Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) is a process of combining thousands of transistors into a single chip. It started in the 1970s with the development of complex semiconductor and communication technologies.

A VLSI device commonly known, is the microcontroller. Before VLSI, most ICs had limited functions. An electronic circuit usually consists of a CPU, ROM, RAM and other peripherals on one board. VLSI lets IC designers add all of these into one chip. Let’s look into the backstory of VLSI development before going into specifics.