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A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 9: The General Instruments PIC1650

by Steven Leibson
I almost did not write this chapter in the ongoing saga of early microcontroller history. That’s not because the PIC1650 microcontroller isn’t important, just that it was not very important in its first incarnation. General Instrument Microelectronics (GI) envisioned the PIC1650 microcontroller as a peripheral chip for its 16-bit CP1600 microprocessor. In fact, “PIC” originally … Read More → "A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 9: The General Instruments PIC1650"

A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 8: The Intel 8051

by Steven Leibson
Intel introduced the successor to its 8048 microcontroller, the 8051, in 1980. It’s become the immortal microcontroller, and it was all because an applications engineer forgot to bring his wallet to work one day and asked his boss at Intel to buy lunch. Intel announced the 8048 microcontroller in 1976. The design’s largest weakness, limited … Read More → "A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 8: The Intel 8051"

A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 7: The Zilog Z8

by Steven Leibson
When Federico Faggin arrived at Intel in 1970, he immediately discovered that he’d stepped into a royal mess. He’d left Fairchild Semiconductor and accepted the position at Intel before being fully briefed on the custom chip set project for Busicom that would eventually become the first commercially successful microprocessor, the 4004. Faggin had developed a … Read More → "A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 7: The Zilog Z8"

A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 6: The Fairchild F8 and Mostek MK3870

by Steven Leibson
If Shakespeare were a technology fiction writer, he likely would have come up with something that looked very much like the story of the Fairchild F8 and Mostek 3870 microcontrollers. It’s a story full of misplaced trust, corporate seduction, shifting loyalties, misadventure, misappropriation, legal machinations, and great success followed by oblivion. A truly Shakespearean tale … Read More → "A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 6: The Fairchild F8 and Mostek MK3870"

A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 5: The Motorola 6801

by Steven Leibson
Motorola’s Semiconductors Components Group – Motorola Semiconductor – was late to the microprocessor party in more ways than one. The company never developed a successful PMOS process technology, so it was sending custom LSI chip designs like calculator chips for customers out to other semiconductor makers such as Mostek and AMS (Advanced Memory Systems). Despite … Read More → "A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 5: The Motorola 6801"

A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 4: The Intel 8048 and 8748

by Steven Leibson
Intel announced the first commercially successful microprocessor, the 4004, in late 1971. By 1974 Intel had introduced four microprocessors: the 4-bit, “low-end” 4004 and the upgraded 4040, and the 8-bit 8008 and 8080. Intel’s 4-bit 4004 and 4040 microprocessors were used primarily for embedded control applications where I/O capabilities and performance and lower part cost … Read More → "A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 4: The Intel 8048 and 8748"

A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 3: The Rockwell Microelectronics PPS-4/1

by Steven Leibson
Now that we’re well into the 21st century, most people rarely think of Rockwell Microelectronics in connection with microprocessors and microcontrollers. The parent company, North American Rockwell (renamed Rockwell International in 1973), was a major military/aerospace contractor. Rockwell built the Apollo spacecraft, the B1 Lancer bomber, and the US Space Shuttle. Rockwell’s Rocketdyne engines were … Read More → "A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 3: The Rockwell Microelectronics PPS-4/1"

A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 2: The Texas instruments TMS1000

by Steven Leibson
As with many first-of-a-kind devices, the Texas Instruments (TI) TMS0100 calculator chip family was a narrowly defined microcontroller, mostly good for making calculators. However, the first chip in the TMS0100 family, originally called the TM1802NC and later renamed the TMS0102, incorporated everything a microcontroller requires to be a microcontroller: a CPU, RAM, ROM, and I/O. … Read More → "A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 2: The Texas instruments TMS1000"

A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 1: Calculator Chips Came First

by Steven Leibson
Gary Boone, who worked in the Texas Instruments (TI) MOS Department, devised the first chip that can be called a microcontroller because he was becoming bored with his job and in trouble with his family. He’d joined TI in 1969 just when calculator chips were getting to be big business. During the 1960s, electronic calculators … Read More → "A History of Early Microcontrollers, Part 1: Calculator Chips Came First"

A Brief and Personal History of EDA, Part 3: Daisy, Valid, and Mentor Graphics – The CAE Era

by Steven Leibson
By the end of the 1970s, the leading CAD companies, including Calma, Applicon, and Computervision had started to lose interest in the electronics market and turned to mechanical CAD. Quite possibly, this lack of interest reflected the demand by electronics and semiconductor companies for something more than efficient drafting systems. The drawings produced by CAD … Read More → "A Brief and Personal History of EDA, Part 3: Daisy, Valid, and Mentor Graphics – The CAE Era"

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