A. Thampy Thomas (born ) is an electrical engineer who contributed to
microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circu ...
pipeline architecture and founded semiconductor company NexGen microsystems.
Elxsi
In 1979, Thomas co-founded
Elxsi
Elxsi Corporation was a minicomputer manufacturing company established in the late 1970s in Silicon Valley, USA, along with a host of competitors ( Trilogy Systems, Sequent, Convex Computer). The Elxsi processor was an Emitter Coupled Logic (ECL) d ...
, a semiconductor company in
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
. Thomas holds Ph.D. and M.S. in
electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
from
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
and B.E. in Electrical Engineering from
Birla Institute of Technology and Science
Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani) is a Deemed university in Pilani, Jhunjhunu, India. It focuses primarily on higher education and research in engineering and sciences. After expansion to a campus in Dubai, it has b ...
, Pilani.
Thomas was the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Elxsi from 1979 to 1985. Elxsi was the first computer company to use more than one processor. Elxsi investors included the Tata Group and Arthur Rock.
NexGen
After Elxsi, Thomas founded NexGen Microsystems. Nexgen implemented the
x86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was introd ...
architecture in its processors. Their processors translated code designed to run on the traditionally CISC-based x86 architecture to run on the chip's internal RISC architecture. After the announcement of a competitor to Intel's
i386
The Intel 386, originally released as 80386 and later renamed i386, is a 32-bit microprocessor introduced in 1985. The first versions had 275,000 transistorsJohn C. Dvorak
John C. Dvorak (; born 1952) is an American columnist and broadcaster in the areas of technology and computing. His writing extends back to the 1980s, when he was a regular columnist in a variety of magazines. He was vice president of Mevio ...
described Thomas as "a big-time defender of CISC architecture". Much of the underlying theory was developed during Thomas' doctorate work, under the supervision of his advisor, Dr. Ed Davidson.
Thomas was president, CEO, and chairman at Nexgen. He was succeeded as CEO by Atiq Raza in 1991 but remained chairman. Nexgen went public in 1995, and AMD acquired Nexgen later that year.
Other service
Thomas has served as the chairman and CEO of PostX (now owned by
Cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...
), Director at Micro Linear Corporation (acquired by Sirenza), Director of Liquid Robotics, board member at Jupiter Research Foundation, and Director at Vintners' Alliance.