 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry |
|
| Founded | 1969; 56 years ago (1969) inOttawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Defunct | 1974; 51 years ago (1974) |
| Fate | Folded intoBell-Northern Research |
| Parent | Northern Electric |
Microsystems International Limited (MIL) was atelecommunicationsmicroelectronics company based inOttawa, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1969.[1][2] MIL was an early attempt to create a merchant semiconductor house byNortel Networks (then Northern Electric).
MIL is historically important as the producers of one of the world's earliestmicroprocessors, the MIL MF7114,[3] which was based on the design of theIntel 4004. MIL also produced a series of earlymicrocomputers using this chip, including the MIL CPS-1, which may be the earliest example of a microcomputer system that was shipped in completed form, as opposed to a kit that had to be assembled. Several other upgraded models followed.
Electronic manufacturers were at that time forced to create custom integrated circuits due to the lack of industry standard ICs. MIL was an attempt to create a merchant company that could supply such standard devices as well as custom devices for Northern Electric products. Northern Electric entered the field partly at the urging of the Canadian federal government even though it had strong doubts of the viability of the company.[4]
MIL manufactured bothbipolar andMOS semiconductor devices, including standardTTL digital logic components and linear products such asoperational amplifiers, as well as a variety of memory components. In 1971, MIL became asecond source for theIntel 1103DRAM IC.[5] The licensing fee paid by MIL to Intel meant that Intel could show a profit in 1971 for the first time in its history.[5]
MIL was never able to show a profit and losses were exacerbated by the semiconductor market downturn in 1974. It was purchased and folded into Nortel's research armBell-Northern Research and later merged intoNortel.[4] MIL was purchased and folded into Nortel's research armBell-Northern Research in 1974.[6] The MIL fabrication facility continued to operate as the largest semiconductor fab in Canada until Nortel's bankruptcy in 2009.
MIL's most lasting contribution is that it was the meeting place for the entrepreneursTerry Matthews andMichael Cowpland. The pair left the company to found much of the high tech industry inKanata, Ontario, Canada. They startedMitel together. Cowpland later startedCorel. Matthews later startedNewbridge Networks. Cowpland's boss at MIL cautioned him against leaving the security of a large company just a few months before MIL was wound up.
Another partnership formed at MIL was that of Dick Foss and Bob Harland who, on their return from the 1975ISSCC conference where they had presented their paper on MIL's 4k DRAM,[7] found that they were no longer employed. They startedMOSAID initially as a memory design house and branched out into other related areas such as reverse engineering, EDA software, and memory test equipment manufacturing. The reverse engineering business was spun off in 1989 as Semiconductor Insights, now TechInsights.
Media related toMicrosystems International integrated circuits at Wikimedia Commons