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词条 Bill Mensch
释义

  1. Education, teaching, honors

  2. Engineering achievements

  3. Western Design Center

  4. Personal

  5. Mentions in press and literature

     Articles  Books 

  6. References

  7. External links

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2012}}{{Infobox person
| name = Bill Mensch
| image = Bill Mensch - Western Design Center (12924524534).jpg
| caption = William D. Mensch, Jr., 2014
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|02|09}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| residence =
| nationality = United States
| education = B.S. - University of Arizona
A.S. - Temple University
| other_names =
| known_for =
| occupation = Microprocessor designer
}}

William (Bill) David Mensch, Jr. (born February 9, 1945), is an American electrical engineer born in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. He was a major contributor to the design of the Motorola 6800 8-bit microprocessor, was part of the small team led by Chuck Peddle that created the MOS Technology 6502, and he designed the 16-bit successor to the 6502, the 65816.

Mensch is the founder, chairman, and CEO of the Western Design Center (WDC) located in Mesa, Arizona. Prior to founding the Western Design Center in 1978, Mensch held design engineering and management positions at Philco-Ford, Motorola, MOS Technology and Integrated Circuit Engineering.[1] At WDC, Bill Mensch worked primarily on extending and expanding the 6502 architecture. His designs are widely used in embedded systems and implantable, electronic, life-support devices.

Education, teaching, honors

Mensch graduated with an associate's degree from Temple University in 1966 where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity.[2] He received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona in Tucson in 1971. He has taught classes at Arizona State University, including courses on system-on-a-chip (SoC) IC design. Mensch is a Senior Member of the IEEE. In 2004 he was inducted in the Computer Hall of Fame (hosted by the San Diego Computer Museum, part of the San Diego State University Library), and in 2005 was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Arizona's College of Engineering.[1]

Engineering achievements

Based on his participation in the basic circuit design, definition, and system design of the Motorola 6800 microprocessor and supporting computer chips, Mensch is a co-holder of several 6800 family patents, including the 6800 CPU, 6820/21 PIA, 6850 ACIA, and 6860 modem chip. He was the sole integrated circuit (IC) design engineer of the 6820/21 PIA, which was the first peripheral IC to have bit-programmable I/O.[1]

Along with three other engineers at MOS Technology, Mensch holds the patent on the decimal correct circuitry in the 6502 CPU. He was responsible for the basic circuit design, transistor sizing, instruction decode logic (wishing to minimize the number of levels of logic so as to achieve higher speed operation), oscillator design and buffer design. Prior to leaving MOS Technology in 1977, Bill Mensch became the microprocessor design manager at the company.

Western Design Center

Shortly after founding the Western Design Center (WDC) in 1978, the first major effort of Mensch and his team was the development of the WDC 65C02, an enhanced version of the NMOS 6502 microprocessor. The 65C02, in addition to being implemented in CMOS circuit technology that reduced power consumption and improved noise immunity, added some new instructions and corrected a number of defects that were present in the NMOS 6502. The 65C02 was subsequently adopted for use in the Apple IIc computer and, later, in an enhanced version of the Apple IIe.

Mensch's next design, which was to become an important product at WDC, was a 65C02-compatible 16-bit microprocessor, the 65C816 (now designated the W65C816S). The 65C816's design came about following a consultation with Apple and was adopted by them for use in the Apple IIGS computer. The 65C816 was later chosen as the core of the processing unit that powered the popular Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Mensch developed the Mensch Computer as a means to promote the W65C816S microprocessor. It was a computer system designed around the WDC W65C265S microcontroller, which contains a W65C816S core. The Mensch Computer, which includes the Mensch Works software suite, was produced for a time by WDC and was geared toward hobbyist and educational applications.

As of 2012, Bill Mensch was still involved with design engineering at WDC, in addition to his work as CEO. He has written the upcoming Terbium processor family's data sheets and will be making the major RTL design decisions associated with that processor architecture.

Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch are regarded as personal computer pioneers, because both the 6502 technology and business model were instrumental in helping launch the personal computer revolution.[3][4]

Personal

Bill Mensch has four children and resides with his wife, Dianne, in Superstition Mountain, Arizona.[1]

Mentions in press and literature

Articles

  • "What's the Proper Goal for an IP Business Model". Silicon Strategies editorial.
  • "The Chips We Live by". Forbes magazine cover story, Michael S. Malone, January 6, 1998. [https://www.forbes.com/asap/1998/0601/066.html (Online version)]
  • "A Business Model? for IP Providers". FSA Forum/Fabless Forum (member publication of the Fabless Semiconductor Association).

Books

  • Bagnall, Brian: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore, {{ISBN|0-9738649-0-7}}
  • Drescher, Nancy (1997). Which Business?: Help in Selecting Your New Venture. Psi Successful Business Library. Bookworld Services. 358 pp. {{ISBN|1-55571-390-4}}.
  • Gilder, George (1989). Microcosm: The Quantum Revolution in Economics and Technology. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|0-671-50969-1}}. Touchstone/Free Press reprint ed., 1990: {{ISBN|0-671-70592-X}}.

References

1. ^{{cite web |title=WDC Founder |url=http://www.westerndesigncenter.com/wdc/WDC_Founder.cf |publisher=The Western Design Center, Inc |accessdate=2013-03-09 |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/6F0aoZwPf?url=http://www.westerndesigncenter.com/wdc/WDC_Founder.cfm |archivedate=March 10, 2013 |location=Mesa, Arizona |year=2012 |deadurl=yes |df=mdy }}
2. ^{{cite web|url=https://sigmapi.org/notable-alumni/|title=Notable Alumni|publisher=Sigma Pi Fraternity, International}}
3. ^{{cite web |url=http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/processors/25-microchips-that-shook-the-world|title=Microchips That Shook the World|publisher=IEEE Spectrum}}
4. ^{{cite web |url=http://apple2history.org/2011/01/10/digging-into-the-6502/|title=Digging Into The 6502|publisher=Apple II history}}

External links

{{Commons category-inline}}{{Portal|Biography}}
  • [https://www.webcitation.org/6F0aoZwPf?url=http://www.westerndesigncenter.com/wdc/WDC_Founder.cfm Western Design Center corporate information page] Biography of William Mensch
  • Interview with William Mensch Transcript of interview made on October 9, 1995 by Rob Walker for Stanford University's Silicon Genesis project
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20121015105314/http://www.computerhalloffame.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31&Itemid=4 Computer Hall of Fame Inductee: William D. Mensch, Jr, co-inventor of the 6502 microprocessor] San Diego Computer Museum Hall of Fame
  • Univ. of Arizona Coll. of Engineering’s Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech Childhood reminiscences of Mensch
{{authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Mensch, Bill}}

9 : 1945 births|Living people|People from Quakertown, Pennsylvania|American electrical engineers|American chief executives of manufacturing companies|Senior Members of the IEEE|Temple University alumni|University of Arizona alumni|Engineers from Pennsylvania

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