SHORT TAKES

FORTRAN 2.0 READY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

The initial version of the Fortran 2.0 Application Program Interface is ready for public comment! After over one year of effort, the OpenMP ARB is pleased to present a major enhancement to the Fortran API. Major new features in the 2.0 specification include: Array reductions; Parallelization of F90 array syntax; COPYPRIVATE for broadcast of sequential reads; Privatization of module data; Portable timing routines; Nested locks; and control of the number of threads for multi-level parallelism.

In addition to the above, several minor features have been added and many interpretations addressed and incorporated into the text. The public comment period will close on September 15, 2000. You can download the specification at http://www.openmp.org . Please send your comments via the feedback page at http://www.openmp.org . The ARB hopes to have the final version of the API available by Supercomputing 2000 in November.

PROCOM UNVEILS NEW MODEL OF NETFORCE 1500

Santa Ana, CA — Procom Technology announced the latest version of its NetFORCE 1500, an enhanced model incorporating high-performance 73 gigabyte disk drives, more than doubling the capacity to 730 gigabytes for a new capacity standard dictated by the expanding storage requirements of corporate and Internet customers. “With the escalating demand for storage – particularly among e-business customers – Procom moved quickly to roll out an enhanced-capacity NetFORCE 1500,” said Dr. Homayoun Yousefizadeh, Procom senior product manager.

“To keep pace with increasingly dynamic business environments, the IT universe as well as e-businesses operations have – of necessity – transitioned to a storage-centric view of enterprise computing,” explained Yousefizadeh. “The easiest, fastest and most cost-effective method of scaling these workgroup and Web-based storage customers is with NAS appliances such as the NetFORCE 1500. The 730 GB capacity point allows NetFORCE 1500 filers to be deployed for workgroup, departmental, Internet and now, large-scale storage applications.” NetFORCE 1500 delivers high-performance network file services at speeds outpacing similar capacity UNIX and Windows NT servers by up to 20 percent, while dramatically lowering the total cost of ownership of storage assets. Visit http://www.procom.com for more information.

ON SEMICONDUCTOR INTRODUCES VCX PORTFOLIO

Phoenix, ARIZ. — ON Semiconductor has demonstrated its commitment to the legacy standard logic families with the introduction of a VCX portfolio. With an initial offering of six16 bit VCX functions with bushold options, this expansion of the logic portfolio provides designers with a broader range of standard logic solutions to choose from when designing high performance, low voltage designs. It also offers designers the opportunity to select products with multiple voltage compatibility for 1.8 volt, 2.5 volt and 3.3 volt systems. ON Semiconductor launches its VCX portfolio with the introduction of six new products. Processed in 0.35mu CMOS technology, VCX is the fastest 3.3 volt bus interface logic family currently available. These devices are designed for very high speed, very low power operation with low voltage operation between 1.65 volts to 3.6 volts. Ideal for high speed networking and telecom applications, high performance computing systems and high speed graphics, the products in the VCX portfolio provide designers with more options in applications where traditional logic is used. In direct response to market requirements, the VCX products have typical gate propagation delays of less than 3.0ns, with output drive currents of plus or minus 24mA, over-voltage protection to 4.6 volts, are hot insertion tolerant with static current of 20muA and a current drive of 24mA. Bushold options, denoted by VCXH, on the data pins provide maximum design flexibility by eliminating the need for external conditioning pull-up or pull-down resistors. Additionally, options for series damping resistors provide performance improvements in signal quality.

ON Semiconductor’s initial VCX offering includes the NL74VCX16244 16 bit buffer / line driver, NLVCXH16244 16 bit buffer / line driver with bushold, NL74VCX16240 16 bit Inverting buffer, NL74VCXH16240 16 bit inverting buffer / line driver with bushold, NL74VCX16245 16 bit bi-directional transceiver and NL74VCXH16245 16 bit bi-directional transceiver with bushold. Plans for future products include gate and octal functions. These VCX devices are available in 48-pin TSSOP packages and are priced at a resale value of $1.40 per 2.5K unit quantities. Samples and production quantities are currently available. For more information on ON Semiconductor’s VCX devices, visit http://onsemi.com/pub/logic .

VARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR INVENTORS RECEIVE TWO PATENTS

Gloucester, MASS. — Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc., a leading supplier of ion implantation systems, today announced that Daniel F. Downey, Ph.D. was awarded U.S. Patent Number 6,069,062 on May 30, 2000 for innovative methods for forming ultra shallow junctions in semiconductor devices. The formation of ultra shallow junctions is one of the critical problems to be overcome by integrated circuit manufacturers in order to develop faster circuits. The company also announced that U.S. Patent Number 6,075,249 was granted to Joseph Olson, Ph.D. on June 13, 2000 for improved methods and apparatus for scanning and focusing ion beams used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. Dr. Olson’s invention allows semiconductor manufacturers to improve productivity for implanting low energy ion beams used in the formation of ultra shallow junctions. Richard A. Aurelio, Varian Semiconductor’s president and chief executive officer, commented, “A strong portfolio of intellectual property and invention is central to our technology leadership in single wafer, single platform processing. We continue to invest heavily in our research and development projects for next-generation ion implantation products. The return on this investment is a continuing flow of inventions, like those of Dr. Downey and Dr. Olson, that position us for future technology requirements that will enable our customers to produce semiconductor devices that are smaller, faster and less expensive.”

Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. is an industry leader in designing, manufacturing, marketing and servicing ion implantation systems, semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. Through the process and productivity advantages of single wafer technology, VSEA is providing chipmakers with high throughput, low cost and maximum yields. The company is based in Gloucester, Massachusetts and maintains offices around the world. Its stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol “VSEA.” Additional information is available on VSEA’s website http://www.vsea.com .

FUJITSU’S FLASH MEMORIES MAXIMIZE FLEXIBILITY

London, ENGLAND — Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe has announced two new 64Mbit Flash memories, which offer dual-operation for simultaneous performance of read/write/erase functions and an industry first FlexBank architecture allowing flexible allocation of data or programs to the memory banks. The memories have been developed primarily for the latest cellular telephone and mobile information terminal applications, where high-speed processing and more frequent re-writing are demanded. FlexBank architecture enables the flexible allocation of data and programs to banks according to individual system requirements. Additionally, small sector 8Kbyte x 8 blocks are available in two banks to enable customers to locate start-up programs to suit system requirements, allowing efficient use of all remaining areas as memory space. Unlike previous generations of dual operation Flash memories, where each device has four fixed data and programs banks, the new devices are able to offer unparalleled design flexibility, enabling just one memory type to be used for a multitude of applications or design upgrades, reducing stock holding and cost.

Organized as either 4MB x 16 bit or 8MB x 8 bit, the devices offer two banks of 8Mbit (banks A and D) and two banks of 24Mbit (banks B and C). Additional features include a 256byte Hi-ROM (Hidden Read Only Memory) function to prevent illegal copying and an accelerator facility, which realises faster write time. Manufactured in Fujitsu’s 0.23 micron CMOS process technology and featuring a two-layer polysilicon NOR type memory cell structure, the devices operate from a single nominal 3.0 volt power supply. The MBM29DD640E, a version which offers optional address access times of 100ns or 120ns, is designed to operate down to 2.3 volts supply voltage. The MBM29DL640E variant is available in address access times of 80ns, 90ns and 120ns. All devices provide an automatic sleep mode function which realises a stand-by current consumption of just 1uA. Consumption in read operation is 16mA in byte mode at 5MHz and in write/erase mode a current consumption of only 35mA makes for very efficient use of battery power. Erase/write operational life is 100,000 cycles minimum.

TI SOFTWARE DRIVERS REDUCE CONFIGURATION TIME

San Diego, CA — Texas Instruments introduces the industry’s first data converter software drivers that simplify the design of data converters used in conjunction with digital signal processors (DSPs). The data converter software drivers for Code Composer Studio integrated development environment (IDE), a key component of TI’s eXpressDSP Real-Time Software Technology, cut configuration time for TI data converters used with TMS320 DSPs by up to 80 percent. For DSP developers, less configuration time means lower cost and a faster time-to-market. The software drivers are easy-to-use Windows navigation tools that allow designers to select from the available data converters and insert the appropriate program code directly into the software program. These drivers are for use with TMS320C5000 and TMS320C6000 DSPs.

The first release of the data converter software drivers includes DSPcodecs and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). The drivers are available at no additional charge on the Code Composer Studio 1.2 CD-ROM. Or get them free by downloading at http://www.ti.com/sc/dcdrivers .

AMERICAN MEGATRENDS LAUNCHES HYPERDISK 100

Atlanta, GA — American Megatrends Inc. (AMI), a leader in storage and computing innovations worldwide, today announced the addition of HyperDisk 100 to its IDE RAID product family. “With the addition of ATA/100 hard drive support to AMI’s family of PCI IDE RAID controllers, AMI can meet the demands of OEMs, VARs and System Integrators seeking low-cost RAID solutions using the latest hard drive technology,” said Sanjay Sehgal, AMI’s Director of Sales. AMI’s IDE RAID family meets the performance requirements of the desktop publishing and the graphic workstation entrepreneur and the capacity requirements of the small office/small business server.

“Quantum is pleased to have AMI support Ultra ATA/100 on its HyperDisk 100 IDE RAID controller,” said Jim McGrath, technical marketing director for Quantum’s Desktop Storage Division. “AMI’s customers will benefit from the increase in performance and headroom that Ultra ATA/100 provides for today’s and tomorrow’s applications.” Using two or more low-cost Ultra ATA/DMA drives, HyperDisk 100 provides excellent drive performance and data redundancy. In most cases, the performance gains achieved by the addition of HyperDisk 100 with an additional drive dramatically surpass those seen with an upgrade in processor and increased memory. RAID allows multiple drives to perform the work of a single drive (increased performance), provides mirroring of data to another drive (protection) and presents the combined capacity of the drives as a single larger drive to the OS. HyperDisk 100’s IDE channels, which include data striping (RAID 0) and mirroring (RAID 1), make the entire solution an important tool in today’s computing environment. These RAID levels provide users with a better application performance every time a file is saved or retrieved and offers greater economy and longevity for nearly every PC made today. There will be little to no downtime in case a drive crashes. Visit http://www.ami.com for more information.

MICROTEST UNVEILS OPTICAL NAS SERVER

Phoenix, ARIZ. — Microtest, Inc., a leading developer of network-attached storage (NAS) appliances, today introduced DiscZerver Cyclone, a new high performance optical NAS platform for OEMs and integrators. Delivering superior access speeds, DiscZerver Cyclone surpasses competitive NAS products benchmarks, by as much as three to one, while maintaining a modest sub-$1,000 starting price point. Designed for the exacting needs of optical media access and management, DiscZerver Cyclone can support up to 15 SCSI and 4 EIDE devices, including hard drives, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and CD-R drives, allowing storage capacities in excess of one terabyte. DiscZerver Cyclone is sold in a 5-1/4 inch sled form factor, allowing for easy integration in tower enclosures.

“About 40% of the optical NAS market is served by independent integrators and solution providers building their own branded servers around engines such as DiscZerver. Microtest is building up its presence in this segment, with over thirty integrators worldwide relying on DiscZerver as the heart of their product,” indicated Jim Boren, Vice President of Sales at Microtest. He concluded, “With Cyclone, we have undertaken to significantly increase our share of the OEM and integrator optical NAS market. We have increased our network of integrators by 30% in the past quarter alone.” “CD and DVD titles contain massive amounts of information, and serving them up to a community such as an education or legal institution is a very resource-intensive job,” explained Earl Christie, VP of Marketing at PrimeArray, a Woburn, Mass.-based solutions integrator. “Microtest’s new DiscZerver Cyclone provides the long-awaited Macintosh (AFP/IP) support. By adding features like this, Microtest makes it easier for PrimeArray to maintain a competitive edge in today’s marketplace.” For more information, please visit the DiscZerver Cyclone homepage at: http://nas.microtest.com/end_user/dz_cyclone/ .

DATARAM HAS SOLUTIONS FOR COMPAQ ALPHASERVER ES40

Princeton, N.J. — Dataram Corporation, a leading provider of gigabyte-class memory for high-performance network servers, unveiled advanced 4GB memory upgrades for Compaq’s high-performance AlphaServer ES40. Dataram’s 4GB memory doubles the maximum capacity for the ES40 to 32GB providing the power to handle tough jobs with stunning speed. The ES40 system is enhanced with the latest 21264A “EV67” Alpha processor, providing as much as two-times performance improvement over previous systems. Designed to provide accelerated business advantages, Dataram’s high-performance 4GB product doubles total memory (to 32GB) in the quad-processor model for faster processing and faster data retrieval. The DRQES40/4096 consists of four 1GB modules incorporating 256Mbit SDRAM ECC technology. Dataram also offers AlphaServer ES and AlphaStation ES memory products in capacities of 512MB, 1GB and 2GB.

“Powerful and affordable, Dataram’s 4GB memory paired with the ES40 dramatically improves the performance of enterprise-wide business, and intensive Internet or database applications such as SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle applications, SAS, or Baan; maximizing E-commerce capabilities to the next level”, expressed Bob Kanoff, Dataram’s Director of Marketing. Dataram Corporation is a leading provider of gigabyte memory for network servers, specializing in the manufacture of large-capacity memory products for Compaq, Digital, HP, IBM, Intel, SGI and Sun computers. The company serves users in diverse industries as financial services, Internet service providers, aerospace, petroleum, graphics, automotive, telecommunications, utilities and education. Dataram is registered with the International Standards Organization, having met the internationally recognized ISO 9001 quality assurance standard for design/development, production, installation and service. Dataram memory is a cost-effective alternative to purchasing memory directly from the system manufacturer and is priced up to 50% less. Products can usually be delivered within 24 hours of order placement and are backed by a lifetime warranty and an advanced replacement program. Visit http://www.dataram.com for more information.

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