Microprocessor
Headline News

Top Stories for December 3, 2001 (details below)
Semiconductor Business News	Hynix claims all but two Rambus patents dismissed in lawsuit
EE Times	Pentium 4 shortage expected to last until January
C/Net	Tight chip supplies boost Intel, AMD
*Truths...from the rumor mill*
The Register	Industry chip technology roadmap reveals TSMC fab issues
The Register	Intel's battle with Broadcom comes to court
The Inquirer	Intel's Itanic sails into 2002 fog
The Inquirer	How Intel's Itanic group spends its time
The Inquirer	PC firms resort to 423 pin P4s
The Inquirer	Nvidia lashes out at ATi

Microprocessor Headline News

Collected By Robert R. Collins

Week of December 2, 2001

Older News

December 3, 2001

Hynix claims all but two Rambus patents dismissed in lawsuit

November 28, 2001
Semiconductor Business News

Hynix Semiconductor Inc. today said a U.S. district court in California has dismissed all but two patent claims out of 400 filed by Rambus Inc. in a dispute over DRAM technology rights.

The South Korean memory maker said the ruling was based on definitions issued by another federal court in Virginia, which presided over a similar patent lawsuit between Rambus and Infineon Technologies AG of Germany.

Pentium 4 shortage expected to last until January

By Mike Clendenin

November 30, 2001
EE Times

A recent shortage of Socket 478 Pentium 4 microprocessors has analysts and PC component makers wondering whether Intel Corp. dropped the ball in its planning or if it is trying to manipulate customers into using more expensive, high-end chips.

Whatever the case, the supply pinch is easing up and is expected to abate in January, just as Intel starts to market its double-date-rate SDRAM chip set for the Pentium 4.

Tight chip supplies boost Intel, AMD

By Michael Kanellos

November 28, 2001
C/Net

Despite the prevailing gloomy outlook, demand for PC processors is slightly higher than expected--a phenomenon modestly boosting prices and hopes for the chip industry.

Supplies of certain Intel and Advanced Micro Devices chips remain tight, according to analysts and computer dealers.

Intel Pentium III and Pentium 4 chips for servers are difficult to find, and there are sporadic difficulties in obtaining some of the less expensive Pentium 4 desktop chips. Earlier this month, Dell Computer also temporarily suffered shortages of 2GHz Pentium 4 chips.

Truths...from the rumor mill

Industry chip technology roadmap reveals TSMC fab issues

By Tony Smith

November 30, 2001
The Register

The findings of the 2001 International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) may explain why the world's largest chip foundry, TSMC, is causing some of its key customers, including Nvidia and Transmeta, to complain about its ability to punch out sufficient volumes of 0.15 micron and 0.13 micron chips.

The ITRS is the Semiconductor Industry Association's attempt to chart the future evolution of the microchip from the progress that its members are actually making. The SIA polled 800 industry specialists from the US, Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan to produce a consensus view of where the chip business is heading.

Intel's battle with Broadcom comes to court

By Tony Smith

November 29, 2001
The Register

Intel and Broadcom faced each other yesterday as the wide-ranging patent infringement lawsuit the chip giant filed in August 2000 came to court.

Both sides made their opening statements before the jury that will decide the trial's outcome. A second trial will follow on from the first, Intel's original lawsuit having been split into two. Intel alleged Broadcom products violated five key patents. Two of the claims, covering network processors and digital video chips, will be investigating in the current hearing. The rest, which centre on two further digital video chip patents and a third patent relating to chip packaging, will be judged in the second trial.

Intel's Itanic sails into 2002 fog

By Mike Magee

November 28, 2001
The Inquirer

IN THE SECOND QUARTER of next year, Intel is set to start piloting its McKinley 64-bit processor - the followup to Merced.

It would be very unkind to call Merced an expensive and unmitigated disaster, but certainly it would only be a dyed-in-the-wool enthusiast that could hail it as a runaway success.

The Itanium is still unproved technology but thank god it will still be able to run all of our old DOS software, as Andy Grove pledged all those years back.

How Intel's Itanic group spends its time

By Eva Glass

December 1, 2001
The Inquirer

HERE IS AN INTERNAL Intel document telling everyone how to
use the word Itanic properly. We are glad that the person, persons
or group are occupied usefully. µ

Intel Corporation's Correct Trademark Usage of the Itanium™
Brand and Usage of Related Terms

Proper trademark usage rules include:

PC firms resort to 423 pin P4s

November 28, 2001
The Inquirer

CONTINUED TIGHT SUPPLY OF 478-pin Pentium 4s has now begun to put pressure on 423-pin versions of Intel's premier desktop processor, writes our spot market watcher Marco Fumagalli.

And that, in turn, has led to pressure on supplies of 423 pin motherboards, which were supposed to be phased out by now, as the 478 pin socket supplanted the former design.

Prices of Pentium 4 1.7GHz 423 pin parts climbed steadily this morning, while 478-pin Pentium 4s at the same price remained at around $210.

Nvidia lashes out at ATi

By Eva Glass

November 28, 2001
The Inquirer

THERE'S A LINK AT Cho's place to an NV News interview which is well worth a read, and it's obvious that Mr David Kirk from Nvidia doesn't mind planting a few pokes in the eye of ATi.

The interview, which the INQUIRER, in UK hacking style has taken entirely out of context, and weighted with obvious bias for the value of a sensational story, seems to suggest that Kirk's sarcastic arteries are totally unclogged.

For he says Nvidia doesn't optimise its pipeline for specific benchmarketing, and isn't just after a good score like ATi seems to be.