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Microprocessor
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| Top Stories for October 11, 2000 (details below) | |
| Electronic Buyers' News | Intel reportedly validating its own DDR chip set |
| Semiconductor Business News | Rambus plans U.S. suit against Hyundai, asks for change of venue |
| C/Net | Intel shifts executives to speed Pentium 4 |
| Semiconductor Business News | Intel's change in MPU management comes at crucial time, say analysts |
| C/Net | New Intel laptop chips consume less power |
| TechWeb News | Intel aims to break 1-GHz mobile MPU barrier in 2001 |
| EE Times | Centaur eyes mass computing market |
| Semiconductor Business News | STMicro announces x86- and RISC-based processor lines |
| The Register Files | |
| The Register | The race for the P4: Chipzilla shuffles top jobs |
| Microprocessor
Headline News Collected By Robert R. Collins |
Week of October 8, 2000 |
Older News |
| October 11, 2000 | ||
Intel reportedly validating its own DDR chip setBy Jack Robertson October 9, 2000 |
In a move almost certain to raise a few eyebrows at Rambus Inc., Intel Corp. is validating its desktop-PC double-data-rate (DDR) chip set, the Almador, scheduled to be unveiled next year, according to memory companies currently supplying Intel.
The Santa Clara microprocessor Goliath is reportedly perfecting its desktop-DDR capability to support either an upgraded Pentium III or the projected mainstream desktop Pentium 4, code-named Northwood. Intel is keeping its options open for debuting its desktop-DDR chip set, depending on market conditions and how much competitive heat is felt from archrival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s DDR-enabled Athlon processors coming on the market later this fall |
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Rambus plans U.S. suit against Hyundai, asks for change of venueOctober 9, 2000 |
In its latest round of legal maneuvers, Rambus Inc. has filed a motion to change the venue of a U.S. patent suit filed by Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. Ltd. from San Jose to a federal court in Virginia. Rambus, Mountain View, Calif., also said it plans to file its own U.S. patent suit against Hyundai in response to the South Korean company's case, which attempts to invalidate the company's claims on technology rights to high-speed synchronous DRAM interfaces. Mountain View-based Rambus has been attempting to force a number of DRAM makers to license its technologies for high-speed
SDRAMs, double data rate (DDR) memories, and |
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Intel shifts executives to speed Pentium 4By Michael Kanellos October 9, 2000 |
Intel on Monday reshuffled responsibilities inside its microprocessor division to stem the chronic manufacturing problems that have stumped the company for more than a year.
The management changes are targeted at improving the coordination between the design and manufacturing groups, said an Intel spokesman. Along with the changes, the group has been given a mandate to accelerate volume production of the Pentium 4 and to ensure a smooth transition of the Pentium III from the 0.18-micron manufacturing process to the more advanced 0.13-micron process, he said. |
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Intel's change in MPU management comes at crucial time, say analystsBy Mark LaPedus October 10, 2000 |
Intel Corp.'s shuffling of its microprocessor management team comes at a critical time for the world's largest chip maker, said industry analysts reacting to the company's realignment of leadership in its
Technology and Manufacturing Group and the Intel Architecture Group.
According to some Intel observers, the moves are aimed at solving chronic manufacturing problems and slow production ramps that have plagued the company's leading-edge central processor series and some of its biggest customers since late last year. Even Intel president and CEO Craig Barrett said on Monday that the new assignments would "allow us to align the charters of key executives to address issues critical to the future of our core businesses in Intel Architecture processors and platforms." |
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New Intel laptop chips consume less powerBy Bloomberg News October 10, 2000 |
Intel said it will enhance energy-saving features in processors for laptops and begin shipping new mobile Pentium chips next year as competition intensifies.
Intel demonstrated two chips: a 1-GHz Pentium III that consumes 2 watts of power and a 500-MHz version that reaches half a watt. The company said both chips will be available in the first half of 2001. Competition for low-power chips is heating up as more computer makers decide to use processors from rival Transmeta in some systems, claiming Transmeta's new design helps batteries last longer. Intel, trying to regain the spotlight, Tuesday highlighted plans for coming products and revealed details of energy-conservation techniques at the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, Calif. |
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Intel aims to break 1-GHz mobile MPU barrier in 2001By Mark Hachman October 10, 2000 |
Intel Corp. plans to break the 1-GHz barrier in the mobile space in the first half of 2001, the company said Tuesday, while rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. disclosed its first multiprocessor implementation.
While the presentations at the Microprocessor Forum here have been geared towards a technical audience of engineers and system designers, stock-conscious manufacturers have also disclosed product milestones to attract additional investment. |
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Centaur eyes mass computing marketBy Will Wade October 10, 2000 |
Glenn Henry has been trying for five years to push his vision of low-cost microprocessors into the mass computing market. It's taken an acquisition by a Taiwanese company and a bigger view of the world, but he's nearing his goal.
Henry, president of Centaur Technology Inc., brought his vision here to the Microprocessor Forum, discussing a roadmap for his company's processor architecture and the road traveled since Centaur, a former unit of SRAM vendor Integrated Device Technology Inc., was bought by Taiwanese chip set giant Via Technologies Inc. |
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STMicro announces x86- and RISC-based processor linesOctober 9, 2000 |
At the Microprocessor Forum here today, STMicroelectronics will announce an x86-based microprocessor line as well as a part built around Hitachi Ltd.'s RISC chip core.
On the x86-based front, the European chip company plans to roll out three products built around a 64-bit, 133-MHz processor core. Designed for use in Internet appliances, set-top boxes, Web TVs, and related low-cost applications, the new x86-based products from STMicroelectronics include the STPC Atlas, STPC Consumer-II, and the STPC Elite. |
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The Register Files |
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The race for the P4: Chipzilla shuffles top jobsBy Lucy Sherriff October 10, 2000 |
Top level shuffling at Intel, apparently aimed at solving the company's recent
run of trouble with the P4, has seen three big names moving around like pieces on a chessboard.
Mike Splinter, the current senior VP of the technology and manufacturing group, will move up a notch and take the presidential spot. In his new position he will oversee the PIII's change to the new 0.13-micron geometry next year. He will also be responsible for the company's ramp up for the production of the P4. |
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| October 9, 2000 | ||
Intel reportedly validating its own DDR-enabled chipsetBy Jack Robertson October 6, 2000 |
In a move almost certain to raise a few eyebrows at Rambus Inc., Intel Corp. is validating its desktop-PC double-data-rate
(DDR) chipset, the Almador, scheduled to be unveiled next year, according to memory companies currently supplying Intel.
The Santa Clara, Calif., microprocessor Goliath is reportedly perfecting its desktop-DDR capability to support either an upgraded Pentium III or the projected mainstream desktop Pentium 4, code-named Northwood. Intel is keeping its options open for debuting its desktop-DDR chipset, depending on market conditions and how much competitive heat is felt from archrival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s DDR-enabled Athlon processors coming on the market later this fall. |
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U.S. trade panel agrees to Rambus' request for chip probeBy Reuters October 6, 2000 |
The U.S. government's International Trade Commission said Friday it will investigate allegations that South Korea's Hyundai Electronics infringed on a rival's memory chip patents.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Rambus had asked the commission to issue a permanent order barring Hyundai and its U.S. unit from selling certain synchronous-dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) in the United States. |
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Infineon claims Rambus' SDRAM, DRDRAM technology infringes its patentsBy Jack Robertson October 6, 2000 |
Rambus Inc.'s basic Direct RDRAM design violated Infineon Technologies AG patents, the German chipmaker charged in a countersuit filed today in federal district court in Richmond, Va.
Two months ago, Rambus had sued Infineon for allegedly infringing the Mountain View, Calif., intellectual property developer's synchronous DRAM patents. |
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Infineon Turns Tables on RambusBy Steven Fyffe October 6, 2000 |
Infineon Technologies AG is turning the tables on Rambus Inc. and accusing the litigious intellectual property (IP) house of violating its patents.
Rambus is already in the process of suing Infineon in Germany and the U.S. for allegedly infringing its patents covering SDRAM and DDR memory technology. |
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P4 Likely To Miss Holiday SeasonBy Jayant Mathew October 6, 2000 |
Glitches, delays and recalls. That’s been the pattern for Intel Corp. over the past 18 months and it looks like the trend is going to continue for the company’s next major microprocessor, the Pentium 4.
Industry sources say all is not well with the Pentium 4, which will miss the lucrative holiday season because of chipset problems. It is now slated for delivery by the end of November. |
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Transmeta debuts in Japan; U.S. release in three weeksBy Michael Kanellos October 6, 2000 |
The long wait for notebooks based on Transmeta's Crusoe chip has ended, as Sony has released in Japan its first Vaio laptops containing the chip.
Vaio PictureBook laptops containing Crusoe processors were released in Tokyo on Saturday (Japan time), Sony executives confirmed. For consumers, the most likely place to find the new notebooks will be the Akihabara, Tokyo's sprawling, modern electronics shopping area, said sources in Japan. |
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AMD offers free simulator for future 64-bit processor linesOctober 6, 2000 |
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. here today announced it will offer a free simulation tool that will enable developers and OEMs to prepare for its long-awaited entry into the 64-bit microprocessor world.
The AMD SimNow! Simulator gives developers and OEMs the ability to debug their software code prior to the release of the company's 64-bit processor line. Code-named Hammer, AMD's 64-bit processor will be announced by the end of 2001. |
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The Register Files |
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1.4GHz P4 price slashedBy Andrew Thomas October 6, 2000 |
Intel's Pentium 4 is now scheduled for launch at the end of November in 1.4 and 1.5GHz guises.
The entry level P4 should debut at 1.4Ghz, priced at $652, while the premium part will ship at 1.5Ghz and $827. |
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Wanted: Taiwanese to confirm Dell-AMD lovefestBy Drew Cullen October 8, 2000 |
Boy, do some people want us to write this story - Dell to use AMD for the first time. And not just us - in March this year, Forbes wrongly reported that "the number one PC maker in the U.S., is negotiating to purchase 100,000 chips from AMD for use in low-cost desktop computers".
As the last major Intel-only PC maker, Dell has assumed an almost totemic quality for AMD fans - and shareholders. If Dell succumbs to the no.2 chipmakers' charms, then AMD will well and truly have made it. And one day Dell may well source chips from AMD. But when? |
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Sony's Transmeta PC: Speeds and feedsBy: Andrew Orlowski October 8, 2000 |
Here's some real red meat for Transmeta watchers to chew over. Sony has released the speeds and feeds for the Crusoe-powered notebook that will ship Stateside later this month. But perhaps a little ominously, the battery life doesn't quite live up to the much touted "all-day on" claims made on behalf of the wonder chip.
So here's what's new. As expected, the first shipping Crusoe notebook will be a Sony Vaio PictureBook, with the Crusoe part being a direct replacement for the Intel mobile processor. |
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