Chips and Technologies
Pioneering fabless semiconductor company that opened the PC graphics market.
Chips and Technologies, Inc., often shortened to C&T, was a fabless semiconductor firm that began operations in Milpitas, California, in December 1984, with founders Gordon A. Campbell and Dado Banatao. Its debut product, announced in September 1985, was a set of four chips for EGA graphics that replaced nineteen proprietary IBM chips on the Enhanced Graphics Adapter. By the time of the COMDEX trade show that November, over half a dozen companies had brought out EGA-compatible boards relying on C&T’s chipset. The company later produced chipsets for PC motherboards and additional graphics chips. Intel bought C&T in 1997, mainly to acquire its graphics chip operations. Former C&T employees then founded Asiliant Technologies in January 2000 to keep supporting the CHIPS 65545, 65550, 65555, 69000, 69030, and other notebook and LCD-oriented graphics ICs. Intel licensed the rights to manufacture, sell, and service C&T chips to Asiliant, which did so for several years before shutting down.
Among its x86 products, C&T offered the SuperMath J38700DX, an FPU coprocessor compatible with the 80387DX. The company also created a 386-compatible microprocessor, the Super386 38600DX and 38600SX, developed through clean room design, though it never matched the success of Intel’s, AMD’s, or Cyrix’s 386 CPUs. The C&T 38605DX included a 512-byte cache but used a 144-pin PGA package that did not fit the standard 386 socket.
For motherboard chips and chipsets, C&T released the 82C100 in 1987, a chip for IBM PS/2 Model 30 and Super XT computers that worked with 8086, 80C86, V30, 8088, 80C88, and V20 CPUs. It integrated all PC/XT functional units—including the 8284, 8288, 8237, 8259, 8254, 8255, DRAM controller, SRAM controller, keyboard controller, parity generation, and configuration registers—and added EMS control, dual clock, and power management, supporting up to 2.5 MB of RAM. The 82C206 chip, introduced in 1986, formed the core of the NEAT (New Enhanced AT) chipset and, like the 82C100, replicated the functions of the TTL chips on a PC/AT motherboard: the 82284 clock generator, 82288 bus controller, 8254 timer, two 8259 interrupt controllers, two 8237 DMA controllers, and the MC146818 NVRAM/RTC chip. In 1989, the 82C235 Single Chip AT (SCAT) arrived, compatible with PC/AT and supporting LIM EMS 4.0, up to 16 MB of memory, and Shadow RAM.
Quick Facts
- Industry
- Semiconductors
- Founders
- Gordon A. Campbell / Dado Banatao
- Defunct
- 1997
- Fate
- Acquired by Intel
- Hq Location City
- Milpitas, California
- Hq Location Country
- United States
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
C&T's first product, announced September 1985, was a four-chip EGA chipset that handled the functions of 19 of IBM's proprietary chips on the Enhanced Graphics Adapter. By that November's COMDEX, more than a half dozen companies had introduced EGA-compatible boards based on C&T's chipset. This was followed by chipsets for PC motherboards and other computer graphics chips. C&T was the first company (outside of IBM) to deliver a compatible VGA chipset, the 82C451, and VGA cards were introduced the same year as VGA (1987) based on the 82C451, opening up the IBM compatible graphics display market. This market was then entered by companies such as Trident Microsystems, Western Digital, Cirrus Logic, Oak Technology, and others, until it was saturated. C&T also designed a 386-compatible microprocessor known as the Super386 38600DX/38600SX using clean room design techniques, but this chip never enjoyed as much success as the 386 CPUs produced by Intel, AMD, and Cyrix. C&T was acquired by Intel in 1997, primarily for its graphics chip business. Former members of C&T founded Asiliant Technologies in January 2000 to continue support of notebook and LCD oriented graphics ICs; Intel licensed the rights to build, sell, and service the C&T chips to Asiliant, which manufactured and sold C&T components for the next few years until it closed.
Reader's Guide
Chips and Technologies holds a significant place in PC history as the first fabless semiconductor company to successfully challenge IBM's proprietary graphics hardware. By delivering the first compatible EGA chipset in 1985 and the first compatible VGA chipset in 1987, C&T enabled a wave of third-party graphics card manufacturers, effectively opening the IBM-compatible graphics display market to competition. This catalyzed the entry of companies such as Trident Microsystems, Western Digital, Cirrus Logic, and Oak Technology. C&T's chipset innovations extended beyond graphics into motherboard chipsets, including the 82C206 (core of the NEAT chipset) and the 82C100 for PC/XT systems. The company also ventured into CPU design with the Super386, though it did not achieve commercial success. C&T's acquisition by Intel in 1997 primarily for its graphics chip business underscores the strategic value of its technology. The subsequent formation of Asiliant Technologies in 2000 to continue supporting C&T's notebook and LCD graphics ICs, with Intel licensing the rights, ensured that C&T's designs remained in use for several more years. Apple's use of C&T controllers in PowerBook models, such as the 65550 in the PowerBook 3400 and the 65554 in the 'Kanga' PowerBook G3, further demonstrates the company's impact on mobile computing graphics.
Did You Know?
- C&T was the first company outside of IBM to deliver an EGA-compatible chipset, announced September 1985.
- The 82C451 VGA chipset from C&T opened the IBM-compatible graphics display market in 1987.
- C&T designed a 386-compatible microprocessor called the Super386 38600DX/38600SX using clean room design techniques.
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