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Wow, as that Wikipedia article explains, the 8008 was effectively developed through a prototyping process involving 100 TTL chips. Also, it sounds like CTC (Com
by hathawsh 8y ago
Wow, as that Wikipedia article explains, the 8008 was effectively developed through a prototyping process involving 100 TTL chips. Also, it sounds like CTC (Computer Terminal Corporation) invented the circuit and later gave Intel full rights to turn it into a chip and improve upon it. Intel was simply a contractor who knew when to do some work for free in exchange for IP rights. Did Intel have any idea how successful their strategy would turn out? Amazing!
- zerohp 8y agoPrototyping using TTL chips to validate the logic design was still common throughout the 1970s. 100 TTL chips is pretty small. The Motorola 68000 team published several papers that are still available through IEEE that describe the design process. They built a prototype from TTL chips which allowed them to rapidly iterate the microcode, nanocode, and programmed logic arrays without having to wait for samples to come back from manufacturing.
- jacquesm 8y agoThat must have been several boards at least, even at TTL scale integration and using components like adders and decoders as the building blocks.
- jandrese 8y agoThere is a FAQ on the page that explains that a 68k built in the same way would require a board 1.7m square.
- ChickeNES 8y agoI'd love to read them, could you share a doi or link?