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Standards and specs: An unsung hero: The hardworking ELF
The ELF object module format has had wide-ranging effects on software development for multiple platforms. Peter Seebach looks at the history of the ELF specification and why it's been so useful.
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20 Dec 2005 |
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Standards and specs: Digital rights management: When a standard isn't
Whether you're a buyer or a seller of a product, the essential goal of standardization is to make interoperability possible, allowing communication with anyone else using the same protocol and media. In some cases though, vendors have specific reasons for not being compatible -- and those vendors have developed a standard for incompatibility, digital rights management (DRM). The goal of DRM is to limit compatibility because things which are compatible can be copied and distributed freely. In this installment, Peter Seebach looks at a potential oxymoron -- standards designed to subvert and prevent interoperability.
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01 Nov 2005 |
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Standards and specs: Early adopters
Whether a standard will succeed and be widely adopted is ambiguous at first, regardless of who endorses it -- a major player or a fringe element. So why would people put all their eggs in a standards basket when that basket might not exist tomorrow? Join Peter Seebach as he shows the potential advantages of adopting a standard before it becomes one. (Of course, he hasn't forgotten the potential disadvantages, too.)
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18 Oct 2005 |
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Standards and specs: The ATX case and power supply
The ATX standard allows power supplies and cases to be commodity parts, dramatically reducing the cost of computer design. Lessons learned from the success of this standard show why standardizing parts is important. The BTX standard builds on this, and the blade.org standards work should do likewise.
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13 Sep 2005 |
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Standards and specs: The Interchange File Format (IFF)
The IFF file format had many of the features still sought today in modern file formats. This month's Standards and specs looks at the IFF file format and the lessons it has for modern file formats, such as XML.
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13 Jun 2006 |
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Standards and specs: The Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) standard
SCSI has a reputation as one of the oldest and most widely respected standards in computing, but it also has a reputation for poor price and performance and amazing quirkiness. This month's Standards and specs looks at the history of the legendary SCSI specification.
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24 May 2005 |
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Standards and specs: The ins and outs of USB
The USB specification may be an example of that hybrid de jure or de facto standard, one that clearly earned wide acceptance through its technical merit. Learn the history of the USB standard and some of its benefits to users and vendors, as well as where it missed the boat.
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26 Apr 2005 |
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Standards and specs: Chip interconnects: When 133 MBps is too slow
New interconnect protocols and standards offer a variety of options in price and performance. Peter Seebach looks at four new protocols and ponders why we have more than one.
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24 Apr 2006 |
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Standards and specs: The PCI bus
The widely adopted PCI standard has defeated a large number of competing standards in the marketplace. This month's Standards and specs looks at how the PCI bus won, what the effects of its dominance have been, and what might happen next.
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22 Feb 2005 |
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Standards and specs: Not by UNIX alone
Technology professionals have loosely used the term "UNIX" since the first person had to explain the difference between the Berkeley and AT&T flavors, so it's not surprising to find as many UNIX standards as there are versions of the operating system. Peter Seebach wades through the wellspring of UNIX standards and sorts them out for you, concluding that the rumors of the death of UNIX are (as usual) greatly exaggerated.
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08 Mar 2006 |
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Standards and specs: A house divided
What happens when two coalitions within a standards committee come into conflict, and the dispute doesn't get resolved quickly? The ultrawideband technology standardization issue shows you.
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25 Jan 2005 |
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Standards and specs: The nitty-gritty on the C committee
The C standard is a few hundred pages full of specifications and requirements. This month's Standards and specs looks at some of the different components of the C standard, and how they might affect Power Architecture developers and implementors.
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23 Nov 2004 |
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Standards and specs: Open Firmware -- the bridge between power-up and OS
Open Firmware provides a reasonably standardized way for computers to find hardware, configure it, and boot an operating system. In this month's Standards and specs, author Peter Seebach looks at the Open Firmware spec, traces its history as a standard, examines how it works and some of its components, and discusses the benefits it offers.
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26 Oct 2004 |
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Standards and specs: Standards
Introducing a regular column on the specifications and standards affecting people involved in nearly every aspect of Power Architecture technology, Peter Seebach looks at the different kinds of standards in the industry today, as well as how to find out about and make the most effective use of standards in your own work.
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27 Sep 2004 |
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Standards and specs, Special Edition: Introducing Power.org
Major electronics companies have come together to form a new standards body focused on Power Architecture technology. This organization will create and promote a family of standards, reference designs, and more. This month's Standards and specs looks at how the new standards body will work, and what it will do.
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15 Dec 2004 |
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Standards and specs: XML: Half a standard is better than none
A pervasive misconception common today is that simply designing your file format around XML somehow makes it magically portable, extensible, and intelligible by other programs. Peter Seebach explains why using XML is only part of the story when you're designing an extensible file format.
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12 Sep 2006 |
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Standards and specs: Of RoHS and rushed standards
When the ex cathedra RoHS Directive came down, it was missing a
little crucial piece of information -- how manufacturers, distributors, and purchasers of parts could communicate to each other the RoHS status of every part.
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15 Aug 2006 |
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Standards and specs: Lies, statistics, and benchmarks
Benchmarks can be an excellent tool for predicting performance and estimating requirements. They can also be misleading, possibly catastrophically so. Benchmark standardization helps distinguish between a good estimate and a meaningless number.
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23 May 2006 |
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Standards and specs: Naturally occurring standards
What makes a standard viable without the formal blessing of a standards organization? Should you use such informal standards, or ignore them? Learn more about de facto standards in this month's Standards and specs.
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12 Apr 2005 |
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