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<title>Exponential Technology</title>

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</style><table class="infobox ib-company vcard"><caption class="infobox-title fn org" style="font-size: 125%;">Exponential Technology</caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image ib-company-logo logo"></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Formerly</th><td class="infobox-data nickname">Renaissance Microsystems</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Industry</th><td class="infobox-data category">Semiconductor design</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Founded</th><td class="infobox-data">1993<span style="display:none"> (<span class="bday dtstart published updated">1993</span>)</span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Founders</th><td class="infobox-data agent"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">

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</style><div class="plainlist"><ul><li>George Taylor</li><li>Jim Blomgren</li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Defunct</th><td class="infobox-data">1997<span style="display: none;"> (<span class="dtend itvend">1997</span>)</span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Website</th><td class="infobox-data"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/19970707024919/http://www.exp.com/">exp.com</a> at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> (archived 1997-07-07)</td></tr></tbody></table>

<p><b>Exponential Technology</b> (originally <b>Renaissance Microsystems</b>) was a vendor of <a href="PowerPC" title="PowerPC">PowerPC</a> <a href="Microprocessor" title="Microprocessor">microprocessors</a>. The company was founded by George Taylor and Jim Blomgren in 1993. The company's plan was to use <a href="BiCMOS" title="BiCMOS">BiCMOS</a> technology to produce very fast processors for the <a href="Apple_Computer" class="mw-redirect" title="Apple Computer">Apple Computer</a> market. Logic used 3-level ECL circuits (single-ended for control logic, and differential for datapaths) while RAM structures used CMOS. Rick Shriner was the <a href="CEO" class="mw-redirect" title="CEO">CEO</a>. Their chips were manufactured by <a href="Hitachi%2C_Ltd." class="mw-redirect" title="Hitachi, Ltd.">Hitachi</a>.

</p><p>Their product, the Exponential <b><a href="X704" title="X704">X704</a></b>, was advertised to run at 533 MHz, but the first version of the device only ran at about 400 MHz, still significantly faster than the 233 MHz <a href="PowerPC_600#PowerPC_604e" title="PowerPC 600">PowerPC 604e</a> used in Macintosh computers at the time. This lower frequency along with small level-one <a href="CPU_cache" title="CPU cache">caches</a>, produced systems which had good but not stellar performance. This allowed <a href="Motorola" title="Motorola">Motorola</a> (Apple's traditional processor vendor), to convince the computer maker that Motorola's future roadmap would produce processors with similar performance, hence making it less attractive for Apple to rely on the small <a href="Startup_company" title="Startup company">startup company</a> for critical technology.

</p><p>Due to Apple's financial problems at the time, Exponential starting marketing the device to <a href="Apple_Macintosh" class="mw-redirect" title="Apple Macintosh">Apple Macintosh</a> clone makers such as <a href="Power_Computing" class="mw-redirect" title="Power Computing">Power Computing</a> and <a href="UMAX_Technologies" title="UMAX Technologies">UMAX</a>.

</p><p>In order to diversify into other markets, a second design team was started under Paul Nixon in <a href="Austin%2C_TX" class="mw-redirect" title="Austin, TX">Austin, TX</a> to build a BiCMOS <a href="Intel" title="Intel">Intel</a> <a href="X86" title="X86">x86</a> processor.

</p><p>Due to Apple's decision to close off the Macintosh clone market, Exponential ran out of possible customers for their chips. The company closed in 1997, though the Texas design team run by Paul Nixon continued on as EVSX. EVSX changed its name to <a href="Intrinsity" title="Intrinsity">Intrinsity, Inc.</a> in 2000<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and was purchased by Apple in 2010.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2></div>

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<li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"EVSX Announces Name Change And Technology Focus," <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20001213173800/http://linuxpr.com/releases/1885.html">Linux PR</a>, May 24, 2000</span>

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</style><cite id="CITEREFVance2010" class="citation web cs1"><a href="Ashlee_Vance" title="Ashlee Vance">Vance, Ashlee</a> (2010-04-27). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/technology/28apple.html">"Apple Buys Intrinsity, a Maker of Fast Chips"</a>. <i><a href="The_New_York_Times" title="The New York Times">The New York Times</a></i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2012-01-10</span></span>.</cite></span>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/19970707024919/http://www.exp.com/">Official website</a> at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> (archived 1997-07-07)</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=641683">IEEE paper on the processor</a>, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, November 1997</li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-03-17" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Exponential_Technology&oldid=1280999527">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

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