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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tony Viola who wrote (31058)	6/16/1999 5:29:00 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 70976

>> Au Contraire. Most computers I know of today are still highly microcoded. Really?! I thought the process was to use VHDL to design it and then use a silicon compiler to make your prototype and then debug it via different simulation tools. All of which are closer to hardwire than microcode. Are you saying this is not the case? >> BTW, the reason we stay with microcoded computers is that it's the only way you stand a chance to change or add instructions to keep up with a competitor, or fix a flaw or bug, in a reasonable time period. Of course, the flexibility you mention was the reason micorcode was invented in the first place. But do we really have than many competing CPU architectures these days that quick response to a competition is an issue? Who stands a chance to unseat x86, SPARC, or PA-RISC CPUs, even if there is a minor flaw? I would think that the higher speed and density of hardwire would justify the trade off, unless you are including microcontrolers, DSP processors, or the like among the CPUs. What am I missing here? Thanks, ST

To: Tony Viola who wrote (31058)	6/16/1999 5:56:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Applied takes stake in Triant, gains access to fab monitoring software A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story posted 1:30 p.m. EST/10:30 a.m., PST, 6/16/99 NANAIMO, British Columbia--Triant Technologies Inc. here today announced that semiconductor equipment giant Applied Materials Inc. has acquired a 12.5% equity interest in the supplier of monitoring and fault detection software for $2.2 million. Under a separate license agreement, Applied has become the exclusive value-added reseller of Triant's equipment health monitoring and fault detection software technology to the semiconductor industry. Applied hopes the equity investment will help Triant to develop new enhancements for its wafer processing equipment and fab automation software sold by the company's Consilium subsidiary under the Fab300 series, said Sass Somekh, senior vice president and a member of the company's Office of the President, based in Santa Clara, Calif. "Our joint efforts will focus on helping customers better address the rapidly increasing requirement for increased overall productivity in their fabs," he added. Under the terms of the license agreement, Applied has been granted the right to market a future version of Triant's monitoring and fault detection software, called ModelWare/RT. Triant will receive a fee for each license shipped, under the agreement. The pact, along with the investment, is a key step in Triant's goal to "become the leading supplier of equipment health monitoring and fault detection technology to the semiconductor industry," said Paul O'Sullivan, president and CEO of Triant. Under the terms of the private-placement agreement, Applied is buying 2.7 million common shares at a price of $0.80 each and is receiving a warrant for the purchase of an additional 2.7 million shares. The warrants are exercisable at a price of $0.80 per share in the first year and $1.20 per share in the second year covered by the agreement. Applied said it all warrants were exercised it would hold 22.2% of Triant's outstanding shares. 204.247.196.14