 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Mwave" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
| Designer | International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) |
|---|---|
| Bits | 16-bit |
| Introduced |
|
Mwave was a technology developed byIBM allowing for the combination oftelephony andsound card features on a single adapter card. The technology centers around the Mwavedigital signal processor (DSP). The technology was used for a time to provide a combinationmodem and sound card for IBM'sAptiva line and someThinkPad laptops, in addition to uses on specialized Mwave cards that handled voice recognition orISDN networking connectivity. Similar adapter cards by third-party vendors using Mwave technology were also sold. However, plagued byconsumer complaints about buggy Mwavesoftware andhardware, IBM eventually turned to other audio and telephony solutions for its consumer products.
Malcolm Ware, a former developer on Mwave, dates the technology back to its development in an IBM research lab inZurich, Switzerland in 1979. The firstprototype was tested in anIBM PC in 1981. After being utilized in some other adapter cards, Mwave was given its official name and used in IBM's WindSurferISA/MCA card. IBM manufactured Mwave hardware for bothMicrosoft Windows and its ownOS/2. Another revision of the technology was used in IBM's newly renamed Aptiva line. Gary Harper developed some automated test software, loosely based on the movieWarGames, to test how well the Mwave modem could connect to modems used by variousbulletin board systems.
One of the revisions of the Mwave card was the Mwave Dolphin. The card was an ISA legacy card that did not supportplug and play and natively supported Windows through its software. It featured a 28.8k/secondfax/modem and aSound Blaster-compatible audio solution. One of the card's most publicized features was its software upgradeability: a version of the Mwave software upgraded the modem function to 33.6k. In addition, the card was key in the support of some of the Aptiva's Rapid Resume features, includingWake-up On Ring. There were various consumer complaints with users reporting problems involving either the sound or modem features separately, or using both at the same time.[2] Some consumers were offered a check for the purchase of hardware to replace the Mwave card,[3] while others were offered a replacement modem, sound card or both.[4] At one point, aclass action lawsuit was filed;[5] it was finally settled in 2001.
Mwave Dolphindrivers version 20D and the Stingray version of the Mwave adapter addressed some shortcomings of the Dolphin (Stingray addedplug and play support), but IBM eventually stopped using the Mwave adapter card in its Aptiva computers and resorted to conventional sound card and modem options.
Mwave in some form or another has been produced for the MCA, ISA and PCMCIAbusses. SelectThinkPad 600 and770 models had aPCI version integrated (the Mwave chip integrated in selectThinkPad 755,760 and765 models was ISA-based). CertainSun SPARCstationworkstations incorporated the Mwave DSP chip for sound card functionality.
Although Mwave adapter cards were discontinued, aLinux driver for the PCI-based Mwave in the ThinkPad 600 and 770 models was developed and released by IBM.[6]