Semiconductor designer and manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices Inc, has announced its latest Fast Ethernet chip, the PCnetFast+, a 10 or 100 Mbps controller chip. The part adds support for various of the NetPC specifications, such as power and remote management across a Local Area Network and ROM based firmware for remote booting of a Personal Computer from a server. AMD’s remote power management protocol, Magic Packet, co-developed with Hewlett-Packard Co, has been gaining industry support, having been adopted by IBM Corp under the name Wake on LAN, and by Microsoft Corp as part of the OnNow PC power management specifications. AMD claims to be the market leader in Ethernet components, well ahead of processor rival Intel Corp, because it only supplies components and doesn’t manufacture networking products. In AMD’s view, Intel’s LAN equipment business is a mistake, as it is competing with its customers. The PCnetFast+ is sampling now, and will ship in January for $9.75.
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