|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
What's Different for PC 99?
The following summarizes the key changes proposed for PC 99, in comparison to the requirements and recommendations defined in PC 98 System Design Guide.
PC 99 Proposed General System Requirements
- System performance. Proposed performance is equivalent to 300-MHz Pentium® II processor with Intel MMX™ technology with 256K Level 2 (L2) cache, and 32MB RAM.
- ACPI and BIOS support. Support for the S3 sleep state, plus other clarifications to ACPI and BIOS support requirements, including BIOS support for USB keyboards and hubs for all system types.
- Bus and expansion capabilities. The proposed changes include:
- Two USB ports (one for mobile PCs).
- Support PCI 2.2 if PCI bus is present, including the Vaux support and the subsystem ID requirements for buses that remove power to devices during System S3 or Bus B3.
- No ISA expansion devices or slots.
- IEEE 1394 is recommended for the secondary storage host controller.
- Storage and media playback. 2X DVD-ROM is recommended for Consumer and Office systems that provide optical media devices, and it is required for Entertainment PCs.
- Communications. The proposed changes include:
- 56-Kbps V.90 modem is required or other public network communication device for Consumer and Entertainment PCs.
- A network adapter is required for Office PCs and recommended for Consumer and Entertainment PCs.
- Additional requirements and clarifications are required for PC 99 modems and network communications, with new information and requirements about Windows driver-based modems, ISDN, and Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) in particular.
- Graphics subsystem. The proposed changes include:
- AGP support must meet AGP Interface Specification, Revision 2.0 or later. AGP is recommended for the primary adapter.
- Clarifications on graphics adapter support for 3-D hardware acceleration.
- Request for input on proposals for including a connector that conforms to the VESA Plug and Display specification on systems that provide output to digital monitors.
Workstation PC 99 Proposed Requirements
- Proposed performance is equivalent to 400-MHz Pentium Pro or Pentium II processor with Intel MMX technology with 256K Level 2 cache, and 128MB RAM.
Entertainment PC Proposed Requirements
- Most features exceeding Consumer PC 99 requirements are described as recommendations, rather than specific feature requirements.
- Entertainment PC capabilities are still defined in terms of specific performance and quality measures.
Mobile PC Proposed Requirements
- Mobile system performance. Proposed performance is equivalent to an external 256K L2 cache. Feedback is requested from reviewers to help define minimum CPU performance guidelines.
- Mobile power management. Many clarifications and changes to improve the definition of power management concerns for this form factor, including a new recommendation to support Mobile Power Guidelines '99, Revision 1.0.
- Mobile graphics subsystem. The proposed changes include:
- Mobile systems that support DVD-Video must support YUV 4:2:0.
- 3-D features are still recommended, but if implemented, new resolution and performance requirements are defined.
Bus Proposed Requirements
Several clarifications and additions are proposed for each bus class. Key items—especially those related to revised industry specifications—include:
- All USB hardware complies with USB Specification, Version 1.0, with recommendations for Version 1.1.
- All IEEE 1394 hardware complies with IEEE 1394A standard and OpenHCI, with corrections to the example Configuration ROM table provided.
- All PCI components comply with PCI Local Bus Specification, Revision 2.2, plus clarification to the requirement related to PCI bus power management.
- Clarification to PC Card and CardBus requirements related to required tuples.
Device Class Proposed Requirements
I/O Ports and Devices
- I/O ports and devices clarifications about requirements and recommendations related to IrDA 1.1, IrDA Data, and IrDA Control specifications, plus related USB guidelines.
- Clarification of the requirement that the system provide a separate, physically-isolated transceiver for each infrared (IR) protocol the system supports.
Graphics Adapters
- Clarification of resolution and local memory minimum requirements.
- Minimum support for one off-screen video overlay surface.
- Programmable blter stride required for 2-D acceleration.
- Clarifications to 3-D hardware acceleration.
- Clarifications to supporting requirement for television output capabilities.
- Requirements for better video scaling.
Video and Broadcast Components
- Requirements and recommendations related to support for receipt and MPEG decoding of digital television broadcasts, including absence of banding related to poor scaling methods.
- Recommendation for separation of "receiver" functions from "display" functions, with the two being linked by software running on the host processor.
- Device Bay and other IEEE 1394 devices are introduced as a way of implementing television receiver modules.
- Requirements and recommendations related to generally increased video quality on the PC.
Monitors
- Requirements for monitors to synchronize to valid formats within a specified time.
- Monitors must support Display Data Channel Standard, Version 3.0.
Audio
- Incremental changes to audio performance requirements.
- No legacy hardware interfaces for MS-DOS window (legacy interfaces used only in MS-DOS mode).
- Other new requirements to advance scalable audio.
Modems
- Modem supports V.250 AT command set, V.90 analog modem modulation, V.80 synchronous access and V.8 bis call control signaling.
- Voice modem supports ITU V.253.
- Driver-based modems must use a WDM-based driver solution, with new performance criteria recommended.
Network Communications
- Most of the changes to network requirements and recommendations in PC 99 address issues related to providing better performance or higher bandwidth for multimedia-enabled networking and to ensuring easier configuration of the devices and drivers.
- NDIS 5.0 miniports are required for network adapters. The biggest impact of this requirement is the implementation of the drivers for connection-oriented media.
- Voice support requirements are proposed for ISDN devices.
- Revisions and additional details are provided for cable modem and ADSL devices.
- New requirements are defined for infrared devices.
Digital Still Image Peripherals
- Driver support must be implemented under the Still Image architecture, with WDM minidrivers required for digital cameras that can create video streams.
- Use of a PC-compatible file system for removable storage.
- Requirements for compatibility with Windows NT 5.0 support and for emerging standards, including TWAIN 1.7.
- IR implementations must be based on the Windows Sockets interface, because IRComm is not supported in Windows NT 5.0.
- Bandwidth management is required for USB imaging devices, including no pre-allocation of bandwidth and a strong recommendation to limit USB bandwidth use to 8 Mbps.
|
|
|
|
|
|
* Legal Information © 1998 Intel Corporation
|
|
