25 Microchips That Shook the World
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may09/8747
- Signetics NE555 Timer (1971)
- Texas Instruments TMC0281 Speech Synthesizer (1978)
- MOS Technology 6502 Microprocessor (1975)
- Texas Instruments TMS32010 Digital Signal Processor (1983)
- Microchip Technology PIC 16C84 Microcontroller (1993)
- Fairchild Semiconductor μA741 Op-Amp (1968)
- Intersil ICL8038 Waveform Generator (circa 1983*)
- Western Digital WD1402A UART (1971)
- Acorn Computers ARM1 Processor (1985)
- Kodak KAF-1300 Image Sensor (1986)
- IBM Deep Blue 2 Chess Chip (1997)
- Transmeta Corp. Crusoe Processor (2000)
- Texas Instruments Digital Micromirror Device (1987)
- Intel 8088 Microprocessor (1979)
- Micronas Semiconductor MAS3507 MP3 Decoder (1997)
- Mostek MK4096 4-Kilobit DRAM (1973)
- Xilinx XC2064 FPGA (1985)
- Zilog Z80 Microprocessor (1976)
- Sun Microsystems SPARC Processor (1987)
- Tripath Technology TA2020 AudioAmplifier (1998)
- Amati Communications Overture ADSL Chip Set (1994)
- Motorola MC68000 Microprocessor (1979)
- Chips & Technologies AT Chip Set (1985)
- Computer Cowboys Sh-Boom Processor (1988)
- Toshiba NAND Flash Memory (1989)
The Runners-up: More Earthshaking Chips
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may09/8814
- Cray Research Cray-1 CPU (1976)
- Intel 1702 2048-bit EPROM Chip (1971)
- IBM/Sony/Toshiba Cell Processor (2004)
- Philips Semiconductors TDA93xx TV Processor (1999)
- Lucent WaveLAN IEEE Wi-Fi Chip Set (1998)
- DEC Alpha 21064 Microprocessor (1992)
- STMicroelectronics STA2056 GPS Receiver (2004)
- Advanced Micro Devices Opteron Processor (2003)
- Philips TDA7000 FM Receiver (1983)
- Texas Instruments SN7400 Logic Chips (1966)
- IBM POWER Processor (1990)
- Silicon Laboratories Si4905 GSM Cellphone Chip (2005)
- Communications Services Corp. RFID (1973)