Tony, The answer to the prime question raised in the article you posted is contained in this excerpt below from Reuters today. Your writer missed this answer by publishing one day too soon. The link for the whole story is listed below the excerpt: The point is - Intel is already moving into commoditizing chipmaking for internet hardward just as they had commoditized chips for PCs. Thus the Ciscos of the world will come to rely on INTEL for the latest general purpose network processors that provide the function of routers and switches instead of proprietary ASIC chips. Thus if the killer app is the internet, Intel is gearing up to have the killer monopoly solution.
Regards, David S.
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In its latest move into the new market, the world's largest chipmaker announced plans Monday to
develop a microprocessor designed for the gear that shunts data back and forth on computer networks.
The so-called network microprocessor -- typically thought of as the brains of personal computers -- could let companies such as
Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO - news), Northern Telecom Ltd (NYSE:NT - news). and Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU -
news) introduce products far faster than before.
It also would let them upgrade the equipment that directs network and Internet traffic easier and cheaper.
''This would allow for networking manufacturers to implement new upgrades without totally redesigning the chip(s)'' that are in
data networking equipment, said Mike Wolf, an analyst at Cahners In-Stat Group, based in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Most data networking gear, such as routers and switches, currently use a type of semiconductor called an ASIC, or
application-specific integrated circuit. Instructions for ASICs are hard-wired directly into the chip and can't be changed. But with a
processor, networking companies could simply reprogram them with new software instructions, Intel said.
While Santa Clara, California-based Intel already makes a chip used in printers and routers, it does not yet have an offering that
would let networking companies link the functions of the myriad ASIC chips now used in each product. The process of designing a
new chip takes 12 to 18 months, analysts noted.
Analysts and industry sources expect the network processor to use the StrongArm chip, which Intel acquired from Digital Equipment
Corp. about a year ago. They said the StrongArm makes sense because of its low power consumption and simple design.
The analysts said the potential market for the processor is large because of the demand for gear that links networks and routs vast
amounts of voice, data and video from one end of the world to the other.
''There's a class of processor out there now where they don't have a solution and companies are throwing tens of billions of dollars
at this market,'' said Richard Doherty, director of research for Seaford, New York-based market research firm Envisioneering.
Intel's networking business is expected to be a central focus of its twice-yearly analyst meeting in New York Thursday. Intel
executives have said selling networking and communications gear will be the next growth engine for the 31-year-old chipmaker.>>>>
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