MOS Technology
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2010) |
Industry | Semiconductor design and manufacturing |
---|---|
Predecessor | Allen-Bradley |
Founded | 1969 |
Defunct | 2001 |
Successor | Commodore Semiconductor Group Western Design Center |
Headquarters | , United States |
MOS Technology, Inc. ("MOS" being short for
History
Three former General Instrument executives, John Paivinen, Mort Jaffe and Don McLaughlin, formed MOS Technology in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in 1969. The Allen-Bradley Company was looking to provide a second source for electronic calculators and their chips designed by Texas Instruments (TI). In 1970 Allen-Bradley acquired a majority interest in MOS Technology.
In the early 1970s, TI decided to release their own line of calculators, instead of selling just the chips inside them, and introduced them at a price that was lower than the price of the chipset alone. Many early chip companies were reliant on sales of calculator chips and were wiped out in the aftermath; those that survived did so by finding other chips to produce. MOS became a supplier to Atari, producing a custom single-chip Pong system.
Things changed dramatically in 1975. Several of the designers of the
Mask fixing
Previous CPU designs, like the 6800, were produced using a device known as a contact aligner. This was essentially a complex photocopier, which optically reproduced a CPU design, or "mask", on the surface of the silicon chip. The name "contact" referred to the fact that the mask was placed directly on the surface of the chip, which had the significant disadvantage that it sometimes pulled away materials from the chip, which were then copied to subsequent chips. This caused the mask to become useless after about a dozen copies, and resulted in the vast majority of chips having fatal flaws; for a complex chip like the 6800, only about 10% of the chips would work once the masking process was complete.[1]
In 1974
The change to the Micralign revealed a further advantage. Previously the masks were mass-produced by photography companies like Kodak, who would make tens of thousands of copies of a master mask, or "reticle", and ship the masks to the aligners by the truckload. This meant that if a flaw was found in the design, it would cost a significant amount of money to fix it, as all the older masks would have to be thrown out. In contrast, with Micralign there was only one mask per aligner, so there was no inherent cost in replacing the mask if need be, although the cost, and especially time, of producing these master masks was considerable.[1]
MOS developed the ability to "fix" its masks after they had been produced.[1] This meant that as flaws in the design were discovered, the masks could be removed from the aligners, fixed, and put back in. This allowed them to rapidly drive out flaws in the original masks.
The company's production lines typically reversed the numbers others were achieving; even the early runs of a new CPU design—what would become the 6502—were achieving a success rate of 70 percent or better. This meant that not only were its designs faster, but they also cost much less as well.
6502 family
When the 6501 was announced, Motorola launched a lawsuit almost immediately. Although the 6501
In the meantime MOS had started selling the
The 6502 was so cheap that many people believed it was a scam when MOS first showed it at a 1975 trade show. They were not aware of MOS's masking techniques and when they calculated the price per chip at the current industry yield rates, it did not add up. But any hesitation to buy it evaporated when both Motorola and Intel dropped the prices on their own designs from $179 to $69 at the same show in order to compete. Their moves legitimized the 6502, and by the show's end, the wooden barrel full of samples was empty.[citation needed]
The 6502 would quickly go on to be one of the most popular chips of its day. A number of companies licensed the 650x line from MOS, including
A number of different versions of the basic CPU, known as the 6503 through 6507, were offered in 28-pin packages for lower cost. The various models removed signal or address pins. Far and away the most popular of these was the 6507, which was used in the Atari 2600 and Atari disk drives. The 6504 was sometimes used in printers. MOS also released a series of similar CPUs using external clocks, which added a "1" to the name in the third digit, as the 6512 through 6515. These were useful in systems where the clock support was already being provided on the motherboard by some other source. The final addition was the "crossover" 6510, used in the Commodore 64, with additional I/O ports.
Commodore Semiconductor Group
However successful the 6502 was, the company itself was having problems. At about the same time the 6502 was being released, MOS's entire calculator IC market collapsed, and its prior existing products stopped shipping. Soon they were in serious financial trouble. Another company, Commodore Business Machines (CBM), had invested heavily in the calculator market and was also nearly wiped out by TI's entry into the market. A fresh injection of capital saved CBM, and allowed it to invest in company suppliers in order to help ensure their IC supply would not be upset in this fashion again. Among the several companies were LED display manufacturers, power controllers, and suppliers of the driver chips, including MOS.
In late 1976, CBM, publicly traded on the NYSE with a market capitalization around US$60 million, purchased MOS (whose market cap was around US$12 million) in an all-stock deal. Holders of MOS received a 9.4 percent equity stake in CBM[3][4][5] on the condition that Chuck Peddle would join Commodore as chief engineer. The deal went through, and while the firm basically became Commodore's production arm, they continued using the name MOS for some time so that manuals would not have to be reprinted. After a while MOS became the Commodore Semiconductor Group (CSG). Despite being renamed to CSG, all chips produced were still stamped with the old "MOS" logo until 1989.
MOS had previously designed a simple computer kit called the KIM-1, primarily to "show off" the 6502 chip. At Commodore, Peddle convinced the owner, Jack Tramiel, that calculators were a dead end, and that home computers would soon be huge.
However, the original design group appeared to be even less interested in working for Jack Tramiel than it had for Motorola, and the team quickly started breaking up. One result was that the newly completed 6522 (VIA) chip was left undocumented for years.
GMT Microelectronics
After Commodore's
The plant had been on the EPA's National Priorities List of
Chip naming convention
Most of the MOS chips are named according to following rules, which shows used technology (logic gate design):[10]
Products
- KIM-1 – single board computer (kit)/CPU evaluation board, based on 6502
- CSG 65CE02) with two CIAs on-chip; 3.45 MHz
- 5719 – Gary Gate Array
- 2521 – 8-digit calculator chip[11][12]
- 2523 – 8-digit calculator chip[13][14]
- 2529 – Single chip scientific calculator array[15]
- 6501– CPU pin-compatible with Motorola 6800
- 6502 – CPU equal to 6501 except no 6800-pin-compatibility
- 65CE02– CPU derived from the 6502
- 6503 – CPU with 12 address pins, NMI pin and IRQ pin
- 6504 – CPU with 13 address pins and IRQ pin
- 6505 – CPU with 12 address pins, IRQ pin and RDY pin.
- 6507 – CPU with 13 address pins
- 6508 – CPU with 256 B RAM and 8 I/O pins
- 6509 – CPU with 20 address pins
- 6510 – CPU with clock pins and I/O ports,
- 6520– PIA Peripheral Interface Adapter
- 6522 – VIA Versatile Interface Adapter
- 6523/6525 – Tri-Port Interface
- 6526/8520/8521 – CIA Complex Interface Adapter
- 6529 – SPI/SPIA Single Port Interface Adapter
- 6530 – RRIOT ROM-RAM-I/O Timer
- 6532 – RIOT RAM-I/O Timer
- 6540 – 2 KiB ROM
- 6545– CRTC CRT Controller
- 6550 – 512 byte Static RAM
- 6551 – ACIA Asynchronous Communications Interface Adapter
- 6560 – VIC Video Interface Chip, (NTSC)
- 6561 – VIC Video Interface Chip, (PAL) Revision: -101 / E
- 6562 – VIC Video Interface Chip, (NTSC) (6561 supporting 40-column)
- 6564 – 80-column video (intended for Colour PET, part of its design used in the MOS 6560/6561)
- 6566 – VIC-II (MaxMachine)
- 6567 – VIC-II (NTSC) Revision: R56A/R7/R8/R9
- 6569 – VIC-II (PAL) Revision: R1/R3/R4/R5 (R1 = only 5 lumas)
- 6570 – 6500/1 microcontroller on keyboard PCB in Amiga 500 revision: -036
- 6572 – VIC-II (PAL-N)
- 6573 – VIC-II (PAL-M)
- 6581/6582/8580 – SIDSound Interface Device
- 7360/8360 – TED Text Editing Device (HMOS-I/II)
- 7501– CPU HMOS-I 6502 with 7-bit I/O port
- 8361 – AGNUS Address Generator Unit (NTSC)
- 8362– DENISE Display Encoder
- 8364– PAULA Port Audio UART and Logic
- 8367 – AGNUS Address Generator Unit (PAL)
- 8370 – "Fat" AGNUS Address Generator Unit (NTSC)
- 8371 – "Fat" AGNUS Address Generator Unit (PAL)
- ECSAGNUS Address Generator Unit
- ECSDENISE Display Encoder
- AGAALICE Address Generator Unit
- ECSAGNUS Address Generator Unit
- 8500– CPU HMOS-II Version of 6510
- 8501– CPU HMOS-II 6502 with 7-bit I/O port
- 8502 – CPU compatible with 6510 but able to run at 2 MHz
- 8520 – CIA (Complex Interface Adapter) 1 MHz 8520 or 2 MHz 8520A-1 in Amiga
- 8551– ACIA Asynchronous Communications Interface Adapter, HMOS-II variant of the 6551
- 8562 – VIC-II (NTSC)
- 8563 – VDC Video Display Controller
- 8564 – VIC-II (NTSC)
- 8565 – VIC-II (PAL)
- 8566 – VIC-II (PAL)
- 8568 – VDC with composite HSYNC, VSYNC, and RDY interrupt
- 8701 – clock generator
- 8721 – PLA
- 8722 – MMU Memory Management Unit
- 8726 – REC RAM Expansion Controller
- 8727 – DMA Direct Memory Access
References
- ^ a b c d Mensch, Bill (November 10, 2014). "Oral History of William David "Bill" Mensch, Jr" (PDF). Computer History Museum. p. 18.
- ^ "MOS MCS6500 Microcomputer Family Hardware Manual (Publication Number 6500-10A), January 1976, p. 41" (PDF).
- ^ "MOS – The Rise of MOS Technology & The 6502" (published January 18, 2006). March 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
MOS Technology is privately owned and valued at around $12 million.
- ^ "Calculator maker integrates downwards". New Scientist. Vol. 71, no. 1071. Reed Business Information. September 9, 1976. p. 541 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Commodore Buys MOS Technology", New Scientist, September 1976
- ^ a b c d "THIRD FIVE-YEAR REVIEW REPORT For Commodore Semiconductor Group Superfund Site" (PDF). United States Environmental Protection Agency Region III. August 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 21, 2020.
- ^ "Commodore Computers Superfund Site Information". Environmental Protection Agency. April 2004. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
- ^ "Commodore Semiconductor Group" (PDF). epa.org. August 2002. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- ^ "GMT signs bi-polar foundry deal with TelCom". Electronic Engineering Times. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
- ^ "m6502.txt - m6502 - tankcarneiro". Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
- ^ Vis, Peter. "Melcor 380". Calculators. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ Woerner, Joerg. "MELCOR Model 380". Datamath Calculator Museum. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ Sebastian, Mike. "MOS Technology, Inc. Calculator Chips". Programmable Calculators. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
- ^ Braun; et al. (January 4, 1977). Measuring system for the pharmacological manipulation of the coagulation mechanism in blood and for the elapsed coagulation time. United States: United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
- ^ "MOS Technology Calculator Chip Ad 1974". Electronics. November 14, 1974. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
External links
- Media related to MOS Technology at Wikimedia Commons
- Information on MOS' chips and their use in CBM's computers – By Ronald van Dijk
- Documentation for various chips used in Commodore computers
- EPA page on former MOS/CSG/GMT fabrication facility - link validated November 30, 2016.
- On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore (2005), Variant Press. Covers Chuck Peddle, the formation of MOS Technology and corporate history, and the design and promotion of the 6502.