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Texas Instruments and 3Dlabs® Inc. of San Jose, Calif., have signed a long-term licensing agreement to collaborate in developing high-performance multimedia chips incorporating 3Dlabs' award-winning PERMEDIA 3D Graphics Technology.
The alliance will combine the graphics, silicon and software expertise of 3Dlabs with the mixed-signal semiconductor and sub-micron manufacturing skills of TI. This combined expertise will enable manufacturers in high-volume graphics markets such as desktop PCs, laptop PCs and visually engaging consumer and Internet appliances to get to market quicker.
Industry analysts predict that 3D will be a fundamental component of the multi- media mix on PCs and other visual consumer devices starting in 1997. While most of the initial push has been fueled by entertainment applications, experts foresee 3D graphics will become pervasive and essential for more engaging, productive and natural interaction on a PC.
PERMEDIA is 3Dlabs' second-generation consumer-class 3D technology. It implements all the video, 2D and 3D graphics processing requirements of a PC on a single PCI-compatible device at high-performance levels. The architecture has been specifically optimized and feature-matched to provide optimum performance for Microsoft's recently announced Direct3D standard as well as other 3D APIs supported by Microsoft such as OpenGL.
PERMEDIA generates up to 25 million texture-mapped pixels-per-second with high quality, true per-pixel perspective correction and full bi-linear filtering. PERMEDIA's well-balanced 3D capabilities also include rendering up to 500,000 triangles-per-second with Gouraud shading, Z-buffering and atmos-pheric effects. PERMEDIA contains a compact and highly optimized unified graphics engine-re-architectured using technology developed for 3Dlabs' GLINT® workstation-class graphics processors. PERMEDIA is a bus-mastering device fully conforming to PCI Bus (Version 2.1) specifications.
TI has licensed PERMEDIA under 3Dlabs' Core Partners Program and will manufacture, market and sell TI-branded devices that will be pin- and software-compatible with the PERMEDIA family of devices from 3Dlabs. TI also will develop and market derivative products incorporating its own technologies and enhancements. Initial samples of these devices are expected to be available during the fourth quarter of 1996, with volume production expected in first quarter of 1997.
In addition, TI has cross-licensed its leading-edge RAMDAC technology
to 3Dlabs for incorporation into 3Dlabs' own merchant products
to be manufactured by TI.
June 1996, vol. 13, no. 4