Sept. 25 - exactly 10 days after the High-Speed Token Ring (HSTR) Alliance was formed - Texas Instruments (TI) announced in an e-mail message to HSTR members that it was withdrawing from the alliance. The Tolly Group's Web site has the complete document posted.
This comes as no surprise. The surprise was that TI ever joined in the first place. After all, TI doesn't have hordes of Fortune 500 end-user customers to answer to.
According to Bert Leatch, TI's token-ring program manager and author of the e-mail, TI 'understands and supports the motivation of the alliance.' He goes on to say, 'However, because there is no reasonable market data to suggest that token ring will become a growth opportunity based on the advent of HSTR, it is inconsistent with semiconductor economics for Texas Instruments to make additional R&D investments in this area.'
Given that the first official announcement of high-speed token-ring products was made only one day earlier by IBM, it is no surprise that 'reasonable market data' did not yet exist. Nonetheless, that was the reason TI gave.
Interestingly, TI is not only neglecting HSTR, it has already given up on 4M/16M bit/sec token ring. The statement notes that deciding not to invest in HSTR 'is consistent with our decision in the fall of 1996 to terminate new R&D investments in future Token Ring MAC/PHY silicon.
Didn't know that? While it may not have been a secret, it was 'quasi-public' at best. In fact, no press release appears to have been issued.
I think network managers, especially those buying products built with TI token-ring chipsets, would have been interested in this development.
To TI's credit, it is at least taking a stand. In its view, token ring - even 4M/ 16M - just isn't worth the effort. Fine.
TI's departure doesn't hurt HSTR for one simple reason: HSTR doesn't need TI. There are plenty of highly motivated, technically astute companies vying for a piece of the new HSTR market.
IBM, Olicom and Madge have all created their own high-performance 4M/ 16M token-ring silicon and are burning the midnight oil to do the same for 100M bit/sec token ring (and later, Gigabit token ring). These companies already have various OEM deals with the likes of 3Com, Cisco and Bay.
TI's move further brightens the prospects for smaller, nimbler silicon designers such as Novacom (www.novacom. com) and start-up Treseq (www.treseq.com).
TI clearly states that it will continue to supply the current 4M/16M TR MAC & PHY (TMS380XXX) product line to the market for the foreseeable future.' Perhaps, after all of the 4/16 100M bit/sec token-ring OEM deals are made, it won't have to.
If you are going to NetWorld+Interop 97 and would like to talk HSTR one-on-one, mark Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. on your schedule. I'll be moderating a special briefing for customers, press and analysts sponsored by the HSTR Alliance. The event will take place in Room 236 West, Georgia World Congress Center. I'll stay around afterward to chat. I hope to see you there.
Tolly is president of The Tolly Group, a strategic consulting and independent testing firm in Manasquan, N.J. He can be reached at (908) 528-3300 or at ktolly@tolly.com.
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