Intrinsity

Intrinsity, Inc. was a privately held fabless semiconductor company based in Austin, Texas. Established in 1997 as EVSX on the remnants of Exponential Technology, it adopted the Intrinsity name in 2000 and built its business around methods for producing faster and more power-efficient processor designs. Rather than operating semiconductor fabrication plants, the company supplied design tools, processor implementations, engineering expertise, and related intellectual property to organizations developing chips. The company's principal technology was Fast14, a collection of design techniques implemented through custom electronic-design-automation software. Fast14 sought to increase processor speed within a given manufacturing process while using fewer transistors and limiting power consumption. Its approach combined dynamic logic, multiphase clocking, alternative signal encodings, and specialized routing methods. These techniques were intended to reduce synchronization overhead, improve the timing of logic paths, manage signal noise, and permit some logic blocks to borrow timing margin from others. The result was a processor design methodology aimed particularly at demanding applications in which performance per watt was important. Intrinsity applied the technology to processor cores based on several instruction-set architectures, including ARM, MIPS, and Power ISA. It licensed these implementations as FastCores. The company's first implementation described in the reference material was FastMATH, a MIPS-based, DSP-like microprocessor introduced in 2002 using a 130-nanometer process. The design was developed by a 45-person engineering team over 16 months and received Microprocessor Report's 2003 Best Extreme Processor recognition. Intrinsity also worked with customers and partners on processor and logic designs, with reported relationships involving ATI, AMCC, LSI Corporation, and Samsung. Samsung became a particularly visible collaborator. In July 2009, Intrinsity announced a 1 GHz implementation of the ARM Cortex-A8 developed with Samsung, building on an earlier high-speed implementation of the ARM Cortex-R4. These projects demonstrated the company's focus on accelerating licensed processor architectures rather than selling consumer-facing chips under its own brand. Its tools and engineering services were also relevant to graphics processors, Power ISA designs, and high-performance, low-power logic blocks. The company had approximately 100 employees near the end of its independent existence. Its technology attracted attention in the mobile-processor era, when chip designers were seeking more performance without a proportional increase in energy use. On April 27, 2010, Apple confirmed that it had acquired Intrinsity. The transaction ended Intrinsity's existence as an independent semiconductor company and brought its engineering capabilities into Apple. The company is therefore best understood as a technology and design-services brand rather than a continuing standalone product brand. Publicly available reference material does not establish a separate post-acquisition operating identity, product catalog, or independent website.

Intrinsity originated in 1997 as EVSX, a company formed on the remnants of Exponential Technology. The business was established in Austin, Texas, and operated as a privately held fabless semiconductor company. Its model did not involve manufacturing chips in owned factories. Instead, it developed processor technology, semiconductor design tools, intellectual property, and engineering services that could be used by chip companies and system manufacturers. In 2000, EVSX changed its name to Intrinsity and adopted a more focused technology direction. Its central proposition became the development of highly efficient semiconductor logic capable of supporting high clock speeds with fewer transistors and lower power consumption than a straightforward static-logic implementation. The company's best-known technology was Fast14, a set of methods implemented through custom electronic-design-automation software. Fast14 used dynamic logic and novel signal-encoding techniques, among other design practices, to improve processor timing within a particular semiconductor manufacturing process. The approach included multiphase clocks intended to reduce the need for synchronization at every cycle boundary, as well as one-of-N signal encoding. In this arrangement, a signal with N possible states could be represented across N wires rather than through a smaller binary bus with potentially arbitrary intermediate states. Intrinsity also described routing techniques designed to reduce noise and timing methods that allowed complex gates to borrow delay from simpler ones. Converters between the alternative and conventional signal encodings allowed Fast14-based blocks to interface with static logic. Intrinsity used these methods to create and license processor cores based on ARM, MIPS, and Power ISA architectures. These implementations were marketed as FastCores. FastMATH, introduced in 2002, was the first implementation identified in the reference material. It was a MIPS-based, DSP-like processor built using a 130-nanometer process. The design was developed by a team of 45 engineers over 16 months and was subsequently recognized by Microprocessor Report in 2003 as the Best Extreme Processor. The company worked with a range of semiconductor and technology customers. Reported applications included transistor reduction for ATI graphics processors, high-frequency Power ISA designs for AMCC, high-performance and low-power macrocell design for LSI Corporation, and processor-core work for Samsung. Intrinsity's engineering work on ARM cores became increasingly important as mobile and embedded-chip designers sought higher performance within strict energy limits. It developed a high-speed ARM Cortex-R4 implementation before announcing, in July 2009, a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 implementation created with Samsung. By the later 2000s, Intrinsity had approximately 100 employees and had become known for specialized processor optimization rather than for a mass-market branded chip. Its technology was also associated with the development of processor designs used in the mobile-device ecosystem, including Apple's A4 chip design, although the publicly available reference material describes the company primarily through its design technology and customer relationships rather than through a standalone consumer product. Apple confirmed its acquisition of Intrinsity on April 27, 2010. The acquisition brought the Austin company's processor-design capabilities into Apple and ended Intrinsity's independent corporate existence. No independent post-acquisition product portfolio or continuing public-facing Intrinsity operation is established by the supplied sources. Its historical significance lies in its Fast14 methodology, its FastCores implementations, and its role as a specialist contributor to high-performance, low-power processor development.

• 2010

  Apple acquires Intrinsity

  [1]Intrinsityen.wikipedia.org

  Apple confirmed its acquisition of Intrinsity on April 27, ending the company's independent operation.

• 2009

  Samsung collaboration reaches 1 GHz Cortex-A8

  [1]Intrinsityen.wikipedia.org

  Intrinsity announced a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 implementation developed in collaboration with Samsung.

• 2003

  FastMATH receives processor-design recognition

  [1]Intrinsityen.wikipedia.org

  Microprocessor Report named FastMATH its Best Extreme Processor.

• 2002

  FastMATH is introduced

  [1]Intrinsityen.wikipedia.org

  Intrinsity introduced FastMATH, a MIPS-based DSP-like processor implementation using a 130-nanometer process.

• 2000

  EVSX becomes Intrinsity

  [1]Intrinsityen.wikipedia.org

  The company changed its name to Intrinsity and focused on efficient semiconductor logic and processor design technology.

• 1997

  EVSX is established

  [1]Intrinsityen.wikipedia.org

  The company was founded as EVSX on the remnants of Exponential Technology in Austin, Texas.

A specialist innovator in high-performance, low-power processor design and semiconductor engineering, positioned between processor intellectual-property licensing and custom chip-design services.

• Semiconductor design technology

  Fast14

  Fast14 was Intrinsity's principal design technology: a collection of custom electronic-design-automation methods for building high-speed, low-power logic. It combined dynamic logic, multiphase clocking, one-of-N signal encoding, specialized routing, and timing optimization. The goal was to achieve greater processor speed within a given semiconductor process while reducing transistor requirements and power consumption. Fast14-based blocks could be connected to conventional static logic through encoding converters.

• Processor core implementations

  FastCores

  FastCores was the name under which Intrinsity licensed processor-core implementations based on ARM, MIPS, and Power ISA architectures. These cores applied the company's optimization techniques to licensed instruction-set designs, allowing customers to pursue higher clock speeds and improved power efficiency without developing every processor block from scratch.

• MIPS-based processor · 2002

  FastMATH

  FastMATH was a MIPS-based, DSP-like microprocessor implementation and the first Intrinsity implementation identified in the supplied reference material. It used a 130-nanometer process and was designed to deliver high performance at comparatively controlled power levels. The project took 16 months and involved 45 engineers. It received Microprocessor Report's 2003 Best Extreme Processor recognition.

• ARM processor implementation · 2009

  ARM Cortex-A8 implementation

  Intrinsity developed a 1 GHz implementation of ARM's Cortex-A8 processor in collaboration with Samsung. Announced in 2009, the implementation represented the company's focus on accelerating licensed processor architectures for applications requiring high performance and low power consumption.

• 2010

  Apple acquisitionM&A

  Background

  Intrinsity's processor optimization expertise was relevant to Apple's growing emphasis on internally designed mobile-system chips.

  Action taken

  Apple confirmed on April 27, 2010 that it had acquired Intrinsity.

  Aftermath

  Intrinsity ceased to operate as an independent company. Its engineering capabilities were incorporated into Apple, while no separate continuing Intrinsity brand operation is established by the supplied sources.

  Source

• 2009

  Announcement of a 1 GHz Cortex-A8 implementationProduct launch

  Background

  Mobile and embedded processor designers were seeking more performance from ARM cores while maintaining tight power budgets.

  Action taken

  Intrinsity announced a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 implementation developed with Samsung, following earlier work on the Cortex-R4.

  Aftermath

  The announcement reinforced Intrinsity's position as a specialist in high-speed ARM processor implementations and strengthened its relationship with Samsung.

  Source

• 2002

  Launch of FastMATHProduct launch

  Background

  Intrinsity sought to demonstrate that its Fast14 techniques could be applied to a complete processor implementation rather than only to isolated design blocks.

  Action taken

  The company introduced FastMATH, a MIPS-based DSP-like processor implemented in 130-nanometer technology.

  Aftermath

  FastMATH received Microprocessor Report's 2003 Best Extreme Processor award and served as a prominent demonstration of the company's design approach.

  Source

• 2000

  Rebrand from EVSX to IntrinsityStrategy

  Background

  The company had been operating as EVSX after being formed on the remnants of Exponential Technology. It sought a clearer identity for its semiconductor design and processor-optimization activities.

  Action taken

  EVSX changed its corporate name to Intrinsity and concentrated its public technology proposition on efficient semiconductor logic design.

  Aftermath

  The Intrinsity name became associated with Fast14, FastCores, and specialized high-performance, low-power processor design.

  Source

1. 1Intrinsityen.wikipedia.org