David Feldman, inventor of the now standard PC/104 and 5 ¼” Single Board Computer (SBC) concepts, founded ZF Embedded (formerly ZF Microsystems) in July 1995 to develop x86 PC modules for the embedded OEM market. ZF is not a startup, and to date hasn’t even been a semiconductor company, however the company has introduced a new product that clearly positions it in the fabless semiconductor arena.

ZF has raised approx. $14 million through its founders, private investors, 2 rounds of venture financing, and $2.8 million in convertible debentures. ZF is currently seeking mezzanine/private placement funding of approx. $5 – 10 million. The company has approx. 40 employees.

To date, ZF has manufactured a family of products based on its OEMmodule Single Component Computer platform. These devices are highly integrated, PC-compatible controller modules and include full motherboard hardware and software functionally in a single, highly reliable component smaller than a credit card. In September, ZF introduced the MachZ PCe, a single-chip bootable PC-on-a-Chip targeted for post-PC era embedded systems and information appliances. MachZ PCe integrates the functionality of a PC motherboard with all of the most common PC peripherals and several ZF proprietary enhancements developed for the embedded market.

The device integrates a processor w/FPU, north bridge, south bridge, SDRAM controller, PCI bus with ultra DMA IDE controller, ISA bus and ZF FailSafe Boot ROM. Other peripheral include 2 serial ports, 1 parallel port, a floppy port, support for 3 IDE devices, 2 USB ports, AT keyboard port, PS2 mouse port, IrDA port, real-time clock, watchdog timer, PWM generator, GPCS mapper, I2C bus port, 8 GPIO, and external memory decode logic. A graphics controller and PCMCIA controller have not been integrated due to changing technology within the graphics market and the prohibitive expense of PC Cards for the embedded market.

The bootable MachZ PCe incorporates ZF’s patented FailSafe Boot ROM, Ztag, ZF-Logic and Dual Watchdog Timer technologies. It boots autonomously on application of power and is bundled with a full embedded PC BIOS and dual operating systems. The ZF FailSafe Boot ROM combined with the ZF Integrated BIOS allows total system recovery (remotely with no operator intervention) even if the FLASH memory gets corrupted, as can happen during an aborted download. ZF’s patented FailSafe Boot feature makes it the only embedded processor that allows upgrades over the Internet without the possibility of irrecoverable crashes. ZF-Logic allows access to x86 system architecture with a minimum amount of high-level microprocessor experience. Z-Tag allows FLASH programming to be accomplished on-board at rates in excess of 2.5Mbps vs. typical transfer rates of 19.2kbps, resulting in dramatic time savings in high volume manufacturing environments.

A complete FailSafe™ PC, including the MachZ, 8MB SDRAM, 2MB FLASH, and one crystal for the clock circuit can be implemented for $50 at 100KU quantities and approx. $70 at 1Ku. This includes the BIOS and 2 operating systems: Linux and Planetweb pwSys OS with browser, eliminating licensing, porting, and driver hassles. MachZ PCe is fully PC compatible and supports WinCE, Windows 95/98, Windows NT, Linux and various RTOSes.

The MachZ is approx. the same price as the STPC and AMD Elan, but includes a BIOS license, operating system, and many additional features. Unlike other embedded products, like the AMD Elan family and STPC, MachZ PCe has no multiplexed signals, no missing interrupts and a full complement of standard peripherals. Other processors tend to mux the I/O presuming that customers only need access to certain functions in any given design. For the embedded market, ZF will also guarantee 5-year minimum availability.

Produced at National’s.24u fab, the MachZ PCe is the result of an alliance announced between the two companies in June of this year. The chip is based on the National/Cyrix 32-bit 586 core. It is slated for production in Q1 2000 with samples available in Q4. Besides AMD and ST Micro, National is also a potential competitor with its new Geode faimly. But ZF believes its embedded system expertise and advanced feature set puts its chip in a class of its own compared to any other offering. ZF will go to market using its existing channels, but will increase the number of ZF direct sales people when funding is in place.

David Feldman, founder, CEO & Chairman (formerly the founder, VP of Ops, President, CEO, & Chairman of Ampro)

Gerald Masterson, VP, CFO, assistant corporate secretary (formerly VP, CFO and Corp Secretary of Semiconductor Systems and Acrian)

John Lio, COO & Executive VP of Operations (formerly VP, Operations at Scitex Digital Video and Ampro)

Raymond Brinks, CTO & VP of Engineering (formerly an OEM Engineering Manager at IBM)