Sophie Wilson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sophie Wilson
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Wilson in 2013
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| Born | June 1957 (age 67–68) Leeds, England
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Sophie Mary Wilson (born in June 1957) is a brilliant English computer scientist. She helped create the special instructions for the ARM architecture, which is a very important type of computer processor.
Sophie Wilson first designed a small computer while she was on a break from her studies at Selwyn College, Cambridge. Later, she joined a company called Acorn Computers. There, she played a key role in designing the famous BBC Microcomputer. This included creating the BBC BASIC programming language for it.
In 1983, she started designing the ARM reduced instruction set computer (RISC). This processor began being made two years later. It became very popular in embedded systems, which are computers hidden inside other devices. Today, it is the most widely used processor in smartphones around the world! In 2011, she was named one of the "15 Most Important Women in Tech History" by Maximum PC magazine. She was also made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2019 for her amazing work.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Sophie Wilson was born in Leeds, England. Her parents were both schoolteachers. Her father taught English, and her mother taught physics. She grew up in a village called Burn Bridge in North Yorkshire.
After finishing secondary school at Harrogate Grammar School, Sophie went to Selwyn College, Cambridge in 1976. For her first two years, she studied mathematics. In her final year, she switched to computer science. She was also an active member of the university's Microprocessor society.
Building a Career in Computing
Even before university, Sophie Wilson had already designed and built two electronic systems. These were for a company called ICI Fibres Research near her home.
In the summer of 1977, after her first year at university, she designed a small computer system. It used a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor. This system was used to control how cows were fed electronically.
Her success with the cow-feeder project caught the attention of Hermann Hauser. He was a student at Cambridge at the time. Hauser was very impressed. He encouraged Sophie to stay in Cambridge during the 1978 summer break to turn her design into a real product.
Around the same time, a small computer kit called the MK14 was launched. Sophie believed she could create something better. Hauser supported her, suggesting she use parts from the MK14.
In December 1978, Hauser and another person, Chris Curry, started a company called Cambridge Processor Unit Ltd (CPU). Sophie Wilson joined the company in 1979. Her computer design, along with a cassette interface, became the Acorn Micro-Computer. This was the first in a long line of computers sold by the company.
Sophie worked on many parts of these early computers. She created the machine code monitor, an assembler, a version of BASIC, and many device drivers. She helped build everything from the ground up.
Creating the BBC Micro
Sophie Wilson was key in creating the computer that helped Acorn win a big contract. This contract was with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for their computer education project.
The BBC wanted a standard computer for a TV series. Viewers could then use this computer to try out what they learned. However, the BBC's first choice for the computer didn't work out. So, they urgently looked for other options.
Acorn offered to show the BBC a prototype of their next computer, called the Acorn Proton. The problem was, this computer didn't actually exist yet! Hermann Hauser cleverly told Sophie Wilson and her colleague Steve Furber that the other had agreed to build a prototype in a week.
Taking on the challenge, the Acorn team worked incredibly fast. They designed the system and circuit board from Monday to Wednesday. They even got special fast memory chips directly from Hitachi. By Thursday evening, a prototype was built. It started working on Friday morning. Sophie, who had only a few hours of sleep, quickly started adding the operating system. By the time the BBC arrived, she could show it drawing lines on a high-resolution screen.
The BBC was very impressed and chose the Proton to become the BBC Micro. Sophie Wilson was responsible for developing its operating system and its version of BASIC, called BBC BASIC. This was a huge task, making the software much bigger and more powerful than previous versions.
Sophie wanted to include her improvements to BASIC. The BBC, however, wanted the language to have standard features. They worked together to combine both ideas. This led to BBC BASIC having features like long variable names and special loops that made programming easier. Sophie remembered watching the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in July 1981 on a small TV while debugging the prototype computer.
Sophie and Steve Furber were even present backstage during the BBC Micro's first TV recordings. They were ready to fix any software problems if needed. Sophie later said it was a special time when people really wanted to learn how computers worked and how to program them.
Developing the ARM Processor
In October 1983, Sophie Wilson started designing the instructions for a new type of processor. This was one of the first reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processors, called the Acorn RISC Machine (ARM).
The first ARM processor, ARM1, was ready on April 26, 1985. It worked perfectly the first time it was turned on! It went into production that same year. This type of processor later became one of the most successful IP cores. An IP core is a licensed CPU design. By 2012, ARM processors were used in 95% of all smartphones!
Sophie also designed Acorn Replay. This was a system for playing videos on Acorn computers. It included special parts of the operating system for video and ways to compress and play video files. These were made to run high-quality video on ARM CPUs.
After Acorn Computers closed down, Sophie Wilson has given a few public talks about her work there.
Work at Broadcom
Sophie Wilson became the Chief Architect for Broadcom's Firepath processor. This processor had its roots in Acorn Computers. In 2001, she became a research fellow and director at Broadcom.
In 2011, she was listed as number 8 in Maximum PC magazine's article "The 15 Most Important Women in Tech History."
Awards and Recognition
Sophie Wilson has received many important awards for her contributions to computing.
- In 2012, she received the Fellow Award from the Computer History Museum in California. This was for her work with Steve Furber on the BBC Micro computer and the ARM processor.
- In 2009, she was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
- In 2013, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society.
- She received the 2014 Lovie Lifetime Achievement Award for inventing the ARM processor.
- In 2016, she became an honorary fellow of her old college, Selwyn College, Cambridge.
- In 2020, she was honored as a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society.
Sophie Wilson was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2019. This honor was given for her services to computing.
In 2022, she received the Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering. This award recognized her, along with David A. Patterson, John L. Hennessy, and Stephen B. Furber, for their "invention, development, and implementation" of RISC chips.
Interests and Hobbies
Sophie Wilson enjoys photography. She is also involved in a local theatre group. There, she helps with costumes and set pieces. She has even acted in some of their plays. She also had a small acting role as a pub landlady in the BBC television drama Micro Men.
See also
In Spanish: Sophie Wilson para niños
