/PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of six technology industry associations sent a letter today to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the U.S. House and Senate Judiciary Committees urging them to resist efforts to include an FM technology mandate for mobile devices in any legislation addressing an unrelated conflict between the broadcast and recording industries over royalties.
"Calls for an FM chip mandate are not about public safety but are instead about propping up a business which consumers are abandoning as they avail themselves of new, more consumer-friendly options," the associations wrote. "It is simply wrong for two entrenched industries to resolve their differences by agreeing to burden a third industry - which has no relationship to or other interest in the performance royalty dispute - with a costly, ill-considered and unnecessary new mandate."
The proposed imposition of an FM chip mandate is not necessary for resolution of the dispute between performance artists and broadcasters and, if adopted, it would be bad policy for several reasons:
-- Mandating that every wireless device include an FM chip would require
consumers to pay more for a function that they may not desire or ever
use.
-- The groups that are parties to the discussions over the performance
rights royalty issue lack any expertise in the development of wireless
devices and are in no position to dictate what type of functionality
is included in a wireless device.
-- Development by the technology industry and government of a mobile
broadcast emergency alerting system makes the requirement unnecessary.
The following Presidents and Chief Executive Officers of CTIA-The Wireless Association®, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, the Information Technology Industry Council, the Rural Cellular Association, TechAmerica and the Telecommunications Industry Association signed the letter.
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Showing posts with label chip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chip. Show all posts
Monday, August 23, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
FTC Settles Charges of Anticompetitive Conduct Against Intel
/PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Trade Commission approved a settlement with Intel Corp. that resolves charges the company illegally stifled competition in the market for computer chips. Intel has agreed to provisions that will open the door to renewed competition and prevent Intel from suppressing competition in the future.
The settlement goes beyond the terms applied to Intel in previous actions against the company and will help restore competition that was lost as a result of Intel's alleged past anticompetitive tactics. At the same time, the settlement will leave the company room to innovate and offer competitive pricing.
"This case demonstrates that the FTC is willing to challenge anticompetitive conduct by even the most powerful companies in the fastest-moving industries," said Chairman Jon Leibowitz. "By accepting this settlement, we open the door to competition today and address Intel's anticompetitive conduct in a way that may not have been available in a final judgment years from now. Everyone, including Intel, gets a greater degree of certainty about the rules of the road going forward, which allows all the companies in this dynamic industry to move ahead and build better, more innovative products."
The FTC settlement applies to Central Processing Units, Graphics Processing Units and chipsets and prohibits Intel from using threats, bundled prices, or other offers to exclude or hamper competition or otherwise unreasonably inhibit the sale of competitive CPUs or GPUs. The settlement also prohibits Intel from deceiving computer manufacturers about the performance of non-Intel CPUs or GPUs.
The FTC settlement goes beyond those reached in previous antitrust cases against Intel in a number of ways. For example, the FTC settlement order protects competition and not any single competitor in the CPU, graphics, and chipset markets. It also addresses Intel's disclosures related to its compiler - a product that plays an important role in CPU performance. The settlement order also ensures that manufacturers of complementary products such as discrete GPUs will be assured access to Intel's CPU for the next six years.
The FTC sued Intel in December 2009 alleging that the company used anticompetitive tactics to cut off rivals' access to the marketplace and deprive consumers of choice and innovation in the microchips that comprise computers' central processing unit, or CPU. These chips are critical components that often are referred to as the "brains" of a computer. The action also challenged Intel's conduct in markets for graphics processing units and other chips.
The FTC alleged that Intel's anticompetitive practices violated Section 5 of the FTC Act, which is broader than the antitrust laws and prohibits unfair methods of competition and deceptive acts and practices in commerce. Unlike an antitrust violation, a violation of Section 5 cannot be used to establish liability for plaintiffs to seek triple damages in private litigation against the same defendant.
Under the settlement, Intel will be prohibited from:
-- conditioning benefits to computer makers in exchange for their promise
to buy chips from Intel exclusively or to refuse to buy chips from
others; and
-- retaliating against computer makers if they do business with non-Intel
suppliers by withholding benefits from them.
In addition, the FTC settlement order will require Intel to:
-- modify its intellectual property agreements with AMD, Nvidia, and Via
so that those companies have more freedom to consider mergers or joint
ventures with other companies, without the threat of being sued by
Intel for patent infringement;
-- offer to extend Via's x86 licensing agreement for five years beyond
the current agreement, which expires in 2013;
-- maintain a key interface, known as the PCI Express Bus, for at least
six years in a way that will not limit the performance of graphics
processing chips. These assurances will provide incentives to
manufacturers of complementary, and potentially competitive, products
to Intel's CPUs to continue to innovate; and
-- disclose to software developers that Intel computer compilers
discriminate between Intel chips and non-Intel chips, and that they
may not register all the features of non-Intel chips. Intel also will
have to reimburse all software vendors who want to recompile their
software using a non-Intel compiler.
The FTC vote approving the proposed settlement order was 4-0, with Commissioner William E. Kovacic recused. The order will be subject to public comment for 30 days, until September 7, 2010, after which the Commission will decide whether to make it final. Comments should be sent to: FTC, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. To submit a comment electronically, please click on: https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/intel/.
-----
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The settlement goes beyond the terms applied to Intel in previous actions against the company and will help restore competition that was lost as a result of Intel's alleged past anticompetitive tactics. At the same time, the settlement will leave the company room to innovate and offer competitive pricing.
"This case demonstrates that the FTC is willing to challenge anticompetitive conduct by even the most powerful companies in the fastest-moving industries," said Chairman Jon Leibowitz. "By accepting this settlement, we open the door to competition today and address Intel's anticompetitive conduct in a way that may not have been available in a final judgment years from now. Everyone, including Intel, gets a greater degree of certainty about the rules of the road going forward, which allows all the companies in this dynamic industry to move ahead and build better, more innovative products."
The FTC settlement applies to Central Processing Units, Graphics Processing Units and chipsets and prohibits Intel from using threats, bundled prices, or other offers to exclude or hamper competition or otherwise unreasonably inhibit the sale of competitive CPUs or GPUs. The settlement also prohibits Intel from deceiving computer manufacturers about the performance of non-Intel CPUs or GPUs.
The FTC settlement goes beyond those reached in previous antitrust cases against Intel in a number of ways. For example, the FTC settlement order protects competition and not any single competitor in the CPU, graphics, and chipset markets. It also addresses Intel's disclosures related to its compiler - a product that plays an important role in CPU performance. The settlement order also ensures that manufacturers of complementary products such as discrete GPUs will be assured access to Intel's CPU for the next six years.
The FTC sued Intel in December 2009 alleging that the company used anticompetitive tactics to cut off rivals' access to the marketplace and deprive consumers of choice and innovation in the microchips that comprise computers' central processing unit, or CPU. These chips are critical components that often are referred to as the "brains" of a computer. The action also challenged Intel's conduct in markets for graphics processing units and other chips.
The FTC alleged that Intel's anticompetitive practices violated Section 5 of the FTC Act, which is broader than the antitrust laws and prohibits unfair methods of competition and deceptive acts and practices in commerce. Unlike an antitrust violation, a violation of Section 5 cannot be used to establish liability for plaintiffs to seek triple damages in private litigation against the same defendant.
Under the settlement, Intel will be prohibited from:
-- conditioning benefits to computer makers in exchange for their promise
to buy chips from Intel exclusively or to refuse to buy chips from
others; and
-- retaliating against computer makers if they do business with non-Intel
suppliers by withholding benefits from them.
In addition, the FTC settlement order will require Intel to:
-- modify its intellectual property agreements with AMD, Nvidia, and Via
so that those companies have more freedom to consider mergers or joint
ventures with other companies, without the threat of being sued by
Intel for patent infringement;
-- offer to extend Via's x86 licensing agreement for five years beyond
the current agreement, which expires in 2013;
-- maintain a key interface, known as the PCI Express Bus, for at least
six years in a way that will not limit the performance of graphics
processing chips. These assurances will provide incentives to
manufacturers of complementary, and potentially competitive, products
to Intel's CPUs to continue to innovate; and
-- disclose to software developers that Intel computer compilers
discriminate between Intel chips and non-Intel chips, and that they
may not register all the features of non-Intel chips. Intel also will
have to reimburse all software vendors who want to recompile their
software using a non-Intel compiler.
The FTC vote approving the proposed settlement order was 4-0, with Commissioner William E. Kovacic recused. The order will be subject to public comment for 30 days, until September 7, 2010, after which the Commission will decide whether to make it final. Comments should be sent to: FTC, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. To submit a comment electronically, please click on: https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/intel/.
-----
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Friday, January 16, 2009
New Wireless 60 GHz Standard Promises Ultra-Fast Applications
Ultra-high-speed wireless connectivity – capable of transferring 15 gigabits of data per second over short distances – has taken a significant step toward reality. A recent decision by an international standards group could help bring this technology to market soon.
Short-distance 60 gigahertz (GHz) technology could offer many benefits to bandwidth-hungry applications such as high-definition video and high-capacity data storage. The new standard would support extremely fast wireless peer-to-peer connectivity, PC connectivity and High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) cable replacement.
Among the many potential 60 GHz applications are virtually wireless desktop-computer setups and data centers, wireless home DVD systems, in-store kiosks that transfer movies to handheld devices in seconds, and the potential to move gigabytes of photos or video from a camera to a PC almost instantly.
Industry group Ecma International recently announced a worldwide standard for the radio frequency (RF) technology that makes 60 GHz “multi-gigabit” data transfer possible. The specifications for this technology, which involves chips capable of sending RF signals in the 60 GHz range, are expected to be published as an ISO standard in 2009.
“We believe this new standard represents a major step forward,” said Joy Laskar, a member of the Ecma 60 GHz standards committee and director of the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) at Georgia Tech. “Consumers could see products capable of ultra-fast short-range data transfer within two or three years.”
He added that multi-gigabit technology could also help enable “viral communications.” Viral communications scenarios envision a future of decentralized, ubiquitous, wireless devices that aren’t directly connected to a central communications conduit. Instead, they cooperate with one another to both utilize and expand bandwidth and data availability.
GEDC, a microelectronics design center at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has already produced a CMOS chip capable of transmitting 60 GHz digital RF signals. This chip design could speed up commercialization of high-speed short-range wireless applications because CMOS technology is both low cost and low in power consumption.
“Multi-gigabit technology definitely has major promise for new consumer and IT applications,” said Darko Kirovski, senior researcher at the Microsoft Research division of the Redmond, Washington, software giant. “Ecma’s move on international standardization of 60 GHz frequency range brings us closer to realizing that promise.”
GEDC researchers have already achieved very high data transfer rates that promise unprecedented short-range wireless speeds—15 Gbps at a distance of 1 meter, 10 Gbps at 2 meters and 5 Gbps at 5 meters.
Laskar recently discussed 60 GHz wireless technology at a MIT Enterprise Forum of Atlanta panel discussion on “The Future of Wireless Communications.” The panel, which included Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal and AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de La Vega, was broadcast Nov. 24, 2008, and can be viewed at (www.mitforum-atlanta.org).
“Multi-gigabit wireless technology is widely perceived as a means to bring important new wireless applications to both consumer and IT markets,” said Ann Revell-Pechar, chair of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Atlanta Chapter board.
Ecma International members finalized the details of the 60 GHz short- range unlicensed communications standard at international meetings in Montreux, Switzerland, in November 2008. The technology was demonstrated using a GEDC-designed CMOS chip.
The GEDC-developed chip is the first 60GHz embedded chip for multimedia multi-gigabit wireless use. The chip unites 60GHz CMOS digital radio capability and multi-gigabit signal processing in an ultra-compact package.
“This new technology represents the highest level of integration for 60GHz wireless single-chip solutions,” Laskar said. “It offers the lowest energy per bit transmitted wirelessly at multi-gigabit data rates reported to date.”
Since its inception in 1961, Ecma International has developed standards for information and communication technology and consumer electronics. Ecma submits its work for approval as ISO, ISO/IEC and ETSI standards. Ecma practices “fast tracking” of specifications through the standardization process in global standards bodies such as the ISO.
-----
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Short-distance 60 gigahertz (GHz) technology could offer many benefits to bandwidth-hungry applications such as high-definition video and high-capacity data storage. The new standard would support extremely fast wireless peer-to-peer connectivity, PC connectivity and High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) cable replacement.
Among the many potential 60 GHz applications are virtually wireless desktop-computer setups and data centers, wireless home DVD systems, in-store kiosks that transfer movies to handheld devices in seconds, and the potential to move gigabytes of photos or video from a camera to a PC almost instantly.
Industry group Ecma International recently announced a worldwide standard for the radio frequency (RF) technology that makes 60 GHz “multi-gigabit” data transfer possible. The specifications for this technology, which involves chips capable of sending RF signals in the 60 GHz range, are expected to be published as an ISO standard in 2009.
“We believe this new standard represents a major step forward,” said Joy Laskar, a member of the Ecma 60 GHz standards committee and director of the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) at Georgia Tech. “Consumers could see products capable of ultra-fast short-range data transfer within two or three years.”
He added that multi-gigabit technology could also help enable “viral communications.” Viral communications scenarios envision a future of decentralized, ubiquitous, wireless devices that aren’t directly connected to a central communications conduit. Instead, they cooperate with one another to both utilize and expand bandwidth and data availability.
GEDC, a microelectronics design center at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has already produced a CMOS chip capable of transmitting 60 GHz digital RF signals. This chip design could speed up commercialization of high-speed short-range wireless applications because CMOS technology is both low cost and low in power consumption.
“Multi-gigabit technology definitely has major promise for new consumer and IT applications,” said Darko Kirovski, senior researcher at the Microsoft Research division of the Redmond, Washington, software giant. “Ecma’s move on international standardization of 60 GHz frequency range brings us closer to realizing that promise.”
GEDC researchers have already achieved very high data transfer rates that promise unprecedented short-range wireless speeds—15 Gbps at a distance of 1 meter, 10 Gbps at 2 meters and 5 Gbps at 5 meters.
Laskar recently discussed 60 GHz wireless technology at a MIT Enterprise Forum of Atlanta panel discussion on “The Future of Wireless Communications.” The panel, which included Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal and AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de La Vega, was broadcast Nov. 24, 2008, and can be viewed at (www.mitforum-atlanta.org).
“Multi-gigabit wireless technology is widely perceived as a means to bring important new wireless applications to both consumer and IT markets,” said Ann Revell-Pechar, chair of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Atlanta Chapter board.
Ecma International members finalized the details of the 60 GHz short- range unlicensed communications standard at international meetings in Montreux, Switzerland, in November 2008. The technology was demonstrated using a GEDC-designed CMOS chip.
The GEDC-developed chip is the first 60GHz embedded chip for multimedia multi-gigabit wireless use. The chip unites 60GHz CMOS digital radio capability and multi-gigabit signal processing in an ultra-compact package.
“This new technology represents the highest level of integration for 60GHz wireless single-chip solutions,” Laskar said. “It offers the lowest energy per bit transmitted wirelessly at multi-gigabit data rates reported to date.”
Since its inception in 1961, Ecma International has developed standards for information and communication technology and consumer electronics. Ecma submits its work for approval as ISO, ISO/IEC and ETSI standards. Ecma practices “fast tracking” of specifications through the standardization process in global standards bodies such as the ISO.
-----
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