The WAVE Report
Issue #0321------------------6/27/03

The WAVE Report archive is available on http://www.wave-report.com

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0321.1 Hot Topics

0321.2 Story of the Issue

0321.3 Semiconductor

0321.4 WLAN

0321.5 DSL


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0321.1 Hot Topics

***IEEE Approves 802.3af Power over Ethernet Standard
(June 23)

PowerDsine, a provider of Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology,
today announced the approval by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE) of standard 802.3af-2003, which
defines the specifications to deliver power over standard
Ethernet cables. PowerDsine has been a contributor to the 802.3af
Task Force, and participated in the Call for Interest in the
802.3 Working Group in 1999.

The standard was approved by the IEEE Standards Board on June 12,
2003, and will be published on or before July 11, 2003, as
" 802.3af-2003." PowerDsine, who has played a role in the creation
of the standard, has also created a service to Ethernet device
manufacturers and switch vendors to test conformance with the
provisional standard. To date, over one hundred terminal devices
have been compliance tested by PowerDsine, including Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones, wireless LAN access points and
security cameras.

Power over Ethernet has already been partially adopted in the
market, particularly in the VoIP, wireless LAN and IP Security
market, where it eliminates the need to install separate
electrical wiring and power outlets. Another advantage,
particularly for IP telephony and surveillance camera users, is
the ability to offer continuous operation even in the event of a
power failure by delivering battery-backed-up uninterrupted power
via the local area network (LAN).

Power over Ethernet has been deployed in two formats: either as
endspan devices, i.e. embedded into switches, or as stand-alone
midspan hubs from companies such as PowerDsine, allowing terminal
devices to be power-enabled without upgrading the existing
switches. The new standard will cover both categories of Power
over Ethernet technology.

PowerDsine is a developer of Power over LAN technology, providing
the ability to deliver both power and data over a single network
cable. PowerDsine offers converged power and data solutions to
corporate users via it own range of equipment and via OEM
agreements with communications equipment manufacturers in the
telecom and datacom industries. The company is a founding member
of the IEEE 802.3af Task Force.

http://www.powerdsine.com


***GlobalStreams and Electric Image Release Universe 5 for
GlobeCaster
(June 25)

GlobalStreams, a developer in the field of video communications,
announced today that it has partnered with Electric Image, Inc.,
to create Universe 5 for GlobeCaster - a 3D modeling, animation
and rendering suite tailored to the needs of TV and web broadcast
professionals.

Universe for GlobeCaster, which began shipping recently, can be
used to create real-time effects and virtual sets for
GlobalStream's GlobeCaster Studio 4000 and 8000 products.

GlobeCaster is designed to allows users to produce, present and
deliver studio-quality broadcasts via television, cable,
satellite and the Internet, by simulating a traditional studio
environment inside one space-saving production unit. GlobeCaster
features include a digital production switcher, hybrid
linear/non-linear editor, real-time digital video effects,
character generator, virtual sets, and more.

With Universe 5, GlobeCaster users can tap into their hardware
effects engine to create real-time effects, including custom
transitions and raytraced reflective effects using multiple video
sources. Universe 5 leverages the the Universe renderer to create
transitions and virtual sets.

Universe Animator contains user interface elements specific to
creating GlobeCaster effects. The Universe renderer can write
directly to the GlobalStreams effects file format, .tfx. Universe
5 for GlobeCaster is priced at US $1500 MSRP and will be sold
through authorized GlobeCaster reseller and online through
Electric Image, Inc.

http://www.globalstreams.com


***dvGarage Releases 3D Toolkit 2.5
(June 25)

dvGarage today announced the release of the 3D Toolkit 2.5, a new
3D training product that brings 3D production to both
professional 2D artists and even hobbyists. While high-end 3D is
now possible on entry-level computers, the software is expensive
and complicated for the average user, according to DVGarage. 3D
Toolkit is intended to bridge that skills gap.

The product ships with 4 hours of video training, 28 tutorials
and a full, working version of Electric Image Universe (3D
Toolkit version), a production-level 3D application used in over
50 feature films and TV shows. The package retails for only $99.

The 3D Toolkit version of Universe is fully operational and never
expires. dvGarage stated that users interested in 3D can create
full resolution, film quality work. Universe has been used in
movies and shows including "Star Wars: Episode 1," "Alias," and
" Dateline NBC."

The 3D Toolkit's step-by-step tutorials walk beginners through
the basics of 3D, and introduces advanced users to the tools in
Universe. The disk has over 4 hours of video training led by
dvGarage founder, Alex Lindsay.

The 3D Toolkit is available for Mac OS9, OSX, and Windows
2000/XP.

http://www.dvgarage.com

0321.2 Story of the Issue

***SID 2003
By John Latta
May 19-21

Baltimore, MD

The Society for Information Display annual conferences has long
been one of the best forums to put ones fingers on the pulse of
display technology. LCD, OLED, Flexible Displays, and LED are
just some of the technologies to be found in the talks and on the
floor. But, SID is not just about displays. It is about all forms
of imaging with an emphasis on displays. As a part of this there
are elements of:
- Fabrication technologies
- Markets and Market Dynamics
- Scanning technology
- Human Interface
- IP

SID is also about the future of displays as they become less
expensive and more pervasive. There is a shift taking place not
only as displays make the digital transition, but as displays
become so cheap they approach the cost of paper. As in our
Flexible Displays coverage

http://www.wave-report.com/other-html-
files/flexibledisplays2003.htm

the movement here is not simply one of improved technology, but a
fundamental shift in thinking about electronics, from transistors
per square inch, to square inches per dollar.

An element missing here is economic depression, such as what if
found in the telecommunications conferences. Thank goodness.

SID Business Conference

This was an experiment for SID, the first time it has held a SID
Business Conference. This spanned markets, technology, companies
and fabrication. It was an excellent overview of the display
industry. Very well attended also.

David Nagel, President of PalmSource showed two interesting
concept products. One was called the Minitablet. This is for e-
reading and note taking. It has a stylus and the tablet screen
which is on both sides fold open unit. The size is 6." It was
stated that high contrast is more important than color. The unit
should have a paper-like writing experience. The second concept
is an integrated phone and PDA unlike those seen before. The
phone is actually a removable device similar to many we have seen
in Japan - almost like a stylus - and most likely connected via
Bluetooth. One of the more interesting aspects is that the
keyboard is the cover and stated to be similar to an Eleksen
keyboard. The unit folds both ways so that either the keyboard is
exposed or the screen becomes the writing surface. It is not
clear that these are real products, but PalmSource has a business
model very similar to Microsoft. It uses hardware concepts to
push its software OS licensees to develop new implementations
that leverage the software as a platform. Currently there are 15m
Palm units sold a year.

The value of the SID Business Conference was diversity of view.
This event ran continuous from 8:45am to 5:30pm with no breaks,
other than a fire alarm in the Baltimore Convention Center. Some
of the highlights include.

Harrie Burnklaus, CEO New Displays Business Development,
Philips Electronics, took a very broad view of the role of
displays in the home. Most interesting was the concept of
Ambient Intelligence. The interfaces to this concept are
displays anywhere in the home. A video was also shown to
highlight how this could be implemented. Although many of
the concepts were entertainment oriented the concepts went
well beyond just this. What was significant here is that
with displays everywhere there is considerable potential for
how displays can be used and Philips is doing more to
conceptualize what this means. In the end, from a display
manufacturer standpoint it is selling more square inches of
display per person.

Sean Wargo, Director of Industry Analysis at CEA reported an
interesting statistic - that the average size of television
being bought is increasing at nearly 1" per year. This is
also matched with a rise in the ASP per display, at the
wholesale level. For example, from 2001 to 2002 the average
price went from $363 to $416. The reason for this is
credited to the transition to digital television. In 2003
this is expected to be 3.85m units and rise to 5.54m units
in 2004. Flat panel sales are projected to rise to 831,000
units (US) for LCD and 448,000 units for plasma.

Vincent Sollitto, of Sollitto Associates, made the case that
the market for LCD fabrication equipment would diverge from
the semiconductor fabrication equipment. The primary reason
for this is that semiconductor fab is based on the value of
the shrink - reducing the line width - and thus getting more
circuits per unit area. While displays follow a different
path - the value comes from handing larger and larger "die"
area, i.e. the glass substrate. His analysis showed that the
CapEx for LCD production equipment could approach 45% of
that of all semiconductor fab CapEx by 2010. If this is the
case it marks a major transition of the semiconductor
industry. His other interesting sound bite was:
- Display is the product;
- Displays create the applications in the product.

Ross Young gave an information-dense overview of the LCD
market. The whole display business is in midst of an
important transition in display sales and usage:

- 2002 - The market in $ for LCD surpassed CRTs
- 2002 - Desktop LCDs Monitors surpassed Notebook
panels
- 2007 - Televisions are expected to pass Monitors
- Mobile phones and PDA will lead Notebooks in the next
4 of 5 years

Ross also provided the most compelling data for why the
movement to gen 6 and 7 fabs. If a base line fab, based on
glass substrate of 680 X 680 mm is used for area and fab
spending, the cost of fab equipment rises only 154% to go to
1500 X 1800 mm but the area improvement is 451%. This means
that the cost of depreciation dramatically falls compared to
the rise in output. It is these large economies of scale
that will enable low cost LCD televisions.

The new President of the Eastman Kodak Display Group stated
that they have raised the lifetime of the Kodak OLED
materials from 2,000 hours to 5,000 hours. However, these
were the materials for only PM displays. Further, he
predicted that there would be 5" to 7" PDA OLED displays in
12 - 18 months. Tablet, notebook and desktop OLED monitors
would be available in the range from 9.5" to 15" in 2005 to
2006. Displays >15" would be available in 2007 to 2008.
Currently Kodak has an active licensing program in PM but
none in AM. The company is looking at what they should to do
here. The implication was given that the task of making AM
OLEDs a viable market will require the participation of a
number of companies.

LEDs are making major strides in the outdoor large form
factor display market. These large displays can cost up to
$3 to $4/pixel.

It was implied that e-ink applications could begin to
surface as early a 12 months.

An interesting metric for display pricing surfaced a number of
times. This is the cost of a display per square inch. The
benchmark that most applications are working against is:

- CRT = 30c

This is an exciting time to be in displays as the market finally
makes the transition form the CRT to many new display
technologies and form factors.

Display Interface Standards

The Japanese CE companies have been promoting 802.11a as a
wireless interfaces to CE and especially the movement of HDTV
around the home. This is a clear opportunity to define a wireless
interface to displays. There has been an effort on packet video
in the VESA for the last 3 years, largely pushed by IBM. At SID
this was the first time to hear details on the effort. Joe Lamm
of Tech Source gave the presentation. Normally this level of
detail is not disclosed until at least the first draft of the
standard has been released. So with the permission of the board
of VESA we got an early look. Here are the key elements of DPVL.

DPVL is basically a packet version of DVI. The premise of
this new interface is that raster scan DVI has significant
limitations which include:
- Single Link DVI supports up to 1600 X 1200
- Dual Link DVI supports up to 2048 X 1536
- Separate video output needed for each monitor and
- Limited Color Precision (24bit RGB).

The key element in DPVL is the ability to send a rectangular
sub-section of the display area based on changes to the
original content to the remote display. This is called
selective refresh.

The communications architecture has a Host Virtual Display,
an embedded within this is the update rectangle, which is
then sent to the physical display. The transmission of the
update rectangle is sent with a header that defines the
characteristics of the rectangle. There are two types of
headers:
Basic Header - simple update rectangle to the display
Extended Headers
- Video Stream
- Scaled Video Stream
- Gamma Table Load
- Area Fill/Pattern Fill
- BITBLT
Additional features supported include:
- Video Format (RGB, YUV, and more)
- Color Precision (Monochrome and Color)
- CRC Error Checking

There is also support for multiple monitors. The Update
Rectangle can, in fact, straddle more than one monitor in
the virtual screen space. The virtual monitor space is
65,536 X 65,536.

From a Hardware perspective it is also possible to support
daisy chain DPVL where multiple DVI monitors are supported
from one DVI display card.

One intent is to make DPVL a simple extension to most
graphics adapters which support DVI. Thus, from a user
perspective it will be necessary to get another graphics
adapter but not require a major redesign effort for the
graphics chip companies.

Three conformance levels have been defined:
- Level 0 - Single Monitor (Basic Header + DDC - means
to get feedback from the monitor)
- Level 1 - Multiple Monitor - Level 0 + USB
- Level 3 - Multiple Monitor - Level 1 + Video Stream
Packet

The companies involved in this standard include:
- IBM - the major driver
- Tech Source
- Eizo/Nanao
- Qualcomm
- Jupiter Systems
- ATI
- Samsung
- Viewsonic
- Intel
- nVidia
- 3Five
- Genesis Microchip

It is expected that a draft specification will be released
by the end of the year. This standard has been in work for 3
years.

Following the presentation there were many questions. Some
included:

Why not use a more general video object specification to
define the changes such as an MPEG-4 object?
- We were looking for simplicity and this could be a
future addition.

Tearing Artifacts are quite possible with selective updates.
What has been done?
- The physical display needs a dual buffer
implementation. However, tearing is a problem.

This is really a network display interface? Why not use
other methods to implement this?
- We built this on DVI.

Flexible Displays

Pioneer has built a 3' full color F- OLED (Film substrate - OLED)
on plastic. One of the key issues is the control of moisture. The
barrier which Pioneer uses is made up of SiOxNy. The key trade
off is the atomic ratio of O/(O+N). Pioneer showed impressive
results of how they controlled this ratio, the end result of
virtually eliminating dark spots in the display, which are caused
by moisture into the OLED. Further, they also used a multi-
barrier structure to further reduce the occurrence of small dark
spots. The net result was a dark spot ratio of only .05%. The
final product was a 3" diagonal display that had a radius of
curvature of 26mm. The display has these specifications:
- ze - 3" diagonal
- Resolution - 160 X 120 (RBG)
- Driving Voltage - 9v
- Gray Scale - 256
- Thickness - .2mm
- Weight - 3gm
- Luminance - 70cd/ sq m

Seiko Epson took a very different approach with equally
impressive results. Their technology is called Surface Free
Technology by Ablation/Annealing (SOFTLA). The actual OLED was
ink jet printed. As we saw at the Flexible Displays and
Electronics conference the problem of making displays on plastic
is that there is:
- High dimensional in stability;
- High thermal expansion; and
- Moisture absorption.

The Epson approach is to create the display on glass with ink jet
methods and then transfer the whole circuit to plastic. The
transfer process is quite detailed but apparently works. It is a
two step process where the TFT is placed on a temporary
substrate, on top, and then lifted from the glass using and
excimer laser that heats from below. Once placed on this
temporary substrate on the top it is placed on the plastic bottom
substrate. The temporary substrate is then washed away with
water. The example shown was a 5.3cm diagonal TFT backplane for a
TFT-OLED display. Note that the actual OLED was place on the TFT
backplane using ink jet printing after the transfer to the
plastic. The resulting display specifications include:
- Size - 5.3 cm diagonal
- Resolution - 200 X 150
- Pixel Pitch - 120ppi
- Drive Voltage - 4 - 6v
- Weight - 3.2g
- Thickness - 400um

A very good video was shown of the output.

On the Floor

Lumileds Poster Session

Buried within the mass of poster papers was a company, Lumileds,
that was showing a hand held projector made up of a single LED
source. It is called the Pocket Imager and can be battery
powered. The output is 7" to 9" diagonal ranges with 100 to 200
nits. Examples of use are to show images on a wall to friends, a
presentation from a PDA and pictures from a web phone.

www.lumileds.com

Lumileds is the former LED division of HP. It is a joint venture
between Agilent and Philips Lighting.

e-ink

This company has the digital paper display using electrophoretic
technology. Its partners include Philips, TOPPAN Printing
Company, IBM, and Lucent Technologies. In the booth was a
prototype e-book using a 160 pixels per inch (ppi) film-
transistor (TFT) backplane and driver electronics developed by
Philips. Units are to ship Q1 2004 to a customer that will ship
e-books to market. The product is more than an e-book and will
include some PDA functionality. Volume production is expected in
late 2004. For an e-book application the image quality is
excellent.

Toshiba

Toshiba has a prototype technology demonstration which showed
System on Glass technology. At the pixel level there is
integrated both LTPS LCD TFT display and an image capture,
assumed to be CMOS detector. In the booth was shown the
combination of a scanner and display. One minute it was a display
and the next when the cover was folded over the screen it was a
scanner. Thus, all that is required is to place an object on the
screen surface and it is scanned. Applications of this Silicon on
Glass, SoG, technology is claimed to be an integrated fingerprint
capture on a screen and bar code reader embedded in a display.

Screen Technology

Recall that this is the tiled display company which showed its
technology at the Display Forum conference in December. The
strength of this company is that they understand some of the
issues with making tiled displays. The main product is ITrans
which is a light guide which allows for the tiling of standard
LCD panels with the intent that the intersection is visually
seamless. At SID the presentation had more detail. This included:

They replace the traditional backlight with an LED backlight
using white LEDs;

In spite of the fact that the visual acuity is about 1 arc
minute the vernier acuity is only 6 arc seconds or 10X the
visual acuity. Thus, interpixel and intertile gaps must be
controlled to better that ?75?m.

Results were shown from a 4 X 3 52" tiled display. Although
it still had artifacts the results were quite good.

A potential limitation is the low resolution of the display
tiles. In this example, the tile resolution was only 200 X 150.
As the tile resolution increases the fabrication of the fiber
guides becomes more difficult.

20" Amorphous OLED Display

In a dramatic shift in OLED technology, International Display
Corp, Chi Mei Optoelectronics and IBM Research showed a 20" OLED
made using an amorphous silicon backplane. This is important
because amorphous backplanes, the dominant technology used in LCD
TFT displays, is much less costly to produce than LTPS
backplanes. However, the main drawback is reliability in making
amorphous silicon work with a current driven OLED. Two papers
were presented on this display and the design of the OLED cell.
The display was on the floor and attracted great attention.

The differences between the Poly-Si and Amorphous-Si was stated
to be:

Poly-Si Merits
- High Mobility
- Stable TFT characteristics
Poly-Si Demerits
- Limitation on Screen Size for Processing'
- Neighboring TFT has Different Characteristics

Amorphous-Si TFT Merits
- Large Screen Size
- Neighboring TFT has similar characteristics
Amorphous-Si TFT Demerits
- Low Mobility
- Unstable TFT Characteristics - especially Vth Shift

IDT claimed that its cell design addressed the key amorphous
demerits.

The display on the show floor had some defects but these are not
seen to be significant limitations of the technology.

It should be noted that in order to solve the mobility issue this
design used a top emitting configuration which also improved the
fill factor.

The following characteristics were claimed for the display:

- 20" diagonal
- WXGA resolution and HDTV compatibility
- >500cd/sq m peak luminance
- 16M colors
- <105% color gamut
- <1ms response time
- >1000:1 Contrast ratio

LG

LG was showing the largest TFT LCD. It is a 52" display and most
impressive. The specifications include:

- 1920 X 1080p
- 2.1M pixels with 6.2M sub pixels
- Pitch - 42ppi
- Colors - 16M
- Max Brightness - 600cd/sq m
- Mac Contrast - 600:1
- Viewing Angle - 176 degrees by 176 degrees (U/D and R/L)
- Color Saturation - 78%
- Response Time - 12ms (GTG)

Buzz from the Floor

We picked up the following while roaming the floor at SID.

Nokia has stated it will be the largest digital camera
manufacturer in the world in 2003. This is due to the rapid
ramp of cameras in cell phones. Cell phones are now coming
with two cameras.

Eastman Kodak has announced it has raised its small molecule
OLED lifetime from 2,000 to 5,000 hours. Yet, this is seen
by many as not good enough. The OLED in the Kodak digital
camera has a lifetime of 2,000 hours.

It is rumored that Kodak has reached the conclusion that
shadow mask patterning for OLEDs will not work above 15"
displays. This could be a significant barrier to larger
displays, at least those made with small molecules.

The 20" amorphous OLED shown was done using small molecule
technology, however, IDT does not have a license from Kodak.
Kodak has only licensed its technology for passive matrix
OLEDs and has yet to license its technology for active
matrix displays. This is seen as a major stumbling block to
the advancement of OLED technology. At the keynote the
President of Kodak displays indicated that they are
exploring this but no announcement was made.

Dupont Displays, which uses the CDT polymer technology, will
be shipping in volume its first OLED products in 1 - 2
months. These are assumed to be passive matrix displays and
the volume on the order of 1,000s of units per month.

WAVE Comments

SID was all about the last foot. In spite of the emphasis on
displays we saw sensors in the form of the Toshiba display and
scanner and the integration of cameras with cell phones. This is,
in part, the difference between broadcast and duplex visual
communications. In a digital infrastructure this should not make
any difference but the value to the end user can be much higher.
As we heard on the floor, Nokia will become the largest
manufacturer of digital cameras in the world.

Although not described in this article, one of the SID keynotes
was by the FCC and its efforts to make HDTV happen. This is but
another effort to create a digital infrastructure and the
termination point is another last foot digital implementation.

In the context of a digital infrastructure, we should look at SID
as simply a technology source for enabling more and richer access
and use of the infrastructure. It is here that the presentation
by Harrie Burnklaus, CEO New Displays Business Development,
Philips Electronics, fit with the concept of Ambient
Intelligence. The displays become a transparent interface to a
large set of digital capabilities.

0321.3 Semiconductor

***Fujitsu America Companies Introduce Single-Chip 10Gbps
Ethernet Switch
(June 25)

Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc. (FMA) and Fujitsu
Laboratories of America, Inc. (FLA) today introduced a 10Gbps
Ethernet switch chip, MB87Q3050, developed for layer 2 functions
in high-performance server designs. The new 10Gbps switch chip is
intended to enable system designers to develop compact and less
costly switches, using multi-ported memory that handles
simultaneous read and write operation to and from all twelve
10Gbps ports, providing a total bandwidth capacity of 240Gbps.

The 10Gbps switch chip incorporates twelve 10Gbps Ethernet ports
along with buffer memories and I/O macros on a total area of 256
millimeters square. A XAUI SERDES interface and 10Gbps Ethernet
MAC, which complies with IEEE 802.3ae, are also included on the
chip. Core clock speed is 312.5 MHZ, and the aggregate bandwidth
totals 240Gbps.

The new switch chip is built with a multi-port memory subsystem
designed to satisfy throughput requirements, even with minimum
Ethernet packets. The pin-to-pin switching latencies have been
reduced from several microseconds to only 450 nanoseconds,
according to the companies, a reduction made possible by a
shared-memory control program that, combined with a "cut-through"
delivery mechanism, forwards packets to appropriate output ports.

FMA and FLA stated that 10Gbps Ethernet IC is capable of reducing
the per-port price to approximately $200, from the much higher
cost of $20,000, which is normal for 10Gbps Ethernet switch
boxes. Typical chip power consumption is approximately 15W.

The new 10Gbps Ethernet switch chip, the MB87Q3050, is fabricated
using Fujitsu's 0.11-micron process, and is in 728-pin Flip-chip
BGA packages. Small-quantity samples and evaluation boards are
available now. Prices start at US $750 each in 10,000-unit
quantities.

The development of this switch was partially funded by the New
Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO),
which is one of the Japanese Governmental Agencies.

http://www.fla.fujitsu.com
http://www.fma.fujitsu.com

0321.4 WLAN

***CIR Releases 802.11g and WLAN Chip Industry Report
(June 27)

The recent approval by the IEEE of the 802.11g standard is a step
forward for the WLAN market, stated CIR, a market research firm
based in Charlottesville, Virginia. CIR's soon-to- be-released
study of the WLAN chipset market indicates that 802.11g should
help to promote both the demand side and supply side of the WLAN
chipset market.

On the demand side, CIR's new study, "WLAN Chipset Markets: 2003-
2007 - Customer Requirements, Market Forecasts and Product
Differentiation Strategies" notes that in the past, bandwidth and
throughput have been a major limitation on the growth of the WLAN
market and that the 54 Mbps offered by 802.11g will be sufficient
for most needs.

On the supply side, CIR claims that the ratification of the
standard will lead to a number of new product introductions,
since manufacturers now have a way of ensuring that their
products will be compatible with the large number of installed
WLANs based on the popular 802.11b standard. According to CIR,
these product introductions will include not only PHY/MAC
chipsets, but also value-added devices aimed at exploiting the
potential for voice and video transmission on WLANs.

Until now Broadcom has been the dominant chip supplier in the
802.11g space, according to CIR, based on its semi-proprietary
version of 802.11g, but with the standard now in place, CIR
believes that other major vendors will start to bite at
Broadcom's market share, as the 802.11b market starts to decline.
Companies that CIR sees as ultimately jockeying for position in
the 802.11g space include: Agere, Intersil, RF Micro Devices, and
Texas Instruments. They will play in this space both with
802.11g chipsets and chipsets that combine 802.11g with 802.11b
and other wireless networking capabilities. However, CIR also
points out that the WLAN market has proved itself to be a market
where early entry into particular segment is a good way of
achieving success, so Broadcom's early start may prove an
advantage.

CIR's new WLAN chipset report reviews the activities of almost 50
chipset suppliers including start-ups as Airgo, Atheros, Envara,
Icefyre, Magis and Mobilian. It also discusses Intel's entry
strategy for the WLAN market.

Both the forecasts and analysis in CIR's new report are based on
interviews with WLAN equipment vendors in Asia and North America.
These are the firms that buy the chips, so CIR believes they
reflects market realities, rather than the hopes and dreams of
chipset suppliers. The report provides all the survey data, as
well as forecasts broken out by application (home networking,
mobile computing and enterprise networking). For each of these
applications, the projections are further broken out by standards
and technology and by the type of end user product (hubs,
switches, laptop, card, etc.) in which the chipsets are used. CIR
stated that the new report offers readers strategic advice on
investments to be made in the WLAN chipset market as it moves out
of its initial growth phase, along with a realistic appraisal of
the strategies of today's WLAN chipset manufacturers.

CIR is a high-tech market research and strategic planning firm
established in 1978. Its semiconductor and components industry
research is focused on mobile communications, optoelectronics and
nanotechnology.

http://www.cir-inc.com

0321.5 DSL

***Centillium Announces 50 Mbps ADSL2/2Plus Router-on-Chip (June 23)

Centillium Communications Inc. today announced the Palladia 220,
an ADSL 2/ADSL2plus-compatible chipset for Customer Premises
Equipment (CPE) that delivers data rates up to 50 megabits per
second (Mbps), extends the reach of ADSL up to 22,000 feet and
supports a suite of connectivity options, including Wi-Fi.

Centillium stated that with those data rates, the Palladia 220
can support delivery of services such as High-Definition
Television (HDTV), Video-On-Demand (VOD), Internet applications
and quality Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony, at a
fraction of the cost of alternative technologies.

The Palladia 220 also extends the reach of standard ADSL service
up to 22,000 feet from the central office, increasing the ADSL
coverage area. Service providers will now be able to reach
additional subscribers while minimizing infrastructure deployment
and associated capital expenditures, stated Centillium. The
increase in coverage is particularly beneficial for ADSL2plus-
type services, where Palladia 220 offers reach performance.

The Palladia 220 delivers a router-on-a-chip solution. It is the
first CPE chipset integrating Centillium's eXtremeDSLMAX
technology, offering up to 50 Mbps and ADSL2/2plus compatibility.
With a 200MHz RISC processor and hardware accelerators for packet
processing, a PCI/Cardbus interface, 10/100 Ethernet, USB and a
number of serial interfaces, it offers processing performance and
connectivity for residential and SOHO routers. For example, the
Palladia 220 enables system manufacturers to combine a 54 Mbps
802.11a/g WLAN connection with 50 Mbps ADSL broadband access and
wire-speed system throughput.

The Palladia 220 includes a newly designed analog front-end to
accommodate the extended spectrum operation enabled by the
eXtremeDSLMAX technology. It also features analog-to-digital and
digital-to-analog converters and a low-noise floor, which result
in the Palladia 220's performance of up to 50 Mbps.

Centillium intends the Palladia 220 to complement Centillium's
recently announced Maximus central office chipset -- a silicon
implementation of Centillium's eXtremeDSLMAX technology. Palladia
220 and Maximus deliver an end-to-end solution for ADSL access
networks. The Palladia 220 also offers interoperability and
backward compatibility with current ADSL standards and
deployments.

About eXtremeDSLMAX Technology

Centillium's eXtremeDSLMAX technology is a feature set that
optimizes the use of the ADSL spectrum, to make improvements in
the downstream and upstream bit rates, and extends the reach of
ADSL service while maintaining backward compatibility with ADSL,
ADSL2, and ADSL2plus standards.

eXtremeDSLMAX consists of several features. eXtremeDSLMAX
Quad-Spectrum (MAX-QS) and eXtremeDSLMAX Double-Spectrum (MAX-DS)
offer downstream rates that go up to 50 Mbps and 24 Mbps,
respectively, without introducing adverse impact to existing
services, according to Centillium. The eXtremeDSLMAX Long-Reach
(MAX-LR) feature is designed to allows service providers to
increase their ADSL coverage up to 22,000 feet (7,000 meters).
The eXtremeDSLMAX Extended-Upstream (MAX-EU) feature increases
upstream rates up to 3 Mbps. The eXtremeDSLMAX High Bit-Loading
(MAX-HBL) feature allows more than 15 bits to be loaded per ADSL
DMT subcarrier.

The Palladia 220 places Centillium's eXtremeDSLMAX technology
into CPE for the first time. For more technical background on
MAX-QS, MAX-LR, and the other eXtremeDSLMAX features, please
visit the company's Web site.

http://www.centillium.com

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