2 Sep
2022
2 Sep
'22
6:59 p.m.
On 9/2/22 11:15, Tom Gardner via cctalk wrote:
I’m working on an update to Wikipedia on floppy disk
drive controllers –
there is a nice section on WD but nothing on Intel/NEC
Anyone know the history of how the NEC µPD765 and the Intel 8272 became
compatible devices?
The 8272/µPD765 as well as the graphics controllers (µPD7220: Intel
82720) were the result of a cross-licensing deal between NEC and Intel.
Both were essentially NEC designs. The 765 is described in detail in
the 1980 NEC catalog:
http://blog.kevtris.org/blogfiles/Handhelds/Datasheets/1980%20NEC%20Catalog…
The 7220 came a bit later. The Intel FDC that preceded the 8272, the
8271 was single-density only and doesn't resemble the 8272 at all.
It's obvious from the abovementioned NEC catalog that the extent of
licensing peripheral chips from Intel was pretty broad. The whole
affair continued peacefully until the V20, where Intel sued NEC for
pirating the 8086 microcode, which is an interesting read all by itself.
--Chuck