Western Design Center

The Western Design Center (WDC), located in Mesa, Arizona, is a company which develops intellectual property for, and licenses manufacture of, MOS Technology 65xx based microprocessors, microcontrollers (µCs), and related support devices. WDC was founded in 1978 by a former MOS Technology employee and coholder of the MOS Technology 6502 patent, Bill Mensch.[1]

Not to be confused with Western Digital.

The Western Design Center, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryElectronics
Founded1978 (1978) in Mesa, Arizona, United States
FounderBill Mensch
Headquarters
Mesa, Arizona
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Bill Mensch
ProductsMicroprocessors, microcontrollers, support devices
OwnerBill Mensch
Websitewdc65xx.com www.westerndesigncenter.com

Beyond discrete devices, WDC offers device designs in the form of semiconductor intellectual property cores (IP cores) to use inside other chips such as application-specific integrated circuit (ASICs), and provides ASIC and embedded systems consulting services[2] revolving around their processor designs. WDC also produces C compilers, assembler/linker packages, simulators, development–evaluation printed circuit boards[3], and in-circuit emulators for their processors.

Hardware products

Devices
NameTypeComments
W65C02S8-bit microprocessorEnhanced static core CMOS version of the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor
W65C816S16-bit microprocessorExtended version of the W65C02S, featuring larger instruction set, selectable register sizes and 24-bit memory addressing
W65C134S8-bit microcontrollerMicrocontroller with W65C02S core and mask-programmable ROM
W65C265S16-bit microcontrollerMicrocontroller with W65C816S core and mask-programmable ROM
W65C21NI/O deviceDrop-in replacement for MOS Technology 6520 & Motorola 6820/6821 peripheral interface adapters (PIA)
W65C21SI/O deviceLower power, higher performance version of the W65C21N PIA
W65C22NI/O deviceDrop-in replacement for the MOS Technology 6522 versatile interface adapter (VIA)
W65C22SI/O deviceModified version of the MOS Technology 6522 VIA, with totem-pole IRQ output
W65C51NI/O deviceDrop-in replacement for the MOS Technology 6551 asynchronous communications interface adapter (ACIA)

Personal computer

The Mensch Computer is a W65C265 and W65C22-based hobbyist experimental personal computer named after company founder Bill Mensch.

References
  1. Cass, Stephen (September 16, 2021). "Q&A With Co-Creator of the 6502 Processor: Bill Mensch on the microprocessor that powered the Atari 2600 and Commodore 64". IEEE Spectrum.
  2. "Integrated Circuit (IC) | the Western Design Center, Inc".
  3. "Single Board Computers (SBC) | the Western Design Center, Inc".
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