McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Develops High-Speed Memory Chip : SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

McDonnell Douglas Astronautics in Huntington Beach is better known for building rockets and space vehicles than computer memory chips. But the company is claiming success in developing what it calls the world’s fastest microprocessor of its kind.

The Astronautics unit developed the high-speed memory chip as part of a five-year, $14.5-million Pentagon contract to develop microelectronics technology for President Reagan’s proposed Star Wars missile-defense system. The Huntington Beach group is competing against Texas Instruments, a Dallas-based computer company, which was awarded a similar contract.

McDonnell Douglas said its MD-484 microprocessor, which contains the entire central processing unit of a computer on a single chip, is faster than any existing 32-bit chip. The number of bits refers to the speed at which a computer can process data. The average personal computer uses a 16-bit processor.

McDonnell Douglas said its chip is made of gallium arsenide, a relatively new semiconductor material that enables it to operate faster than traditional chips made of silicon.

“This is a key milestone in our plan for development of military processor systems,” said Roger Roberts, general manager of the company’s sensors and defense electronics division.

The chip, when combined with other computer components, “provides the military with a very high-speed, radiation-hardened computer that will meet” requirements for the Strategic Defense Initiative, as the Star Wars program is officially known, said Bill Geideman, program manager.

McDonnell Douglas said it is now working on developing additional chips to complete a computer that can be contained on a single circuit board.