Issue No. 1 - March 2001
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Editorial Notes
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MPEG MOMENTUM
ST's innovative SLIMPEG (Substantially Light Motion Picture Estimator for MPEG) algorithm is around 200 times less complex than conventional algorithms yet giving a much better image quality. |
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COLOR CAMERA MODULE
Just 10 x 10 x 7.5 millimeters in size, ST's digital color microcamera was specifically developed for next generation cell phones, personal digital assistants and other portable communications devices where small size and low power consumption are key requirements. |
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THE PARIS METRO CHOOSES ST
The Paris metro system moves to "smart" ticketing with the use of contactless memories ñ and the company it chose to supply the all-important chips was ST. |
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Stop Press
TOP PERFORMANCE GRAPHICS BOARD WITHIN EVERY GAMER'S REACH With users clamoring for a graphics solution with excellent image at a reasonable cost, ST and Hercules Technologies' recently announced KYRO II PC graphics controller and Hercules' 3D PROPHET PC graphics card will delight the most ambitious game developers. |
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Around the World
ACCELERATING THE TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP In the new System-on-Chip era, the challenge is no longer simply to ship today's solutions today, but also to design tomorrow's solutions today and guarantee delivery tomorrow. ST's answer to this challenge has been to accelerate the Technology Roadmap. |
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FLASH-BASED MICROCONTROLLERS
The most frequently asked questions. |
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PROBLEMS WITH PARASITICS
Parasitics may be as inevitable as death and taxes, but ST has come up with two solutions to eliminate the problem. |
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QUANTUM LEAP IN HARD DISK DRIVE INTEGRATION
A major design win for ST's Super10 DSP-enhanced microcontroller core with Quantum Hard Disk Drive Group to power a new System-on-Chip device for a new hard disk drive. |
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TOWARDS THE "UNIVERSAL" MEMORY
ST's recent agreement to license thin-film non-volatile semiconductor memory technology from Ovonyx, Inc., could potentially lead to the replacement of all existing non-volatile memory technologies, as well as DRAM, by the Ovonic Unified Memory technology |
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Fact File
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Brain Teaser
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Onwards and Upwards
"First is first and second is nowhere" according to one of the most successful managers in English football but does this "all or nothing" philosophy apply to the semiconductor industry? Clearly not, with the traditional industry leader experiencing a growth three times less than the rest of the industry, while ST continues its climb up the rankings of the world's leading semiconductor companies.
Currently, the semiconductor world is in a state of flux. Some of today's Top Ten are on a upward curve but others are sliding downwards, with product and technology portfolios that are no longer in tune with the forces driving the industry. Companies that made the right decisions at the right time are growing faster than the market and those that didn't are losing ground.
Where does ST fit in this dynamic scenario?
In recent years, the answer has become clear - ST is one of the few companies whose shrewd investments in R&D, product development and strategic partnerships have placed it at the forefront of many of the world's most exciting markets and its upward climb through the world's semiconductor league has underlined the correctness of ST's strategies. Today the industry is in one of its inevitable downturns and tomorrow it will be in one of the equally inevitable upturns but behind the headlines there is a more important story - some companies get it fundamentally wrong and some get it fundamentally right.
This issue of Challenge reflects this tempestuous aspect of the semiconductor industry, with articles ranging from down-to-earth issues such as how to optimize the VB409 power supply chip in the presence of stray inductance to articles looking at ST's R&D initiatives in areas as varied as MPEG encoding and new non-volatile memory technology that could have a huge impact in the near future.
In 2000, ST grew its sales by 54.5%, the highest growth among the world's Top Ten. This was not an accident - it was a consequence of making the right decisions at the right time and this, in turn, owed much to ST's philosophy of working with customers who are at the cutting edge of their own industries. When the current economic cycle moves into a new growth phase, the factors that have contributed to ST's outstanding success to date will still be just as valid, propelling it onwards and upwards.
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