Speaking of multiple processors... - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

16 Nov 2007

...
  Message: 24
 Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 08:57:12 -0500
 From: Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net>
 Subject: Re: Speaking of multiple processors...
 To: cctech at classiccmp.org
 Message-ID: <0JRL00BZ4QQMNPW2 at vms042.mailsrvcs.net>
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

 Cromemco also had Z80s on their I/O processor
boards, and when  the later 680x0
 CPU boards dropped the Z80 you could still run
your Z80 programs  on the I/O card.

mike 
 This is not uncommon.

 H89 had two, one for the terminal and the other was the processor for
 the computer.

 My NS*Horizon had two when I added the Teletek HDC(hard disk) as that
 has a local z80.  When I added a smart FDC of my own design and later
 smart printer spooler and other IO with local cpu the nuber fo cpus grew.

 The Compupro system can easily have three, ZPB, Their mux board and
 any of the hard disk controllers.  I have one that has 68000, 8085 and
 Z80 (maincpu, mux and Disk3).

 It's something that isn't unusual as it would seem.

 Allison 
Absolutey. I have a couple of IOP cards here complete with Z-80, Z80-SIO and
firmware - very nice cards.

Further, way back in the early '80s the Comart Communicator had an
intelligent FDC sporting a Z-80 - formatting was just a matter of setting up
the command and executing asynchronously, the host CPU could then go off and
do something else.

This was way ahead of the common-or-garden FDC's of the time, even
Cromemco's FDC's at the time. A much under-rated system...

Jim