English

4- and 8-bit Microprocessors, Architecture and History

This book surveys the history and architecture of 8-bit microprocessors. We actually start with 4-bit microprocessors, look at a strange 1-bit processor, and look at 8-bit, then 12 bit micros. The 16-bit processors will be the subject of another book. Eight bit processors are still manufactured and used. This book is not an exhaustive view of the field, but the major players are covered. There is a review of computer architecture, binary math, and digital logic that can be skipped. The evolution of the 8-bit processors is a history of the advance of semiconductor technology from the first transistors, to the breakthrough of multiple transistors on a chip, the integrated circuit. A lot of this happened when the “Silicon Valley” of northern California was mostly known for its citrus crops. The tools that made all this happen were large mainframe computers with vacuum tube technology, punched card input, and memory drums with the staggering capacity of a thousand words. The growth of the integrated circuit shows what Gordon Moore observed was an exponential growth law: the complexity increased about every 18 months. Naturally, this growth rate is not sustainable forever. But, in the a

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