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The Smart IC: Microprocessors

Four-Phase Systems AL1 processor chip

Design for the AL1 8-bit "bit slice" began in October 1968. Final working devices were delivered five months later. A bit slice can be combined with others to build computer CPUs of nearly any word size.

The Smart IC: Microprocessors

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the heart of a computer -- the part that decodes and executes instructions. As integrated circuits grew more complex, with more computer logic squeezed onto each device, it became clear that eventually an entire CPU would fit on a single chip, called a “microprocessor.”

But the first step was putting the CPU onto just a few chips.

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Court Room Demonstration System

MOS VLSI pioneer Lee Boysel designed this for a 1995 legal case to demonstrate that the AL1 processor chip, built in 1969, had some of the characteristics later claimed in several microprocessor patents.

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U. S. Navy’s Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter

Steve Geller and Ray Holt designed a 20-bit, pipelined, parallel processor chip set for the Tomcat fighter while working for Garrett AiResearch Corp in 1970 under contract from Grumman Aircraft. American Microsystems of Santa Clara, California manufactured the MOS-LSI chips.

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Related Content
Learn more about early approaches to microprocessors

Microprocessor integrates CPU function onto a single chip

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