HP, DEC intensify PEX support

Electronic News, July 27, 1992

FORT COLLINS, COL. -- Industry support for PEX, the distributed network 3D graphics protocol for X-Windows, will intensify this week when Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment Corp. and a number of smaller firms launch new or upgraded software and hardware.

HP plans to unveil its first applications programming interface using PEX, while DEC plans to unveil a demonstration version of its PEX software for its new 64-bit Alpha architecture.

Meanwhile, Evans & Sutherland is expected to unveil a new version of its PEX-based CDRS industrial design software. Ithaca Software has scheduled release of an upgrade version of its Hoops graphics system for PEX; Liant Software Corp. plans to release what is said to be the first object-oriented intrinsic tool-kit for PHIGS/PEX, and Advanced Technology Center has a high-performance implementation of PHIGS and PHIGS Plus which integrates PEX support. PHIGS is the Programmer's Hierarchical Interactive Graphics System, and PEX is the PHIGS extension to the X Window standard.

Also on view at the Siggraph '92 graphics exposition in Chicago will be such recently unveiled products as SHOgraphics' PEXstation 1 and a PEX server software package from Network Computing Devices which turns the company's three high-end X terminals into entry-level PEX terminals (EN, June 29). Many of the vendors will be featured in a joint interoperability demonstration coordinated by the PEX Interoperability Council, based at Convex Computer's facilities in Richardson, Tex.

In its introduction, HP will extend direct hardware vendor support of PEX to the fast growing HP workstation user base, while the DEC demonstration signals that company's plans to offer its Alpha-based workstations for PEX-based applications once those systems are ready for market. As reported, HP and Sun are viewed as the primary movers behind the PEX push, which offers an alternative to the Open GL graphics library that is being licensed by Silicon Graphics Inc. (EN, Jan. 20 and March 16). Among other major systems firms, IBM and Sun are not expected to make any introductions next week, but will participate in the joint demonstration as they have in previous such demos.

The HP offering, which follows the applications programming interface (API) dictated by the emerging PEX industry standard, includes both single-user and server versions, and is designed for use on any HP Apollo 9000 Series 700 workstation.

The PEX software, from HP's User Interface Technology division here, is expected eventually to replace HP's proprietary HP Starbase API and was said to be tightly coupled to Series 700 hardware architecture, resulting in performance equal to the Starbase offering. Initial shipments to applications developers are scheduled to begin in September, with both client and server developers packages priced at $3,500. Run-time versions for clients or servers are $500 each, in single-unit quantities.