WDC
The Western Design Center, Inc. (WDC), founded in 1978 in Mesa, Arizona by microprocessor pioneer William D. Mensch, Jr., is the original source and IP owner of the CMOS 65xx microprocessor family, including the W65C02S 8-bit and W65C816S 16-bit microprocessors and peripherals. WDC has been licensing 65xx microprocessor IP cores to the global electronics industry since 1981 and is recognized as a pioneer in microprocessor IP design and licensing. Our technology powers products across automotive, industrial, consumer, and medical markets, where ultra-reliable, low-power embedded computing is essential. Building on this heritage, WDC offers synthesizable W65C02 and W65C816 IP cores for FPGA and ASIC platforms, including proven implementations on Altera® MAX® 10 devices. Our MyMENSCH™ development platform is a MAX 10® –based IoT CPU and system-on-chip exploration board, available in 10M08 and 10M16 variants. It combines an Altera® MAX® 10 FPGA with WDC’s 65xx microcontroller architecture, JTAG, USB, GPIO, and example builds, enabling rapid prototyping of embedded systems and FPGA-to-ASIC migration. WDC serves both commercial customers and the education ecosystem. For industry, we provide production-proven 65xx IP, reference designs, and consulting to reduce risk and accelerate time-to-market for deeply embedded and safety-critical systems. For educators and students, MyMENSCH and our broader 65xx development platforms offer an accessible path into digital logic, computer architecture, and embedded system design, aligning naturally with Altera University’s mission to provide FPGA-ready tools and hardware to the academic community. As an Altera Solution Acceleration Partner, WDC will contribute a unique combination of heritage-rich processor IP, MAX 10®–based development hardware, and education-focused content to the global ASAP ecosystem—helping customers and universities adopt Altera FPGAs more quickly, with robust 8/16-bit architectures that are easy to learn, easy to integrate, and proven in mission-critical applications.