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Interesting, I didn't know that. Why would Intel do that? What is the legal interpretation of IP law that says you need permission to design a chip that imple
by sneak 3y ago
Interesting, I didn't know that. Why would Intel do that?
What is the legal interpretation of IP law that says you need permission to design a chip that implements an ISA?
- ip26 3y agoIntel licensed x86 to provide a credible second source, which they needed for some of their early business deals.
- papercrane 3y agoFor AMD the primary driver was IBM. In order to get the contract for the IBM PC, Intel had to agree to have a second-source manufacturer for their CPUs. Intel already had a relationship with AMD so it made sense to use them.
- actionfromafar 3y agoPatents, lots of patents. A lot of them are expired. By now you could make an 80486 and I guess also a Pentium clone without worrying about patents. But there can also be patents on how you make something performant on modern silicon, so it's not only about the ISA.