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Alpha development to continue with consortium support
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1998 JUN 17 (NB) -- By Jacqueline Emigh,
Newsbytes. An independent company called Alpha Processor Inc. was
launched last night at PC Expo for marketing and technical development
of the Alpha chip, at an event sponsored by Compaq Computer Corp.
[NYSE:CMP], Digital Equipment Corp. [NYSE:DEC], Microsoft Corp.
[NASDAQ:MSFT], and Samsung Electronics.
Other companies will also be on Boston-based Alpha Processor's
list of partners, including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), officials
asserted, speaking with Newsbytes at the press and customer event
in Manhattan.
Ralph Kaplan, VP of strategic marketing and new business development
for Samsung, told Newsbytes that the new company was formed to
provide the specialized expertise needed to let semiconductor
manufacturers like AMD and Samsung meet their customers' needs for
optimization and customization of the 64-bit Alpha processor.
Alpha Processor Inc. will help chip makers to optimize Alpha's
memory capabilities for specific semiconductor applications, for
example, Kaplan said.
Also during the event, Jeffrey Borkowski, executive assistant
to the VP and general manager in Digital's Products Division,
noted that formation of the new company follows the announcement
this spring of provisional approval by the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) of an out-of-court settlement by Digital and Intel of a
year-long patent dispute.
Under terms of the $625 million settlement, Intel obtained Digital's
StrongArm processor technology, as well as foundry rights for Alpha,
with the proviso that other companies, including AMD, would also
receive manufacturing rights for Alpha. Digital and Intel also
agreed to cross-license technology.
Digital had signed in February to license Alpha to Samsung. Digital
subsequently agreed to license the bus design for the Alpha 212164
to AMD, Newsbytes notes.
Speaking with Newsbytes at the off-site event at PC Expo, held at a
restaurant in New York City, Borkowski pointed out that, also under
the Intel/Digital deal, reached prior to the completion last week of
Compaq's purchase of Digital, Digital retained the rights for Alpha
technology and design.
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