AMD 1993 Annual Report Download - page 8

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The Corporation also supplies a range of products specially designed to add
additional functions, improve performance and reduce costs in computer
peripheral, interface or mass storage applications. These are generally
special-purpose products which are optimized for a specific application and are
frequently proprietary products of the Corporation or in the case of selected
large customers, products which have been tailored for that customer.
Networks and Voice/Data Communications. The Corporation provides a wide
variety of products for a broad spectrum of connectivity solutions. These
include applications in central office switches, PBX equipment, voice/data
terminals, and different performance classes of Local Area Networks (LANs) used
to connect workstations and personal computers. In addition to providing the
integrated circuits for these applications, the Corporation also provides
various forms of hardware evaluation tools, development software and interface
software. AMD continues to be a major supplier of Ethernet LAN devices for
workstation applications. During 1993, the Corporation introduced several
Ethernet products designed for use on Personal Computer motherboards and add-in
cards. AMD also is a principal supplier for chip sets to support the
100-megabit-per-second Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) local area
network standard which is primarily used to connect high performance
workstations and servers. The Corporation has also developed, in cooperation
with systems manufacturers, a family of devices for the 10Base-T standard, which
allows transmission of data using Ethernet protocols on twisted-pair wiring,
rather than on the more expensive coaxial cable.
The Subscriber Line Interface Circuit (SLIC) and the Subscriber Line
Audio-Processing Circuit (SLAC(Trademark)), co-invented and manufactured by the
Corporation, are an integral part of one of the leading designs for digital
telephone switching equipment. The SLIC connects the user's telephone wire to
the telephone company's digital switching equipment. The SLAC is a
coder/decoder which converts analog voice signals to a digital format and back.
The Corporation enjoys its continued success with these products in the
European market, and more recently has seen increased demand from nations
committed to upgrading their telecommunications infrastructure.
High-Volume Commodity Products
Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs). The Corporation is a leading
supplier of high-speed, field-programmable integrated circuits. PLDs generally
afford a user increased design flexibility relative to standard logic devices.
The initial design time and design cost in customizing a programmable device is
significantly less than designing a custom integrated circuit or customizing a
gate array logic device. The Corporation's Programmable Array Logic
(PAL(Registered Trademark)) architecture was invented by Monolithic Memories,
Inc. (MMI), which was acquired by the Corporation in 1987, and AMD's PAL
devices continue to comprise a large share of the worldwide market for
field-programmable logic devices. These devices combine off-the-shelf
availability, ease of use and the low cost of standard products with a
capability for semi-custom design, making them attractive to a broad range of
users. The Corporation's PLDs are generally manufactured with
transistor-to-transistor logic (TTL) designs in bipolar technology for
low-density, high-speed devices, and CMOS for complex architecture,
high-density and low-power devices. In the past several years, the Corporation
has utilized CMOS technology for lower power and more complex architectures.
Programmable devices have generally been manufactured using bipolar
technology to provide users with high-speed products. The Corporation offers
several products using CMOS technology and has continued to expand its product
portfolio in this area.
Non-Volatile/Volatile Memories. Memory components are used to store
computer programs and data entered during system operation. There are two types
of memory storage capability, volatile and non-volatile. Volatile memories
include Dynamic and Static Random Access Memories (DRAMs and SRAMs). Non-
volatile memories retain data when system power is shut off, while volatile
memories do not. Non-volatile memories include Erasable Programmable Read-Only
Memories (EPROMs) and the new generation Flash Memory. The Corporation's memory
products are primarily non-volatile memories used in a wide range of
applications such as PCs, workstations, peripherals, instrumentation, PBX
equipment, avionics and a variety of other equipment where programmed data
storage is needed. The Corporation now has a complete family of
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Source: ADVANCED MICRO DEVIC, 10-K, March 07, 1994