Four-Phase Systems
Industry | Semiconductor |
---|---|
Founded | 1969 |
Founder | Lee Boysel |
Defunct | 1981 |
Fate | Acquired by Motorola |
Headquarters | Cupertino, CA, USA |
Products | Semiconductor main memory, LSI MOS logic, central processing unit, microprocessor |
Owner | Motorola |
Four-Phase Systems, Inc., was a computer company, founded by
History
The idea behind Four-Phase Systems began when Boysel was designing MOS components at Fairchild Semiconductor in 1967. Boysel wrote a manifesto explaining how a computer could be built from a small number of MOS chips. Fairchild made Boysel head of a MOS design group, which he used to design parts satisfying the requirements of his putative computer. After doing this, Boysel left to start Four-Phase in October 1968, initially with two other engineers from his Fairchild group as well as others. Boysel was not sued by Fairchild, perhaps because of chaos caused by a change in Fairchild management at that time.[2] When the company was incorporated in February 1969, he was joined by other engineers from the Fairchild group. Robert Noyce, co-founder of Intel, was an early board member.[3]
Boysel arranged for chips to be fabricated by Cartesian, a
In 1982, Four-Phase was sold to Motorola for a $253 million stock exchange (equivalent to $799 million today).
System
The Four-Phase CPU used a 24-bit word size. It fit on a single card and was composed of three AL1 chips, three read-only-memory (ROM) chips, and three random logic chips. A memory card used Four-Phase's 1K RAM chips.[7] The system also included a built-in video controller which could drive up to 32 terminals from a character buffer in main memory.[8]
The AL1 is an 8-bit
References
- ISBN 978-0-8018-8639-3.
- ISBN 978-1-900747-48-6.
- ^ "Lee Boysel – Making Your First Million And Other Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs".
- ^ Bassett 2000, pp. 120–1
- ^ Bassett 2007, pp. 257–8
- ^ Bassett 2000, p. 130
- ^ Bassett 2000, pp. 122, 124
- ^ Brochure, System IV/70, Four Phase Systems. From the Computer History Museum. Accessed on line June 11, 2010. Also see Bassett 2007, pp. 256–7, 260
- ^ Bassett 2007, p. 258
- ^ Lee Boysel; Joseph P. Murphy (April 1970). "Four-phase LSI logic offers new approach to computer designer". Computer Design: 141–146.
- ^ Bassett 2000, p. 115
- ^ "Court Room Demonstration System 1969 AL1 Microprocessor", 4/3/95, Lee Boysel. From the Computer History Museum. Accessed on line June 11, 2010.
- ^ "Microprocessor Stories: Four-Phase Systems AL1". Computer History Museum. 2011.
- ^ "The Surprising Story of the First Microprocessors". 30 August 2016. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- Boysel, Lee. "Making Your First Million (and other tips for aspiring entrepreneurs)" (QuickTime). University of Michigan ECE-Invited Lectures.[permanent dead link]
- Lee Boysel – Making Your First Million And Other Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs