> Sir,
> Do Processor manufacturing companies give out the
> technology to make processors? (At least 8086)
> Are there sites on the Internet which have any related
> information?
> Thank you,
> Sajeev.
>
"Give out" is not the description I'd use when describing
semiconductor manufacturers.
They do *license* the manufacture of some chips. This means that
they give permission to manufacture a particular chip in exchange for
a royalty (and often an upfront fee as well). It's highly unlikely
that the companies will "give out" the equipment to make such chips.
After all, a semiconductor fabrication facility can cost anything
from tens of millions of dollars to around $2 billion. When you talk
about microprocessor chips, you're talking about the more expensive
fabs. (And I won't even go into what it costs to keep one of those
babies running, in terms of materials and personnel.)
Some manufacturers will reverse engineer chips. AMD is well-known
for creating chips that perform the same as the Intel 80x86 family.
AMD's chips behave the same (more or less) as Intel's, but the design
inside each company's respective chips is quite different.
Many chips are patented (and those patents are honored in countries
that have signed on to the WIPO treaty), which means that after 20
years anyone else is free to use the design if he can figure it out.
The 8086 chip might fall in that category by now.
