Helping developers create processing-based systems to best suit application, MicroBlaze(TM) Development Kit: Spartan(TM)-3E 1600E Edition delivers integrated platform with hardware, design tools, intellectual property, and reference designs. Kit supports 32-bit MicroBlaze soft processing design for Spartan-3E series of Platform FPGAs. Central XC3S1600E-4FG320C device provides platform logic, DSP coprocessing, and embedded system integration capabilities.

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Low-Cost Kit Includes Xilinx Award-Winning Platform Studio Integrated Design Environment, Spartan-3E Embedded Board and Flexible 32-Bit MicroBlaze Soft Processor

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 30 /– Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) today released the MicroBlaze(TM) Development Kit: Spartan(TM)-3E 1600E Edition, a comprehensive design environment with everything embedded developers need to create processing-based systems. The Spartan-3E 1600E Edition delivers an integrated platform with hardware, design tools, intellectual property (IP) and reference designs to kick-start the development process. The fully integrated kit allows developers to rapidly customize their processor and IP to best suit their specific application and configure complete systems.

“Embedded processing customers continue to demand complete solutions to quickly start and complete their hardware and software development,” said Lawrence Getman, director of marketing for the Embedded Processing Division at Xilinx. “The fully integrated MicroBlaze embedded development kit enables both rapid hardware and software creation on an inexpensive, pre-verified Spartan-3E platform to accelerate the design of low-cost embedded solutions.”

Complete Development Kit

The MicroBlaze Development Kit: Spartan-3E 1600E Edition supports flexible 32-bit MicroBlaze soft processing design for the Xilinx Spartan-3E series of Platform FPGAs. MicroBlaze soft processing cores are instantiated in FPGA hardware, and combined with IP peripherals, FPUs and other co-processing engines to enable a fully customizable platform that meets the developer’s demanding and ever-changing embedded design requirements.

The kit includes:

– Spartan-3E SP3E1600E development board;

– Fully licensed versions of the award-winning Platform Studio embedded tool suite and ISE(TM) FPGA design software;

– Extensive peripheral support of processing IP cores;

– JTAG probe for code download, debug and FPGA programming;

– Serial and Ethernet cables, regional power supply, pre-configured FLASH device;

– Variety of pre-verified reference designs and full documentation; and

– Embedded operating system support

Central to the SP3E1600E board functionality is the Spartan-3E XC3S1600E-4FG320C device with platform logic, DSP co-processing and embedded system integration capabilities. The 1600E evaluation board provides a rich set of features and includes several options for peripherals, memory, displays, connectors, and interfaces that enable designers to easily and cost effectively prototype and evaluate their embedded system design.

Kit Accelerates Development

Xilinx Platform Studio’s intelligent design tools combine with a programmable FPGA platform in the MicroBlaze Development Kit to enable developers to craft embedded systems with the optimal combination of features, performance, area and cost. They can choose the most effective processing system for the target application, select IP, optimize performance, and validate software on the development board before their own custom hardware is available.

In addition, the pre-verified reference designs delivered with the development kit offer a broad set of options for rapidly configuring complete systems, allowing developers to get the basic design running quickly so they can focus more of their valuable time on optimizing the application. These include both hardware and software implementations to exercise the many features of the SP3E1600E platform, such as Ethernet, DDR memory, and various FLASH functions. Embedded OS (eOS) support is also included for Mentor Nucleus, Petalogix micron Clinux and Micrium micron C/OS-II.

Pricing and Availability

The MicroBlaze Development Kit: Spartan-3E 1600E Edition (Model #: DO-S3E1600E-DK-UNI-G, lead free RoHS compliant) is available now for purchase at $595 USD. The ISE FPGA and Platform Studio embedded tools shipped with the 1600E Edition kit support the following computing platforms: Windows(R) 2000 SP2, SP3, SP4, and XP SP1, SP2, Solaris(R) 2.8/5.8 and 2.9/5.9, as well as Linux(R) Red Hat(R) Enterprise 3 and 4. For more information on Xilinx embedded development kits, including the Spartan-3E 1600E, visit www.xilinx.com/embdevkits .

Running a lean ship in the auto industry is not new. What is new is where that leanness manifests itself. One place is in labor. Because the number of people supporting the production line itself and whatever system(s) sequencing work instructions to the operators on that line has been reduced, there tends not to be an IT support person. Instead, there is a controls person doing two jobs: control systems and IT support. Lean also shows up in production strategy. Make-to-order (MTO) is replacing building to stock and shoving inventory out to dealerships, even though the tools that make MTO possible are still evolving. A third place is in data collection, now very much legitimized by the high warranty and recall costs for products. Information can cut to the chase, enabling automakers to recall the exact vehicles that might be having problems. Then there’s the need to protect all these investments in IT and control systems with minimal fuss and expense. Here are some examples of how some controls vendors are helping the auto industry lean out in this realm.

Bosch Rexroth Corp. (Hoffman Estates, IL; www.boschrexroth-us.com) recently announced plug-and-play control that includes all the necessary hardware and software components–with predefined motion function blocks–for two types of applications: articulated robot pick-and-place and roll feed systems.

IndraMotion for Handling, based on Rexroth’s IndraControl L40 motion logic controller, is for Cartesian gantries with up to three linear axes and three rotary axes of motion. This motion is controlled by IEC 61131-based motion function blocks that require a few basic parameters for setup. Depending on what the gantry has to do, between 70% and 90% of the code is basically finished, claims Karl Rapp, automation and machine tool branch manager for Bosch Rexroth, Electric Drives and Controls. Similarly, IndraMotion for Metal Forming has the motion functions for such applications as roll feed, coilers, and traveling cutters. To set up, a user need only enter length, speed, and quantity parameters. This IndraMotion system comes in three versions with differing OEM programming options. One version requires no programming; another lets users program functions blocks to integrate IndraDrives into custom roll feed systems.

The IndraMotion code comes on a CD as “open source.” Explains Rapp, the code is finished, but modifiable. “It’s not like we compile it and then the user can’t do anything with it.” The screens are provided as compiled run-time files that can be loaded into Microsoft Windows CE devices, non-CE devices, or PCs. And both IndraMotion packages support SERCOS (fiber and Ethernet), Profibus, and DeviceNet interfaces. “The OEM doesn’t have to worry about generating the motion engine or the programming method,” continues Rapp. “There’s no syntax to learn. Users need only enter, teach, or read the point coordinates from the programmable logic controller [PLC] program or the network connection. All moves are velocity optimized and can be blended. Points can be named so they match the application by simply changing text in the PLC program–no human/machine interface [HMI] change required. The same applies to inputs and outputs, such as grippers.”

The benefits are huge. Because the programming methods of the motion itself are standardized, the OEMs only need to focus on the process and integration aspects of their handling or metalworking systems. Engineering and startup times are short. For end users, the standardized programming and troubleshooting methods across all IndraMotion-based systems saves time in installing, training, and maintaining Rexroth-based systems.

MANAGING THE EXECUTION OF CONTROL

Proficy Assembly from GE Fanuc Automation, Inc. (Albany, NY; www.gefanuc.com/en/Industries/Automotive/index.html) for Tier 0.5/1 automotive suppliers is basically a manufacturing execution system (MES) with lean manufacturing components and other built-in capabilities. For instance, in-line sequencing, which responds to OEM broadcasts, releases orders into production and to subassembly feeder lines. Option build data is generated at individual assembly stations. Error proofing capabilities include displaying process steps to the operator; activating pick-to-light; torque control devices, materials handling equipment, and other devices for the operator; and, through appropriate manual, semi-automatic, and automatic feedback, confirming the operator’s following of those process steps. Product reporting provides canned reports by line, station, step, and takt time, as well as sending relevant alerts about production. Proficy Assembly will also generate product birth certificates that include the details of each order, its bill of materials (BOM), component serial numbers, process steps and key parameters about production, quality inspections, and any alerts during production.

Here’s the kicker, explains Rich Breuning, director of discrete market development for GE Fanuc. OEMs and Tier 1 manufacturer might typically spend millions of dollars for an MES–homegrown or third-party purchase. Instead, turnkey installation of Proficy Assembly is $250,000 per production line (figure 40 to 50 stations). Deployment is expected to take less than six weeks. Typically, such production lines have a PLC for conveyor control with some rudimentary interfaces to pick-to-light bins and some error-proofing equipment, continues Breuning. The PLC remains, but it gets its “marching” orders from Proficy Assembly running on a Dell server. In the very near future, adds Jack Faett, GE Fanuc’s director of discrete OEM solutions, the MES will run inside a GE PACSystem server, a controller with a single board computer (SBC). (Points out Faett, there are SBCs just as powerful, if not more powerful, than desktop servers.) The SBC can be put inside an industrialized PC or be part of a VME rack system.

Lexra’s new Hardware/Software Development Board allows designers to prototype hardware and develop software for their SOC ASIC designs

A significant challenge to integrating third-party intellectual property cores, especially powerful embedded processors, is the lack of a prototyping vehicle that can be used to test the hardware design and develop software. Lexra, a leading developer of processor cores for embedded applications, has addressed this head on by introducing its new LX-PB20K Hardware/Software Development Board.

The board, co-developed by AMIRIX Systems Inc. and Lexra, provides a design team a board with a socket for a test chip and two Altera PLDs to contain the logic of the system design. “Not only can the design team run test vectors through the hardware, but software developers can execute their program code on hardware built from the same RTL as the final system,” says Jonah Probell, design engineer. “Thus, bugs in the logic and in the embedded software may be discovered much sooner in the design cycle.”

The board’s two PLD sockets have Altera’s 652 pin BGA pin-out to hold high-capacity APEX programmable logic devices (PLDs) from Altera Inc. Depending on gate capacity, one or more Lexra processor cores can run in the PLDs along with the designer’s custom logic. This allows the designer to configure the CPU core as well as debug his custom logic, early in the design cycle. In this configuration, the test chip socket will typically be unused.

If the designer wants to run his system at the full system speed, he can use an appropriately packaged ASIC test chip inserted in the board’s test chip socket. This device can contain one or more Lexra processors configured with custom engine interface, coprocessor interface, L-Bus (Lexra bus) devices and custom logic. This allows the system designer to run at high clock speeds of up to 250 MHz

The board also contains a standard 32-pin DIP EPROM and a 168-pin SDRAM DIMM. Standard I/Os are also available. They include a PCI connector, two RS-232 serial connectors, and programmable LEDs. The board has four clock signals. It includes two socketed clock oscillators, a PCI bus clock, and a BNC connector for an external clock source. The test chip may have an internally generated clock.

No prototyping board would be complete without a full complement of debugging support, and the LX-PB20K is no exception. Two EJTAG connectors on board allow on-chip debug and real-time trace capabilities using the MAJICplus probe and the EDB source level debugger, both from Lexra partner Embedded Performance Inc. (EPI). Alternatively, the board also supports on-chip debug using the MULTI source level debugger from Lexra partner Green Hills Software, with a Macraigor probe.

Several target resident debug kernels can be run on the Hardware/Software Development Board including RSS from EPI and PMON from Lexra. The board can also run industry-standard operating systems including VxWorks from Wind River Systems, Nucleus from Accelerated Technology, and Threadx from ExpressLogic, all three Lexra partners. In addition, Lexra has partnered with AMIRIX to provide embedded Linux for the LX-PB20K board.

The LX-PB20K sells for $7500 without PLDs and is available within 30 days of order. Lexra, Inc. is a microprocessor developer specializing in 32-bit RISC and DSP cores for the embedded market. In less than four years, Lexra has established itself as an innovator in embedded microprocessor technology and intellectual property (IP) licensing business model, with proven track record for customer success. During this short period, Lexra has delivered seven processors to 30 licensees in six different countries. Among the customers are top three network communication companies as well as top ten semiconductor companies.

Pen Interconnect, Inc. (OTCBB:PENC) announced today that it has sold its PowerStream Technology division, headquartered in Orem, Utah, to a Utah-based company. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

“This is the initial step in a series of consolidations by Pen Interconnect,” said Stephen Fryer, Pen Interconnect President & CEO. “We are continuing the restructuring that started early in 1999 to make Pen Interconnect a more growth-oriented company,” Fryer said.

“This infusion of new capital into PowerStream Technology will greatly assist its development efforts and provide the ability to increase the market penetration for our custom power products,” said Daniele Reni, President of PowerStream Technology. PowerStream Technology designs and manufactures products including battery chargers, power supplies and DC/DC convertors for a national and international market.

Pen Interconnect (OTCBB:PENC) provides the total manufacturing solution for manufacturers, including circuit and board design, mechanical and product design, prototype and volume board assembly and test, system services, and custom power supply and battery changer design. It is headquartered in Irvine, California.

Lattice Semiconductor Corporation, (Nasdaq:LSCC), the industry’s leading supplier of in-system programmable devices, today extended its revolutionary ispPAC(R) Power Manager mixed-signal family with the production release of its Power604 device. The Power604 device, like its predecessor the Power1208, provides a complete solution for printed circuit board (PCB) power sequencing and management through an optimized set of programmable digital and analog functions. The streamlined architecture of the Power604 provides extremely cost-effective power management control in a compact 44-pin Thin Quad Flat Pack (TQFP) package.

The complexity of power supply management has increased dramatically in recent years as the number of voltages found on the typical PCB has risen sharply. In addition, most system-level integrated circuits, whether processors, ASSPs, ASICs or FPGAs, have device-specific power supply sequencing and tracking requirements that make each PCB power supply management design unique. Traditional approaches, consisting of arcane collections of resistors, capacitors, discrete analog and logic functions, are no longer practical solutions.

Lattice’s Power Manager devices provide a standard, off-the-shelf programmable mixed-signal solution for power management that enhances reliability and speeds time-to-market. Analog features such as input comparator thresholds and digital functions such as supply control sequences are programmed into non-volatile E2CMOS(R) elements on the devices using an IEEE1149.1 boundary scan protocol. The Power604 features 6 precision analog threshold comparators with on-chip programmable voltage references for supply monitoring, 4 noise-immune digital inputs and 4 open-drain digital outputs for system control interfacing, 2 programmable timers with an on-chip 250 kHz oscillator for delay control and an 8 macrocell Complex PLD (CPLD) to implement sequencing and control functions. With the production release of the Power604, analog input threshold accuracy, a key parameter when monitoring voltage levels, has been further improved to 0.9% from 1.2%. In addition, the device has been ruggedized to operate reliably in noisy power supply environments from 2.25V to 5.5V.

“The complexity of the power management functions found on the typical PCB has escalated enormously due to the wide variation in the number of supplies and types of devices found on a given board,” said Stan Kopec, vice president of corporate marketing. “With the addition of the Power604 device, pin-compatible with the Power1208, designers can now standardize their power management approach across all their PCBs and use our PC-based design software to select the most appropriate device and program exactly the functionality needed into it.”

Applications for Power Manager devices span all types of electronic equipment, including telecom and networking systems, storage systems, servers, test equipment and automotive electronics. Their programmable features make them ideal for controlling multiple power supplies in conjunction with a wide range of regulator and switching technologies. Together with N-channel switching FETs, LDO (Low Drop Out) regulators, and/or DC-DC convertors (power bricks), the Power1208 and Power604 devices provide compact, flexible power supply control solutions.

Power Manager Design Support in PAC-Designer(R) Version 2.1

Power supply sequencing and monitoring designs can be implemented in ispPAC devices using Lattice’s latest PAC-Designer software version 2.1. The PAC-Designer software is an intuitive schematic design entry and simulation tool. Complex sequencing and monitoring functionality can be efficiently designed through easy-to-use pull-down menus in PAC-Designer’s LogiBuilder(TM) module. The latest version of the tool also features a new Supervisory Logic window entry mechanism to facilitate control output specification. Designs can be completely verified using the tool’s built-in waveform simulator. The PAC-Designer software is available for download from Lattice at www.latticesemi.com.

The PACsystemPOWR development tool was developed to enable designers to build quick prototypes of their circuit implementations in order to verify functionality. Designs implemented using PAC-Designer are downloaded into the device through a serial ispDOWNLOAD(R) cable that connects to a PC’s parallel port. The tool contains an evaluation board for an ispPAC Power Manager device, an ispDOWNLOAD cable, and the PAC-Designer v2.1 software.

Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq:LSCC) today announced the extension of its revolutionary ispPAC(R) Power Manager programmable mixed-signal product family with the production release of the Precision Power Manager — Power1208P1 device. The Power1208P1 device, like its predecessor the Power1208, provides a complete solution for printed circuit board (PCB) power sequencing and management through an optimized set of programmable digital and analog functions. The Power1208P1 also extends the power and versatility of the Lattice Power Manager products: the analog inputs are capable of monitoring power supplies with voltages down to 0.67V, and are able to detect faults with greater than 0.5% precision. In addition, the Precision Power Manager can detect a power-off condition (i.e., power supply voltage less than 80 mV). The Power1208P1 is pin compatible with the existing Power1208, and is available in a compact 44-pin Thin Quad Flat Pack (TQFP) package.

Increasing Emphasis on Precise Fault Detection

The complexity of power supply management has increased dramatically in recent years as the number of voltages found on the typical PCB has risen sharply. The use of core power supply voltages less than the standard 1.2V is becoming more common. Further, advanced integrated circuit tolerance of power supply voltage variation is also tightening. The ability of the Power1208P1 to simultaneously monitor all 12 power supply inputs provides rapid, accurate power supply fault detection, reducing fault propagation and consequently improving overall system reliability.

“Managing today’s power supply voltages with greater precision can only be achieved by using mixed-signal devices with higher accuracy,” said Stan Kopec, Lattice vice president of corporate marketing. “With the addition of the Power1208P1 device, designers can now employ our standardized power management approach that includes PCBs that use power supplies of 1.2V or less.”

About the Power1208P1

The Power1208P1 features 12 high precision analog power monitor inputs. Each analog input has programmable threshold (384 steps + power supply discharge detection) synchronous comparators with a fault detection precision of 0.5%. In addition, the 1208P1 device is equipped with on-chip programmable voltage references for supply monitoring, 4 noise-immune digital inputs and 4 open-drain digital outputs for system control interfacing, 4 programmable timers with an on-chip 1 MHz oscillator for delay control and a 16 macrocell Complex PLD (CPLD) to implement sequencing and control functions. The Power1208P1 is ruggedized to operate reliably in noisy power supply environments from 2.7V to 5.5V.

Lattice Power Manager devices provide a standard, off-the-shelf programmable mixed-signal solution for power management that enhances reliability and speeds time-to-market. Analog features such as input comparator thresholds and digital functions such as supply control sequences are programmed into non-volatile EECMOS(R) elements on the devices using an IEEE1149.1 boundary scan protocol.

Applications for Power Manager devices include telecom and networking systems, storage systems, servers, test equipment and automotive electronics. Programmable features make Power Manager devices ideal for controlling multiple power supplies in conjunction with a wide range of regulator and switching technologies. Together with N-channel switching FETs, LDO (Low Drop Out) regulators, and/or DC-DC convertors (power bricks), the Power1208P1, Power1208 and Power604 devices provide compact, flexible power supply control solutions.

PAC-Designer(R) Version 3.3 Supports Enhanced Instruction Set

LogiBuilder

The Precision Power Manager device is supported by the latest version PAC-Designer software, an intuitive schematic design entry and simulation tool. Complex sequencing and monitoring functionality can be efficiently designed through easy-to-use pull-down menus in PAC-Designer’s LogiBuilder module. The latest version of the tool features a new and improved instruction set that enables the user to implement complex functionality more efficiently. Designs can be completely verified using the tool’s

built-in waveform simulator. The PAC-Designer software is available for download from Lattice at www.latticesemi.com.

The PACsysPOWR1208P1 evaluation kit enables designers to quickly build prototypes of their circuit implementations using the Power1208P1 in order to verify functionality. Designs implemented using the PAC-Designer software are downloaded into the device through a serial ispDOWNLOAD(R) cable that connects to a PC’s parallel port. The kit contains an evaluation board for an ispPAC Power Manager device, an ispDOWNLOAD cable, and the PAC-Designer version 3.3 software.

Just as you wouldn’t hire a fledgling firm to handle a high-end, family function flush with Kodak moments, neither would corporate America hand over its critical communications services to an unproven outsider.

But all that has changed dramatically with the last several years of telecom turmoil, a far tighter focus on cost reduction and avoidance, and the rapid rise of future IP-focused providers willing to spare users the pain of technology transitions.

As a result, the migration to hosted IP services is well underway, with VoIP largely responsible for the evolution of a market with sorely needed business brawn that offers more than just reduced communications costs.

The Migration to Hosted IP Services

With little exception, all businesses purchase some form of voice services. In this manner, VoIP represents not a new service but rather a replacement of an existing system. This is a key point in understanding not only the market potential but also the competitive landscape.

An early benefit of VoIP has been cost savings, and this remains a primary driver for VoIP adoption. If service providers are going to turn VoIP into a growth opportunity, it will require creating a migration path from trunking and integrated access solutions focused on cost savings toward feature rich platforms that provide a distinct advantage over current circuit-switched capabilities.

For most Tier 1/Tier 2 service providers, including RBOCs, IXCs and CLECs, VoIP services do not represent a new revenue stream but rather a replacement for circuit-switched local and/or long-distance voice. With the exception of service providers using VoIP to enter the voice market, and service providers serving enterprises (mostly SMEs via UNE-P), it is harder to justify the deployment of new services when a significant amount of resources have been used to deploy a circuit-switched architecture.

This represents a challenge for the industry to define and successfully market value-added VoIP applications for which customers are willing to pay. These applications might include worker mobility, wireless/wireline integration, unified messaging, number portability, collaboration and conferencing. (See figure 1).

Laggards and Leaders

Stratecast Partners recognizes that because of these factors a number of service providers have taken a conservative approach to the deployment of VoIP services, particularly network-based, hosted services. However, VoIP is the direction in which the market is heading, and those service providers that continue to drag their feet will be left behind.

Long term, the majority of businesses will utilize some form of IP-based equipment and/or services for their voice communications. Those service providers that have deployed or are currently deploying the necessary infrastructure to offer VoIP services will be best positioned for success long term, even if it results in the short-term cannibalization of existing, higher-revenue services.

There is no disputing the fact that the transition from circuit-switched to IP is happening within the business and residential markets. For businesses, there are a number of options to explore as they move down the migration path toward a converged IP environment.

While a number of service providers jumped into the market with fully hosted VoIP service offerings, we are now beginning to see providers developing a suite of offerings that provide businesses with a migration strategy. Having a migration plan that allows businesses to adopt different levels of IP voice capabilities takes into account a variety of factors including existing investments, quality and security concerns, site specifications, and number and location of offices within the business.

Migration Path to Hosted VoIP

While full VoIP solutions, hosted or customer premises, are ideally suited for greenfield sites, the value proposition becomes slightly more challenging for those businesses that have significant investment in existing PBXs or key systems, and corresponding handsets. In these instances, providing customers with an entry point through IP integrated access or trunking services is the first step toward full IP migration. This provides an entry point into a customer to help solve a key requirement: reduction of telecom expenses.

Integrated Access

IP integrated access, similar to a TDM-based integrated access solution, allows enterprises to carry voice and data traffic over the same connection. (See figure 2). Two key differences are the ability to offer lower overall costs through IP and to provide dynamically allocated bandwidth. IP integrated access represents basic circuit-switched line replacement, providing businesses with lower bills for local, long-distance, and toll-free phone service, while at the same time enabling them to continue utilizing an existing phone system and handsets. The service is implemented through an integrated access device or router placed at the customer premises.

Infrastructure means the difference between successful technology implementation and eternal Alpha stage qualification. One of the enabling technologies significant to the disk drive industry was the integrated disk controller, which brought disk drives to desktop systems in the early ’80s. Sherri Besser, director of marketing for Western Digital, shared a few thoughts on this with Mark Ferelli.

How did that project come about? We had a lot of chips–about a 10-chip set. And we thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if we integrated all these functions into a single device?” Which we did–and that became the 1010 controller. We were just building chips at the time, and then a customer said: “We need a reference platform to show us how to integrate your chips onto boards.” So we supplied them with a reference platform. And they said, “This is really cool.

Can we just buy your reference platform?” That’s how we got into the controller board business.

What was the greatest technological challenge in developing this? Getting all of these things to work together in a LSI device was very challenging

Who were some of the early customers for the integrated controller? Digital Equipment Corporation was a huge customer of ours. Basically, they helped drive the controller as a product. They were our biggest customer. And then, of course, we had Wang. Some ancient customers include Commodore and Atari.

How was the integrated controller received? Phenomenally well. Western Digital started hugely growing after the introduction of that chip. We basically had that chip and then we had the floppy disk controller as well.

So you sort of grew with the desktop then didn’t you? We sure did.

And you have that continuing with the Caviar series today, right? Yes. In fact, I don’t know if you know this but Western Digital helped develop the IDE interface. So it was Western Digital, CDC, and Compaq. And the three of us got together and designed what the connector interface from the IDE drive looked like and how it worked.

Were the three companies able to work together without a lot of political grief? Amazingly well. And it became the standard for the industry. Standards were harder to settle on in those days. That was the other thing that we did. When we came up with this, we didn’t charge royalty fees or licensing or anything. We wanted it to be an open standard so that everybody could use it.

And now you’ve seen it progress from IDE to EIDE and then into ATA and SATA. Where do you go from here controller-wise? That’s a good question. As you know, we use outside houses that design our controller chips. We take their technology and integrate it into our hard disk drives. And basically the question after this is going to be, “What comes next in the SATA arena?” And obviously it’s SATA II and 300 gigabits per second.

IS APPLE Computer’s iPod the greatest consumer product of our time? At minimum, it’s an undeniable success. Over 20 million units have been sold since its launch in 2001. It has managed to cross social and demographic barriers–with every one from soccer morns to Wall Street executives sporting white ear buds. The portable audio player has created an entire economy of accessories and imitators, single-handedly grabbing the music industry by the ear and pulling it into tomorrow. The iPod has become the icon of cool, and every entrepreneur should pay attention.

Jeremy Horwitz, editor in chief of iLounge, a leading online iPod authority, says entrepreneurs can take away three critical lessons from the iPod. First, he says, “Timing and execution are everything. Being first in an emerging market is neither as important nor as lucrative as designing the right products and services to cater to second- and third-stage growth.”

Michael Gartenberg, analyst at Jupitermedia Corp., says a lot of experts were initially skeptical of the iPod’s success because it was late into the market. Horwitz adds, however, that it was the first player to marry substantial storage capacity with great looks, small size and simple controls.

The second lesson, says Horwitz: “A smart company can command a premium for successfully blending off-the-shelf technologies into a new and useful product.” Essentially, the iPod is a portable hard drive (in the Shuffle and Nano models, a flash drive) hidden inside a simple and beautiful enclosure, accessed through intuitive menus, buttons and a scroll wheel. “Separately, these parts were forgettable, but together they became unforgettable,” says Horwitz.

The third lesson is Apple’s approach to pricing. “Instead of creating a good product and knocking down the price until everyone could afford it,” says Horwitz, ‘Apple has sold stripped-down versions at lower price points and hoped demand would follow.” This strategy helped create Apple’s bestselling music player, the iPod Mini.

While useful, these lessons don’t wholly explain the iPod phenomenon. Leading up to the release of the first iPod, audiophiles were cramming their PC hard drives full of music. This enabled listeners to develop long lists of songs, but once they stepped outside, the music stopped playing. Apple recognized the demand for complete portability and offered the first device that would put an entire music library into one’s pocket. This concept was much more revolutionary than the Walkman or Discman, which only made new formats portable. The iPod changed the rules, just how revolutionary was it? Well, if you were to change the engine in your car, you’d still drive it the same way. But if you could make it fly, you’d have a transportation revolution. Making music fly is no easy task, but as Gartenberg proclaims, “Apple is not afraid to be bold.”

It’s a boldness that even the most daring entrepreneur would hesitate to emulate. Would you dump your bestselling item? That’s what Apple did with the Mini, to make room for the Nano. Why drop the Mini? Because the Nano is smaller, offers better functionality (color screen and flash drive), and keeps what works. The same can be said about Apple’s latest venture, the video iPod–it’s a logical evolution.

What’s next? Apple, notoriously tight-lipped, refused to comment; however, Horwitz ventures a guess. He believes consumers can expect a redesign of the full-size iPod, optional Bluetooth add-on and an “iPod sport” model, which he says is long overdue.

The White House has mandated that all federal agencies using Microsoft Windows software must implement new computer security standards developed in tandem with the National Security Agency.

An administration memo issued this week requires agencies to ensure that any existing or newly purchased Windows machines include certain default settings that substantially decrease the time and money spent securing those personal computers and in repairing systems that have been compromised by hackers or viruses.

A majority of agencies has fallen short of federal computer security standards, often for failing to implement basic changes to harden systems against cyber attack or employee misuse. The new rules would force agencies to employ preconfigured security settings on all existing PCs. It also would require agencies seeking to purchase the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system — Windows Vista — to order systems specially configured to meet the government’s new security requirements.

Officials from the White House Office of Management and Budget, which sets computer security policy for all federal agencies, declined to be interviewed. But according to the White House memo, agencies will be required to develop plans by May 1 to show how they will implement the new requirements. Full compliance will be required by February 2008.

The new rules require agencies to take steps to decrease the likelihood that systems can be compromised by viruses or cyber criminals. Agencies must include tactics such as disabling unneeded software and services that expose systems to cyber attacks, and configuring machines to run under user accounts that cannot install new programs or alter existing software.

Scott Armstrong, vice president of marketing at Secure Elements, a Herndon, Va., company that sells security software and services to federal agencies, said the requirements should help dramatically reduce the number of security incidents at federal agencies.

“It’s a whole lot easier to lock down these systems than it is to spend a lot of time cleaning up security breaches,” Armstrong said.

The standards are based on configurations developed over the past four years by the NSA, U.S. Air Force, National Institutes of Standards and Technology and the Defense Information Systems Agency, among others. The new requirements, which have been implemented across more than 420,000 Air Force Windows PCs over the past year, are directly responsible for decreasing the security incidents and the overall workload of Air Force IT personnel by at least 30 percent, said Kenneth Heitkamp, associate director for the Air Force Life-Cycle Management Office in the Office of Warfighting Integration and Chief Information Officer.

The White House mandate also offers the promise of improving the quality of third-party software designed to run on top of Windows, said Clint Kreitner. He heads the Center for Internet Security, a nonprofit group of agencies and companies that helped to coordinate collaboration on the new standards, which have been roughly four years in the making. One persistent problem, he said, is that application developers often write their software to work on non-hardened platforms, which can force users to soften the security of the operating system to get the applications to work properly.

“These requirements give the government the specific information it needs to tell an application vendor — be it a Beltway company some other vendor developing custom stuff — that it wants applications to be fully functional on a more secure Windows version,” Kreitner said.