14 Feb
2008
14 Feb
'08
7:35 a.m.
On Feb 14, 2008, at 3:51 AM, Gordon JC Pearce wrote:
The very same. The architecture made its debut in the 1970s with
the SMS (later Signetics) 8X300, which many of us have seen on disk
controller boards.
Here's a snippet of a classiccmp post of mine from back in 2001:
------------
GI adapted the SMS/Signetics 8x300 for use as a peripheral interface
controller (PIC) to augment the poor I/O of its CP1600 processor. GI's
IC division was spun off to form Arizona Microchip Technology (sound
familiar?) in the mid 80's, producing EPROMs, EEPROMs, and..."PIC"
processors.
------------
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
Keep in mind
that the SP0256 is only an allophone generator;
although there
were expansion ROMs available, for text-to-speech you needed
something like
the CTS256-AL2, which was a PIC (yes, GI made PICs in the '70s!)
programmed
PIC as is Arizona Microchip PIC, or PIC as in something else?