymers are starting to find their way into display applications, where they offer low cost and easy integration into systems. Tuesday, March 17, 1998Philips' Trimedia processor winning digital-TV sockets(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/17/98)Four of the world's top six TV makers have opted to use Philips Semiconductors' Trimedia processor in their digital TVs, according to Doug Dunn, chief executive officer and chairman of Philips Consumer Electronics, a division of Philips Electronics N.V. The digital TVs are expected to be ATSC-compatible, and are expected to be ready for market toward the end of this year. Aspec takes a second crack at an IPO(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/17/98)Aspec Technologies Inc. is maki ng its second attempt at an initial public offering. The company is expected to file its S-1 registration document for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission sometime today. Verilog's backers eye system-level boost(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/17/98)In an effort to bring Verilog to a higher level of abstraction, Open Verilog International (OVI) convened a "kick-off meeting" for system-level extensions here on Monday. The focus was instruction-set simulation modeling and C++ extensions. Rockwell shows seven-piece GSM chip set(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/17/98)Rockwell Semiconductor Systems is the latest company to offer a chip set for the Global Systems for Mobile telecommunications (GSM) cellular-phone standard. At CeBIT this week, Rockwell showed working samples of seven chips that together implement a GSM handset. Unlike players specializing solely in baseband or RF/IF, Rockwell ha s developed a chip set that handles everything from baseband control functions to the power amp next to the antenna. Court will study Cadence's link to district attorney's office(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/16/98)In an unusual legal decision, a California court has granted an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Cadence Design Systems Inc. gave "improper financial assistance" to the district attorney's office in its investigation of Avant! Corp. Efficient enters broad development and sales pact with Diamond Lane(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/16/98)Efficient Networks Inc.'s decision to put the bulk of its Asynchronous Transfer Mode product marketing efforts behind Digital Subscriber Line access appears to be paying off in a big way for the young company. After scoring a large integration deal with DSC Communications (Dallas) for Digital Loop Carriers, Efficient has now signed a broad pact with Diamond Lane Communications Corp. (Petaluma, Calif.), a DSL Access Multiplexer startup. New tools address signal-integrity problems(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/16/98)When engineers and layout designers take the floor at the PCB Design Conference next week, they will find many solutions that address crosstalk and other signal-integrity problems. What's different is that the tools no longer target signal-integrity specialists alone but are instead aimed at everyone in the design group. Crosstalk-analysis tools to take the stage at PCB Design confab(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/16/98)HyperLynx Inc. will introduce an interactive solution called LineSim XT for pre-layout crosstalk analysis at next week's PCB Design Conference West in Santa Clara, Calif. The add-on to the company's LineSim simulator runs on the Windows platform and is targeted for every desktop in a design group. Area-array package delivers IC benefits(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/16/98)Like a tail wagging the dog, array packages are in the lead when it comes to delivering all the good things built into advanced ICs: more functionality, higher density, faster speed and better electrical performance in a small size. Area-array packages essentially substitute solder balls beneath the package for the peripheral leads on traditional surface-mount packages. Ball-grid arrays (BGAs) were envisioned as the solution to the practical limitations of high-lead-count quad flat packs (QFPs), whose peripheral metal leads have proved fragile enough to affect the ability to achieve consistently high assembly yields. Because such packages grow larger as lead counts increase, they cannot compete with the density and space savings offered by area arrays. Portable products find CSP a perfect fit(9:00 p.m. EST, 3/16/98)The technolog y that burst onto the scene as a hot topic of conversation at packaging conferences two years ago — the chip-scale package (CSP) — has now evolved into an enabler for a number of highly miniaturized products around the world. Monday, March 16, 1998NT workstations make a triple play for EDA(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/16/98)A trio of separate initiatives — hardware from Intel, software from Compaq and a marketing thrust from Intergraph — could turn the Windows NT workstation into the platform of choice for EDA applications, undermining the hardware and software advantages of RISC-based Unix systems. Compaq commercializes EDA software(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/16/98)A new approach to stimulus generation for hardware verification is coming to market, courtesy of Compaq Computer Corp. A three-year agreement has been signed in which Design Acceleration Inc. (DAI ; Santa Clara, Calif.) will commercialize and market Compaq's EDA software. Web-based cartoon targets EEs' funnybone(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/16/98)Look out, Dilbert: There's a new 2-D engineer in town. Today marks the Web launch of The TechSide , featuring Sherwin — a hapless EE laboring under the relentlessly critical eye of management types — and his abrasive sidekick, Digit, "the laptop with an attitude." Media processors jockey for position in untested consumer markets(3:00 p.m. EST, 3/16/98)The first round of the clash between media signal processing and host-based processing is over, with host-based processing ahead on points. But after a brief period of wound-licking, the media-signal-processor players are regrouping to face the tyranny of CPU-centric computing with thicker skins, in greater numbers and perhaps with a little more wisdom than before. Sea change sweeps ASIC design flows(11:45 p.m. EST, 3/13/98)Announcements due over the coming weeks will mark a turning point for the vast center of the ASIC industry, sources have told EE Times . The result could be sweeping changes in the architectures and design flows for many ASIC chips. Trade fight clouds digital-TV picture(11:45 p.m. EST, 3/13/98)An already-complex debate about digital-TV production formats pitting U.S. broadcasters, equipment makers and computer vendors against their Japanese counterparts has escalated into a trans-Pacific trade brawl that could recast the future of digital broadcasting. DSL show abuzz with new players; rollout woes seen(11:45 p.m. EST, 3/13/98)The inaugural DSLcon conference in San Jose, Calif., had the feel of a gold rush, as chip and systems startups joined the ho rdes panning the flow of digital-subscriber-line technologies for the nugget of a follow-on to today's ubiquitous dial-up modem. At least half a dozen new DSL companies added to the buzz of mergers and alliances at the show, led by Cisco Systems Inc.'s $236 million acquisition of NetSpeed Inc. Startup is first to try sub-rate DMT for ADSL(11:45 p.m. EST, 3/13/98)A startup backed by Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp. is promoting a partial-channel version of discrete multitone (DMT) coding for asymmetric-digital-subscriber-line service. Integrated Telecom Express Inc. (Itex) believes the approach will lower both the cost and the power dissipation of ADSL digital-signal-processing chips.
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