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6809
The Motorola 6809 ("''sixty-eight-oh-nine''") is an 8-bit microprocessor with some 16-bit features. It was designed by Motorola's Terry Ritter and Joel Boney and introduced in 1978. Although source compatible with the earlier Motorola 6800, the 6809 offered significant improvements over it and 8-bit contemporaries like the MOS Technology 6502, including a hardware multiplication instruction, 16-bit arithmetic, system and user stack registers allowing re-entrant code, improved interrupts, position-independent code and an orthogonal instruction set architecture with a comprehensive set of addressing modes. Among the most powerful 8-bit processors of its era, it was also much more expensive. In 1980 a 6809 in single-unit quantities was compared to for a Zilog Z80 and for a 6502. It was launched when a new generation of 16-bit processors were coming to market, like the Intel 8086, and 32-bit designs were on the horizon, including Motorola's own 68000. It was not feature competit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hitachi 6309
The 6309 is Hitachi's CMOS version of the Motorola 6809 microprocessor, released in late 1982. It was initially marketed as a low-power version of the 6809, without reference to its many internal improvements. While in "Emulation Mode" it is fully compatible with the 6809. To the 6809 specifications, it adds higher clock rates, enhanced features, new instructions, and additional registers. Most of the new instructions were added to support the additional registers, as well as up to 32-bit math, hardware division, bit manipulations, and block transfers. The 6309 is generally 30% faster in native mode than the 6809. This information was never published by Hitachi. The April 1988 issue of ''Oh! FM'', a Japanese magazine for Fujitsu personal computer users, contained the first description of the 6309's additional capabilities. Later, Hirotsugu Kakugawa posted details of the 6309's new features and instructions to comp.sys.m6809. This led to the development of NitrOS-9 for the T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TRS-80 Color Computer
The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer and sometimes nicknamed the CoCo, is a line of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Computer is a completely different, incompatible system and a radical departure in design and compatibility with its Motorola 6809E processor rather than the Zilog Z80 earlier models were built around. The Tandy Color Computer line started in 1980 with what is now called the Color Computer 1. It was followed by the Color Computer 2 in 1983, then the Color Computer 3 in 1986. All three models maintain a high level of software and hardware compatibility, with few programs written for an older model being unable to run on the newer ones. The Color Computer 3 was discontinued in 1991. All Color Computer models shipped with Color BASIC, an implementation of Microsoft BASIC, in ROM. Variants of the OS-9 multitasking operating system were availab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motorola 6800
The 6800 ("''sixty-eight hundred''") is an 8-bit microprocessor designed and first manufactured by Motorola in 1974. The MC6800 microprocessor was part of the M6800 Microcomputer System (latter dubbed ''68xx'') that also included serial and parallel interface ICs, RAM, ROM and other support chips. A significant design feature was that the M6800 family of ICs required only a single five-volt power supply at a time when most other microprocessors required three voltages. The M6800 Microcomputer System was announced in March 1974 and was in full production by the end of that year. "Motorola's M6800 microcomputer system, which can operate from a single 5-volt supply, is moving out of the sampling stage and into full production." The small-quantity price of the MC6800 is . The MC6820 PIA cost . The 6800 has a 16-bit address bus that can directly access of memory and an 8-bit bi-directional data bus. It has 72 instructions with seven addressing modes for a total of 197 opcodes. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragon 32/64
The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer, and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., initially in Swansea, Wales before moving to Port Talbot, Wales (until 1984) and by Eurohard S.A. in Casar de Cáceres, Spain (from 1984 to 1987), and for the US market by Tano of New Orleans, Louisiana. The model numbers reflect the primary difference between the two machines, which have 32 and 64 kilobytes of RAM, respectively. Product history Dragon Data entered the market in August 1982 with the Dragon 32. The Dragon 64 followed a year later. The computers sold well initially and attracted the interest of independent software developers including Microdeal. A companion magazine, '' Dragon User'', began publication shortly after the microcomputer's launch. Despite this initial success, there were two technical impediments to the Dragon's acceptance. The graphics capabili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ENER 1000
The ENER 1000 was a Portuguese computer released in 1982. It had 64 KB RAM and two -inch double-density floppy disk drives. It ran the CP/M operating system. The machine was developed on Universidade de Coimbra and sold through Enertrónica after 1982. More than 500 units were sold. It came with software for stock management, salary processing, and accounting. In 1983 the machine was awarded the 1st prize for creativity at ''Endiel (Encontro Nacional para o Desenvolvimento das Indústrias Elétricas e Eletrónicas)''. In 1984, a dozen of ENER 1000 were distributed to some secondary schools. In 1985 the ENER 1000 project ended. Characteristics The machine was based on eurocard cards (10 x 16 cm) connected to the motherboard using up to 8 DIN 41612 connectors. The desktop box measured 50 x 36 x 15 cm and could house up to 8 cards. There were two internal -inch double-density floppy disk drives (1.6 Mb capacity). Minimal configuration The minimal configuration ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SuperPET
The Commodore PET is a line of personal computers produced starting in 1977 by Commodore International. A single all-in-one case combines a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, Commodore BASIC in read-only memory, keyboard, monochrome monitor, and, in early models, a cassette deck. Development of the system began in 1976, and a prototype was demonstrated at the January 1977 Consumer Electronics Show. The name "PET" was suggested by Andre Souson after he saw the Pet Rock in Los Gatos, and stated they were going to make the "pet computer". It was backronymed to Personal Electronic Transactor. A series of problems delayed production versions until December 1977, by which time the TRS-80 and Apple II had already begun deliveries. ''Byte'' referred to the three machines collectively as the "1977 trinity". Following the initial PET 2001, the design was updated through a series of models with more memory, better keyboard, larger screen, and other modifications. The systems were a top s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Williams Pinball Controller
The Williams Pinball Controller (WPC) is an arcade system board platform used for several pinball games designed by Williams and Midway (under the '' Bally'' name) between 1990 and early 1999. It is the successor to their earlier System 11 hardware ('' High Speed'', '' Pin*Bot'', '' Black Knight 2000''). It was succeeded by Williams/Midway's Pinball 2000 platform, before Williams left the pinball business in October 1999. ''FunHouse'' (designed by Pat Lawlor) was the first production game to use WPC, although there are prototype Dr. Dude machines that use WPC. Hardware info WPC systems contain several separate printed circuit boards that are characterized by: *Main CPU: Motorola 6809 at 2 MHz, 8KB of RAM, and between 128KB and 1MB of EPROM for the game program *WPC ASIC: Williams-proprietary 68-pin PLCC custom chip that implements functions like address decoding, real time clock, and watchdog *Sound CPU: Motorola 6809 (''Pre-DCS''), Analog Devices ADSP2105 (''DCS'') ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector. The design implements a 32-bit instruction set, with 32-bit registers and a 16-bit internal data bus. The address bus is 24 bits and does not use memory segmentation, which made it easier to program for. Internally, it uses a 16-bit data arithmetic logic unit (ALU) and two more 16-bit ALUs used mostly for addresses, and has a 16-bit external data bus. For this reason, Motorola termed it a 16/32-bit processor. As one of the first widely available processors with a 32-bit instruction set, and running at relatively high speeds for the era, the 68k was a popular design through the 1980s. It was widely used in a new generation of personal computers with graphical user interfaces, including the Macintosh 128K, Amiga, Atari ST, and X6800 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
8-bit Computing
In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data buses of that size. Memory addresses (and thus address buses) for 8-bit CPUs are generally larger than 8-bit, usually 16-bit. 8-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 8-bit microprocessors. The term '8-bit' is also applied to the character sets that could be used on computers with 8-bit bytes, the best known being various forms of extended ASCII, including the ISO/IEC 8859 series of national character sets especially Latin 1 for English and Western European languages. The IBM System/360 introduced byte-addressable memory with 8-bit bytes, as opposed to bit-addressable or decimal digit-addressable or word-addressable memory, although its general-purpose registers were 32 bits wide, and addresses were contained in the lower 24 bits o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomson Computers
In the 1980s the French Thomson company produced a range of 8-bit computers based on the 6809E CPU. They were released in several variations (mostly concerning the keyboard or color of the casing) covering the MO and TO series from late 1982 to 1989. While MO and TO models are incompatible in software, most of the peripherals and hardware were compatible. These machines were common in France due to the 1980s governmental educational program '' Computing for All (Informatique pour Tous)''.' Around 100,000 MO5 and TO7/70 computers were ordered and installed in schools. Export attempts to Germany, Italy, Algeria, USSR, India, Argentina and Spain were unsuccessful. It is reported that there were 450,000 Thomson computers in France in 1986. By 1988 Thomson had only sold 60,000 of the predicted 150,000 computers, abandoning computer development the following year. About 84 games were released for the TO7, 194 for the MO5, 3 for the TO7/70, 10 for the TO9, 21 for the MO6, and 128 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry required to perform the functions of a computer's central processing unit. The integrated circuit is capable of interpreting and executing program instructions and performing arithmetic operations. The microprocessor is a multipurpose, clock-driven, register-based, digital integrated circuit that accepts binary data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results (also in binary form) as output. Microprocessors contain both combinational logic and sequential digital logic, and operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary number system. The integration of a whole CPU onto a single or a few integrated circuits using Very-Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) greatly reduced the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vectrex
The Vectrex is a vector display-based home video game console–the only one ever designed and released for the home market, developed by Smith Engineering. It was first released for the North America market in November 1982 and then Europe and Japan in 1983. Originally manufactured by General Consumer Electronics, it was later licensed to Milton Bradley after they acquired the company. Bandai released the system in Japan. The Vectrex, in contrast to other video game systems at the time, does not need to be hooked up to a television set. It has an integrated monochrome CRT monitor. A detachable wired control pad can be folded into the lower base of the console. Games came with translucent color overlays to place over the screen. Peripherals include a pair of 3D goggles known as the "3D Imager" and a light pen for drawing directly on the screen. The ''Asteroids''-inspired '' Mine Storm'' is built into the system. The console was conceived by John Ross, of Smith Engineering, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
