What is the history of AMD microprocessor?

Answer 1

AMD was a major supplier of various integrated circuits: logic, DRAM, the 2900 family bitslice bipolar microprocessor chipset, etc. However they lacked a single chip MOS microprocessor like those made by Intel, Motorola, Zilog, Texas Instruments, National Semiconductor, etc.

When Intel encountered a problem meeting demand for their 80386 single chip MOS microprocessor they sought out another chip manufacturer with available fabrication facilities. At the time AMD had surplus fabrication facilities and Intel and AMD quickly reach an agreement where Intel would provide AMD with the masks and other manufacturing details for the 80386 and AMD would licence some of their patents to Intel. The two companies would then share the market and sales of the 80386.

When Intel designed their 80486 single chip MOS microprocessor, they had already expanded their fabrication facilities enough that they would not need help from AMD to make enough 80486 microprocessors to meet demand. However AMD expected that the original 80386 agreement demanded Intel provide masks and other manufacturing details for successive Intel designed microprocessors (beginning with the 80486). Intel refused and the case went to court.

Meanwhile AMD began designing an 80486 microprocessor clone on their own. Intel claimed in the court case that AMD could not do that as 80486 was a trademark, but the court pointed out that trademark law does not permit trademarking of numbers. This allowed both Intel and AMD to manufacture, market, and sell their own independently designed versions of the 80486 microprocessor.

When Intel designed their 80586 single chip MOS microprocessor, because of the court decision that numbers could not be trademarked Intel chose to use a word which could be trademarked instead of 80586 and (somewhat unimaginatively) made up the word Pentium for the 80586. Of course AMD designed their own 80586 clone independently (as they had done with the 80486) and made up their own word as a trademark for it.

Ever since then when Intel has enhanced the x86/Pentium architecture, AMD has independently designed a clone supporting the new architectural features. However AMD has their own implementation ideas to improve and optimize performance, so sometimes the Intel microprocessors have had better performance and other times the AMD Microprocessors have had the better performance.