Solid State: VLSI: Some fundamental challenges: Defining and designing the products made possible by very-large-scale integration are first on the list of priority tasks

A tremendous interest in VLSI is all around us. There is much talk of electron-beam and X-ray lithography tools to achieve VLSI´s submicron structures. In all of the discussions, the implication is that VLSI will allow us to enjoy the same kind of fantastic low-cost advantages that previous IC technologies have provided in electronic products. Perhaps. But if the semiconductor industry had today a commercial million-transistor technology like VLSI, I´m not so sure it would know what to do with it. Besides products containing memory devices, it isn´t clear how future VLSI can be used in electronic products.