On 2024-06-13 4:30 p.m., Dave Dunfield via cctalk wrote:
I think the 86 came at a good time/place because the 8080 series had become
quite popular in microcomputers
and designers were feeling the limits of a 8-bit architecture - the 86 provided
a fairly powerful (for the time) and
easy upgrade which was enough like the 8080 that most developers didn't have a tough time
"figuring it out".
(and it didn't hurt that minicomputer pricing wasn't involved)
The Z8000 may be better. The 8088 was to be a better 8 bit cpu.
Dave
My own entry into the "microprocessor" design fray was something I called the:
C-FLEA
A very tiny/simple 16 bit CPU that was very optimal as a target for my C
compiler.
Never did see it to silicon, but did quite a few "virtual machines" - this let
me efficiently
put C code into little cpus that were not reasonable candidates for higher
level languages.
Where?
I just finished a 20 bit cpu, that seems to have all the features a 16
bit cpu's had, but not all in one machine.
Moving from word to byte/word addressing add one opcode bit.
Index registers 7? as general purpose reg. Add 3 opcode bits.
Removing skips, add one opcode bit.
Hmm 21 bits already..
Looking for a C-compiler that is easy to re-target, and a OS to go with it.
Ben.
