Tim Shoppa wrote:
There were many bitslice families out there that never
saw wide use
or maybe only existed in databooks. After the 2901 everyone tried
to jump in. The MC14500B at least was obviously not a 2901 clone :-)
The Am2901 is an improved clone of the MMI 6701! AMD and Raytheon
succeeded in getting the 2901 into mass production before MMI did that
with the 6701, reportedly because MMI had a lot of technical issues
early on. The Fairchild Macrologic parts also appear to have been
inspired by the MMI parts, and by Fairchild's 3800 MOS 8-bit ALU from
1969. The TTL versions of the Fairchild Macrologic parts might have
even shipped prior to the Am2901, though I can't find definitive
information on that. The CMOS Macrologic parts probably shipped after
the Am2901.
Eric