Ultra Large-Scale Integration

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What Does Ultra Large-Scale Integration Mean?

Ultra large-scale integration (ULSI) is the process of integrating or embedding millions of transistors on a single silicon semiconductor microchip. ULSI technology was conceived during the late 1980s when superior computer processor microchips, specifically for the Intel 8086 series, were under development. ULSI is a successor to large-scale integration (LSI) and very large-scale integration (VLSI) technologies but is in the same category as VLSI.

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Techopedia Explains Ultra Large-Scale Integration

ULSI was designed to provide the greatest possible computational power from the smallest form factor of microchip or microprocessor dye. This was achieved by embedding and integrating integrated circuits (IC), which were formed with transistors and logic gates. The close placement and design architecture enabled faster resolution of tasks and processes. However, even though VLSI now contains more than millions of transistors, any IC or microchip with more than one million transistors is considered a ULSI implementation.

Intel 486 and the Pentium series of processors were built on ULSI principles.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.