COMPANY
BiiN
BiiN
- BiiN (pronounced "bine", standing for Business Information Interactive Network) was a joint venture between Intel and Siemens formed in 1988 in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Origins & Mission
- The project was conceived to create a commercial, fault-tolerant, object-oriented computing system and architecture, rising from the conceptual foundation of Intel's earlier iAPX 432 project.
- The hardware was built around the Intel 80960XA (i960 XA) processor, a 32-bit RISC processor with hardware capability-based addressing and memory protection.
Randal's Role & Aviation Spark
- Randal Schwartz contracted at BiiN for approximately a year (1988–1989), authoring the foundational technical reference and architecture manual for the 80960XA chip.
- BiiN's facility was located directly across the street from Hillsboro Airport, which famously sparked Randal's passion for aviation, leading him to take flight lessons with Eagle Flight Center.
- When Siemens and Intel cancelled the BiiN joint venture in late 1989, Randal walked across the hallway to join Intel's iWarp supercomputing team through Keith Lofstrom.
- See BiiN, the i960 XA, and the Hillsboro Airport Flying Spark and Walking Across the Hallway to Intel with Keith Lofstrom.
What links here
These facts are as Randal recalls them, but much time has passed for most of this. If you find a factual error, please email realmerlyn@gmail.com.