Embedded Processor Watch

Senior Editor: Tom Halfhill

Contributor to this issue: Keith Diefendorff, Senior Analyst

In This Issue:

• Sitera Samples Its First NPU
• TSMC Sets Sights on #1
• Microsoft Sets Final X-Box Configuration
• Cahners MicroDesign Resources Seeks New Analysts

Sitera Samples Its First NPU

By Tom R. Halfhill

Programmable network processors (NPUs) are the newest rage, and one of the latest examples is from Sitera, a four-year-old startup based in Longmont, Colo. Sitera recently began sampling a multiprocessor chip called the Prism IQ2000 and plans to start production in 4Q00.

As with similar NPUs from C-Port, IBM, and Intel, the IQ2000 is intended to replace some of the dedicated ASICs found in routers, switches, and network-gateway devices. Off-the-shelf programmable NPUs are more flexible than ASICs and can dramatically shorten hardware-development cycles. However, these advantages come at the cost of lower performance and longer software-development cycles.

Acquisitions of network-processor companies are even more popular than network processors, and Sitera is keeping up with the Joneses in this way too. Vitesse Semiconductor recently bid $750 million in common stock for Sitera in a deal that's expected to conclude this quarter. The announcement came shortly after Motorola's successful $430 million bid for C-Port (see Embedded Processor Watch #89, http://www.MDRonline.com/epw/issues/epw_89.html).

Sitera's foundry is Taiwan-based UMC, which will fabricate the IQ2000 in a 0.25-micron CMOS process and package it in a 673-pin BGA. Sitera is pricing the 200MHz chip at $250 in 1,000-unit quantities. Among Sitera's first customers are Quarry Technologies and Nortel, although the announcement concerning the latter doesn't specifically name the IQ2000 as the design win. (The full version of this article is available online to Microprocessor Report subscribers at http://www.MDRonline.com/mpr/h/2000/0529/142202.html).

TSMC Sets Sights on #1

By Keith Diefendorff

At TSMC's annual technology symposium, its president, F.C. Tseng, pointed to a number of firsts for his company: first foundry to 0.18-micron production, first foundry to offer copper interconnect, first foundry to 0.15-micron production, and first foundry to distribute 0.13-micron design rules to its customers. And the company, which already claims the title of world's largest semiconductor foundry, has its sights set even higher: according to Tseng, TSMC will in 2001 surpass Intel as the world's largest wafer manufacturer of any type.

The company has come a long way in a short time. Three years ago, when TSMC began 0.35-micron production, the company was two full years behind the Semiconductor Industry Association's (SIA) international technology roadmap for semiconductors. Since then, TSMC has been working to close the gap, and it has succeeded: last year TSMC began volume production of 0.18-micron wafers, exactly on the schedule called for by the SIA roadmap. For 0.13 micron, Shang-Yi Chiang, VP of research and development, says TSMC plans to be more than a year ahead of the SIA roadmap.

The availability of high-performance processes from TSMC and others undoubtedly has profound implications for the whole electronics industry. The most obvious effect will be on the fabless semiconductor companies. Not only do these companies gain easy access to high-performance, low-cost processes, but the availability of large intellectual-property (IP) libraries from the foundries will allow small companies to design complex parts that previously required hundred-person design teams. As a result, the fabless-semiconductor business model becomes significantly more attractive.

The losers in this high-stakes game are the large, traditional semiconductor manufacturers. Those companies will no longer enjoy the protection from small fabless competitors that their advanced technology, proprietary fabs, and large design staffs once provided. As a result, those companies could see what was once their largest asset turn into an albatross, causing them to rethink their level of investment. (The full version of this article is available online to Microprocessor Report subscribers at http://www.MDRonline.com/mpr/h/2000/0605/142301.html).

Microsoft Sets Final X-Box Configuration

Microsoft has filled in the last box in its X-Box announcement (see Embedded Processor Watch #96, http://www.MDRonline.com/epw/issues/epw_96.html). The company will equip its forthcoming X-Box home video-game console with a 733MHz Intel processor. Microsoft now claims the X-Box will perform a total of 1.2 trillion operations per second (instead of merely 1 trillion), a number that presumably reflects changes to specifications other than CPU speed -- or perhaps some new method of calculation. These final numbers allow software developers to make the fullest possible use of the X-Box platform. --P.N.G.

Cahners MicroDesign Resources Seeks New Analysts

Cahners MicroDesign Resources, the publisher of this newsletter as well as Microprocessor Watch and Microprocessor Report, and the organizer of Microprocessor Forum and Embedded Processor Forum, is seeking new analysts to join its team. Positions focused on either embedded processors or PC processors are available. Our analysts are highly visible thought leaders in the microprocessor industry and frequently meet with top architects and executives. Candidates must have at least five years of relevant design, marketing, or analysis experience as well as excellent communication skills. For more information, contact Keith Diefendorff (mailto:kdiefendorff@mdr.cahners.com).