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Glite Dictionary
💾 Using microchips 🔌 A complex chip 🛠️ Chip design field
VLSI

VLSI

1 9.9
A microchip that has thousands of tiny electronic switches on it
  • noun
  • Specialized
: circuito integrado VLSI

Examples

  • Intel is pleased that the jury rejected VLSI's meritless claims that Intel's cutting edge processor.

  • Time to market, although not a unique challenge to the physical design of large (25 million transistors) VLSI microprocessors, is a significant constraint from the point of view of practicality and will strongly influence the level of success in the marketplace.

    Academic text (1999)

  • EinsTimer accepts both Electronic Data Interchange File (EDIF) and the IBM VLSI integrated model (VIM) netlist formats.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The latest VLSI technology allows engineers to fit millions of transistors onto a single chip.

  • Researchers have developed a new technique for improving the efficiency of VLSI circuits.

  • Companies invest heavily in VLSI design to enhance the performance of consumer electronics.

Synonyms

chip
vsVLSI
  • Specialized
315 4.1

A small piece inside electronic devices that makes them work

is a complete circuit containing a very large number of transistors on one piece
integrated circuit
vsVLSI
  • Specialized
5 4.2

A small electronic chip with many connected parts that works like a complete electronic system

contains a much larger number of transistors on the same chip

Surface Forms

VLSI singular
VLSIs plural

Morphology

VLSI = very + large + scale + integration (semi-transparent) = V + L + S + I

The acronym expands to the literal phrase 'very large scale integration', which hints at the concept, but understanding requires technical domain knowledge about chip design.

Etymology

VLSI is named from Very-Large-Scale Integration, with integration meaning 'putting parts together', so a VLSI is a single chip that holds thousands or millions of tiny parts called transistors all joined on one small piece of silicon.