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The article presents an interview with Dave Orton, head of the graphics division of U.S.-based Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), about the company's Fusion processors and chips. Orton says that end-users can expect power, quality and area advantages from Fusion notebook computers. AMD is also looking for other applications of Fusion chips including mobile phones and digital television.

The article informs that in the heart of Silicon Valley, the man who led the design teams for the low-power StrongARM (acquired by Intel Corp.) and SiByte (picked up by Broadcom Corp.) today will join an increasingly crowded caravan of multicore-microprocessor developers. Dan Dobberpuhl's Santa Clara-based P.A. Semi Inc. will announce its plans for a family of two- to eight-core central processing units at the Fall Processor Forum, whose theme this year is "The Road to Multicore." By prospecting in multicore territory, veteran Dobberpuhl is jockeying with major players that have already planted stakes in the ground, as well as with other startups.

Provides information on integrated circuits and other computer products introduced by various manufacturers in the U.S. as of April 2002. Release of Pentium 4 processors by Intel Corp.; Launch of FES-4202 extended-ATX server platform by Force Computers Inc.; Development of Shasta Embedded ATX computer board by Kontron Embedded Computers AG.

The article reports on the development of Niagara microprocessor from Sun Microsystems Inc. in the U.S. The Niagara T1 is an eight-core processor for server and server blades, executes four program threads per core and effectively looks like a 32-processor subsystem-on-chip. The designers improved the memory interface by switching from four standard DDR2 memory interferences to four dual-channel.

The article reports on the innovation of ultramobile portable computers (PC) by various computer manufacturers in Taipei, Taiwan. The Microsoft Corp. is focusing in the ultramobile PC market and introducing its first product in the form of Samsung's Q1 tablet computers. The Via Technologies Inc. is offering a CoreFusion system in a package that combines C7-M microprocessor with integrated north and south bridges.

The article reports that two 32-bit ARM-based embedded processors will cause designers to make a difficult choice of whether to use an off-the-shelf ARM 9E-based solution from STMicroelectronics or develop their own solution with the Cortex-R4 ARM core from ARM Ltd. STMicroelectronics has launched the STR910F family which employs the ARM966E-STM core.

The article presents an interview with Gadi Singer, an executive of Intel Corp. Singer helps Intel's diverse product groups develop "platforms" that include multiple chips and software, architectures that contain multiple CPUs and operating modes, and devices that represent the convergence of computing and communications capabilities. According to him, his role is primarily around technologies and capabilities. Convergence is happening and is a major force that drives what people design as well as how people design. Convergence is having systems with strong computing and communications capabilities that are tightly integrated together. Within wireless design, the challenges include better coverage and broader communications.

Describes Renesas Technology America Inc.'s SH7710 microprocessor. Product features; Specifications; Price; Contact information.

Reports on Intel Corp.'s launch of LeGrand technology that is integrated into Prescott, its next-generation Pentium processor. Groundwork laid by IBM Corp., Hewlett-Packard and Nokia for using LeGrand in their own computers and handsets; Objective of the trusted-computing initiative.

Focuses on the efforts of microcontroller-chip suppliers on developing flexible microcontrollers with specific applications in Dallas, Texas. Launch of the DS80C400 MCU by Dallas Semiconductor; Move of Texas Instruments Inc. on expanding its 16-bit MSP430; Shift of manufacturers from mask to flash-based MCU.

Profiles David Lin, chairman and chief executive officer of microprocessor start-up Rise Technology Company. How he started the company; Factor which has fueled the company's growth; His company's key product.

Provides information on the efforts of the personal computer (PC) industry to boost market growth. Plans of Intel Corp. for its microprocessors; Market of the sub $1,000 PC units; Action taken by other processor manufacturers.

Reports on the expanded line of microprocessor units (MPU) from NEC Corp. Features of MPU; Two speed grades of the device; Initial offering format.

Describes the ThunderBird 128 audio accelerator chip designed by VLSI Technology Inc. and QSound Labs company. Capability of the audio chip in wavetable synthesis, 3-D positioning and special effects; Features of the audio chip; Reduce cost of the audio chip.

The article provides information on the discussion made by computer industry experts, which asserts about the loopholes in their plan to integrate optical instruments for the future of multicore processors in San Jose, California. According to the article, the lack of silicon light sources and the number of years before the commercialization of silicon products are among the factors that contribute to the problem. It affirms that the cost of silicon photonics is also one aspect to look into.

The article reports that Intel Corp. is set to introduce its Penryn family of 16 45-nm processors that employ high-k dielectrics to regulate current leakage. While Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) still has the architectural lead, because it has four CPU cores and memory controller on a single die with a fast interconnect, the Penryn chips surpass the 2-GHz data rates that AMD has attained with its 65-nm server CPUs.

The article highlights the Hot Chips and companion Hot Interconnects conferences which provide a peek inside the leading multicore processors as well as research into the on- and off-chip networks that those future microprocessors may use in California. Hot Chips, held on August 19-21, 2007 at Stanford University, provides an in-depth look into existing multicore CPU such as International Business Machines Corp.'s Power6 and the latest graphics processors.

The article comments on the development of the processor road map by Intel Corp. in the U.S. The company's architectural road map addresses the usual notebook, desktop, and server markets. It also provides information about the performance application of the processor products developed by the company.

The article focuses on problem of start-up processor maker in the U.S. in determining whether to offer their products as flexible, general-purpose chip or as highly specialized, application-specific solutions. Start-ups should always remember that complex processors have limited markets while simple can also mean expensive.

The article focuses on U.S.-based Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s Fusion processors which merge graphics, X86 and other cores on a single die. The company hopes that Fusion will set the company apart in notebook computers much as its Opteron processors did in servers. The success of Fusion will depend on how well executes in designing the merged chips and delivering software for them.

The article reports on the release of a single-chip core logic platform by Via Technologies, targeting the ultramobile personal computer market. Its VX700 offering is a precursor to a system-in-package called CoreFusion that include a C7-M processor, to be out in 2006. The platform supports connectivity options and multimedia acceleration into a 35 square millimeter footprint. Designers can add features on the board as the chip saves up to 45 percent space.

The article explains that Renesas Technology America Inc.'s SH7397 Euclid 32-bit microprocessor is designed for enhanced telematics and similar kinds of in-vehicle information systems. It is based on a 300-MHz, 32-bit SH-4A SuperH superscalar architecture that attains processing performance of up to 540 Mips and 2.1 gigaflops.

The article reports that DRC Computer Corp. and XtremeData Inc., the first two companies to provide socket-compatible coprocessors for AMD64 Opteron processor sockets, are offering programmable solutions that can speed up time-critical algorithms. These coprocessors take advantage of the flexibility of Xilinx and Altera field-programmable arrays.

This article presents information on latest home-entertainment products from Intel Corp. So far, entertainment and the PC have not been a successful fit. But last week, Intel said it would overcome the many false starts suffered by the industry in winning a slot in home-entertainment systems by releasing a platform reference design to drive adoption, similar to what it did with Centrino. During a keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum, where the company launched Viiv, Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said that it's fair to say that the industry has talked about this kind of transition before, and that it was happening or about to happen for many, many years.

The article informs that Intel Corp. will roll out a next-generation Pentium architecture geared for energy-efficient, multicore processors at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco next week. The new architecture is expected to continue power-savings concepts of the Pentium M, like using shorter pipelines than the desktop Pentium 4, as well as shortcuts to launch common instructions. It will also transition the Pentium M from 32 to 64 bits. Finally, it will provide a more thoughtful approach to multicore than Intel's initial products, which sometimes simply put two die in a common package.

Reports on the plan of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to make its first revenue shipments of 90-nanometer Opteron server processors. Employment of the PowerNow power-saving technology in Opteron; Features of Opteron; Similarity of the server processors to those launched by Xeon.

Reports on the coming-out party of Cavium Networks Inc. for its Octeon processor in California. Control with licensing of 64-bit MIPS instruction set; Number of customers; Network processors; Security standards.

Reports on Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.'s licensing of ARM Ltd.'s ARM7 and ARM9 microprocessor cores for use in a range of products to be launched in 2006.

Reports that Toshiba Corp. and MIPS Technologies Inc. have finished their two-year effort to build a 64-byte RISC microprocessor core for the 90-nanometer node.

Reports on the introduction of eServer p5 systems by the International Business Machines Corp. in the U.S. Transformation of technology market; Cooperation with Sun Microsystems Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.; Features of the Power5 processors with simulataneous-multithreading capability; Growth of revenue.

Reports that Arm Ltd. is porting the VeriCall Edge software of Trinity Convergence Inc. to the former's ARM926EJ-S microprocessor core. Support of the former to the latter's effort to make the voice-over-Internet Protocol soft-modem architecture a viable alternative to the digital signal processing (DSP)-based solutions. Mechanism and features of the VeriCall Edge software; Advantages of the using the software; Significance of the development in eliminating a DSP from their design.

Features the Intel Corp.'s Itanium processor. Physical description; Compatibility; Applications.

Reports that IBM Corp. plans to introduce Power5, a dual-core microprocessor with a shared L2 cache memory and external L3 caches integrated on a multichip module. Gigahertz rates to enhance the central processing units of computer servers; Comparison with the Power4-based p690; Question concerning the number of cores and caches a 65-nanometer fabrication will allow.

Focuses on the business performance of Intel Corp. on desktop PC market. Dominance of the Pentium 4 processors in the market; Competition of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. with the company; Question on the revival of partnership with Hewlett-Packard Co.

Reports developments related to computer industry as of October 2002. Occasion of conference season on microprocessors at eet.com; Web site of communications design conference through CommsDesign.com/cdc 2002; Features of the popular EE profession site at www.theworkcircuit.com.

Reports that Sun Microsystems Inc. is debating how it could use a systems-level metric that its engineers have developed. Criticism against Sun's UltraSparc III microprocessor; Competition from Intel's Itanium 2 processor; Metric's goal of comparing applications performance across various single- and multiprocessing systems.

Reports on the plan of processor-core Lexra Inc. to charge premium over comparable cores from rival MIPS Technologies Inc. Details on the LX4380; Claims of MIPS Technologies regarding Lexra's infringed patents; Improvements in Lexra's products.

Offers a look at the plan of Via Technologies Inc. to enter the low end of the computer microprocessor market with the launching of its central processing units. Marketing strategy of Via Technologies Inc.; Competition in the computer industry in the United States; Advantage of Via Technologies Inc. over other competitors in the microprocessor market.

Reports some updates in the computer industry as of July 1999. Purpose of Sharp Corp. in using the operating system, EPOC by Symbian Limited to one of its product; Why Lexra Inc. redesigned its ASIC microprocessor with a dual-issue pipeline.

Presents information on a survey which revealed that Chinese personal computer (PC) makers are making significant inroads in their domestic market. United States (US) companies that continue to hold the largest share of the Chinese computer market; Areas where US companies have been slipping in China.

Probes into the business state of the embedded processors industry in the United States. Factors affecting the industry's market performance; Information on configurable processor devices; Market performance of processor derivatives.

Reports on the release of RC64474, a 64-bit million instructions per second (MIPS) processor by Integrated Device Technology (IDT) Inc. Losses suffered by IDT due to price declines in memory sector; Price of the 64-bit bus; Features of the processor.

Focuses on the efforts of personal computers (PC) manufacturers to lower the costs of PC. Advantages of the issue to Cyrix company, manufacturer of MediaGX and Socket 7 processors; Implication to processor market competitors.

Reports on the market progress of 32-bit microprocessors. Market development and technology advancement; Sophistication in consumer electronics; Potential of personal digital assistants market; Introduction of architectures by the two computer companies; Unpredictability of markets.

Presents news on core development in computer industry. Team up between International Computers Ltd. and NEuW Co. to create a core based on Verilog hardware description language (VHDL); Processor products introduced by Xilinx AllianceCore program.

Predicts the performance in 1998 of suppliers of the X86 microprocessor. X86 microprocessor, a product of Cyrix Inc.; Other microprocessors that compete with the Intel Pentium microprocessor.

Presents the daughtercard for Sky Computers Inc.'s Skychannel-based multiprocessor accelarators for demanding signal- and image-processing applications. Configuration of Sharcpools; Three types of memory that are accessible to each processor; Price of Sharcpool for a 6U VME Skybolt II.

Reports that Chromatic Research Inc.'s Mpact single-chip hardware/software multimedia solution has attracted the attention of original equipment manufacturers in Taiwan. Features of the chip; Price point as the main appeal of the Mpact; Scheduled completion of the software modules for Mpact by August 1996.