Paul Engel, technogod, what is your read???? aloha
AMD can do Pentium II, P6 chip
By Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM
April 10, 1998, 5:00 p.m. PT
update It may not be straight, but the legal path is clear for Advanced
Micro Devices (AMD) to build microprocessors that use the "P6" system bus,
a closely guarded Intel technology.
If AMD decided to follow this course, selling chips with a P6-style data
pathway would make it easier and cheaper for AMD to get into the mainstream
PC market because the chips would be largely interchangeable with Pentium
IIs, analysts say. In the next two years, Pentium II-compatible computers
are expected to make up the lion's share of the PC market.
As it now stands, circuit board and computer makers cannot swap AMD's K6
chips with Pentium IIs. They must instead go to the expense of designing
different computers to accommodate each.
The legal pathway could also open an opportunity for IBM, a company with
access to a large chunk of Intel intellectual property, to enter the PC
processor market.
AMD has acknowledged that the P6 technology is within its grasp but
publicly denies that the company is planning to adopt it. But what AMD
ultimately decides to do, given the opportunity to develop Pentium II
clones, remains unanswered.
The P6 bus is a data path and a critical piece of Pentium II intellectual
property. The term P6 is usually used to describe the architecture that
forms the foundation of the Pentium Pro, Pentium II, and future Pentium
II-compatible processors.
AMD's opportunity largely derives from licensing agreements and its
increasingly close relationship with IBM, which has emerged as one of AMD's
strongest partners. IBM has the rights to most of the intellectual property
required to build processors and the critical related silicon, called
chipsets, which are compatible with the Pentium II.
IBM recently signed an agreement to manufacture chips for AMD and has been
increasingly adopting the K6 for its low-end consumer computers.
The two companies are also in negotiations on a number of other fronts,
according to sources close to IBM. Big Blue is "talking to AMD about all
kinds of stuff," said a source close to IBM. The two companies have had
ongoing discussions on financial topics, said Ashok Kumar, an analyst with
Piper Jaffray.
"They can find some way to do it...IBM's agreement [with Intel] is as wide
as it gets," said Richard Belgard, a semiconductor consultant. But Belgard
added: "It's certain to land it court."
The key, Belgard said, is that a licensed foundry can make the chip or a
licensed designer can design it. IBM has a licensed plant and in all
likelihood has the necessary patents to design a chip, he noted.
Mulloy confirmed that IBM's cross-licensing agreement with Intel is broad,
covering much of the intellectual property that underlay the Pentium II and
P6 bus. It could even be possible for IBM to enter into the
Intel-compatible chip market with its own unique design, Belgard
speculated.
Of course, there is no guarantee AMD or IBM will move forward on plans to
replicate Pentium II technology. Ben Anixter, vice president of corporate
affairs at AMD, denied that the company will adopt a form of the P6 bus for
its K6 or upcoming K7 chip. "It's possible, but forget about the
legalities--we are not going to do it."
Despite AMD's denial, Piper Jaffray's Kumar believes it is imperative to
adopt the P6 bus for the K7. With other bus technologies AMD chips will be
saddled with higher support costs. With the P6 bus, AMD chips will be
interchangeable with Pentium IIs, he said.
Other companies that have equally broad licenses with Intel are National
Semiconductor and SGS Thomson.
National has the ability to make a P6 bus, said Steve Tobak, National's
vice president of corporate marketing. At the March WinHEC Conference in
Orlando, Florida, he noted that it would be "theoretically possible" for
National to make Pentium II-style chips with the P6 bus for itself or third
parties.
Cross-licensing doesn't provide all of the pieces of the puzzle, Intel
maintains. Some of the technology surrounding the P6 is protected by trade
secrets, Mulloy and others have said in the past. To get a functional
equivalent of a P6 bus, vendors will have to execute some re-engineering.
Intel is an investor in CNET: The Computer Network. |
