6 Oct
1998
6 Oct
'98
11:26 a.m.
It isn't a single chip microprocessor like
it's cousin the 3870. It's
definately in the multichip (IE: required external chips to be a complete
system).
You're confusing microcontroller with microprocessor. No one else here
but you is claiming that a microprocessor has to be useful without adding
any chips whatsoever. That's what a single-chip-microcontroller is.
The 8080 also required extra chips to be useful, but it is considered to
be a microprocessor.
Also the F8 is not as complete a cpu as the 8080 as it
really has to have
a lost of stuff around it or special chips to get a nominal data/address
bus to interface to convential rams/roms.
I'd suggest that you go back to the F8 manual and tell us exactly what
is missing iniside the 3850 chip that makes you conclude that it is a
less complete CPU than an 8080. Having used both extensively, I can assure
you that they both are in fact complete CPUs. Neither one has a glueless
interface to memory, but so what? A Pentium II doesn't have a glueless
memory interface either, but surely you won't claim that a Pentium II is
not a microprocessor.
You seem to be confused by the fact that an F8 system has multiple copies
of the PC and data pointer replicated in the various chips. This does not
make the CPU any less complete. For instance, you can't claim that the
CPU doesn't have a program counter, or that it doesn't send the contents
of its program counter to the memory system in order to fetch instructions.
Since everyone else is long since tired of hearing about F8s, I won't
contribute any further to this discussion unless you can provide a detailed
explanation of what the F8 CPU is 'missing'. I can't refute your claims
if I don't know what they are. I'm not allowed to argue unless you've
paid. :-)
I might, however, get out the old Fairchild Channel F video game system
tonight and play a few hands of blackjack on an F8.
Eric