Oyo-Buturi International

Interview few books on to the subject. One was Den- work? shi-Keisanki (obi: “Electronic ”) Dr Shima: I did it for about four months. Dr was part of a talent- by Shigeru Takahashi, which outlined the The next development in my career oc- ed group of engineers who in 1971 de- system, architecture, instruction set and curred as a result of my being lucky or as we veloped the world’s first , microprogramming of ; almost say in Japanese unmei (obi: fate or destiny). the 4004. In this interview, Dr Shima everything concerning computers. Another OBI: What do you mean by that? sheds light on some of the critical events book I read was about logic. It was written Dr Shima: Well, although the transistor leading up to the development of the by Professor Udagawa. I read both of these was invented in 1947, it was not commer- technology that revolutionised the elec- books avidly and then began to design the cialised until 1951. The commercial use of tronics industry and society as a whole. circuit boards that go into a . This the transistor then led to a new era, namely, process involves connecting ics with wires the “era of the circuit”. That is to say, if you OBI: You studied chemistry as an under- and designing complicated wiring patterns. could fabricate a circuit by putting together graduate but then joined a com- a transistor, a resistor and a di- pany working on calculating ma- ode, you could construct and de- chines. Why did you change velop a “system”. Furthermore, fields? in 1961 the first commercial ic Dr Shima: I studied chemistry at was developed. This led to the university because I liked it and “era of logic”. It was at the begin- was interested in the subject. But ning of the “era of logic” that I I graduated in 1967 when the first started working on the de- Japanese economy was weak. velopment of in in- There was not a lot of demand dustry. So I was lucky that the for chemistry graduates, so I had tools for development were al- to consider other fields of em- ready available when I started ployment. It was at just this time work. Incidentally, it’s interesting that an “electronic computer” to note that there were periods of was installed at Tokyo University. exactly 10 years between the The machine was supposed to be commercialisation of the transis- able to calculate the structure of tor in 1951, the ic in 1961, and compounds. It was in stark con- the microprocessor in 1971. trast to the mechanical calcula- In 1968, one year after I grad- tors that I had been using. The uated from university, my com- idea of an electronic computer pany decided to relocate its was very intriguing, so, after con- R&D to Tokyo. So I, too, re- sulting a friend who was working turned to Tokyo. there, I joined Incorpo- OBI: Did the move affect the na- rated. Busicom manufactured ture of your work? calculating machines and other Dr Shima: Yes. In 1968 such office equipment. had won a major share of the OBI: What kind of work did you world calculator market, mostly do when you first joined Busi- based on (oem) agreements. Bu- com? sicom also carried out oem-relat- Dr Shima: I first learnt how to ed business. Their major concern write a program. I did not have was that most of the calculators any previous experience in pro- were made using “hard-wired gramming but I managed to pick-up the There is also the inter-board wiring. If logic” which would be difficult to use in basics quite quickly. I did that kind of work there are, say, ten boards then they all have the longer term. Our technical manager for about six months but I found that the to be physically wired up. There were two wanted an alternative to this technology applications side of the work, such as busi- main problems to be overcome in this and, because I had some relevant experi- ness applications, did not interest me work. The first was how to transfer the sig- ence, I was asked to study the introduction much. nal with a minimum of losses. The second, of the “programming” approach instead of OBI: So what did you do instead? was how to devise a process whereby the the “hard-wired” approach. “Stored pro- Dr Shima: Well, Busicom had a manufac- wiring up could be undertaken according gramming logic” as it was called. So I had turing subsidiary working on calculators to a set of instructions by people who were the task of defining the instruction set nec- and I asked to be moved there. So, in Oc- often not qualified engineers. This work re- essary for the development of calculators; tober 1967 I moved to a place called Ibar- quired a lot of new thinking and many as- the programs and instruction set would aki in Osaka and became involved in work pects of the ideas were original. I believe then be given to hardware engineers for im- related to the development of calculators. that no matter what the task may be, it is plementation. Since it was also necessary to OBI: What was your approach to this new always important to try to do something connect a printer to the final version of the field of development? creative and original in your work. calculator, I had to take that into account Dr Shima: I decided to begin by reading a OBI: For how long did you do this kind of as well. That was in the Spring of 1968.

OBI: How did you approach the new real problem with the designs. America I met Ted Hoff. He said he going project? OBI: So what did you do? off on his vacation- a big surprise for me. I Dr Shima: I succeeded in designing a sys- Dr Shima: I continued to try to explain the then met , who had started tem based on “stored programming logic” designs to him for a few months but still at only about a week before. He said and tested it with a printer. It worked very without making any progress. So I then de- he had not been told anything about the well. Then, towards the end of 1968, a ma- cided to talk about the programming of project and asked me to explain it to him. jor Japanese company announced that it desk top calculators, instruction sets, such Another surprise. When I asked why they had developed a calculator using only four as the binary instruction sets and the deci- had not hired more people for the project lsi chips; truth to tell, it was actually five. mal instruction sets, flow charts and so on. and I was told that they had not been able This caused quite a stir in industry because Thankfully, Ted Hoff understood all this find any suitable people. So I decided to at the time no Japanese companies had the and he agreed with some of the new ideas participate in the development myself once technology to make high performance lsi and approaches that I had proposed. He again. chips. The result was that almost all the pointed out, though, that computers based There were four chips and I decided to major companies went to the usa to find on the decimal instruction sets are more develop the 4004 microprocessor by my- partners to fabricate ics. complicated than those based on the binary self. The others parts were to be developed OBI: And what did your company do? instruction sets. by Federico Faggin. Dr Shima: The company’s Osaka branch, It was towards the end of August 1969, OBI: How long did this stage take? which worked on small pocket-sized calcu- that Ted came into the room with several Dr Shima: There was already a working lators, chose . Tokyo, which pieces of paper in his hands. He looked processor in December 1970 when I left for worked not only on calculators but also on quite excited about something. He said Japan via Europe; we then entered the last business machines such as billing ma- that he “had come up with an idea”. phase of designing the calculator. The final chines, approached Intel. OBI: What was his idea? product was ready in March 1971. OBI: How did you choose those two com- Dr Shima: There were “three boxes”. One OBI: How did you feel after this achieve- panies? of the boxes was a 4-bit alu for “making ment? Dr Shima: The decision was based partly micro-commands out of macro com- Dr Shima: I was more deeply moved by the on information provided by consultants mands”. The other two boxes were the completion of the calculator development but, more important, the Busicom presi- “stacks” and “registers” which could be project than by the microprocessor. I think dent of the day had a very good “eye” when used as “address pointers”... So the 4-bit it’s because the original goal was to develop it came to judging potential business part- alu would use “micro commands” for pro- the calculator. The microprocessor was ners. He said that the key requirements for ducing “macro-commands by program, us- merely a means to that end. So, if you were a successful project would be reliable top ing micro-commands”. That was the idea. to ask me why the microprocessor was management and expertise in silicon gate I think that this could be considered to be- born, I would say it’s because we had an ap- technology, instead of metal gate technolo- ing the “birth of the microprocessor”. plication in mind- and the microprocessor gy, for lsi fabrication. mostek and Intel OBI: This was in August 1969? was a necessary part of the application. were considered to satisfy both of those re- Dr Shima: Yes. But there were many prob- OBI: Why do you think the development quirements and so were chosen as partners. lems still to be overcome, one of them be- of the microprocessor was successful? However, we did not think so deeply about ing how to implement commands in deci- Dr Shima: I think one reason is that the the kind of engineers working for either of mal instruction sets. The solution to this development group all came from different these companies. problem showed the differences in ap- technical backgrounds. We all had differing OBI: Why was that? proach between America and Japan at the opinions, differing ideas, and this varied Dr Shima: That was because the plan was time. The American solution was to use mixture was an important feature in the to take our logic circuit design to the part- lots of memory, which was expensive. In Ja- successful completion of the project. ner company and ask them to transfer it to pan the preferred solution was to use as lit- OBI: Can we change the subject slightly by transistors. The Osaka company managed tle memory as possible. The second prob- asking you why you think young people to do this successfully and fabricated a sin- lem was how the system could be seem to be losing interest in studying sci- gle LSI chip for their small calculators. constructed using only lsi, that is, without ence and technology? But, in June 1969, when Busicom ap- using ttl at all. The third major problem Dr Shima: It may be because Japanese so- proached Intel we found that Intel was re- was that a programme language had to be ciety does not regard engineers as highly as ally a company dedicated to making semi- used and any new language employs an in- they should, so young people do not find conductor memory. Their most important, terpreter and not a compiler. The fourth, engineering interesting enough. Another and only, technology, was related to the and most difficult problem of all was how problem may be that the salaries of engi- fabrication and processing of semiconduc- to control the many peripherals connected neers are not high enough to encourage tors. So there were many chemists and to the calculator in real time using soft- young people to take up engineering as a physicists, but hardly any people with ex- ware. It had never been attempted before career. I think that young people should be perience of logic circuit design there were with such a slow processor. taught that science and technology is really around 200 staff of whom about five had So, although there was a proposal based a form of art. doctorates. The applications manager at on the “three boxes” there were no propos- OBI: What idea or invention do you think the time was Ted Hoff, whose expertise was als for solving these four related problems. has had the most effect on our lives in the in computers. OBI: How did you resolve these problems? 20th century? OBI: What was his reaction to your logic Dr Shima: I spent about 4 months trying Dr Shima: Quite honestly, microprocessor. circuit designs? to find solutions to these problems. I made It is used in such a wide range of equip- Dr Shima: He did not understand the de- a manual by myself that contained many ment, all the way from computers to con- signs when I first showed them to him and examples, and in December 1969 I came sumer electronics, that it would be difficult said that they were far too complicated. I back to Japan for a while. Then, in March to imagine a modern society without it. thought that my explanation might have 1970, I went to America for an update on OBI: What developments in this field been incomplete or that maybe there was a development activities. When I got to would you like to see in the 21st century?

Dr Shima: That is a difficult question. I view by Mr. Fumio Sato, an international 4. The processing of such activities as the think a more user-friendly computer would patent attorney. selling of patents, the setting of useful. For example, a “keyboard-less” The original Japanese text was translat- licences, and the transferring of rights computer where just looking at the screen ed into English by Dr F.M. Saba, Toshiba should be carried out with certificates, would move the cursor! R&D Centre. and a copy of the certificate should be deposited with the Federal Trade Com- OBI: Do you have time for a hobby? mission within 30 days. Dr Shima: My hobby is my work! Micro- 5. Unless a lawsuit against the encroach- processor development is the most interest- The Establishment of Socialist Nations and Awards for Inventors ment of patent rights is successful, ing thing I can find to do at the moment. It damages, prohibition of use, and other requires a lot of self-motivation, but it is such measures of reparation would not very satisfying. I try not to do what others The First World War led to the Russian Revolution and the birth of a socialist na- be recognised. are doing and I develop my own ideas. Al- 6. If the above terms (1) and (2) are vio- though I am not an electronic engineer or tion.The patents system is basically a way of preventing the appearance of a competi- lated, the patent rights and monetary physicist by training but I have been moti- gains would be confiscated and vated enough to accomplish almost all of tor in the market. However, in a planned returned to the public domain. economy it is difficult to think about the my goals. 7. A unitary patents adjudication court appearance of a market competitor when OBI: A final, rather strange question. What should be established. such a market does not exist in the first would you most like to have with you if 8. The validity of a patent should be lim- place. Moreover, it is not permitted to ob- you were stranded on a desert island? That ited to 20 years from the date of apply- struct the flow of products which have been is to say, assuming you have sufficient food ing for the patent. manufactured according to the national and water. economic plan. Dr Shima: Yes, that is another difficult For these reasons, the socialist nations question. My immediate response would The Internationalisation of brought in a system of awards for inven- be a sports car and a few books. But I think Economic Activities and the tors. In this system, the right of use of the Harmonisation of Patent Laws what I would really want to take would be invention belongs to the state and the in- a “problem” to keep me thinking. I have ventor is rewarded financially and accorded been solving problems all my life. Problems After 1945, the activities of corporations various benefits. On the other hand, the in- are sources of great treasure. Where there is across national boundaries led to demands ventor is obliged to impart the know-how a problem there is treasure! for the internationalisation of patent laws. behind the invention and to give technical The internationalisation of economies assistance to any factory which wishes to brought calls, led by multinational compa- Resume use the invention. During the preparations nies, for free trade and the standardisation for amending the Paris agreement, the East of patent laws, and across this can be seen • 1943: Born in City, Japan European side declared that the patents sys- the approaching clouds of the north-south • 1967: Joined Busicom Inc. after gradu- tem was a system for protecting an inven- confrontation. ating from the Department of Chemis- tion, whereas the system of awards for in- Corporate activities across borders led try of . ventors protected the inventor. to an oecd dispute over the technology gap • 1969: Worked in the usa with Intel in the 1960’s. The dispute concerned mul- Corp. on the development of a micro- processor for use in electronic calcula- tinational companies, which were beyond The Birth of Multinational the control of individual nations, and the tors Companies and the Move towards • 1971: Ricoh Corp. Internationalisation scale of their activities, which was creating • 1972: Intel Corp. a technology gap between nations and • 1975: Inc. The advance of industrialisation saw, along causing such problems as “brain drains” • 1980: Director of the Design Centre of with the emergence of multinational com- away from less-developed nations. Intel Japan, Corp. panies, such as I.G. Farben (Germany) in Considering the costs, the smaller the • 1986: Vice Chairman, later Chairman, the chemical industry, G.E. (usa) in the market, the greater the cost of a patent of vm Technology borne per product unit becomes. For exam- • 1991: President of Shima Co. Ltd. electrical industry, and G.M. (usa) in the • 1992: Doctorate in Engineering from automobile industry, the establishment of ple, in a market which can only support Tsukuba University international cartels in several spheres. This 10,000 units per year, the cost of the patent • 1997: Kyoto Prize (Advanced Technol- was viewed as a good method of avoiding per unit will be 100 times greater than for ogy) the effects of cyclical economic downturns. a market of 1 million units per year. • 1998: President of tops Corporation However, the usa proposed the establish- At present, patent laws are themselves of • 1998: Honoured as “The inventor of ment of anti-monopoly laws throughout international significance. However, with mpu” the world and an amendment of patent the emergence of global corporations, the laws. movement to formulate a standard global Interviewed by Adarsh Sandhu The proposals were: set of patent laws has strengthened. At the moment, there is a move to revise 1. Anyone wishing to use a patent would Review the patents law treaty which is referred to as be permitted to do so on payment of “harmonisation”. In reality, it appears to be the appropriate licence fee. directed towards unification. This, it goes 2. A judicial or governmental body Development of International should be set up to determine whether without saying, would be advantageous for Patent Systems the licence fee demanded by a patent global corporations seeking to take out pat- holder was appropriate or was prohibi- ents in several countries. However, since le- The second and final part of a series of ar- tive. gal traditions differ between nations, is it ticles reviewing the history of the modern 3. Licences should not include restrictive really possible to obtain a unified set of pat- international patent system based on a re- conditions. ent laws?

PostScript error (undefinedresource, findresource

Summary Epilogue • Professor Isamu Akasaki, Meijo Uni- versity (May 1998) The history of patent systems has been out- This is the final issue of obi. The obi Edi- • Professor Sir Harold Kroto, University lined. The development of these systems torial Committee members would like to of Sussex (June 1998) has reflected the growth of economies, and thank members of the jsap for their en- • Professor Ryoichi Ito, University of in a sense have followed paths most favour- couragement and advice over the last 12 Tokyo (July 1998) able to the predominant economic powers months. • Mr Toshio Nakatsubo, Advisor to of the age. One is reminded of the claim of And we would wish to thank those au- Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (Septem- thors who unstintingly supported the obi ber 1998) the Sophists that the law was “the right of • Mr Kiharu Oguro, Tamagawa Gakuen the mighty”. However, for patent systems section by contributing commissioned arti- cles, including Professor Robert Geller (To- Primary School (October 1998) to become truly global, there remains the • Mr Hiroshi Masuko, Azabu High significant problem of how “the rights of kyo University) and Professor Tom Wilson School (October 1998) the weak” are to be protected. (West Virginia University), for their sup- • Dr Toshimitsu Musha, bfl Inc. port and willingness to make a contribu- (November 1998) tion. • Dr Masatoshi Shima, tops Corp., Acknowledgements Finally, we would like to thank the fol- (December 1998) lowing people featured in the obi inter- The obi Committee would like to thank views who shared their experiences and vi- Mr Takashi Ishihara and Mr Kanji Muko, sions of science and technology and its both international patent attorneys, for impact and role in society. their assistance during the planning of this article. • Professor Kunio Tada, Tokyo Univer- sity (March 1998) • Dr Anthony Cox, British Embassy, Tokyo (April 1998)

Oyo-Buturi International Editorial Committee: Adarsh Sandhu, PhD, Tokai University (Chair) • Johan Bergquist, PhD, Asian Technology Information Program • Tim Ernst, Cartoonist • Govind Pindoria, PhD, Nippon Novellus Systems • Francis Saba, PhD, Toshiba R&D Centre Tanya Sienko, PhD, • Sumitomo-3m Ltd. • Robin E Sowden, PhD, TARA, Tsukuba University

Correspondence: Japan Society of Applied Physics • Oyo-Buturi International • Kudankita Building 5f • 1-12-3 Kudankita, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 102-0073, Japan • Phone +81 3 3238 1045, Fax +81 3 3221 6245 • E-mail [email protected] • http://wwwsoc.nacsis.ac.jp/jsap