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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BillyG who wrote (29978)	2/26/1998 9:29:00 PM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Intel adds new instructions for multimedia processing. This article makes a big deal over the instructions, but the instructions don't seem too special. They appear to be similar to "software interrupt" instructions which quickly save the processor state for task switching. I would have been more concerned if Intel had instructions useful for MPEG-2 decoding........ Posted: 6:00 p.m. EST, 2/26/98 Intel to field performance-enhancing instructions in Deschutes By Alexander Wolfe SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Intel Corp. has quietly added two new instructions to its Pentium II, in a bid to boost the processor's performance in complex applications including multimedia software. The instructions came to light in a Web posting by Clive Turvey, an independent software expert, who said he uncovered them while reading a recently released application note from Intel. "With the introduction of the Deschutes processor, Intel [has] added two new instructions: the FXSAVE and FXRSTOR instructions for a fast save and restore of the floating-point coprocessor's context," Turvey noted in his posting. Deschutes is the 333-MHz, 0.25-micron implementation of Pentium II that was unveiled in January. When word of the discovery hit the Web, it touched off immediate speculation-though not by Turvey himself-that details of Intel's second-generation "MMX2" multimedia extensions had been cracked. MMX2 are 70 new floating-point instructions intended to accelerate 3-D processing. They will appear in Intel's Katmai, an advanced 32-bit processor due next year. Intel's first generation of MMX instructions-introduced in Pentium-family CPUs in early 1997-consists of 57 op-codes, which speed multimedia applications by enabling programmers to process many chunks of data in parallel. However, Intel officials said the two new instructions have nothing to do with MMX. "FXSAVE and FXRSTOR are a fast save and a fast restore used for context switching in an operating system," said Jon Khazam, director of graphics at the Santa Clara chip maker. "They're intended to speed up the ability of the processor to switch threads." Specifically, the instructions cut the time required for context switching-the saving of processor-state information that's done when toggling between different software "threads." Reducing context-switching time is a way to improve operating-system performance. "These instructions are most definitely aimed at operating-system vendors and we anticipate that they'll be used in new OSes," Khazam said. Indeed, it's expected the instructions will be exploited by Windows 98 and Windows NT 5.0, two upcoming offerings from Microsoft Corp. Context switching is also crucial to the performance of software that uses the MMX multimedia instruction-set extensions. That's because MMX apps must frequently toggle between MMX op-codes and floating-point instructions. But while Intel is moving to the second generation of MMX in Katmai, it plans to use a different name for the 70 new instructions. "We're not calling them MMX2," said Khazam. "We're calling them 'Katmai new instructions,' or 'Katmai NI.' " However, Intel will maintain the existing MMX name for its 57 original instruction-set extensions. "MMX instructions are distinct from Katmai NI," said Khazam. The original MMX instructions are "part of the permanent Intel architecture and will always be there." Khazam also insisted that Intel isn't secretive about its new-instruction plans. "These instructions are going to be fully documented when we do the main Deschutes launch in April," he said.

To: BillyG who wrote (29978)	2/26/1998 10:00:00 PM
From: Glenn Holbert	Respond to of 50808

Intel also has a DVD daughtercard reference design based on Sigma's new Quasar chip. This was confirmed on Sigma's conference call this afternoon. They said the chip is smaller than CUBE/ZRAN and much more integrated thus cost less. More competition here.

To: BillyG who wrote (29978)	2/27/1998 3:30:00 AM
From: Stoctrash	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

BASELINE Company Profile Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C-Cube Microsystems (CUBE) As of: Feb 20, 1998 Closing price: 20 1/8 Price Chg YTD 23.4% Dividend Yield 0% P/E 17.3 1778 McCarthy Boulevard Milpitas, CA 95035 408) 944-6300 - Investor Contact: John Hagedorn *(Pretty Ugly chart was here)* % LT Debt to Total Cap 36% Owned by Institutions 38% Market Capitalization 740 Mil Avg Dly Vol (30 days) 829,600 Growth Rates Earnings $ % 5 Yr Hist Latest Qtr. (Dec 97) .30 dn 33% Latest 12 Months 1.16 dn 29% NM First Call Consensus Estimate LT Future Current Qtr. (Mar 98) .27 dn 34% Yr. Ended Dec. 98 1.10 dn 5% Yr. Ended Dec. 99 1.31 up 19% Revenues 5 Yr Hist Latest Qtr. (Dec 97) 90.1 Mil dn 6% Latest 12 Months 337 Mil up 5% 158% Dividends 5 Yr Hist Indicated Rate & Yield NA 0% Increases Last 5 Yrs NA NA Key Ratios & Measures 5 Yr. Range Current P/E 10 - 406 17.3 Price to Book 2.7 - 24.1 4.5 Price to Cash Flow 8 - 70.6 14.7 Price to Sales 1.7 - 16.9 2.2 Return on Equity 16.2% - 35.3% 34% Beta 1.19 Business Overview C-Cube Microsystems designs and markets integrated circuits that compress digital video signals for consumer electronics, communications, and computer applications. The ICs are used in products such as Video CD players and interactive game consoles, digital camcorders, and recordable optical disk machines to compress digital images and full-motion video. The ICs also can be used on computer add-in cards, content encoding equipment, video conferencing equipment, video editing systems, and color laser printers and copiers. Customers include OEMs such as game system designer 3DO, computer companies Sun and Digital Equipment Corp., and professional editing system designers Avid Technologies and Lightworks.