SAN FRANCISCO – While not as seismic as a San Francisco earthquake, Canadian tech companies attending the 2002 Intel Developer Forum (IDF) do hope to make a sizeable impact.
More than 100 company exhibitors are demonstrating products and solutions at the technology showcase. Among the Canadian contingent are Vancouver-based Intrinsyc Software Inc., Ottawa-based Solidum Systems Corp., and Kanata, Ont.-based companies QNX Software Systems Ltd. and SiberCore Technologies.
Tuesday at IDF saw Intel adopt an open standard stance to networking infrastructure with the unveiling of a family of network processors along with a networked storage application based on its XScale technology.
The release builds on Intel’s recent release of XScale core-based processors for handheld devices, Intel said, adding that the new network processors are part of its open Internet Exchange Architecture program. The expected growth for network traffic will force “tighter integration” on already cash-strapped companies, said Intel Communications Group executive vice-president and general manager Sean Maloney.
He pointed to price point, performance, and low power usage as advantages of the new technology.
That’s good news to a company like Intrinsyc, a member of the Internet Exchange Architecture Developer Network. Brett Kaarto, spokesman for Intrinsyc noted the company currently uses Intel XScale-based reference designs to help its clients get Internet-enabled devices to market quickly.
“We’re in the business of helping companies (such as General Electric and Ford) create, link, and manage smart Internet-enabled devices,” Kaarto said.
Kaarto stressed the importance of being a Canadian-based company present at the IDF. “We get to touch base with all these companies who are doing wonderful things,” Kaarto noted. “It’s really important to see things that other companies are doing here and (the) different operating systems and platforms they’re using. It’s really focusing us in on where we need to be.”
Joe Aragona, director of marketing for fabless semiconductor company Solidum Systems agreed. Solidum provides hardware/software solutions for developers and network equipment manufacturers, Aragona said, and is showcasing at the IDF its PAX.Ware 1200 Evaluation System running on an Intel platform.
“It’s important to show that we have products that work with companies like Intel. The PAX.Ware 1200 is built around one of our chips ( PAXPort 1200) and that chip was designed to work seamlessly with Intel…it’s important to show that stuff working in a trade show environment,” Aragona said.
Also in the communication space is fabless semiconductor firm SiberCore Technologies. SiberCore creates silicon-based packet management products and solutions to the Internet infrastructure market, a company spokesperson noted. The company exhibit features its three-port architecture SiberCAM Ultra-9M, a Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM) product the company said is capable of sustaining 100 MSPS.
Demonstrating the networking side of the operating system via SMP capabilities is the reason why QNX is at the IDF, said QNX Software Systems senior applications engineer Jeffrey Schaffer.
“Intel is definitely one of our allies…we’ve expanded to the XScale (technology),” Schaffer added.
The four-day IDF ends Feb. 28.
Intel Corp. is at http://www.intel.com
The Intel Developer Forum Conference is at http://www.intel.com/idf/us/spr2002/
Solidum Systems Corp. in Ottawa is at http://www.solidum.com
QNX Software Systems Inc. in Kanata, Ont., is at http://www.qnx.com
SiberCore Technologies in Kanata, Ont., is at http://www.sibercore.com
Intrinsyc Software Inc. in Vancouver is at http://www.intrinsyc.com