Editing StrongARM (section)

==History==
According to Allen Baum, the StrongARM traces its history to attempts to make a low-power version of the [[DEC Alpha]], which DEC's engineers quickly concluded was not possible. They then became interested in designs dedicated to low-power applications which led them to the ARM family. One of the only major users of the ARM for performance-related products at that time was [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], whose [[Apple Newton|Newton]] device was based on the ARM platform. DEC approached Apple wondering if they might be interested in a high-performance ARM, to which the Apple engineers replied "Phhht, yeah. You can't do it, but, yeah, if you could we'd use it."<ref>{{cite interview |first=Allen |last=Baum |interviewer=David Brock |title=Oral History of Allen Baum |date=18 July 2018 |url=https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2018/06/102717165-05-01-acc.pdf |page=60}}</ref>

The StrongARM was a collaborative project between DEC and [[Arm Holdings|Advanced RISC Machines]] to create a faster ARM microprocessor. The StrongARM was designed to address the upper end of the low-power embedded market, where users needed more performance than the ARM could deliver while being able to accept more external support. Targets were devices such as newer [[personal digital assistant]]s and [[set-top box]]es.<ref name="DTJ">Montanaro, James et al. (1997). [http://www.hpl.hp.com/hpjournal/dtj/vol9num1/vol9num1art5.pdf "A 160-MHz, 32-b, 0.5-W CMOS RISC Microprocessor"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101024112/http://www.hpl.hp.com/hpjournal/dtj/vol9num1/vol9num1art5.pdf |date=1 January 2019 }}. ''Digital Technical Journal'', vol. 9, no. 1. pp. 49&ndash;62.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.thefreelibrary.com/DIGITAL+TARGETS+SUPERCHARGED+StrongARM+CHIP+AT+CONSUMER+ELECTRONICS...-a017919435 | title = Digital targets supercharged StrongARM chip at consumer electronics market | access-date =7 June 2011 | date = 5 February 1996 | agency = [[PR Newswire]]}}</ref>

Traditionally, the [[semiconductor]] division of DEC was located in [[Massachusetts]]. In order to gain access to the design talent in [[Silicon Valley]], DEC opened a design center in [[Palo Alto, California]]. This design center was led by [[Dan Dobberpuhl]] and was the main design site for the StrongARM project. Another design site that worked on the project was in [[Austin, Texas]] that was created by some ex-DEC designers returning from [[Apple Computer]] and [[Motorola]]. The project was set up in 1995, and quickly delivered their first design, the '''SA-110'''.

DEC agreed to sell StrongARM to Intel as part of a lawsuit settlement in 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-204668.html
|title=Intel, Digital settle suit
|first=Erich
|last=Luening
|date=27 October 1997
|work= [[CNet]] news.com
|access-date=29 July 2008}}</ref> Intel used the StrongARM to replace their ailing line of RISC processors, the [[Intel i860|i860]] and [[Intel i960|i960]].

When the semiconductor division of DEC was sold to Intel, many engineers from the Palo Alto design group moved to [[SiByte]], a start-up company designing [[MIPS architecture|MIPS]] [[system-on-a-chip]] (SoC) products for the networking market. The Austin design group spun off to become [[Alchemy (processor)|Alchemy Semiconductor]], another start-up company designing MIPS SoCs for the hand-held market. A new StrongARM core was developed by Intel and introduced in 2000 as the [[XScale]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mdronline.com/publications/epw/issues/epw_46.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019213400/http://www.mdronline.com/publications/epw/issues/epw_46.html |title=Embedded Processor Watch #46; 5/4/1999 |archive-date=19 October 2007 |work=mdronline.com}}</ref>