Synertek

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Synertek

Synertek, Inc. was an American

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
semiconductor

Semiconductor

A semiconductor is a material that has electrical conductivity between those of a Electrical conductor and an electrical insulation; it can vary over that wide range either permanently or dynamically....
manufacturer founded in 1973. The initial founding group consisted of Bob Schreiner (from Fairchild), Dan Floyd, Zvi Grinfas, Jack Baletto, and Gunnar Wetlesen. The manufacturing technology was MOS/LSI (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Large-Scale-Integration). Initial products included custom designed devices,as well as a line of standard products (static RAMs, ROM

Read-only memory

Read-only memory is a class of computer storage media used in computers and other electronic devices. Because data stored in ROM cannot be modified , it is mainly used to distribute firmware ....
s, dynamic and static shift registers) and then, sometime before 1979, second source

Second source

In the electronics industry, a second source is a company that is licensed to manufacture and sell components originally designed by another company ....
d versions of MOS Technology

MOS Technology

MOS Technology, Inc., also known as CSG , was a integrated circuit design and Semiconductor device fabrication company based in Norristown, Pennsylvania, in the United States....
's successful 6507

MOS Technology 6502

The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch for MOS Technology in 1975. When it was introduced, it was the least expensive full-featured central processing unit on the market by a considerable margin, costing less than one-sixth the price of competing designs from larger companies such...
8-bit

8-bit

Eight-bit CPUs normally use an 8-bit data bus and a 16-bit address bus which means that their address space is limited to 64 KBs. This is not a "natural law", however, so there are exceptions....
microprocessor

Microprocessor

A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit on a single integrated circuit . The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970s and were used for electronic calculators, using Binary-coded decimal arithmetic on 4-bit Word ....
, and the (less successful) Philips

Philips

Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , usually known as Philips, is a Netherlands electronics company. It is one of the largest electronics companies in the world, founded and headquartered in the Netherlands....
/Signetics

Signetics

Signetics, once a major player in semiconductor manufacturing, made a variety of devices which included integrated circuits, bipolar junction transistor and MOSFET, the Dolby circuit, logic, memory and analog circuits and Motorola clone CPUs, some of which were included in the first Atari video games....
2650

Signetics 2650

The Signetics 2650, was a very early 8-bit microprocessor. According to Adam Osborne's classic book An Introduction to Microprocessors Vol 2: Some Real Products, it was "the most minicomputer-like" of the microprocessors available at the time....
processor and Zilog

Zilog

Zilog, Inc., often seen as ZiLOG , is a manufacturer of 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit microprocessors, and is most famous for its Intel 8080-compatible Zilog Z80 series....
Z8 microcomputer

Microcomputer

A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. Another general characteristic of these computers is that they occupy physically small amounts of space when compared to mainframe computer and minicomputers....
.

Major customers included Atari

Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Infogrames ....
(for its video game product line) and Apple Computer

Apple Computer

Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer Inc., is an United States multinational corporation which designs and manufactures consumer electronics and software products....
(for its Apple II computer).

Synertek acquired Microcomputer Associates, consisting of engineers Manny Lemas and Ray Holt

Ray holt

Raymond M. Holt was a co-founder of Microcomputer Associates, Incorporated, along with Manny Lemas. Microcomputer Associates Inc which produced the MOS Technology 6502-based Jolt Microcomputer also published the industry first publication called the Microcomputer Digest....
, after which it was renamed Synertek Systems, Inc. and established as a subsidiary.

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Encyclopedia

Synertek, Inc. was an American

United States

Semiconductor

Read-only memory

Second source

In the electronics industry, a second source is a company that is licensed to manufacture and sell components originally designed by another company ....
d versions of MOS Technology

MOS Technology

MOS Technology 6502

8-bit

Microprocessor

Philips

Signetics

Signetics 2650

Zilog

Microcomputer

Atari

Apple Computer

Ray holt

SYM-1

The SYM-1 was a Microprocessor development board produced by Synertek circa 1978. Originally called the VIM-1 , that name was changed for legal reasons sometime between April and August 1978....
, a derivative of MOS Technology/Commodore Semiconductor Group's KIM-1

KIM-1

The KIM-1, short for Keyboard Input Monitor, was a small MOS Technology 6502-based microcomputer kit developed and produced by MOS Technology and launched in 1975....
.

Synertek's semiconductor fabrication

Semiconductor fabrication

Semiconductor device fabrication is the process used to create chips, the integrated circuits that are present in everyday electrical and electronics devices....
plant

Foundry (electronics)

In the microelectronics industry, a semiconductor fabrication plant is a factory where devices such as integrated circuits are manufactured.A business that operates a semiconductor fab for the purpose of fabricating the designs of other companies, such as fabless semiconductor company, is known as a foundry....
in Santa Clara, California

Santa Clara, California

Santa Clara, California , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the U.S. state of California....
operated from 1974 to 1985. Sometime after 1979, Synertek was acquired by Honeywell

Honeywell

Honeywell is a major United States multinational corporation list of conglomerates company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
and set up as a subsidiary. Later, around 1983, construction began for an additional manufacturing facility in Santa Cruz, California. There was Superfund

Superfund

Superfund is the common name for the Environmental policy of the United States officially known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act , enacted by the United States Congress on December 11, 1980 in response to the Love Canal disaster and the environmental contamination at the Valley of the Drums....
attention to pollution at the Synertek factory site. When market conditions deteriorated, primarily because of business downturns at Atari, work was stopped at the Santa Cruz facility and it was later sold. Honeywell shut down operations at Synertek in 1985 and assets were sold off.

Synertek

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