View source for Mostek

{{Short description|American electronics company}}
{{Distinguish|MOS Technology}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Mostek Corporation
| logo = File:Mostek logo late 1970s.svg
| logo_caption = Mostek logo from the late 1970s until its acquisition by [[United Technologies]]
| type = <!-- Public or private -->
| industry = Semiconductors
| founded = {{Start date and age|1969}} in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]]
| founder = {{ubl|L. J. Sevin|Louay E. Sharif|Richard L. Petritz}}
| defunct = {{End date|1985}}
| fate = Merged into [[STMicroelectronics]]
| num_employees =
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) -->
}}
'''Mostek Corporation''' was a semiconductor [[integrated circuit]] manufacturer, founded in 1969 by L. J. Sevin, Louay E. Sharif, Richard L. Petritz and other ex-employees of [[Texas Instruments]]. At its peak in the late 1970s, Mostek held an 85% market share of the [[dynamic random-access memory]] (DRAM) memory chip market worldwide, until being eclipsed by lower-priced Japanese DRAM manufacturers who were accused of [[Dumping (pricing policy)|dumping]] memory on the market.<ref>
{{cite news |first1=David E. |last1=Sanger
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/03/business/japan-chip-dumping-is-found.html |title=Japan chip 'dumping' is found |newspaper=New York Times|date=3 August 1985}} <br/> {{cite news |first1=Donald |last1=Woutat.
|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-12-04-fi-625-story.html |title=6 Japan Chip Makers Cited for Dumping
|newspaper=Los Angeles Times
|date=4 November 1985}}
<br/>
{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-03-14-fi-20761-story.html |title=More Japan Firms Accused: U.S. Contends 5 Companies Dumped Chips
|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=1986}} <br/> </ref>
In 1979, soon after its market peak, Mostek was purchased by [[United Technologies Corporation]] for {{US$|345M}}. In 1985, after several years of red ink and declining market share, UTC closed Mostek completely and sold it for {{US$|71M}} to the French electronics firm [[Thomson-CSF]], which later spun it off into [[STMicroelectronics]].
==Early Products==
[[File:MK6010.jpg|thumb|World's 1st Single-Chip Calculator]]
Mostek's first contract was from [[Burroughs Corporation|Burroughs]], a $400 contract for circuit design.  Initially Mostek products were manufactured in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]] in cooperation with [[Sprague Electric]], however by 1974 most of its manufacturing was done at their headquarters in [[Carrollton, Texas]].  The first design to be produced was the MK1001, a simple [[barrel shifter]] chip made using an aluminium-gate [[PMOS logic|PMOS]] process. This was followed by a 1K [[DRAM]], the MK4006, designed by Vern McKinney, that was manufactured in their Carrollton facility.
Mostek had been working with [[Sprague Electric]] to develop the [[ion implantation]] process<ref>{{cite journal|access-date=2024-02-16 |date=2010-06-09 |title=From nuclear physics to semiconductor manufacturing: the making of ion implantation |publisher=tandfonline.com |doi=10.1080/07341510903083211 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07341510903083211 |last1=Lécuyer |first1=Christophe |last2=Brock |first2=David C. |journal=History and Technology |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=193–217 }}</ref> which provided much better control of doping profiles, especially in lowering enhancement-mode transistor threshold voltage and providing depletion-load transistors. Using ion implantation, Mostek became an early leader in MOS manufacturing technology, while their competition was still mostly using the older bipolar technology. The resulting increased speed and lower cost of the MK4006 memory chip made it the runaway favorite to IBM and other [[Mainframe computer|mainframe]] and [[minicomputer]] manufacturers (cf. [[BUNCH]], [[Digital Equipment Corporation]]).
In 1970 [[Busicom]], a Japanese [[adding machine]] manufacturer, approached [[Intel]] and Mostek with a proposal to introduce a new electronic calculator line. Intel responded first, providing them with the [[Intel 4004]], which they used in a line of desktop calculators. Mostek's device took longer to develop but was the world's first '''single chip calculator''', the MK6010, used for the Busicom LE-120A which went on the market in 1971 and was the smallest calculator available for some time.<ref name ="Popular Science Jun 1971">{{cite magazine | last = Free | first = John R. | title = Microelectronics Shrinks the Calculator |magazine= Popular Science | volume = 198 | issue =6 | pages =74–76, 111 | date = June 1971 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sgAAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA111 | quote = One 40-lead ceramic package will replace 22 MSI circuits now used in Busicom Junior model. Mostek/Nippon-developed chip is about 0.18 inch on a side, with 2,100 transistors. }}</ref> [[Hewlett-Packard]] also contracted with Mostek for design and production of chips for their [[HP-35]] and [[HP-45]] calculators.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-02-16 |date= |title=Hewlett Packard Model 46 Electronic Calculator |publisher=oldcalculatormuseum.com |url=https://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/hp46.html}}</ref>
==World leader in DRAM==
[[File:MOSTEK 4K RAM June 1974.jpg|thumb|Mostek's 4K Dynamic RAM.]]
Mostek co-founder Robert Proebsting invented [[DRAM]] address multiplexing with the MK4096 4096 X 1 bit DRAM introduced in 1973. [[Bus (computing)#Address multiplexing|Address multiplexing]] reduced cost and board space by fitting a 4K DRAM into a 16 pin package, while competitors used a bulky and relatively expensive 22 pin package.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-02-16 |date=2017-06-30 |title=Chip Hall of Fame: Mostek MK4096 4-Kilobit DRAM |publisher=[[IEEE]] |url= https://spectrum.ieee.org/chip-hall-of-fame-mostek-mk4096-4kilobit-dram}}</ref> Competitors derided the Mostek approach as unnecessarily complex, but Proebsting understood the future roadmap for DRAM memories would benefit greatly if only one new pin were needed for every 4X increase in memory size, instead of the two pins per 4X for the evolutionary approach.
Computer manufacturers found address multiplexing to be a compelling feature as they saw that a future 64K DRAM chip would save 8 pins if implemented with address multiplexing and subsequent generations even more. Per pin costs are a major cost driver in integrated circuits, plus the multiplexed approach used less silicon area, which further reduces chip cost. The MK4096 was produced using an NMOS aluminum-gate process with an added interconnect layer of polysilicon (dubbed the SPIN process).<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-02-16 |date=1979 |title=Mostek 1979 Memory Data Book And Designer Guide |publisher=  |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/components/mostek/_dataBooks/1979_Mostek_Memory_Data_Book_and_Designers_Guide_Mar79.pdf |page=101}}</ref> The [[fear, uncertainty and doubt]] put up by the competition regarding address multiplexing was dispelled by the actual performance of the MK4096 which proved solid and robust in all types of computer memory designs.
In 1976 Mostek introduced the [[silicon-gate]] MK4027 (an improved version of the metal-gated MK4096), and in 1977 the MK4116 16K double-poly silicon-gate DRAM. They were designed by Paul Schroeder and Robert Proebsting (Schroeder later left Mostek to co-found [[Inmos]]). The MK4116 achieved '''greater than 75% worldwide DRAM market share.''' The MK4027 and MK4116 were reverse-engineered by [[MOSAID]] and successfully cloned by many companies, both USA and overseas-based.
The 64K generation of DRAMs required a transition from 12V & +/−5V to 5V-only operation, in order to free the +12V and −5V pins for use as addresses (the +5V and ground pins were assigned to pins 8 and 16, respectively, rather than the 16-pin TTL DIP standard of pin 8 for ground and pin 16 for +5V). While most competitors took a conservative approach by simply shrinking (scaling) their 64Ks, Mostek undertook a major redesign which incorporated forward-looking features (such as controlled pre-charge current) that were not necessary at the 64K level and delayed entry into the market.
Mostek's DRAM legacy is exemplified in the MK4116, MK4164 and MK41256. "By four" DRAM was a simple adaptation of the MK4116/MK4164/MK41256 technology, utilizing a larger package to accommodate the additional data bits and multiplexing the data in/out pins as well; the basic *RAS, *CAS, *WRITE and [[Bus (computing)#Bus multiplexing|multiplexed address bus]] concept was retained intact.
==World leader in telecommunications products==
Mostek enjoyed many years of mastery of the international market for telecommunications products. Their product line included telephone tone and pulse dialers, [[touchtone]] decoders, counters, top-octave generators (used by [[Hammond organ|Hammond]], [[Baldwin Piano Company|Baldwin]], and others), [[CODEC]]s, watch circuits, and a host of custom products for a variety of customers. The products used the simple [[aluminum-gate|aluminium-gate]] [[PMOS logic|PMOS]] (& later aluminium-gate [[CMOS]]) process and helped maintain Mostek's cash flow through intense DRAM competition, and other semiconductor market pressures. In 1975 a smoky fire in the [[wafer fabrication|wafer fab]] closed it for several months and production of some critical products was shifted to a friendly fab ([[Synertek]]) in Silicon Valley.
Several employees played a key role in the Telecommunications and Industrial Products Department. Bob Paluck headed the department and later Dave Seeler, assisted by Mike Callahan, Charles Johnson, William Bradley, Robert C. Jones, Bob Banks, Ted Lewis, Darin Kincaid, and William Cummings. Telecom marketing was handled by John Crago, Randall Hopkins, and Henry Wasik. Lewis and Bradley were designated as key employees after the United Technologies purchase.
Bradley designed all of the custom products based on the single-chip-calculator platform, as well as the code for the wristwatch chips produced by Mostek for [[Bulova]] and other customers. For a short while, Paluck headed a joint venture called Mostek Hong Kong, a collaboration with Bulova for the production of high-end wristwatches based on Mostek designs. Bradley was an employee of that joint venture. Paluck left Mostek to work with [[Sevin Rosen Funds]] and [[Convex Computer]]. As Mostek's focus was shifted to its DRAM products, the industrial and telecommunications products were ignored and their market share vanished.
==Microprocessor second sourcing deals==
[[Image:KL Mostek MK3880P Z80.jpg|thumb|Mostek MK3880P (Zilog Z80).]]
{{multiple image | direction = vertical | width = 120 | footer = Mostek MK3880 (Zilog Z80) die | image1 = Mostek MK3880 top metal.jpg | alt1 = Mostek MK3880 with metal | caption1 = - metal layer | image2 = Mostek MK3880 top metal removed.jpg | alt2 = Mostek MK3880 without metal | caption2 = - silicon only }}
With this foundation in calculator chips and high volume DRAM production, Mostek gained a reputation as a leading semiconductor "fabrication house" ([[fab (semiconductors)|fab]]) in the early 1970s.
=== MK5065 ===
In 1974 Mostek introduced the [[Mostek 5065|MK5065]], an 8-bit PMOS [[microprocessor]], with 51 instructions whose execution times range from 3 to 16 μs. Architectural features included multiple nested indirect addressing and three register sets (each consisting of an accumulator, a program counter and a carry/link bit) which could be used for interrupt processing or for subroutines.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Mostek 5065's by the 1000's |journal=Microcomputer Digest |date=February 1975 |volume=8 |issue=8 |pages=1–2 |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/magazines/Microcomputer_Digest/Microcomputer_Digest_v01n08_Feb75.pdf |access-date=10 January 2021 |publisher=Microcomputer Associates Inc}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Integrated Circuit Guide |publisher=Mostek |date=1974 |pages=78–80 |url=https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_mostekdatagratedCircuitGuide_14005467/page/n79 |access-date=2021-11-04}}</ref><ref>Mostek 5065 instruction set: {{cite book |title=A Microcomputer Based Substation Control System |author=Billy Don Russel, Jr. |date=1975 |pages=108–112 |publisher=University of Oklahoma |url=https://shareok.org/bitstream/handle/11244/4115/7615823.PDF |access-date=2021-11-04}}</ref> [[Bill Mensch]] was one of the engineers who had actually designed the 5065 at Motorola for Olivetti.{{cn|date=March 2024}}
=== MK3870 ===
A more popular product was the MK3870, which combined the two-chip [[Fairchild F8]] (3850 + 3851) into a single chip,<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-02-16 |date=2022-12-12 |title=A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 6: The Fairchild F8 and Mostek MK3870 |publisher=eejournal.com |url=https://www.eejournal.com/article/a-history-of-early-microcontrollers-part-6-the-fairchild-f8-and-mostek-mk3870/}}</ref> introduced in 1977. William Bradley designed a host of custom products based on the 3870. Fairchild later licensed the 3870 back from Mostek. Mostek also produced [[Read-only memory|ROM]] chips on demand, as well as the chips powering the [[Hammond organ|Hammond electronic organ]].
=== MK3880===
During the introduction of the [[Zilog Z80|Z80]], [[Zilog]] needed a production partner while they got their own fabs set up. They first signed a production agreement with [[Synertek]], but the company later demanded they sign a [[second source]] deal, allowing Synertek to produce and sell the design on their own. Zilog refused, so the agreement was broken.  Zilog then selected Mostek as the only other company capable of building a +5V device (as opposed to +5 and +12).{{sfn|Slater|2007|p=7}} Mostek had developed advanced layout methods which were applied to the Z80, resulting in the device being shrunk by 20%.{{sfn|Slater|2007|p=11}} Mostek was able to sign a [[second source]] deal for what it called the MK3880.{{sfn|Slater|2007|p=4}} The Z80 eventually became the most popular microcomputer family, and was used in millions of embedded devices as well as in many [[home computer]]s and computers using the de facto standard [[CP/M]] operating system, such as the [[Osborne 1|Osborne]], [[Kaypro]], and [[TRS-80]] models.{{efn|Older note left in: Mostek supposedly discovered that Zilog had modified the recipe for Z80 chips to keep the yields low{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}, thereby buying Zilog time to build their own fabs.}}
=== Others ===
Mostek sought new microprocessor partners and negotiated deals with Intel to gain second sourcing rights to the [[Intel 8086]] microprocessor family and future x86 designs and with Motorola for rights to the [[Motorola 68000]] and [[VMEbus|VME]]. Mostek thus secured rights to every microprocessor family that would be important for the next 25 years.  The Intel x86 microprocessors would go on to become the brains for the [[IBM PC]], while the Motorola 68000 would become the heart of the [[Macintosh|Apple Macintosh]] line. However, as with its telecom business, Mostek chose not to aggressively follow-up its entry into microprocessors—instead increasing its concentration on DRAMs.
==Decline in the face of Asian competition==
Mostek was bought by [[United Technologies]] (UTC) in 1979 for US$345M to prevent an unfriendly takeover from [[Gould Electronics|Gould]] at the 10th anniversary of the company's founding, when a large block of stock options controlled by [[Sprague Electric]] became vested. The leadership UTC chose for its semiconductor division did not appreciate the up-front investment required or the long time for ROI.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Proebsting|first1=Robert|title=Oral History of Robert Proebsting|url=http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2013/05/102658285-05-01-acc.pdf|website=Computer History Museum|access-date=13 June 2014}}</ref>
UTC at first invested hundreds of millions to expand Mostek, then hundreds of millions more trying to keep the company going during the various semiconductor and [[Video game crash of 1983|videogame crashes]] of the early 1980s.
UTC sacrificed Mostek's leadership position in some markets, focusing instead on the highly competitive (and eventually unprofitable) DRAM business.
Unfortunately the DRAM marketplace was the beachhead where [[Japanese consumer electronics industry|Japanese firms]] would make their successful assault on the global semiconductor market. In 1985, when 64K DRAM memory chips were the most common memory chips used in computers, and when more than 60 percent of those chips were produced by Japanese companies, semiconductor makers in the United States (including Mostek spin-off Micron) accused Japanese companies of [[export dumping]] for the purpose of driving makers in the United States out of the commodity memory chip business. Prices for the 64K product plummeted to as low as 35 cents apiece from $3.50 within 18 months, with disastrous financial consequences for U.S. chip makers.  On 4 December 1985 the US Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration ruled in favor of the complaint,<ref>
{{cite news |first1=David E. |last1=Sanger
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/03/business/japan-chip-dumping-is-found.html |title=Japan chip 'dumping' is found |newspaper=New York Times|date=3 August 1985}} <br/> {{cite news |first1=Donald |last1=Woutat.
|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-12-04-fi-625-story.html |title=6 Japan Chip Makers Cited for Dumping
|newspaper=Los Angeles Times
|date=4 November 1985}}
<br/>
{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-03-14-fi-20761-story.html |title=More Japan Firms Accused: U.S. Contends 5 Companies Dumped Chips
|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=1986}} <br/> </ref> but the ruling was too late to save Mostek.
Mostek's 256K DRAM had been delayed by a then-ambitious double-layer metallization design. In 1985, when the price for 64Ks had collapsed and 256K prices were already under $10, Mostek's 256K device was still not ready for volume production, and the company suffered heavy losses. Eventually, on 17 October 1985, UTC gave up, closed Mostek completely, and days later sold it to [[Thomson-CSF]], a French Government electronics company, for a mere $71 million.<ref name ="NYT Nov 1985">{{cite news | title = Sale of Mostek Is Completed | newspaper = New York Times | page = D.4 | date = November 14, 1985 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/14/business/sale-of-mostek-is-completed.html | quote = The United Technologies Corporation said yesterday that it had completed the sale of its financially troubled Mostek semiconductor subsidiary to Thomson-CSF, a French Government electronics company, for about $71 million. }}</ref> By 1986, all United States chip makers had stopped making DRAMs.<ref>
{{cite book |first1=William R. |last1=Nester |title=American Industrial Policy: Free or Managed Markets? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCi_DAAAQBAJ |date=2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-349-25568-9 |page=115}}.</ref>
Thomson called back only about 20% of the workforce in an attempt to return Mostek to profitability. In 1987 Thomson merged its semiconductor operations, including Mostek, with the Italian [[SGS-ATES]] to become [[STMicroelectronics]], based in [[Geneva, Switzerland]]. At the time of the merger the new corporation was named SGS-Thomson but took its current name in May 1998 following Thomson's sale of its shares.  Mostek's [[Patent portfolio|intellectual property portfolio]], which included many foundational patents in DRAM technology, turned out to be highly valuable. STM started a series of lawsuits to collect royalties and between 1987 and 1993 made $450&nbsp;million on these licenses alone. {{citation needed|date=May 2019}}
==Spinoffs==
Jerry Rogers founded [[Cyrix]] in 1988 to capitalize on the Mostek second source agreement that allowed any [[80x86]] processor to be legally copied, which Intel attempted to stop via lawsuits. Eventually, after losing many legal battles, Intel simply changed the name of the 80586 to the [[Pentium (brand)|Pentium]], thereby ending the agreement.
[[Micron Technology]] was a very successful spinoff founded by a handful of Mostek employees, including Ward Parkinson, Dennis Wilson, and Doug Pitman.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}
Sevin Rosen Funds co-founded by LJ Sevin funded [[Compaq|Compaq Computers]], Cyrix, [[Convex Computer]]s and more.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}
Bob Paluck started Convex Computers in ca 1979. Vin Prothro started [[Dallas Semiconductor]] in ca 1984. Mike Callahan started [[Crystal Semiconductor]] in ca 1979. Charles Johnson started SRX in ca 1981.
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
*[http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/102702114 "Oral History of Charles Phipps"], [[Computer History Museum]], May 28, 2009, Interviewer: Rosemary Remacle.
*[http://www.petritzfoundation.org/mdocs-posts/mostek-prospectus// "Mostek Prospectus" March 17, 1972]
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite interview
|interviewer=Michael Slater
|url=http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Zilog_Z80/102658073.05.01.pdf
|title=Zilog Oral History Panel on the Founding of the Company and the Development of the Z80 Microprocessor
|date=27 April 2007
|ref=CITEREFSlater2007
}}
== External links ==
* [http://smithsonianchips.si.edu/augarten/p50.htm MK4116 DRAM] (Smithsonian Chip Collection)
* [http://www.antiquetech.com/?page_id=880 Mostek] (Antique Tech)
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:American companies established in 1969]]
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 1985]]
[[Category:Computer companies established in 1969]]
[[Category:Computer companies disestablished in 1985]]
[[Category:Computer memory companies]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Defunct semiconductor companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Texas Instruments spinoffs]]