Computer History Museum

National Semiconductor 32000 Microprocessor oral history panel

Beginning in 1979, National Semiconductor developed the industry's first 32-bit microprocessor family, the Series 32000. Featuring important MPU design firsts, including demand paged virtual memory and floating point and interrupt control units, it was hailed by observers as "the best in breed." With teams of engineers in Santa Clara and Israel, it also represented one of the first international microprocessors design collaborations. This oral history describes the conception, design and marketing of the family and explores the reasons why this technically superior product did not succeed in the market place.

Item Details

Date
2008-02-26 (Made)
Type
Document
Catalogue number
102658246
People
Richard Sanquini (Moderator)
Giora Yaron (Participant)
Robert Freund (Participant)
Subhash Bal (Participant)
David Laws (Editor)
Don Alpert (Participant)
Category
Transcript
Extent
31 p.
Place of publication
USA/CA/Mountain View
Language
English
Acquisition number
X4430.2008
Subject
National Semiconductor Corporation, VAX Computers--History, UNIX, Semiconductor History
Archive collection
CHM Oral History Collection
Archive hierarchy
CHM Oral History Collection