Daniel W. Dobberpuhl
Encyclopedia
Daniel "Dan" W. Dobberpuhl (born 1945) is an electrical engineer in the United States
who led several teams of microprocessor
designers.
on March 25, 1945. He graduated with a bachelor of science
degree in electrical engineering
from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1967. He worked as an engineer for the Department of Defense
until 1973 when he worked for GE Integrated Circuits Lab
in Syracuse, New York
, making application-specific integrated circuit
s.
In 1976 Dobberpuhl joined Digital Equipment Corporation
(DEC) in Hudson, Massachusetts
as a semiconductor engineer and led teams designing microprocessors such as the DEC T-11
and MicroVAX
. He rose to become one of five senior corporate consulting engineers, DEC's highest technical positions. As such he led the teams designing the first three generations of the DEC Alpha
processor and published a 1985 text book called "a leading text in the field."
He founded and directed the company’s Palo Alto, California
Design Center in 1993 where the StrongARM
architecture was designed.
In 1998 Dobberpuhl co-founded SiByte, where as president he led the design of the SB1250 high performance MIPS
System-on-a-chip
processor. In 1998, EE Times
named Dobberpuhl as one of the "40 forces to shape the future of the Semiconductor Industry."
SiByte was funded by venture capital
as well as large companies such as ATI Technologies
, Cisco Systems
, and Juniper Networks
.
After a third round of $40 Million was raised in May 2000, the company was bought by Broadcom
in November of that year for stock worth over $2 Billion.
Dobberpuhl stayed until 2003 as vice president and general manager of the Broadcom broadband processor division.
In 2003 the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
named him a recipient of the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Award for "Pioneering design of high-speed and low-power microprocessors."
Later that year he left to found P.A. Semi
, a fabless semiconductor company
that designed the PWRficient
family of Power Architecture
processors.
He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006 for "Innovative design and implementation of high-performance, low-power microprocessors."
In 2008 P.A. Semi was sold to Apple Inc.
He received a Distinguished Alumni Award by University of Illinois in 2003, and the College Of Engineering Alumni Honor Award from the University of Illinois in May 2009.
Dobberpuhl retired from Apple near the end of 2009.
He holds 15 patents.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who led several teams of microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
designers.
Background
Dobberpuhl was born in Streator, IllinoisStreator, Illinois
Streator is a city in LaSalle and partially in Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately southwest of Chicago, Illinois in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. It is the center of the geographic region known as...
on March 25, 1945. He graduated with a bachelor of science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1967. He worked as an engineer for the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
until 1973 when he worked for GE Integrated Circuits Lab
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, making application-specific integrated circuit
Application-specific integrated circuit
An application-specific integrated circuit is an integrated circuit customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use. For example, a chip designed solely to run a cell phone is an ASIC...
s.
In 1976 Dobberpuhl joined Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
(DEC) in Hudson, Massachusetts
Hudson, Massachusetts
Hudson is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,063 at the 2010 census. The town is located in central Massachusetts, about a 40-minute drive, or about , west of Boston, and about a 20-minute drive, or about , northeast of Worcester.Before its...
as a semiconductor engineer and led teams designing microprocessors such as the DEC T-11
DEC T-11
The T-11, also known as DC310, is a microprocessor that implements the PDP-11 instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation. The T-11 was code-named "Tiny". It was developed for embedded systems and was the first single-chip microprocessor developed by DEC...
and MicroVAX
MicroVAX 78032
The MicroVAX 78032 is a microprocessor developed and fabricated by Digital Equipment Corporation that implemented a subset of the VAX instruction set architecture . The 78032 was used exclusively in DEC's VAX-based systems, starting with the MicroVAX II in 1985...
. He rose to become one of five senior corporate consulting engineers, DEC's highest technical positions. As such he led the teams designing the first three generations of the DEC Alpha
DEC Alpha
Alpha, originally known as Alpha AXP, is a 64-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation , designed to replace the 32-bit VAX complex instruction set computer ISA and its implementations. Alpha was implemented in microprocessors...
processor and published a 1985 text book called "a leading text in the field."
He founded and directed the company’s Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
Design Center in 1993 where the StrongARM
StrongARM
The StrongARM is a family of microprocessors that implemented the ARM V4 instruction set architecture . It was developed by Digital Equipment Corporation and later sold to Intel, who continued to manufacture it before replacing it with the XScale....
architecture was designed.
In 1998 Dobberpuhl co-founded SiByte, where as president he led the design of the SB1250 high performance MIPS
MIPS architecture
MIPS is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies . The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit, and later versions were 64-bit...
System-on-a-chip
System-on-a-chip
A system on a chip or system on chip is an integrated circuit that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single chip. It may contain digital, analog, mixed-signal, and often radio-frequency functions—all on a single chip substrate...
processor. In 1998, EE Times
EE Times
EE Times is an electronics industry newspaper published in the USA by UBM Electronics, a division of United Business Media. Launched in 1972 by Gerard G. Leeds of CMP Publishing. CMP was acquired by United in 1999...
named Dobberpuhl as one of the "40 forces to shape the future of the Semiconductor Industry."
SiByte was funded by venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
as well as large companies such as ATI Technologies
ATI Technologies
ATI Technologies Inc. was a semiconductor technology corporation based in Markham, Ontario, Canada, that specialized in the development of graphics processing units and chipsets. Founded in 1985 as Array Technologies Inc., the company was listed publicly in 1993 and was acquired by Advanced Micro...
, Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
, and Juniper Networks
Juniper Networks
Juniper Networks is an information technology and computer networking products multinational company, founded in 1996. It is head quartered in Sunnyvale, California, USA. The company designs and sells high-performance Internet Protocol network products and services...
.
After a third round of $40 Million was raised in May 2000, the company was bought by Broadcom
Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company in the wireless and broadband communication business. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. Broadcom was founded by a professor-student pair Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III from the University of California, Los...
in November of that year for stock worth over $2 Billion.
Dobberpuhl stayed until 2003 as vice president and general manager of the Broadcom broadband processor division.
In 2003 the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...
named him a recipient of the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Award for "Pioneering design of high-speed and low-power microprocessors."
Later that year he left to found P.A. Semi
P.A. Semi
P. A. Semi was a fabless semiconductor company founded in Santa Clara, California in 2003 by Daniel W. Dobberpuhl who was the lead designer for the DEC Alpha 21064 and StrongARM processors...
, a fabless semiconductor company
Fabless semiconductor company
A fabless semiconductor company specializes in the design and sale of hardware devices and semiconductor chips while outsourcing the fabrication or "fab" of the devices to a specialized manufacturer called a semiconductor foundry...
that designed the PWRficient
PWRficient
PWRficient is the name of a series of microprocessors designed by P.A. Semi.PWRficient processors comply with the 64-bit Power Architecture, and are designed for high performance and extreme power efficiency...
family of Power Architecture
Power Architecture
Power Architecture is a broad term to describe similar RISC instruction sets for microprocessors developed and manufactured by such companies as IBM, Freescale, AMCC, Tundra and P.A. Semi...
processors.
He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006 for "Innovative design and implementation of high-performance, low-power microprocessors."
In 2008 P.A. Semi was sold to Apple Inc.
He received a Distinguished Alumni Award by University of Illinois in 2003, and the College Of Engineering Alumni Honor Award from the University of Illinois in May 2009.
Dobberpuhl retired from Apple near the end of 2009.
He holds 15 patents.