Keith Diefendorff
Encyclopedia
Keith Diefendorff is a computer architect and veteran in the microprocessor industry.
Diefendorff is one of the persons that has led the industry in developing RISC processors, both for embedded system
s and superscalar
high performance systems. He is one of the main designers of the PowerPC
family of processors.
, designing integrated circuits processors and systems. Later Diefendorff joined Motorola
and was the chief architect of a second-generation implementation of the 88000
instruction set architecture, the 88110
. The 88110 was not a commercial success, and when Motorola shifted focus to creating a new RISC architecture with IBM, Diefendorff was assigned as chief architect for the PowerPC
.
After his work at Motorola Diefendorrf moved to NexGen
as director of technical x86-strategy. Diefendorff joined AMD when NexGen was acquired by AMD.
From AMD Diefendorrf then moved to Apple
as architect for the AltiVec
media extensions developed for the PowerPC processors used by Apple.
Keith Diefendorff has been working in the embedded processor space. First at the embedded processor IP-core company ARC International
. After ARC Diefendorrf moved to MIPS Technologies
.
Diefendorrf has also worked as processor analyst, and editor in chief (1998-2001) for the industry magazine Microprocessor Report.
Diefendorff is one of the persons that has led the industry in developing RISC processors, both for embedded system
Embedded system
An embedded system is a computer system designed for specific control functions within a larger system. often with real-time computing constraints. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and mechanical parts. By contrast, a general-purpose computer, such as a personal...
s and superscalar
Superscalar
A superscalar CPU architecture implements a form of parallelism called instruction level parallelism within a single processor. It therefore allows faster CPU throughput than would otherwise be possible at a given clock rate...
high performance systems. He is one of the main designers of the PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
family of processors.
Background
Keith Diefendorff started at Texas InstrumentsTexas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
, designing integrated circuits processors and systems. Later Diefendorff joined Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
and was the chief architect of a second-generation implementation of the 88000
Motorola 88000
The 88000 is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Motorola. The 88000 was Motorola's attempt at a home-grown RISC architecture, started in the 1980s. The 88000 arrived on the market some two years after the competing SPARC and MIPS...
instruction set architecture, the 88110
88110
The MC88110 is a microprocessor developed by Motorola that implemented the 88000 instruction set architecture . The MC88110 was a second-generation implementation of the 88000 ISA, succeeding the MC88100...
. The 88110 was not a commercial success, and when Motorola shifted focus to creating a new RISC architecture with IBM, Diefendorff was assigned as chief architect for the PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
.
After his work at Motorola Diefendorrf moved to NexGen
NexGen
NexGen was a private semiconductor company that designed x86 microprocessors until it was purchased by AMD in 1996.Like competitor Cyrix, NexGen was a fabless design house that designed its chips but relied on other companies for production...
as director of technical x86-strategy. Diefendorff joined AMD when NexGen was acquired by AMD.
From AMD Diefendorrf then moved to Apple
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
as architect for the AltiVec
AltiVec
AltiVec is a floating point and integer SIMD instruction set designed and owned by Apple, IBM and Freescale Semiconductor, formerly the Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola, , and implemented on versions of the PowerPC including Motorola's G4, IBM's G5 and POWER6 processors, and P.A. Semi's...
media extensions developed for the PowerPC processors used by Apple.
Keith Diefendorff has been working in the embedded processor space. First at the embedded processor IP-core company ARC International
ARC International
ARC International plc was a developer of configurable microprocessor technology and is now owned by Synopsys. ARC developed synthesisable IP and licensed it to semiconductor companies....
. After ARC Diefendorrf moved to MIPS Technologies
MIPS Technologies
MIPS Technologies, Inc. , formerly MIPS Computer Systems, Inc., is most widely known for developing the MIPS architecture and a series of pioneering RISC chips. MIPS provides processor architectures and cores for digital home, networking and mobile applications.MIPS Computer Systems Inc. was...
.
Diefendorrf has also worked as processor analyst, and editor in chief (1998-2001) for the industry magazine Microprocessor Report.