Hardware-Related Issues

Microchip adds new instructions while operating
The S5000 chip combines an existing RISC (reduced instruction set computing) architecture with a large reconfigurable area of programmable logic called the Instruction Set Extension Fabric, ISEF. The company's own C/C++ compiler automatically spots areas in a program that require intensive computation and creates new instructions for the processor to handle those tasks. "Operations that might have needed hundreds or thousands of standard instructions can be handled in one," said Gary Banta, chief executive of Stretch. "Designers that have had to use multiple digital signal processor chips can get equivalent performance with the S5000, just through writing high-level software."

Grid computing market to exceed $12 billion by 2007
"Grid adoption will take root in the generalized IT infrastructure and to see early adoption begin in areas that are not mission critical." IDC attributes the projected revenue increase to a number of factors, including the maturation and standardization of Grid software, the drive for efficient use of IT infrastructure by end users, the expanded awareness of Grids, and the expansion of the market beyond traditional HPC applications and users. The study, Role of Grid Computing in the Coming Innovation Wave, says the Grid market is beginning to split into three distinct segments: compute, data, and optimization.

BIOS software hasn't changed much in decades, but...
The BIOS software that sits between the operating system and a PC's hardware hasn't changed much in decades. Now, Phoenix Technologies wants to introduce greater security, usability and copy protection. Phoenix, one of the biggest makers of BIOS (basic input/output system) software, has released the first entry in a line of next-generation products that it promises will drive utility computing and prevent unauthorized users from misusing protected intellectual property. The Core Managed Environment (CME) TrustedCore NB for notebooks and tablet PCs, announced this week, is the first product in Phoenix's Core System Software (CSS) category, designed to extend the usefulness of the humble BIOS. TrustedCore NB is meant to allow businesses to keep their mobile computers safe from identity theft, unauthorized network access and data loss. Future versions will take aim at servers, blades, desktops and embedded systems such as consumer electronics, with plans to introduce digital rights management (DRM) and more closely integrate the BIOS with Windows.

Researchers set an Internet speed record
Researchers have set a data transmission record over the Internet2's high-speed backbone. The record, announced Tuesday at the Spring 2004 Internet2 member meeting in Arlington, Va., was for transmitting data over nearly 11,000 kilometers at an average speed of 6.25 gigabits per second. This is nearly 10,000 times faster than a typical home broadband connection. The network link used to set the record reaches from Los Angeles to Geneva, Switzerland. Internet2 is a consortium of more than 200 universities working with industry and government to develop next-generation Internet technology. The Internet2's contest, which began in 2000, is open and ongoing, and it tests researchers' ability to build the highest-bandwidth, end-to-end Internet Protocol network.

Hewlett-Packard eliminating its Itanium workstations
One of the most aggressive promoters of Intel's Itanium family of processors, Hewlett-Packard, is eliminating its line of workstations that use the microprocessors. The decision by the Palo Alto, Calif.-based computing giant will likely be interpreted as a large symbolic blow to Itanium's fortunes. HP co-designed the basic Itanium architecture with Intel and has committed to adopting the chip extensively in its high-end server line. HP is getting rid of its Itanium workstations, which use the Itanium 2 chip, because of the growing popularity of chips that can run 32-bit and 64-bit software similar to standard Windows and Linux code, such as the Opteron from Advanced Micro Devices and some of Intel's latest Xeon chips. Itanium requires software specially ported to the chip.