Having apparently given up on its own Java Acceleration Chip development – and looking to the design of custom ASICs for third parties to boost revenues (CI No 3,357) – IBM Corp’s Microelectronics Division has added Sun Microsystems Inc’s PicoJava core to the library of designs it can manufacture in silicon for internal use or for third parties. IBM joins around a dozen companies – including LG Semicon, Mitsubishi Electronics, NEC, Xerox, Fujitsu and Samsung – which have licensed the PicoJava 1.0 design to build chips for cellular phones, TV set- top boxes and other consumer electronic devices. Microprocessors built with the PicoJava core can directly execute the entire Java virtual machine instruction set, eliminating the need for a Java interpreter or just-in-time compiler. IBM says its recent acquisition of wireless semiconductor company CommQuest Technologies Inc (CI No 3,346) will enable it to provide components for wireless network connection and the addition of PicoJava will enable Java software to be embedded directly onto the chip. Sun’s own MicroJava 701 part is due later this year. A 2.0 cut of the PicoJava design is due next quarter. IBM Microelectronics licensed JavaOS way back so it could create PowerPC/Intel boards for network computer OEM types. We assume the JAC CMOS device (CI No 3,116), which IBM had touted for running Java and/or PowerPC has gone down the drink as Microelectronics president Luis Arzubi claimed he knew nothing about it.
