[Info-vax] RealWorldTech on Poulson

[John Wallace]

On Jul 5, 12:06 pm, Neil Rieck <n.ri... at sympatico.ca> wrote:
> [...snip...]
>
>
>
> > > So at this point I don't know who spent
> > > the most amount of money. Intel picked up 300+ Alpha Engineers just
> > > around the time of the HPQ merger,
>
> > Did they?
> > According to the Alasir article,http://alasir.com/articles/alpha_history/dec_collapse.shtml
> > the leading and most "talented engineers" had left long before.
> > And not for intel, mostly.
>
> You can still find lots of original news items by Googleing "alpha
> engineers compaq intel" but here are three (with the third one showing
> transfers from HP to Intel in 2003; HP probably maintained a smaller
> team to finish EV7z):
>
> Compaq Puts Eggs Into Intel Basket (2001)http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/18814857/compaq-puts-eggs-in...
> quote: The companies refused to release financial details but said
> Intel would eventually make employment offers to at least several
> hundred Compaq chip engineers. At the crux of the deal is Compaq's
> decision to unify its server product line behind Intel's Intanium and
> Merced processors. Capellas said Compaq's decision centers around a
> desire to build solutions on "standard building blocks"--Intel's 64-
> bit processors.
>
> Intel buys Alpha from Compaq (2001)http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/intel-buys-alpha-from-compaq-20010...
> quote: Intel may very well be the final resting place of the Alpha
> processor. The chip was once legendary for its performance and even
> today maintains a high standard, but no longer leads the pack as it
> used to. Compaq has agreed to license key Alpha technologies to Intel
> as well as transfer most Alpha project engineers to Intel. It appears
> that Compaq is finishing up a bit of work on some AlphaServers but
> will then move completely to IA-64 architecture Intel Itanium servers,
> ending the Alpha era. It was rumored last week that Compaq put the
> Alpha up for sale, and Intel seemed to be the logical decision. After
> all, when Compaq bought DEC, AMD grabbed most of the top Alpha
> engineers to make the Athlon, so what would they want with the Alpha
> design? AMD currently has no high-end server chip, but is planning one
> for 2002 release (Hammer) that will be compatible with the 32-bit x86
> architecture and support 64-bit x86-64 extensions. Perhaps AMD didn't
> even have a chance to bid. After all, Compaq will be using Intel
> Itaniums to replace their Alpha chip.
>
> Intel gets more key Alpha alums (2003)http://news.cnet.com/Intel-gets-more-key-Alpha-alums/2100-1006_3-1023...
> quote: Pete Bannon, one of the key architects behind the touted Alpha
> processor, and a number of other Alpha engineers are joining Intel to
> work on future versions of Itanium. Bannon and approximately 50 Alpha
> engineers will move from Hewlett-Packard to Intel this month, the
> company announced this week. The transition is the latest stage in a
> technological wagon train that began in 2001 as the result of a
> massive development agreement between the Santa Clara, Calif.-based
> chipmaker and Compaq Computer, which at the time controlled Alpha.
> Around 300 former Alpha engineers already work at Intel. By the time
> the agreement is concluded, more than 450 are expected to move to
> Intel, company spokeswoman Barbara Grimes said. Most of the Alpha
> alumni are working on a version of the Itanium that will follow
> Montecito, a version of Itanium with two separate processors in a
> single piece of silicon coming in 2005.
>
> We also know that some engineers didn't want to go to Intel and so
> popped up at AMD.'
>
> Neil Rieck
> Kitchener / Waterloo / Cambridge,
> Ontario, Canada.http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/

So in those three articles, there's one named senior engineer (Fellow,
actually) who went from DEC to Intel. Is he still there? LinkedIn
knows (even if like me you're not a member), as do a few press
articles.

>From Intel he went to PA Semiconductor. A few other well known names
also ended up at PA (eg Dan Dobberpuhl). As of 2008, PA Semi is owned
by Apple, and Pete Bannon is apparently a Director.

I don't know how many others may still be at Intel; one name I recall
is Dhileep Bhandarkar. Turns out he's one of the many well known and
highly reputable people now employed (mostly unproductively, one
assumes) at Microsoft. His profile at MS says while he was Director of
Advanced Architecture in Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, he was
instrumental in persuading Intel to produce an AMD64 clone
(paraphrased slightly).

>From a commercial point of view, Intel have done very nicely indeed
out of desktop and server x86 and then their AMD64 clone, both of
which were in the Windows-dependent market. From a technical point of
view it's hard to think of any market segment outside of the Windows-
dependent sector where they've had much success in Inventing in the
last decade or two. WiMax? Desktop graphics? I2O?