On 5 Oct 1998, Eric Smith wrote:
> > If that werent' the case the fairchild F8 would not qualify as a single
> > chip CPU due to the need for multiple chips and the same would apply to
> > the predecessor to the RCA CDP1802.
>
> Certainly the F8 qualifies as a single chip CPU. So did the 8080, 6800,
> 6502, Z-80, etc. Just because it took some additional chips to make a
> system doesn't mean that it didn't have a single-chip CPU.
Ahhhhhh! So we finally have some consensus. I wish people would realize
this about Holt's F14 microprocessor. The 5 other chips in the set (PMU,
PDU, SL, RAS, ROM) made up a whole SYSTEM, but the SLF could perform
usefully with just the RAS (RAM) and/or ROM.
> We haven't established a precise definition for microprocessor, but what
And you never will.
> you seem to be talking about is a microcontroller, which is a complete
> system on a chip (i.e., CPU, memory, and I/O).
This is what many people get confused about when trying to define a
"microprocessor" or more precisely, "single-chip microprocessor". A
"computer-on-a-chip" is quite a different beast.
> You'll get very few people to agree that the memory and I/O must be present
> for a chip to qualify as a microprocessor. This is evident from the word
> itself: 'micro', meaning small, and 'processor', meaning something that
> processes information. Nothing in either the 'micro' or 'processor' portion
> of the word seems to imply that any memory or I/O are included.
I think to truly understand where the controversy lies in what was the
"first" "microprocessor", one has to get themselves in the mindset of the
computer engineers back in the late 60s, early 70s. A "microprocessor",
or a CPU on a chip, was the next logical progression. There was no magic
in creating it really, it was simply a matter of time before the
technology advance to a state where it could be accomplished. Hoff,
Faggin and Mazor, by virtue of their employer having mass-marketed a
product that crammed an entire Central Processing Unit on a single chip,
take license to define what a "microprocessor" is or should be. The
definition is somewhat arbitrary. They just happened to garner the
prestige that enable them to this day to influence that definition, which
isn't necessarily proper, but more self-serving.
> AFAIK, the first true microcontroller (CPU, memory, and I/O on one monolithic
> IC) was the Intel 8048.
Are you sure?
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar_at_siconic.com
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Received on Mon Oct 05 1998 - 19:57:30 BST