Technology 1991: solid state

Developments during 1990 and future trends in solid-state devices are discussed. 1990 saw the commercial introduction of microprocessor chips containing more than 1 million transistors, and 1991 will probably see microprocessor chips with well over 2 million transistors. Processor speeds are keeping pace; 50-60 MHz chips can be expected in the next generation. Digital signal processor chips are adding enormous functionality to desktop computers and workstations, and a low-cost multimedia chip, which can provide video images and high-quality graphics on the screen and, simultaneously, high-quality sound, has been announced. Memory chips are getting bigger and faster, and flash memories are growing in popularity. Gate arrays, programmable-logic devices (PLDs) and so forth are growing steadily in their numbers of cells. Lithographic techniques made major advances, 1990 was also marked by a number of alliances, some of which ended unhappily