High performance coprocessor boards of the 80s and 90s - was Re: SGI ONYX

On 25 April 2016 at 15:47, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote: I meant to develop this point slightly, and did in a blog post, here: http://liam-on-linux.livejournal.com/48593.html But in the meantime, it kept the 6502-based, resolutely-8-bit BBC Micro line alive with updates and new models, including ROM-based terminals and machines with a range of built-in coprocessors: faster 6502-family chips for power users, Z80s for CP/M, Intel's 80186 for kinda-sorta PC compatibility, the NatSemi 32016 with PANOS for ill-defined scientific computing, and finally, an ARM copro before the new ARM-based machines were ready. I tweeted the blog post and it emerges that a friend of mine was an Acorn engineer, which I didn't know, and was involved in a machine that I mention in passing there, but was actually far more significant. What I dismissed as one of the ROM-based terminals was the Acorn Communicator, a single-box machine (i.e. main board in the keyboard, like an Amiga 500 or original 520 ST.) This, remarkably, ran a 65816, as used in the Apple ][GS (tragically underclocked to just 2.8MHz so as not to outperform the Mac) and the SuperCPU cartridge for the C64. It was Acorn's only ever native 16-bit machine -- as it made the leap directly from 8-bit to full 32-bit -- and has ports of the 8-bit OS, word-processor, terminal emulator and more, all in ROM. I never previously realised. http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/Communicator.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Communicator I had previously thought it was essentially the Acorn ABC Personal Assistant in a different case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Business_Computer#ABC_Personal_Assistant The Communicator is a *far* more interesting beast, with no 6502 or copro -- it's a native 16-bit machine in the BBC family. Remarkable. -- Liam Proven ? Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven Cell/Mobiles: +44 7939-087884 (UK) ? +420 702 829 053 (?R)