Federico Faggin (born December 1, 1941) is an Italian-born physicist/electrical engineer, principally responsible for the design of the first microprocessor and responsible for leading the 4004 (MCS-4) project to its successful outcome and for promoting its marketing. He also designed/led the design and was the vital force during the first five years of Intel's microprocessor effort. He continued to play a pacesetting role as founder and CEO of Zilog, the first company solely dedicated to microprocessors, for the next five years. is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Not to be confused with physician, a person who practices medicine. ... An engineers degree is an academic degree which is intermediate in rank between a masters degree and a doctorate; it is occasionally to be encountered in the United States in technical fields. ... A microprocessor is a programmable digital electronic component that incorporates the functions of a central processing unit (CPU) on a single semiconducting integrated circuit (IC). ... The Intel 4004 is a 4-bit central processing unit (CPU) released by Intel Corporation in 1971. ... Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, SEHK: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is an American multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ... Zilog, often seen as ZiLOG, is a manufacturer of 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit CPUs, and is most famous for its Intel 8080-compatible Z80 series. ...

Life

Born in Vicenza, Federico Faggin received a Laurea Degree in physics, summa cum laude, at the University of Padua. At age 19, after his graduation from technical high school, he took a job at Olivetti, in Italy, where he co-designed and led the implementation of a small computer. After obtaining his university degree he worked at SGS Fairchild in Italy, where he developed SGS's first MOS process technology and designed its first integrated circuits. In 1968 he moved to Palo Alto and worked at Fairchild Semiconductor, where he created the MOS Silicon Gate technology, the basis of all modern CMOS computer chips. At Fairchild he produced the world's first commercial integrated circuit using Silicon Gate Technology: the Fairchild 3708. In Italy, the laurea is the main post-secondary academic degree. ... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ... Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. ... Gymnasivm Patavinum: The Universitys main Bo palace shown in a 1654 woodcut The University of Padua (Italian Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) located in Padua, Italy was founded in 1222. ... Olivetti Lettera 22, 1950 Ing. ... Downtown Palo Alto Palo Alto is a city in Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, USA. Palo Alto is located at the northern end of the Silicon Valley, and is home to Stanford University (which is technically located in an adjacent area — Stanford, California... Fairchild Semiconductor introduced the first commercially available integrated circuit (although at almost the same time as one from Texas Instruments), and would go on to become one of the major players in the evolution of Silicon Valley in the 1960s. ...

In 1970 he joined Intel where Marcian (Ted) Hoff, with Stanley Mazor and Intel's customer Masatoshi Shima, had formulated a new architecture for a family of Busicom calculators. Federico Faggin was hired as project leader to implement such architecture, which had been idling for many months. Independently, and without any help from Hoff and Mazor, Faggin created a new methodology for random logic chip design using silicon gate technology, previously non existent, that made possible to fit the microprocessor in one chip. He developed the chip and logic design together with the layout of all the chips of the 4004 family (MCS-4). He built the tester to prove that the 4004 could be used for applications different from calculators (Hoff and Mazor considered the 4004 good only for calculators), and successfully transferred the first microprocessor to production. During the project development he was assisted only by Masatoshi Shima, who had come from Japan to check on the progress and stayed-on to help, and a couple of technicians. Faggin also convinced Bob Noyce to negotiate the exclusivity clause, in order to open the marketing of the 4004 which originally was a custom design for Busicom. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, SEHK: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is an American multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ... Dr. Marcian Edward Ted Hoff Jr. ... Masatoshi Shima (嶋正利 Shima Masatoshi, born on August 22, 1943 in Shizuoka, Japan) was at least partly responsible for the design of the worlds first microprocessor, the Intel 4004. ... Busicom was a company that owned the rights to the first microprocessor but sold them back to Intel. ... Dr. Marcian Edward Ted Hoff Jr. ... The Intel 4004 is a 4-bit central processing unit (CPU) released by Intel Corporation in 1971. ... The Intel 4004 is a 4-bit central processing unit (CPU) released by Intel Corporation in 1971. ... Dr. Marcian Edward Ted Hoff Jr. ... The Intel 4004 is a 4-bit central processing unit (CPU) released by Intel Corporation in 1971. ... Masatoshi Shima (嶋正利 Shima Masatoshi, born on August 22, 1943 in Shizuoka, Japan) was at least partly responsible for the design of the worlds first microprocessor, the Intel 4004. ... Robert Noyce Robert Noyce (December 12, 1927 – June 3, 1990), nicknamed the Mayor of Silicon Valley, co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel in 1968. ... The Intel 4004 is a 4-bit central processing unit (CPU) released by Intel Corporation in 1971. ... Busicom was a company that owned the rights to the first microprocessor but sold them back to Intel. ...

The design methodology created by Faggin was utilized for the implementation of all Intel’s early microprocessors. The 8008 development was originally assigned to Hal Feeney in March 1970 but was suspended until the 4004 was completed. It was resumed in January 1971 and Hal Feeney did the detailed design under Faggin’s direction and following his new methodology. Faggin developed the architectures and led the development of the 8080 and the 4040 microprocessors. When Faggin left Intel at the end of 1974 to found Zilog with Ralph Ungermann, he was department manager for MOS Research and Development with almost 80 engineers reporting to him and more than a dozen of products under development. Intel 8008 The Intel 8008 was an early microprocessor designed and manufactured by Intel and introduced in April, 1972. ... AMD clone NEC 8080AF (2nd-source). ... Intel D4040 Microprocessor The Intel 4040 microprocessor was the successor to the Intel 4004. ... Zilog, often seen as ZiLOG, is a manufacturer of 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit CPUs, and is most famous for its Intel 8080-compatible Z80 series. ... The MOSFET, or Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor, is by far the most common field-effect transistor in both digital and analog circuits (The Metal in the name is an anachronism from early chips where gates were metal; modern chips use polysilicon gates, but are still called MOSFETs). ...

Zilog was the first company entirely dedicated to microprocessors while Intel was principally dedicated to memories. At Zilog, Faggin conceived the architecture of the Z80 microprocessor and helped Shima, who had joined the new company, in its design. He was Zilog's President and CEO until the end of 1980. In 1982, he co-founded Cygnet Technologies, Inc., maker of the Cygnet CoSystem personal telecommunications device, and was President and CEO of the company until 1986. In 1986 he co-founded and was CEO of Synaptics a company which produces the most widely used touchpad in the industry. He is presently CEO of Foveon Inc., a company making image sensors with a novel technology. Zilog, often seen as ZiLOG, is a manufacturer of 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit CPUs, and is most famous for its Intel 8080-compatible Z80 series. ... The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed and manufactured by Zilog from 1976 onwards. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Touchpad and a pointing stick on an IBM Laptop Low resolution close up of a touchpad with a locking button. ...

Original articles on Silicon Gate Technology

Faggin, F., Klein, T., and Vadasz, L. :"Insulated Gate Field Effect Transistor Integrated Circuits with Silicon Gates", presented at the IEEE International Electron Device Meeting. Washington, D.C., October 1968

Federico Faggin and Thomas Klein.: "A Faster Generation of MOS Devices with Low Thresholds is Riding the Crest of the New Wave, Silicon-Gate IC's". "Electronics", September 29, 1969

F. Faggin, T. Klein: "Silicon-Gate Technology". "Solid State Electronics", 1970, Vo. 13, pp. 1125-1144

Original articles on the MCS-4, the first microprocessor

F. Faggin and M. E. Hoff: "Standard Parts and Custom Design Merge in a Four-chip Processor Kit". "Electronics" , April 24, 1972

F. Faggin, et al: "The MCS-4 An LSI Microcomputer System". "IEEE 1972 Region Six Conference"

Awards

• 1988: Marconi International Fellowship Award "for his pioneering contributions to the implementation of the microprocessor, a principal building block of modern telecommunications"
• 1988: Golden Medal for Science and Technology from the Italian Prime Minister
• 1988: title of "Grande Ufficiale" from the President of the Italian Republic
• 1994: IEEE W. Wallace McDowell Award "for his outstanding contributions to the computer field through the development of the Silicon Gate Process, and the first commercial microprocessor, one of the most important developments of the last 50 years"
• 1994: a doctorate honoris causa in Computer Science from the University of Milan (Italy).
• 1996: Ronald H. Brown American Innovator Award, with M. Hoff and S. Mazor
• 1996: a Lifetime Achievement Award by P.C. Magazine for "technical excellence".
• 1997: Kyoto Prize, with M. Hoff, S. Mazor and M. Shima
• 1996: inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame, with M. Hoff and S. Mazor
• 1997: George R. Stibitz Computer Pioneer Award by the American Computer Museum, with M. Hoff and S. Mazor
• 2001: Dr. Robert Noyce Memorial Award by the Semiconductor Industry Association, with M. Hoff and S. Mazor
• 2003: doctorate honoris causa in Electronic Engineering from the University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italy)
• 2003: AeA/Stanford Executive Institute Award for Outstanding Achievement in the High Tech Industry by an Alumnus
• 2006: European Inventor of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award by EPO (European Patent Office)

Federico Faggin is currently the CEO of Foveon, a Santa Clara (CA) company with a new technology for developing image sensors used in digital photography. He is also chairman of Synaptics and Zilog. Guglielmo Marconi International Fellowship Foundation, shortly called Marconi Foundation, and currently known as the Marconi Society, was established by Gioia Marconi Braga in 1974. ... The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE (pronounced as eye-triple-ee) is an international non-profit, professional organization incorporated in the State of New York, United States. ... The University of Milan (Università degli Studi di Milano, UNIMI) is one the larger universities in Italy, with about 60,000 students, a teaching and research staff of 2,500 and a non-teaching staff of 2,000. ... Dr. Marcian Edward Ted Hoff Jr. ... The Kyoto Prize (京都賞) has been awarded annually since 1984 by the Inamori Foundation, founded by Kazuo Inamori (fortune from ceramics). ... Dr. Marcian Edward Ted Hoff Jr. ... Categories: Japan geography stubs | Old provinces of Japan ... Exterior of the National Inventors Hall of Fame museum, 2005 The National Inventors Hall of Fame is an organization that honors important inventors from the whole world. ... The University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italian: Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata) is a university located in Rome, Italy, and founded in 1982. ... Stanford redirects here. ... The European Inventor of the Year awards are presented annually by the European Patent Office and the European Commissions DG Enterprise and Industry to inventors who have made a significant contribution to innovation in Europe. ... Foveon, Inc. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Zilog, often seen as ZiLOG, is a manufacturer of 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit CPUs, and is most famous for its Intel 8080-compatible Z80 series. ...

External links

• Foveon "Executive Profile"
• Zilog Corporate History
• IEEE Virtual Museum Biography of Federico Faggin