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To: Road Walker who wrote (171667)	10/19/2002 1:47:48 AM
From: The Duke of URL©	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

This just in!!!!!! Saturday, October 19, 2002 IBM's 64-bit MPU is 32-bit compatible Jack Robertson EBN IBM Corp. this week lifted the wraps off its next-generation 64-bit PowerPC 970, a processor the company said will also run 32-bit programs in native mode. "Users can make the transition [from 32- to 64-bit applications] gradually and don't have to wait on a large amount of 64-bit software being developed," said Kalpesh Gala, IBM PowerPC marketing manager. IBM's strategy is the same as that being pursued by Advanced Micro Devices Inc., whose 64-bit Hammer MPU family also supports native 32-bit instructions. Analysts said that, although the disparate processor architectures won't necessarily compete for the same sockets, the fact that AMD and IBM are following similar paths could apply pressure on Intel Corp., whose 64-bit Itanium chips run 32-bit instructions using a slower emulation mode. Observers have long reported that Intel is developing a backup device, code-named Yamhill, that would offer dual 32/64-bit support. The Santa Clara, Calif., company has refused to comment on the speculation, citing a policy against discussing unannounced products. For its part, IBM, Armonk, N.Y., has achieved first silicon with the PowerPC 970, which is expected to sample in the second quarter of 2003 and enter volume production in the second half of the year, according to Gala. Boasting a 1.8GHz frequency, the device will be the company's highest-performance PowerPC processor, nearly twice the 1GHz of the fastest chip in its current product line. The PowerPC 970 is a derivative of IBM's Power4 dual-core processor for high-performance servers, borrowing one of the chip's cores. The MPU also features 512Kbytes of on-die Level 2 cache and dual 32-bit bus lines with a 900MHz frontside bus. Gala said the new processor will be aimed at desktop PCs and workstations, entry-level servers, electronic games, networking equipment, storage, and high-end set-top boxes. One major potential application is in a new server line developed by PowerPC user Apple Computer Inc. Tom Halfhill, an analyst at In-Stat/MDR, San Jose, said IBM will likely use the new processor to win more sockets at Apple, which has historically bought most of its PowerPC chips from Motorola Inc. Though neither IBM nor Apple would comment, the PowerPC 970 is equipped to run the Apple Altivec multimedia instruction set for servers.

To: Road Walker who wrote (171667)	10/21/2002 2:57:20 PM
From: The Duke of URL©	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Interesting on the status of comm chips: Agere heralds switch chip breakthrough By Jim Hu Special to ZDNet News October 21, 2002, 7:15 AM PT Agere said Monday that it has developed a chip that can switch voice, data and video signals four times faster than its competition, signaling a breakthrough in a financially strapped telecommunications industry. Agere, a spinoff of Lucent Technologies, also announced a deal for China's Zhongxing Telecom Equipment (ZTE) to use the chip in its switching equipment. ZTE is China's largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer. Called the Protocol Independent Stand-Alone Switch (PI-40SAX), the chip acts as the brains in communications equipment. Such switching chips manage an array of data traffic from voice, wireless Internet, video and other sources through telecommunications equipment. Agere is positioning the chip as a way for telecommunications equipment manufacturers, and thus wireless and Internet access companies, to lower production costs. Other companies with competing switching chips include Broadcom, Conexant Systems and Texas Instruments. But according to Agere, the PI-40SAX outpaces the industry because it can switch various data traffic at an aggregated speed of 80 gigabits per second and a minimum of 40 gbps. That's fast enough to handle 320,000 voice and data calls simultaneously, the company said. The differentiating factor is the way the chip sets priorities for the various types of traffic, the company said. The competition, on the other hand, can only reach 40 gbps using three or more chips, according to Agere. Agere is selling the chips for $520 each in production quantities of 10,000.

To: Road Walker who wrote (171667)	10/21/2002 5:30:55 PM
From: The Duke of URL©	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Intel to turn venture arm to wireless By Michael Kanellos Staff Writer, CNET News.com October 21, 2002, 1:56 PM PT Intel plans to invest $150 million in wireless start-ups to help accelerate the worldwide acceptance of Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi, also known as 802.11, is emerging as the saving grace in a dour computer market. The technology lets anyone with a Wi-Fi-enabled desktop, notebook or cell phone create a high-speed wireless link to the Internet or corporate networks. Demand is expected to increase substantially and telecom carriers, hardware manufacturers and chipmakers are all crafting products and services for the market. "In the last six months all of the carriers have dramatically increased their interest" in developing Wi-Fi services, said Mark Christensen, vice president and director of Intel Capital's Communication Sector. "802.11 is almost taking off on its own without help from the industry. It reminds me of the '80s when Novell took off." Intel itself will jump into the Wi-Fi chip market early next year by latching onto its Banias processor for notebooks. Most Banias notebooks will contain an integrated Wi-Fi module from Intel, code-named Calexico, that will contain Intel's first 802.11a and 802.11b chips Other 802.11 chips will work with Banias, but Intel has only qualified, or intricately tested, Banias with Calexico, which will likely make it the default choice for PC makers. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker intends to invest in promising start-ups that tackle various elements of creating a complete Wi-Fi environment, including companies focused on improving security, making more powerful antennas and offering better roaming. For instance, Transat, one company Intel has already invested in, has created technology that makes it possible for carriers to bill cellular calls and Wi-Fi calls to the same account. Although that may sound easy, the multiplicity of billing systems, the complex alliances between carriers and other technological problems make unified billing onerous, according to several sources. "This allows mobile carriers to offer 802.11 as an incremental service," said Christensen. So far, Intel has invested in approximately $25 million of the $150 million total into 10 wireless companies, including Transat, Nomadix and iPass. The $150 million comes out of the Intel Communications Fund, created in 1999 primarily to invest in companies building products around Intel's IXA communication chip architecture. Chips embodying the IXA architecture, however, are largely aimed at the telecommunications market, which has since hit hard times. The decline of the telecommunications market in part prompted the fund's shift to wireless. The company has put $500 million into its Communications Fund to date. Intel Capital invests generally less than $5 million in start-ups, which can go a long way these days with the depressed stock market. "You can buy a lot of company for a million or two million," Christensen said.