The Intel 80186, also known as the iAPX 186, or just 186, is a

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...

and

microcontroller A microcontroller (MC, uC, or μC) or microcontroller unit (MCU) is a small computer on a single integrated circuit. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable input/output peripherals. Pro ...

introduced in 1982. It was based on the

Intel 8086 The 8086 (also called iAPX 86) is a 16-bit computing, 16-bit microprocessor chip designed by Intel between early 1976 and June 8, 1978, when it was released. The Intel 8088, released July 1, 1979, is a slightly modified chip with an external 8-b ...

and, like it, had a

16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...

external data bus multiplexed with a 20-bit

address bus In computer architecture, a bus (historically also called a data highway or databus) is a communication system that transfers data between components inside a computer or between computers. It encompasses both hardware (e.g., wires, optical ...

. The 80188 variant, with an

8-bit 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 bu ...

external data bus was also available.

Description

The 80186 series was designed to reduce the number of

integrated circuits An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...

required. It included features such as

clock generator A clock generator is an electronic oscillator that produces a clock signal for use in synchronizing a circuit's operation. The output clock signal can range from a simple symmetrical square wave to more complex arrangements. The basic parts tha ...

interrupt controller In computing, a programmable interrupt controller (PIC) is an integrated circuit that helps a microprocessor (or CPU) handle interrupt requests (IRQs) coming from multiple different sources (like external I/O devices) which may occur simultane ...

timers A timer or countdown timer is a type of clock that starts from a specified time duration and stops upon reaching 00:00. It can also usually be stopped manually before the whole duration has elapsed. An example of a simple timer is an hourglass ...

wait state A wait state is a delay experienced by a computer processor when accessing external memory or another device that is slow to respond. Computer microprocessors generally run much faster than the computer's other subsystems, which hold the data the ...

generator, DMA channels, and external

chip select Chip select (CS) or slave select (SS) is the name of a control line in digital electronics used to select one (or a set) of integrated circuit An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic cir ...

lines. It was used in numerous

embedded system An embedded system is a specialized computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is e ...

s, as

s with external memory. The initial clock rate of the 80186 was 6

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

, but due to more hardware available for the

microcode In processor design, microcode serves as an intermediary layer situated between the central processing unit (CPU) hardware and the programmer-visible instruction set architecture of a computer. It consists of a set of hardware-level instructions ...

to use, especially for address calculation, many individual instructions completed in fewer clock cycles than on an 8086 at the same clock frequency. For instance, the common ''register+immediate''

addressing mode Addressing modes are an aspect of the instruction set architecture in most central processing unit (CPU) designs. The various addressing modes that are defined in a given instruction set architecture define how the machine language instructions ...

was significantly faster than on the 8086, especially when a memory location was both (one of) the operand(s) and the destination. Multiply and divide also showed great improvement, being several times as fast as on the original 8086, and multi-bit shifts were done almost four times as quickly as in the 8086. A few new instructions were introduced with the 80186 (referred to as the 8086-2 instruction set in some

datasheet A datasheet, data sheet, or spec sheet is a document that summarizes the performance and other characteristics of a product, machine, component (e.g., an electronic component), material, subsystem (e.g., a power supply), or software in sufficie ...

s): ''enter''/''leave'' (replacing several instructions when handling stack frames), ''pusha''/''popa'' (push/pop all general registers), ''bound'' (check array index against bounds), and ''ins''/''outs'' (input/output of string). A useful ''immediate'' mode was added for the ''push'', ''imul'', and multi-bit shift instructions. These instructions were also included in the contemporary 80286 and in successor chips.

Variants

The (redesigned)

CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss ", , ) is a type of MOSFET, metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) semiconductor device fabrication, fabrication process that uses complementary an ...

version, 80C186, introduced DRAM refresh, a power-save mode, and a direct interface to the 80C187 floating-point numeric

coprocessor A coprocessor is a computer processor used to supplement the functions of the primary processor (the CPU). Operations performed by the coprocessor may be floating-point arithmetic, graphics, signal processing, string processing, cryptography or ...

. Intel second-sourced this microprocessor to Fujitsu Limited around 1985. Both packages for Intel 80186 version were available in 68-pin PLCC and PGA in sampling at third quarter of 1985. The 12.5 MHz Intel 80186-12 version using the 1.5 μm HMOS-III process for US$36 in quantities of 100. The 12.5 MHz Intel 80C186 version using the

CHMOS CHMOS refers to one of a series of Intel CMOS processes developed from their Depletion-load NMOS logic#The HMOS processes, HMOS process. CHMOS stands for "complementary high-performance metal-oxide-silicon. It was first developed in 1981. CHMOS ...

III-E technology using approximately 90 mA under normal load and only 32 mA under power-save mode. It was available in 68-pin PLCC, CPGA, or CLCC package. The M80C186 military version was available in 10 and 12 MHz versions. They met MIL-STD-883 Rev. C and MIL-STD-1553 bus application standards. The 12 MHz CHMOS version consumes approximately 100 mA. The available packages were 68-pin CPGA and CQFP. The 10 MHz M80C186 PGA version was available for US$378 in 100-unit quantities. The 80C186EB was a fully static design for the

application-specific standard product An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC ) is an integrated circuit (IC) chip customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use, such as a chip designed to run in a digital voice recorder or a high-efficien ...

using the 1 μm CHMOS IV technology. They were available in 3- and 5-volt versions with 84-lead PLCC and 80-lead EIAJ QFP packaging. It was also available for US$16.95 in 1,000-unit quantities. The Intel 80C186EC contains 4 DMA channels, 2 interrupt controllers, 22 I/O which control two serial channels, and 4 timers. This version was available for US$17.70 in quantites of 1,000 units. This microcontroller only available in 5-volt version. Both Intel 80C186EC and 80C186EA contains three different power-management modes, which has idle, powerdown and powersave. The 80C186EA has both 5- and 3-volt versions. The 80C186XL version was available up to 20 MHz, which is compatible with existing CMOS version of 80C186 that has 25% higher performance and 50% lower power consumption. This version used 1 μm CHMOS process technology. Both 80C186EA and 80C186XL were available for US$11.80 in quantities of 1,000 units.

80188 series

The 80188 variant, with an

external data bus was also available; this made it less expensive to connect to

peripheral A peripheral device, or simply peripheral, is an auxiliary hardware device that a computer uses to transfer information externally. A peripheral is a hardware component that is accessible to and controlled by a computer but is not a core compo ...

s. The 16-bit registers and the one

megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Its recommended unit symbol is MB. The unit prefix ''mega'' is a multiplier of (106) in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, one megabyte is one million bytes ...

address range were unchanged, however. It had a throughput of 1 million

instructions per second Instructions per second (IPS) is a measure of a computer's Central processing unit, processor speed. For complex instruction set computers (CISCs), different Machine code, instructions take different amounts of time, so the value measured depen ...

. Intel second sourced this microprocessor to Fujitsu Limited around 1985. Both packages of Intel 80188 version were available in 68-pin PLCC and PGA in sampling at third quarter of 1985. The available 80C188EB in fully static design for the

using the 1-micron

IV technology. They were available in 3- and 5-Volts version with 84-lead PLCC and 80-lead EIAJ QFP version. It was also available for US$15.15 in 1,000 unit quantities. The 80188 series was generally intended for

s, as

s with external memory. Therefore, to reduce the number of chips required, it included features such as

, timers,

generator, DMA channels, and external

lines. While the N80188 was compatible with the 8087 numeric co-processor, the 80C188 was not. It did not have the ESC control codes integrated.

Uses

In personal computers

Because the integrated hardware included in the 80186 was incompatible with the support chips chosen by

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

for the 8088-based IBM PC released a few months earlier, the chip did not see wide success in the PC market. IBM chose the 80286 for its successor, the IBM PC/AT, released in August 1984. Most other PC-compatible manufactures followed. Regardless, several notable

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

s used the 80186: * Danish

Regnecentralen Regnecentralen (RC) was the first Denmark, Danish computer company, founded on 12 October 1955. Through the 1950s and 1960s, they designed a series of computers, originally for their own use, and later to be sold commercially. Descendants of thes ...

RC750 Partner
running CCP/M * Danish

RC759 Piccoline
running CCP/M * Australian Dulmont Magnum laptop, one of the first laptops *

Wang Wang may refer to: Names * Wang (surname) Wang () is the pinyin romanization of Chinese, romanization of the common Chinese surname (''Wáng''). It has a mixture of various origin with uncertain lineage of family history, however it is c ...

Office Assistant, marketed as a PC-like stand-alone word processor * MAD-1, a semi–IBM PC-compatible desktop computer with a modular design * Pronto System 16, another PC compatible * Mindset, a very early graphics workstation *

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

(not 100%

IBM PC compatible An IBM PC compatible is any personal computer that is hardware- and software-compatible with the IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) and its subsequent models. Like the original IBM PC, an IBM PC–compatible computer uses an x86-based central p ...

but using

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

2.11) * Compis, a Swedish school computer * French SMT-Goupil G4 * RM Nimbus PC-186, the first version of a series of British school computers * Unisys ICON, a Canadian school computer * ORB Computer by ABS * HP 100LX, HP 200LX, HP 1000CX, and

HP OmniGo 700LX The HP 200LX Palmtop PC (F1060A, F1061A, F1216A), also known as project ''Felix'', is a personal digital assistant introduced by Hewlett-Packard in August 1994. It was often called a Palmtop PC, and it was notable that it was, with some ...

Tandy 2000 The Tandy 2000 is a personal computer introduced by Radio Shack in September 1983 based on the 8 MHz Intel 80186 microprocessor running MS-DOS. By comparison, the IBM PC XT (introduced in March 1983) used the older 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 ...

desktop, a somewhat PC-compatible workstation with sharp graphics for its day * Telex 1260, a desktop PC-XT compatible * Philips :YES * Nokia MikroMikko 2 * IBM PCradio * Altos 486

Xenix Xenix is a discontinued Unix operating system for various microcomputer platforms, licensed by Microsoft from AT&T Corporation. The first version was released in 1980, and Xenix was the most common Unix variant during the mid- to late-1980s. T ...

3.1-based multiuser server In addition to the above examples of stand-alone implementations of the 80186 for personal computers, there were at least two examples of "add-in" accelerator card implementations: the BBC Master 512,

Acorn The acorn is the nut (fruit), nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'', ''Notholithocarpus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains a seedling surrounded by two cotyledons (seedling leaves), en ...

's plug-in for the BBC Master range of computers containing an 80186–10 with 512 KB of RAM, and the Orchid Technology PC Turbo 186, released in 1985. It was intended for use with the original

Intel 8088 The Intel 8088 ("''eighty-eighty-eight''", also called iAPX 88) microprocessor is a variant of the Intel 8086. Introduced on June 1, 1979, the 8088 has an eight-bit external data bus instead of the 16-bit bus of the 8086. The 16-bit registers ...

-based IBM PC (Model 5150).

Other devices

The Intel 80186 and 80188 are often embedded in electronic devices that are not primarily computers. For example: * The 80186 was used to control the Microtek 8086 in-circuit emulator. * The 80188 was embedded inside the Intel 14.4EX modem released in 1991. The 16 MHz processor was used to perform complex algorithms needed for forward error correction,

trellis modulation Trellis coded modulation (TCM) is a modulation scheme that transmits information with high efficiency over band-limited channels such as telephone lines. Gottfried Ungerboeck invented trellis modulation while working for IBM in the 1970s, and fi ...

, and echo cancellation in the modem. * The second-generation SatisFAXtion board, which is a

FAX Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other out ...

modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...

ISA card, uses this processor. * The IBM 7171 protocol converter, which made

ASCII ASCII ( ), an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for representing a particular set of 95 (English language focused) printable character, printable and 33 control character, control c ...

character-oriented terminals appear as an IBM 3270 terminal to an IBM mainframe, used the Intel 80186 as its CPU. * It was also used on the controller card for Digital Equipment Corporation's

DECtalk DECtalk is a speech synthesizer and text-to-speech technology that was developed by Digital Equipment Corporation in 1983, based largely on the work of Dennis H. Klatt, Dennis Klatt at MIT, whose source-filter algorithm was variously known as ...

speech synthesizer system.

End of life

On March 30, 2006, Intel announced that production of the 80186 and 80188, along with the production of other processor models such as the 80386 and 80486, would cease at the end of September 2007. Pin- and instruction-compatible replacements might still be manufactured by various third-party sources, and FPGA versions are publicly available.

Notes

References

External links

Intel Datasheet

Scan of the Intel 80186 data book at datasheetarchive.com

Intel 80186/80188 images and descriptions at cpu-collection.de

Scan of the Intel 80188 data book
at datasheetarchive.com {{Authority control 80186 80186 16-bit microprocessors Computer-related introductions in 1982 X86 microarchitectures