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To: Patrick Koehler who wrote (31359)	3/27/1998 3:44:00 PM
From: TREND1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 53903

Patrick (1) Windows 98 will let you have many monitors connected to one computer. (2) I could be posting here using one monitor. (3) And watching MU tick by tick on another monitor. (4) etc Larry Dudash

To: Patrick Koehler who wrote (31359)	3/27/1998 3:49:00 PM
From: TREND1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 53903

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."