[ih] Intel 4004 vs the IMP

[Jorge Amodio]

Just as a time reference the first Proteon router, the p4200 was released
in 1986, can't find now what processor they used, same year Cisco released
the AGS, in those days the sexiest micro was the Motorola 68000 line.

I doubt that anything in the line of the 6500/6800/8080 could match the
HW316 or any of the other microcomputer CPU's at the time.

Warm Regards
Jorge


On Mon, Nov 15, 2021 at 9:27 AM Clem Cole via Internet-history <
internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> Lord I'm more typing challenged today than normal:
> Well given these are the features of the 316
>
>
> ᐧ
>
> On Mon, Nov 15, 2021 at 10:24 AM Clem Cole <clemc at ccc.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Nov 15, 2021 at 9:19 AM Steve Crocker via Internet-history <
> > internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
> >
> >> Might it be possible to pin down the crossover date?  That is, when did
> a
> >> microprocessor appear that was of the same power as the Honeywell 316?
> >>
> >> Well gioce these are the features of the 216:
> >
> > The programmers' model of the H-316 consisted of the following registers:
> >
> >
> >    - The 16-bit *A* register was the primary arithmetic and logic
> >       accumulator.
> >       - The 16-bit *B* register was used for double-length arithmetic
> >       operations.
> >       - The 16-bit *program counter* holds the address of the next
> >       instruction.
> >       - A *carry flag* indicated arithmetic overflow.
> >       - A 16-bit *X index* register was also provided for modification of
> >       the address of operands.
> >
> > The instruction set <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instruction_set> had
> > 72 arithmetic, logic, I/O and flow-control instructions.
> >
> > What I don't remember is the clock frequency, but I think it was in the
> > order of .5-1Mz.  It used core which teneded to be slower than
> > semiconductor memory at the time.
> >
> > So, I suspect if you just match the ISA's, first commercial
> microprocessor
> > to come close to that would have been the M6809 which was introduced in
> > 1978, which had two 8-bit A/B accumulators which combined to single
> 16-bit
> > accumulator but also has a 16-bit D accumulator.  It also had 2 16 bit
> > index registers (X and Y).   It was usually combined with semiconductor
> > memory and clocked at 2 Mhz.
> >
> > The M68000 would come out as an experimental (unnumberred) chip for a 10
> > of us a few months later and would be released for GA, in early/mid '79
> [I
> > was one of the people with the X-series chip at Tektronix, so I really
> > don't remember the final GA time).  Certainly it would been workable.
> >
> > The question is if an 8-bit processor with a 16-bit address space like
> the
> > 8080/Z80 or 6800/6502 would have been good enough.  They all tended to
> use
> > semiconductor memory, so the memory speed of the 316 is likely to have
> been
> > able to be matched/exceeded.  But the question is open if the code when
> > converted to 8-bit ops to perform what had been done in 16-bits would
> have
> > been reasonable.
> >
> > My >>WAG<< is that since so many slick video games got built on the 1Mhz
> > 6502, I think an IMP might have been possible but  would have taken some
> > very slick and careful coding I suspect.
> >
> > ᐧ
> >
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