National Semiconductor Corp claims PCs and servers will be cheaper and easier to manage using a new controller chip that it will begin selling in April for $10 that integrates an Ethernet interface, analog monitoring and a small amount of memory with the company’s CompactRISC core. Designed for use on a computer’s motherboard, the chip offloads functions that are currently handled by system software, collecting system information that can be used by third party system network and management applications. It’s supposed to remotely manage and fix networked PC problems. The chip incorporates wake-up on LAN capabilities, component performance monitoring, component failure reporting, and monitoring of system indicators such as voltage level, fan speed and temperature. These functions are typically handled by multiple ASICs or by software that vendors must currently integrate themselves. The chip takes over monitoring of a network from a MAC media access controller when a computer is put into ‘sleep’ mode. It’s now trying to persuade OEMs to incorporate the chip onto motherboards. Nat Semi says it will shave $5 off the price in a year or so as it moves from an 0.35 micron production process to 0.25 microns. In addition to Unicenter TNG, Phoenix Technologies and 3Com Nat Semi says the chip supports Zero Administration for Windows, the web-based enterprise management initiative, SNMP, the Windows instrumentation work and Desktop Management Interface specifications.
