Why does Intel control x86?

[Vadamo]

I was reading up on a thread about intel and amd can only be the manufactures of processors. But Intel has a right to terminate AMD's license which makes no sense since AMD is a total separate company.

the main question is: why does intel controling licensing?

 

[hunter315]

Because intel created and patented the x86 architecture with the Intel 8086 wayyyy back in 1976ish. Since Intel created and keeps renewing the patent on it if anyone else wants to use it they have to get a licensing deal with Intel so they have permission to use intel's IP.

While Intel could end AMDs license, they never ever will. AMD created/patented the x86-64 architecture with the Athlon 64 though so both companies have cross licensed each others patents and neither can terminate the other ones license without crippling their own business by losing their licensing.

 

[Pinhedd]

I was reading up on a thread about intel and amd can only be the manufactures of processors. But Intel has a right to terminate AMD's license which makes no sense since AMD is a total separate company.

the main question is: why does intel controling licensing?

Intel doesn't "control" x86 in the sense that you're thinking. Intel did indeed design and create the 8086 microprocessor in the mid 1970s but clones were soon to follow. AMD is the only remaining major manufacturer of x86 microprocessors, with VIA Technologies manufacturing x86 microprocessors for embedded applications. At times many other manufacturers have dabbled in creating microprocessors that are compatible with the x86 instruction set including IBM, NEC, and Siemens.

The initial troubles began with the fact that numbers cannot be trademarked, so anyone could create an 8086 clone and market it as an 8086 as long as they avoided stepping on any patents owned by other manufacturers. The term x86 was cleared by the courts for general usage. Particular marketing terms used to sell variants of these products such as Pentium, Celeron, Opteron, Core i7, Bulldozer, and Atom remain the property of their respective owners. There is an important distinction between the terms used to market a recognizable product, and the technology that underlies that product.

What Intel does control though is the bulk of the market (which gives them a lot of decision making power) and an enormous number of patents relating to Intel's microarchitectures that implement the x86 instruction set. While a logical interface such as an instruction set cannot be patented (thus, creating an x86 clone is not a problem), elements of the underlying microarchitecture most certainly can be (thus, creating an efficient x86 clone most certainly is a problem). There is a patent cross licencing agreement between Intel and AMD that gives each other access to essential patents which improves software interoperability and reduces technological divergence. They also cooperate closely on new technologies to ensure that the logical interface for new instruction set extensions are the same across the board.

Newcomers to the industry would have a hard time creating an x86 compatible microprocessor that isn't several decades out of date.