Intel 8085 - interview?

[allison]

On 02/08/2018 11:56 PM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:
> On 02/08/2018 07:18 PM, Eric Smith via cctalk wrote:
>> At some point I read an article or a transcript of an interview with an
>> Intel employee (or former employee) who had been involved with the design
>> of the 8085, describing how he had specified additional instructions over
>> those of the 8080, and they had been implemented in the silicon, but then
>> the decision was made to not document any of the new instructions other
>> than RIM and SIM.
>>
>> I no longer recall which Intel employee that was, and can't find the
>> article or interview. Does anyone else remember that, and perhaps have a
>> copy?
> Do you mean Cort Allen?   His email a couple of years ago was:
>
> manofquest at aol.com
>
> He wrote;
>
> Actually, all of these instructions were 100% tested when they were
> manufactured at Intel. The test program used to test these devices
> contained all of these instructions and was written to do an extensive
> test on ALL instructions in many combinations and order. So, unless the
> 8085 broke after it was shipped, these instructions were tested and were
> working.
>
> I know this because I was the Test Engineer at Intel that developed the
> 8085 Production Test Program. I wrote all the code for this test and it
> ran on a Megatest @8000 test system.
>

Also all of the competitors and second sources that made 8085s had the
added instructions.  The are indeed handy too.

Allison