INTEL'S MERCED CHIP MAY HAVE A PATENT PROBLEM Graphic chip maker S3 Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., says that Intel's latest chip, code-named Merced, might infringe on one of the patents that it purchased, along with almost 50 others last year for about $10 million, from now-defunct Exponential Technology Inc. The details on Merced, which is slated for mass production in mid-2000, are still unavailable, but observers say it would be difficult at this point to change the chip's technology in order to circumvent a patent dispute. The Merced chip can process both 32-bit and 64-bit software, but eliminates some redundancy because it allows the processors within the chip to share the same resources such as the "register files" that store the data. The patent owned by S3 describes the same technique. "It's the crown jewel of the patents," says the patent agent who wrote the original patent for Exponential, "because it's fairly broad and goes to a heart of the problem" in a chip that runs two kinds of software. Intel had also bid on the Exponential patents, but lost out to S3. (Wall Street Journal 16 Oct 98) FROM EDUPAGE. Kathy > Kathy E. Gill > DCAC/MRM Production Visibility Support -- 425.234.2004, pager 425.568.0195 > Continuous effort -- not strength or intelligence -- is the key to > unlocking our potential. > ~ Liane Cardes > Microsoft Exchange: the perfect name for its users' greatest desire! > ____________________________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------- Join The Web Consultants Association : Register on our web site Now Web Consultants Web Site : http://just4u.com/webconsultants If you lose the instructions All subscription/unsubscribing can be done directly from our website for all our lists. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
