AMD Am2900
Encyclopedia
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
s (ICs) created in 1975 by Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. or AMD is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Sunnyvale, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for commercial and consumer markets...
(AMD). They were constructed with bipolar
Bipolar junction transistor
|- align = "center"| || PNP|- align = "center"| || NPNA bipolar transistor is a three-terminal electronic device constructed of doped semiconductor material and may be used in amplifying or switching applications. Bipolar transistors are so named because their operation involves both electrons...
devices, in a bit-slice
Bit slicing
Bit slicing is a technique for constructing a processor from modules of smaller bit width. Each of these components processes one bit field or "slice" of an operand...
topology, and were designed to be used as modular components each representing a different aspect of a computer control unit
Control unit
A control unit in general is a central part of the machinery that controls its operation, provided that a piece of machinery is complex and organized enough to contain any such unit. One domain in which the term is specifically used is the area of computer design...
(CCU). By using a bit slicing
Bit slicing
Bit slicing is a technique for constructing a processor from modules of smaller bit width. Each of these components processes one bit field or "slice" of an operand...
technique, Am2900 family was able to implement a CCU with data, addresses, and instructions to be any multiple of 4-bits by multiplying the number of ICs. One major problem with this modular technique was it required a larger amount of ICs to implement what could be done on a single CPU IC. The Am2901 chip was the arithmetic-logic unit (ALU), and the "core" of the series. It could count using 4 bits and implement binary operations as well as various bit-shifting operations.
Computers made with Am2900-family chips
There are probably many more, but here are some known machines using these parts:- Data General NovaData General NovaThe Data General Nova was a popular 16-bit minicomputer built by the American company Data General starting in 1969. The Nova was packaged into a single rack mount case and had enough power to do most simple computing tasks. The Nova became popular in science laboratories around the world, and...
4, which obtained 16-bit word width using four Am2901 ALUArithmetic logic unitIn computing, an arithmetic logic unit is a digital circuit that performs arithmetic and logical operations.The ALU is a fundamental building block of the central processing unit of a computer, and even the simplest microprocessors contain one for purposes such as maintaining timers...
s in parallel; one of the boards had 15 Am2901 ALUs on it. - Digital Equipment CorporationDigital Equipment CorporationDigital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
(DEC) PDP-11/23, PDP-11/34, and 11/44 floating-point options (FPF11, FP11-A and FP11-F, respectively) - The Xerox Dandelion, the machine used in the Xerox StarXerox StarThe Star workstation, officially known as the Xerox 8010 Information System, was introduced by Xerox Corporation in 1981. It was the first commercial system to incorporate various technologies that today have become commonplace in personal computers, including a bitmapped display, a window-based...
and Xerox 1108 Lisp machineLisp machineLisp machines were general-purpose computers designed to efficiently run Lisp as their main software language. In a sense, they were the first commercial single-user workstations... - Several models of the GEC 4000 seriesGEC 4000 seriesThe GEC 4000 was a series of 16/32-bit minicomputers produced by GEC Computers Ltd. of the UK during the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.- History :...
minicomputers: 4060, 4150, 4160 (four Am2901 each, 16-bit ALU), and 4090 and all 418x and 419x systems (eighteen Am2901 each, 32-bit integer ALU or 8-bit exponent, 64-bit Double Precision floating point ALU) - The DEC KS10 PDP-10PDP-10The PDP-10 was a mainframe computer family manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation from the late 1960s on; the name stands for "Programmed Data Processor model 10". The first model was delivered in 1966...
model - The UCSD PascalUCSD PascalUCSD Pascal was a Pascal programming language system that ran on the UCSD p-System, a portable, highly machine-independent operating system. UCSD Pascal was first released in 1978...
P-machine processor designed at NCR by Joel McCormackJoel McCormackJoel McCormack is the designer of the NCR Corporation version of the p-code machine which is a kind of Stack machine popular in the 1970s as the preferred way to implement new computing architectures and languages such as Pascal and BCPL... - A number of MAI Basic FourMAI Basic FourMAI Basic Four refers to a variety of Business Basic, the computers that ran it, and the company that sold them .Basic/Four Corporation was created as a subsidiary of Management Assistance, Inc. in Irvine, California...
machines - The Tektronix 4052 graphics system computer
- The SM-1420SM-1420The SM-1420 was a PDP-11/34+ clone, and the successor to SM-4 in Soviet Bloc countries. It was produced in the Soviet Union and Bulgaria....
, Soviet clone of PDP-11, used Soviet clone of AM2901 perhaps also used in others. - The LilithLilith (computer)Lilith is the name of custom built workstation using the AMD 2901 bit-slice processor by the group of Niklaus Wirth at ETH Zürich. The project started in 1977 and by 1984 several hundred workstations were in use. It had a high resolution full page display, a mouse, a laser printer interface, and a...
computer designed at ETH ZürichETH ZurichThe Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
by Niklaus WirthNiklaus WirthNiklaus Emil Wirth is a Swiss computer scientist, best known for designing several programming languages, including Pascal, and for pioneering several classic topics in software engineering. In 1984 he won the Turing Award for developing a sequence of innovative computer languages.-Biography:Wirth... - AtariAtariAtari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
's vector graphicsVector monitorA vector monitor or vector display is a display device used for early computers. It is a type of CRT, similar to the oscilloscope, but typically uses magnetic, rather than electrostatic, deflection...
arcade machines Tempest, Battlezone, and Red BaronRed Baron (arcade game)Red Baron is an arcade game developed by Atari, Inc and released in 1980. A first first-person flight simulator game, the player takes the role of a World War I ace in a biplane fighting on the side of the Allies. The game is named after the nickname of Manfred von Richthofen, German flying ace...
each used 4 Am2901 ICs in their "math box" auxiliary circuit boards. - Simulation Excel (Sim-X), Oslo, Norway: Typographical workstation / typesetter; one of its four processors was a 16-bit microcoded calculation and transformation engine built from four 2901 slices and one 2910 address sequencer. The Sim-X machine used a 16-bit integer multiplier to optimize graphical transformations. The machine debuted in 1983 and the company shut down in 1987.
- Eventide H949 Harmonizer; four Am2901 chips (and several microcode PROMs) are used to generate addresses and generate reference voltages for the DAC system - audio was not processed in the 2901 ALU section.
- Many Siemens Teleperm and S5 PLCs used for industrial control were built using the 2900 series.
- AT&T 3B20D Processor
Members of the Am2900 family
- Am2901 – 4-bit bit-slice ALUArithmetic logic unitIn computing, an arithmetic logic unit is a digital circuit that performs arithmetic and logical operations.The ALU is a fundamental building block of the central processing unit of a computer, and even the simplest microprocessors contain one for purposes such as maintaining timers...
(1975) - Am2902 – Look-Ahead Carry Generator
- Am2903 – 4-bit-slice ALU, with hardware multiply
- Am2904 – Status and Shift Control Unit
- Am2905 – Bus Transceiver
- Am2906 – Bus Transceiver with ParityParity bitA parity bit is a bit that is added to ensure that the number of bits with the value one in a set of bits is even or odd. Parity bits are used as the simplest form of error detecting code....
- Am2907 – Bus Transceiver with ParityParity bitA parity bit is a bit that is added to ensure that the number of bits with the value one in a set of bits is even or odd. Parity bits are used as the simplest form of error detecting code....
- Am2908 – Bus Transceiver with ParityParity bitA parity bit is a bit that is added to ensure that the number of bits with the value one in a set of bits is even or odd. Parity bits are used as the simplest form of error detecting code....
- Am2909 – 4-bit-slice address sequencer
- Am2910 – 12-bit address sequencer
- Am2911 – 4-bit-slice address sequencer
- Am2912 – Bus Transceiver
- Am2913 – Priority Interrupt Expander
- Am2914 – Priority Interrupt Controller
- Am2915 – Quad 3-State Bus Transceiver
- Am2916 – Quad 3-State Bus Transceiver
- Am2917 – Quad 3-State Bus Transceiver
- Am2918 – Instruction RegisterInstruction registerIn computing, an instruction register is the part of a CPU's control unit that stores the instruction currently being executed or decoded. In simple processors each instruction to be executed is loaded into the instruction register which holds it while it is decoded, prepared and ultimately...
, Quad D Register - Am2919 – Instruction RegisterInstruction registerIn computing, an instruction register is the part of a CPU's control unit that stores the instruction currently being executed or decoded. In simple processors each instruction to be executed is loaded into the instruction register which holds it while it is decoded, prepared and ultimately...
, Quad Register - Am2920 – Octal D-Type Flip-Flop
- Am2921 – 1-to-8 DecoderDecoderA decoder is a device which does the reverse operation of an encoder, undoing the encoding so that the original information can be retrieved. The same method used to encode is usually just reversed in order to decode...
- Am2922 – 8-Input MultiplexerMultiplexerIn electronics, a multiplexer is a device that selects one of several analog or digital input signals and forwards the selected input into a single line. A multiplexer of 2n inputs has n select lines, which are used to select which input line to send to the output...
(MUX) - Am2923 – 8-Input MUXMultiplexerIn electronics, a multiplexer is a device that selects one of several analog or digital input signals and forwards the selected input into a single line. A multiplexer of 2n inputs has n select lines, which are used to select which input line to send to the output...
- Am2924 – 3-Line to 8-Line DecoderDecoderA decoder is a device which does the reverse operation of an encoder, undoing the encoding so that the original information can be retrieved. The same method used to encode is usually just reversed in order to decode...
- Am2925 – System ClockClock signalIn electronics and especially synchronous digital circuits, a clock signal is a particular type of signal that oscillates between a high and a low state and is utilized like a metronome to coordinate actions of circuits...
Generator and Driver - Am2926 – Schottky transistorSchottky transistorA Schottky transistor is a combination of a transistor and a Schottky diode that prevents the transistor from saturating by diverting the excessive input current. It is also called a Schottky-clamped transistor.-Mechanism:...
3-State Quad Bus Driver - Am2927/Am2928 – Quad 3-State Bus Transceiver
- Am2929 – Schottky 3-State Quad Bus Driver
- Am2930 – Main Memory Program Control
- Am2932 – Main Memory Program Control
- Am2940 – Direct Memory Addressing (DMA)Direct memory accessDirect memory access is a feature of modern computers that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system memory independently of the central processing unit ....
Generator - Am2942 – Programmable Timer/Counter/DMADirect memory accessDirect memory access is a feature of modern computers that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system memory independently of the central processing unit ....
Generator - Am2946/Am2947 – Octal 3-State Bidirectional Bus Transceiver
- Am2948/Am2949 – Octal 3-State Bidirectional Bus Transceiver
- Am2950/Am2951 – 8-bit Bidirectional I/O Ports
- Am2954/Am2955 – Octal Registers
- Am2956/Am2957 – Octal Latches
- Am2958/Am2959 – Octal BuffersBuffer amplifierA buffer amplifier is one that provides electrical impedance transformation from one circuit to another...
/Line Drivers/Line Receivers - Am2960 – Cascadable 16-Bit Error Detection and Correction Unit
- Am2961/Am2962 – 4-Bit Error Correction Multiple Buss Buffers
- Am2964 – Dynamic Memory Controller
- Am2965/Am2966 – Octal Dynamic Memory Driver, Image
Many of these chips also have 7400 series numbers such as the 74F2960 / Am2960.
See also
- AMD
- List of AMD Am2900 and Am29000 families
- List of AMD microprocessors
- Bit slicingBit slicingBit slicing is a technique for constructing a processor from modules of smaller bit width. Each of these components processes one bit field or "slice" of an operand...
External links
- Introduction to Designing with the Am2900 Family of Microprogramable Bipolar Devices Vol 1 Bitsavers' PDF Document Archive
- Introduction to Designing with the Am2900 Family of Microprogramable Bipolar Devices Vol 2 Bitsavers' PDF Document Archive
- Am29C300/29300 Data Book Bitsavers' PDF document archive
- CPU-World photos of 2900 Family ICs
- Bit-Slice Design: micro-controllers and ALUs. an Introduction to the Am2900 Family
- Bit-Sliced Microprocessor of the Am2900 Family