BiiN, the i960 XA, and the Hillsboro Airport Flying Spark

Rising from the Ashes of the 432

• BiiN was established to create a cutting-edge, fault-tolerant, object-oriented computer-on-a-chip architecture—effectively rising from the ashes of Intel's ambitious iAPX 432 project.
• The centerpiece of BiiN's hardware was the Intel 80960XA (i960 XA) processor, a 32-bit RISC chip featuring hardware-level capability addressing and advanced memory protection.
• My contract was to write the comprehensive 80960XA Architecture and Reference Manual.
• Management and engineering were thrilled with the manual, but in late 1989 the entire multi-million dollar joint venture was abruptly cancelled and shut down.

The Hillsboro Airport Location and Discovering Aviation

• BiiN's engineering building sat directly across the street from Hillsboro Airport (HIO).
• Every day while working at BiiN, I would watch general aviation aircraft and corporate jets landing and taking off right outside our windows.
• That daily view ignited a deep, lasting passion for aviation.
• I walked across the street to Eagle Flight Center (EFC), the local Fixed-Base Operator (FBO), signed up for flight training, and began pursuing my pilot's license.

The Sudden Shutdown and What Came Next

• When BiiN was dissolved, all the external contractors were the first to be let go ("canned").
• On the very day I was packing up my desk to leave, a chance encounter in the hallway opened the door to my next four years at Intel. See Walking Across the Hallway to Intel with Keith Lofstrom.