Am2900 is a family of integrated circuits (ICs) created in 1975 by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). They were constructed with bipolar devices, in a bit-slice topology, and were designed to be used as modular components each representing a different aspect of a computer control unit (CCU). By using a bit slicing technique, Am2900 family was able to implement a CCU with data, addresses, and instructions to be any multiple of 4-bits by multiplying the number of ICs. One major problem with this modular technique was it required a larger amount of ICs to implement what could be done on a single CPU IC. The Am2901 chip was the arithmetic-logic unit (ALU), and the "core" of the series. It could count using 4 bits and implement binary operations as well as various bit-shifting operations.
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Computers made with Am2900-family chips
There are probably many more, but here are some known machines using these parts:
- Data General Nova 4, which obtained 16-bit word width using four Am2901 ALUs in parallel; one of the boards has 15 Am2901 ALUs on it [1].
- PDP-11/34/35 [2]
- The Xerox Dandelion, the machine used in the Xerox Star and Xerox 1108 Lisp machine [3].
- Several models of the GEC 4000 series minicomputers: 4060, 4150, 4160 (four Am2901 each, 16-bit ALU), and 4090 and all 418x and 419x systems (eighteen Am2901 each, 32-bit integer ALU or 8-bit exponent, 64-bit Double Precision floating point ALU) [4]
- The DEC KS10 PDP-10 model [5]
- The UCSD Pascal P-machine processor designed at NCR by Joel McCormack
- A number of MAI Basic Four machines [6]
- The Tektronix 4052 graphics system computer
- The SM-1420, Soviet clone of PDP-11, used Soviet clone of AM2901 [1]
- The Lilith computer designed at ETH Zürich by Niklaus Wirth
- Atari's vector graphics arcade machines Tempest, Battlezone, and Red Baron each used 4 Am2901 ICs in their "math box" auxiliary circuit boards.
- Simulation Excel (Sim-X), Oslo, Norway: Typographical workstation / typesetter; one of its four processors was a 16-bit microcoded calculation and transformation engine built from four 2901 slices and one 2910 address sequencer. The Sim-X machine also utilized a 16 bit integer multiplier to optimize graphical transformations. The machine debuted in 1983 and the company was mothbagged in 1987.
"Legend holds that some Soviet clones of the PDP-11 were assembled from Soviet clones of the Am2901" [7].
Members of the Am2900 family
- Am2901 – 4-bit bit-slice ALU (1975)
- Am2902 – Look-Ahead Carry Generator
- Am2903 – 4-bit-slice ALU, with hardware multiply
- Am2904 – Status and Shift Control Unit
- Am2905 – Bus Transceiver
- Am2906 – Bus Transceiver with Parity
- Am2907 – Bus Transceiver with Parity
- Am2908 – Bus Transceiver with Parity
- Am2909 – 4-bit-slice address sequencer
- Am2910 – 12-bit address sequencer
- Am2911 – 4-bit-slice address sequencer
- Am2912 – Bus Transceiver
- Am2913 – Priority Interrupt Expander
- Am2914 – Priority Interrupt Controller
- Am2915 – Quad 3-State Bus Transceiver
- Am2916 – Quad 3-State Bus Transceiver
- Am2917 – Quad 3-State Bus Transceiver
- Am2918 – Instruction Register, Quad D Register
- Am2919 – Instruction Register, Quad Register
- Am2920 – Octal D-Type Flip-Flop
- Am2921 – 1-to-8 Decoder
- Am2922 – 8-Input Multiplexer (MUX)
- Am2923 – 8-Input MUX
- Am2924 – 3-Line to 8-Line Decoder
- Am2925 – System Clock Generator and Driver
- Am2926 – Schottky 3-State Quad Bus Driver
- Am2927/Am2928 – Quad 3-State Bus Transceiver
- Am2929 – Schottky 3-State Quad Bus Driver
- Am2930 – Main Memory Program Control
- Am2932 – Main Memory Program Control
- Am2940 – Direct Memory Addressing (DMA) Generator
- Am2942 – Programmable Timer/Counter/DMA Generator
- Am2946/Am2947 – Octal 3-State Bidirectional Bus Transceiver
- Am2948/Am2949 – Octal 3-State Bidirectional Bus Transceiver
- Am2950/Am2951 – 8-bit Bidirectional I/O Ports
- Am2954/Am2955 – Octal Registers
- Am2956/Am2957 – Octal Latches
- Am2958/Am2959 – Octal Buffers/Line Drivers/Line Receivers
- Am2960 – Cascadable 16-Bit Error Detection and Correction Unit
- Am2961/Am2962 – 4-Bit Error Correction Multiple Buss Buffers
- Am2964 – Dynamic Memory Controller
- Am2965/Am2966 – Octal Dynamic Memory Driver, Image
Many of these chips also have 7400 series numbers such as the 74F2960 / Am2960.
See also
References
- ^ Semenenko (1993:124)
- Справочник по электронной вычислительной технике, 1993, ISBN 5217020903
- de:Am2900 German Wiki, Am2900 Accessed 12 Nov, 2005.
- Am2900 Family Data Book - Accessed 12 Nov, 2005.
External links
- The Am2900 Family Data Book Bitsavers' PDF Document Archive (30MB)
- Introduction to Designing with the Am2900 Family of Microprogramable Bipolar Devices Vol 1 Bitsavers' PDF Document Archive
- Introduction to Designing with the Am2900 Family of Microprogramable Bipolar Devices Vol 2 Bitsavers' PDF Document Archive
- Am29C300/29300 Data Book Bitsavers' PDF document archive
- CPU-World photos of 2900 Family ICs
- Bit-Slice Design: micro-controllers and ALUs. an Introduction to the Am2900 Family
- Bit-Sliced Microprocessor of the Am2900 Family
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