Intel 4004 architecture

From: Allison J Parent <allisonp_at_world.std.com>
Date: Fri May 15 14:14:04 1998

<I'm interested in finding out all about the Intel 4004 which, if history
<is recorded corrrectly, was the world's first microprocessor.

No problemo... according to my 1979 Intel component databook... the last
year it was in the data books (along with the 4040).

Oh, as a note the 8008 had a shorter life than the 4004!

<Was the 4004 chip itslef a microprocessor?

Well yes, but I'd have to know what you consider a uprocessor. It was
complete in that it contained the Instruction decode, ALU, registers
and all the basic timing and control.

<Did it require support chips to actually make it functional?

Yes, a clock generator, and a pot load of logic or specific support
chips. I've seen 290x based designs that used fewer chips total.

<I recall that the 4004 was a part of a chip set upon which you could
< build applications.

Yes there were but, the 4004 could be used alone...awkwardly.

<Was the 4004 a serial or parallel architecture?

Parallel. Instructions are 8bits and data/arithmetic paths 4bits wide.

Allison
Received on Fri May 15 1998 - 14:14:04 BST