[1][2][3][4] Fabless companies can benefit from lower capital costs while concentrating their research and development resources on the end market.
As with most technology-intensive industries, the silicon manufacturing process presents high barriers to entry into the market, especially for small start-up companies.
The GIM engineers who had worked on the project were encouraged by CDC to form their own company to provide five new custom circuits.
In creating the fabless semiconductor industry, LSI/CSI had to do the following: CDC's Aerospace Computer 469 weighed one pound, consumed a total of 10 watts and ran at 5 MHz.
CDC ran a parallel program, developing a chipset of eight similar parts that were to operate at 2.5 MHz with the identical environmental and Class S requirements.
CDC had initial difficulties with this project, but eventually awarded another contract to LSI/CSI to manage the processing, inspection, visuals, assembly, and testing of the ICs.
Another successful space program completed by LSI/CSI was the upgrade to class S of a Standard Brushless DC Motor Commutator/Controller Chip, LS7262, which was implemented in satellites.