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Technology Stocks : Wind River going up, up, up! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bala Vasireddi who wrote (8015)	6/26/2000 2:07:00 PM
From: Allen Benn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10309

Base on the press release from Intel below - 960 processor seems to be phased out and 80303 is taking its place as Intel's I/O processor. Is this just an upgraded 960 processor with a new name or is this the StrongArm processor with a new name? I am asking this questions from WIND's support of it for the I20 initiative. I guess WIND does support it, but wanted some clarification from more knowledgeable folks. Intel has changed its nomenclature for IOP's, which henceforth will be identified as being members of the 803xx series of processors -- irrespective of the core used. While future 803xx's no doubt will be built on the StrongARM core, I don't this one was. I think the 80303 is just the latest step in making IOP's a necessary aspect of IO processing around servers and workstations. Intel's original i960 embedded processor has fallen out of popular usage, or maybe almost any usage. The processor held sway for a time in office automation and perhaps other markets. The PowerPC, MIPS, ARM, Hitachi among other have dethroned the processor. I believe Intel is comfortable with this reality. The reason is Intel hates to compete in commodity, price-sensitive markets. It seems to me that a few years ago Intel began refining its embedded processor strategy to limit competition. First, notice that WIND's CofE with Intel is for embedded Pentiums (x86 architecture) and now the StrongARM. This is the embedded arena in which Intel wants to play, where competition is limited due to the huge engineering muscle Intel brings to the table along with branding. The CofE does not include the venerable i960. Intel gave up on the general purpose embedded processor market in which the i960 participated, and turned its energies toward producing vertical embedded solutions. The first of these was the I2O chip, which today is anything Intel produces that is called an IO Processor, or IOP. These chips use the i960 core and remain competitive because of their integrated IO capabilities. The second major chip family based on this philosophy is the IXP series of intelligent network processors, which is built using the StrongARM core. The fact that Intel's IOP new naming convention is independent of the core used tells me, and no doubt everybody else, to expect a next-generation 803xx built on the StrongARM. Allen