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Technology Stocks : Texas Instruments - Good buy now or should we wait? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve kelly who wrote (3308)	3/27/1998 12:41:00 AM
From: rob	Respond to of 6180

Yeah I think I know who your talking about. I was in Dallas and I lot of design is down Houston. I think he left before I did Next quarter... you see I thought that way before I left yet there still in there, so go figure. Your right about the technology the have some great circuit patents. The only thing I would argue with is there design methodolgy... I do ASIC design now but I can see how lot ASIC design techniques could speed up time to market. The Intel analogy is definitley compelling and matter a fact it was after I read Andy's book I thought WOW that's just like TI is now... and I am in DRAM not DSP... talk about wake up call. Which is why I still own every scrap of TI stock I ever had. TI is the Intel of the next decade which agian is why I have such a pessimistic view of DRAMs... the Koreans and Tiawansese are doing the same thing as the Japanese did in the '80's. I really feel for MU... there kicking butt in DRAMs best proccess (lowest cost), quick design turns (using ASIC techniques), and good engineers. Imagine if they got in the DSP or CPU biz? In general I think we agree though I have become bit skeptical recently in "predicting" the demise of TI MOS Mem. There JV model real is strong. In that it protects TI from big losses. But as we're seeing with Twinstar and TI-ACER the JV's can not take the pain. It's like there going to force the issue for TI. I never heard of them hiring MU engineers, but I might remember them talking about wanting to... not a bad idea I met I guy in a Synopsys class who's is a ex-MU design guy they definitly have a different method, much closer to the ASIC's quick design cycle/reuse style. And you 3rd point is well taken... the Koreans and people like MU (DRAM's are there #1, #2 and #3 priority) are investing a lot of effort into shrinks. Even with the financial mess Samsung is pouring every penny they got into DRAMs. Did you hear they are inlisted Intel. Intel pretty much paid for the equimpent for ther new AUstin DRAM fab. The new CEO (Barnet or something) was there last week pledge even more millions... its just not fair gov't support Intels support how do you fight that. ALso look at TI's parnters Hitachi and Mistubishi. Hitachi is closing down US DRAM production in there Irvine fab and switching to pure 64Mb in there Japanese. Even though some reports (Reuters) said there leaving DRAM's all togther, I think they got that wrong. Then Mistubishi (Nikkei America) is shuting down DRAM production going from 4Mil 64Mb units/mo to 1Mil 64Mb units/mo There obviously out... so if there partners look like there walking out the door and the TI CEO in this months analyst meeting basically said "no comment" on the JV's breaking... its duh... I wonder why TI doesn't say something.

To: steve kelly who wrote (3308)	3/27/1998 1:51:00 PM
From: rob	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6180

Texas Instruments adds DSP to standard memory module Maybe they need MOS mem NOW! By Stephan Ohr ORLANDO, Fla. - Engineers reacted with approval to Texas Instruments Inc.'s technology demonstration at WinHEC of DIMM memory modules featuring embedded digital-signal processors. Called Basava, the individual modules can fit in a standard 168-pin memory-module slot on a Pentium-II based motherboard or into the 144-pin slot in a portable computer. The module looks and behaves like a standard SDRAM bank to the processor and operating system, but can be awakened on command to rapidly perform a high-Mips DSP task. When the task is completed, the Basava returns to its role as a dumb memory module. Developed as an exercise at TI's Tsukuba Research and Development Center in Japan, the module is designed to offload DSP-specific tasks from a Pentium-II host. A tight coupling of the DSP with SDRAM improves performance, said Raj Pawate, senior member of the technical staff at Tsukuba. The module offers performance that's almost an order-of-magnitude improvement over DSP cards that rely on the PCI bus to communicate data and instructions. And it makes little impact on system memory when DSP tasks are not being performed. The module uses a TMS320C6X DSP in its 168-pin version, and a TMS320C54X in its 144-pin version. The DSP is expected to pop awake on command or on a cue from the operating system. Then its first task is to partition the memory on the module for DSP tasks. While the entire 64-Mbytes, for example, of a DIMM might be available while a DSP sleeps; the module might set 16 Mbytes aside for use by the awakened DSP and leave 48 Mbytes for the Pentium-II. In all cases, the partitioning is to be transparent so that a Pentium-II host processor can continue its tasks without interruption. Pawate said that the Basava module has already received electrical certification as a memory module from the Electronic Industries Association of Japan (EIAJ). Software certification and operating system support is also being sought from other standards-making bodies, and from Microsoft. Basava will be particularly useful for audio and video DSP tasks like DVD playback or motion JPEG compression, said Pawate. But engineers who had passed through TI's booth at the WinHEC exhibition had imaginative ideas of their own. "You need lots of bandwidth for motion display," said Charles Marslett, a consumer digital entertainment software engineer with VLSI Technology Inc. in Tempe, Ariz. "But this would also help with system debugging." Many large systems based on gate arrays are difficult to simulate and test, he volunteered. Currently, Emulation tool vendors like Quickturn Systems currently provide FPGA and programmable-logic boards as targets for gate-array development and simulation. Basava could take their place, the engineer said. "The DSP memory won't be as fast as the Quickturn system," Marslett speculated, "but it will be a lot smaller and cheaper."