Zilog

Zilog, Inc. is an American manufacturer of microprocessors and 8-bit and 16-bit microcontrollers. It is also a supplier of application-specific embedded system-on-chip (SoC) products. Its most famous product is the Z80 series of 8-bit microprocessors that were compatible with the Intel 8080 but significantly cheaper. The Z80 was widely used during the 1980s in many popular home computers such as the TRS-80, MSX, Amstrad CPC and the ZX Spectrum, as well as arcade games such as Pac-Man. The company also made 16- and 32-bit processors, but these did not see widespread use. From the 1990s, the company focused primarily on the microcontroller market. The name (pronunciation varies) is an acronym of Z integrated logic, also thought of as "Z for the last word of Integrated Logic". In the oral history interview video which Federico Faggin (co-founder of Zilog) recorded for the Computer History Museum, he pronounced Zilog with a long "i" ('zaɪlɒg) consistently. Zilog was started in California in 1974 by Federico Faggin and Ralph Ungermann, who both left Intel after working on the 4004 and 8080 microprocessors and custom chips. Masatoshi Shima, who also worked with Faggin on the 4004 and 8080, joined Zilog in 1975. Ungermann had a falling-out with Exxon and left Zilog in 1978. On January 1, 1979, Zilog released the first issue of their comic book Captain Zilog, which featured the Z8000 computer. The Z8000, introduced that year, was the company's first 16-bit microprocessor. The company became a subsidiary of Exxon in 1980. Exxon initially acquired 51 percent of the company before buying it outright; however, the management and employees bought it back in 1989, led by Edgar Sack. Zilog went public in 1991, but was acquired in 1998 by Texas Pacific Group for $527 million. Curtis Crawford replaced Sack and changed the company's direction towards 32-bit data communications processors. In 1999, Zilog acquired Production Languages Corporation for an unspecified amount less than$10 million.