3Com has also embraced the world's first computer modem that fits on a single chip. A couple of months after Analog Devices created the technology, 3Com - the world's biggest maker of modems for desktop computers - has said that it will use it in its US Robotics-brand modems for the retail computer market.

The decision vaults Analog Devices into the first rank of companies making chip sets for computer modems, alongside traditional industry leaders such as Rockwell International, Lucent Technologies and Texas Instruments.