Dallas Semiconductor is a company that designs, manufactures and sells a range of mixed-signal, application-specific semiconductor products. Founded in 1984, the company is headquartered in Texas and its wafer factory is located in Dallas, Texas. Dallas Semiconductor's products are mainly concentrated in the digital and mixed-signal fields, and are used in broadband communications, wireless handheld devices, cellular base stations, secure Internet communications, servers, data management, medical and test equipment, home and commercial equipment, production equipment and network control systems. It is worth mentioning that Dallas once announced the development of an oscillator chip that can provide high precision without an external reference. Shortly after the unexpected death of its CEO, Dallas contacted Maxim to discuss the possibility of its acquisition. Although there was no intention to acquire, Maxim eventually acquired Dallas Semiconductor in 2001.