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Cyhist Feb 09 1997 C
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Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 18:27:42 -0500
Reply-To: jbullock@pipeline.com
Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: James Bullock <jbullock@PIPELINE.COM>
Subject: Re: CM> Microprocessors and Busicom
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<CYHIST@SJUVM.stjohns.edu>
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Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
David S. Bennahum wrote:
<snip>
>
>I would like to know what the distinction is between an "integrated circuit" and a "microprocessor." When is one not the other?
Integrated Circuit (IC) - Several circuit elements on one substrate. Can be digital, or analog (called "linear" although generally they are not <g>).
Microprocessor (uP) - CPU functions of a general purpose computing device implemented as an integrated circuit.
Distinct from (and the language gets sloppy):
Microcontroller (uC) - CPU plus memory and I/O functions of an I/O oriented general purpose (as in programmable, vs. single function) computing device, implemented as an integrated circuit.
Bit-Slice Microprocessor - Bit of a misnomer. Elements of a microprocessor's internal architecture implemented as individual, arbitrarialy configurable family of ICs. Lets one design, at a board level, a custom CPU with performance and features dedicated to a single purpose.
Macro-Cell Technology - Taking the "parts" that make up various elements of a computer, and making them available in arbitrary combination on the same substrate. An extension of "microcontroller" idea, but in sufficient volumes one can get all the parts one needs (and none of the parts one does not) on one chip. The latest Intel Pentium variation is an example of this.
<snip>
>I am also keen on opening a thread which would address the question of how the microprocessor altered the dynamics of programming, and the computer industry at the time.
I came up through the automation of experiments at a university level, followed by embedded and factory floor systems. In that environment, the microprocessor (and the related development of the consumer microcomputer) allowed the automation of many tasks that could not previously be automated.
What it did to programming was open up a whole range of tasks to be programmed that were not economically or technically (mainly robustness & size of the computing engine) possible before.
>From my perspective, the microprocessor changed programming tasks,
allowing programming to become a consequence of product design. "There is so much code, implementing such and such features" to make the product do what it does. (Try and reach current gas mileage requirements without electronic engine controls, for example. Or try to implement ABS.)
These applications placed entire new demands on programming. Not just for correctness, but also a peculiar sensitivity to the behavior of the program in execution, as an object in its own right (stability, response rate/time, etc.)
<snip>g
______________________________________________________________________
Reply-To: jbullock@pipeline.com
Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: James Bullock <jbullock@PIPELINE.COM>
Subject: Re: CM> Microprocessors and Busicom
X-To: Discussion list on the History of Cyberspace
<CYHIST@SJUVM.stjohns.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
______________________________________________________________________
Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
David S. Bennahum wrote:
<snip>
>
>I would like to know what the distinction is between an "integrated circuit" and a "microprocessor." When is one not the other?
Integrated Circuit (IC) - Several circuit elements on one substrate. Can be digital, or analog (called "linear" although generally they are not <g>).
Microprocessor (uP) - CPU functions of a general purpose computing device implemented as an integrated circuit.
Distinct from (and the language gets sloppy):
Microcontroller (uC) - CPU plus memory and I/O functions of an I/O oriented general purpose (as in programmable, vs. single function) computing device, implemented as an integrated circuit.
Bit-Slice Microprocessor - Bit of a misnomer. Elements of a microprocessor's internal architecture implemented as individual, arbitrarialy configurable family of ICs. Lets one design, at a board level, a custom CPU with performance and features dedicated to a single purpose.
Macro-Cell Technology - Taking the "parts" that make up various elements of a computer, and making them available in arbitrary combination on the same substrate. An extension of "microcontroller" idea, but in sufficient volumes one can get all the parts one needs (and none of the parts one does not) on one chip. The latest Intel Pentium variation is an example of this.
<snip>
>I am also keen on opening a thread which would address the question of how the microprocessor altered the dynamics of programming, and the computer industry at the time.
I came up through the automation of experiments at a university level, followed by embedded and factory floor systems. In that environment, the microprocessor (and the related development of the consumer microcomputer) allowed the automation of many tasks that could not previously be automated.
What it did to programming was open up a whole range of tasks to be programmed that were not economically or technically (mainly robustness & size of the computing engine) possible before.
>From my perspective, the microprocessor changed programming tasks,
allowing programming to become a consequence of product design. "There is so much code, implementing such and such features" to make the product do what it does. (Try and reach current gas mileage requirements without electronic engine controls, for example. Or try to implement ABS.)
These applications placed entire new demands on programming. Not just for correctness, but also a peculiar sensitivity to the behavior of the program in execution, as an object in its own right (stability, response rate/time, etc.)
<snip>g
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