26 Jan
2012
26 Jan
'12
7:17 p.m.
On 27 Jan 2012 at 0:16, Jecel Assumpcao Jr. wrote:
Alexandre, about the 188 processor: it was just an
8088 with some
peripherals built in (like the iAPX186 was the 8086 with the same
devices). Unfortunately, this chip was designed before the IBM PC
became important so it used different addresses for the same funcionas
(timers, dmas, interrupt controllers). You could build a DOS machine
with this, but not a PC clone so it didn't last very long in the
market.
Well, actually you could--just not with the internal peripherals.
There was at least one PC-compatible built using external PIC, DMA,
CTC, etc. The benefit was that the 80186/88 had a much streamlined
instruction architecture and a compact footprint.
The 80186/188 and all of its variations (80C..., EB, EC. etc.) lasted
well into the late 1990s and beyond. If you owned a USR Courier
modem, you had an 80188 in the box, for example.
I haven't checked, but the 80C188 may still be manufactured. But it
enjoyed a longer product life than the 8088.
--Chuck