A year ago From The Register No. 70 LSI Logic has unveiled a new high-integration technology that will allow 233 million transistors on a chip, plus the ability to include mixed signal, logic, embedded memory and radio frequency components. The company will be producing prototypes using its new G12 technology by the fourth quarter, with production starting in Q2 1999. G12 is intended to provide the processor technology for devices that combine several functions in one system, so could be used for combination TV, video, audio and set-top box units. It uses 0.18 micron technology, and according to company CEO Wilfred Corrigan "The G12 technology sets completely new levels of integration and performance empowering our customers to create system-on-a-chip products never before possible on one silicon chip." LSI's first high volume system-on-a-chip design was for the Sony Playstation in 1993, and the company has since been active in the production of systems for GSM phones, DVD and digital cameras. G12 is intended to provide the capability to integrate several of these on the same piece of silicon, using building blocks which include different types of embedded memory technologies, RF tuning and mixed-signal capabilities, LSI design libraries, and complete design automation software support. ®