Artifact Details

Title

AT&T DSP1 oral history panel

Catalog Number

102740084

Type

Document

Description

This oral history focuses on the conception, design and implementation of the AT&T DSP1, one of the very first digital signal processors (DSP) implemented on a single silicon chip. The team on the panel consists of three men who were some of the key designers of that chip. The work was done at Bell Labs in 1977/78, and although the three on the panel were key in its conception and implementation, they emphasized throughout the interview the critical roles played by many other designers in this successful project.

The oral history chronicles the early conception of the device, the choice of implementation technology, design trade offs, system and chip level design, and finally testing. The team emphasized the critical importance of the collaborative Bell Labs environment that allowed them to tap the critical skills of those outside of the project itself. They used a number of tools, some advanced for the day, in the design of the system, including simulators, hardware breadboards, etc. In the end the project was quite successful and proved to be an important platform for both AT&T products and research in the future.

Date

2015-01-16

Contributor

Boddie, James R., Panelist
Hodge, Shayne, Moderator
Pedersen, Richard A., Panelist
Stanzione, Daniel, Panelist

Publisher

Computer History Museum

Place of Publication

Atlanta, Georgia

Extent

49 p.

Format

PDF

Copyright Holder

Computer History Museum

Category

Oral history

Subject

digital signal processing (DSP); Bell Labs; Western Electric; UNIX

Collection Title

Oral history collection

Credit

Computer History Museum

Lot Number

X7410.2015

Related Records

102740060 AT&T DSP1 oral history panel