Very-large-scale integration

From ArticleWorld

Very large-scale integration (VLSI) refers to the integration of transistor based circuits to give rise to various integrated circuits (ICs) on a single chip.

Development of VLSI

The very first generation of computers in the 1940s saw the use of vacuum tubes.

After the historic invention of the transistor in 1948, the sizes involved reduced by a great deal. The introduction of integrated circuits (ICs) soon after saw the emergence of a new generation of computers. It became possible to integrate a number of components like diodes, transistors and resistors onto a single chip using the so-called small-scale integration (SSI) technology.

Around this time, which was the third generation of computers, it became possible to implement several logic gates on a single device.

The fourth generation of computers saw the appearance of large-scale integration (LSI), which involved the superior technology of thousands of logic gates being integrated onto a single chip. Single-chip technology finally developed into very large scale integration, with many tens of thousands of components being integrated to provide vast functionality.

Present-day semiconductor technology is advanced enough to incorporate hundreds of millions of transistors and several million logic gates onto individual chips. Chips like the Intel's Pentium 4 processor have over 10 billion transistors.