Microprocessor development board: Difference between revisions
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External interfaces on the bare board were often limited to an RS232 serial port, so a terminal, printer, or teletypewriter could be connected. |
External interfaces on the bare board were often limited to an RS232 serial port, so a terminal, printer, or teletypewriter could be connected. |
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lol |
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==List of development boards== |
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*[[8085AAT]] a 8085 microprocessor training unit from [[Paccom]] |
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*[[CDP18S020]] evaluation board for the [[RCA]] CDP[[1802]] microprocessor |
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*[[EVK 300]] 6800 single board from [[American Microsystems]] (AMI) |
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*[[Explorer/85]] expandable learning system based on the 8085, by Netronics's research and development ltd. |
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*[[ITT experimenter]] used switches and LEDs, and an intel 8080 |
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*[[KIM-1]] the development board for the [[MOS Technology]]/[[Rockwell]]/[[Synertek]] [[6502]] microprocessor. The name KIM is short for "keyboard input monitor" |
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**[[SYM-1]] a slightly improved KIM-1 with better software, more memory, and I/O. Also known as the VIM |
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**[[AIM-65]] an improved KIM-1 with an alphanumerical LED display, and a built-in printer. |
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**The KIM-1 also lead to some unofficial copies, such as the [[super-KIM]] and the [[Junior-computer]] from the magazine [[Elektor (magazine)|Elektor]], and the [[MCS Alpha 1]] |
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*[[LC 80]] by [[Robotron]] |
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*[[MAXBOARD]] development board for the Motorola [[6802]]. |
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*[[MEK6800D2]] the official development board for the Motorola [[6800]] microprocessor. The name of the monitor software was [[MIKBUG]] |
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*[[MicroChroma 68]] color graphics kit. Developed by Motorola to demonstrate their new [[Motorola 6847|6847]] video display processor. The monitor software was called [[TVBUG]] |
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*[[Motorola excorcisor]] development system (rack based) for the Motorola [[6809]] |
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*[[Microprofessor I]] (MPF-1) Z80 development and training system by [[Acer (company)|Acer]] |
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*[[NS introkit]] by [[National Semiconductor]] featuring the [[SC/MP]], the predecessor to the Sinclair [[MK14]] |
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*[[NRI microcomputer]], a system developed to teach computer courses by [[McGraw-Hill]] and the [[National Radio InstituteI]] (NRI) |
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*[[MK14]] Trainings system for the SC/MP microprocessor from [[Sinclair Research Ltd.]] |
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*[[SDK-85]] [[Intel]]s development board for their [[8085]] microprocessor |
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*[[SDK-86]] [[Intel]]s development board for their [[8086]] microprocessor |
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*[[Siemens Microset-8080]] boxed system based on a 8080. |
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*[[Signetics]] Instructor 50 based on the [[Signetics 2650]]. |
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*[[RCA Cosmac Super Elf]] by [[RCA]] . a 1802 learning system with an RCA 1861 [[Video Display Controller]]. |
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*[[TK-80]] the deveopment board for [[NEC]]'s clone of [[Intel]]'s [[8080|i8080]], the [[μPD 8080A]] |
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*[[TM 990/100M]] evaluation board for the [[Texas Instruments]] [[TMS9900]] |
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*[[TM 990/180M]] evaluation board for the [[Texas Instruments]] [[TMS9800]] |
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*[[XPO-1]] Texas Instruments development system for the [[PPS-4/1]] line of microcontrollers |
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[[Category:Early microcomputers]] |
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Revision as of 01:16, 6 October 2008
A Microprocessor Development Board is a printed circuit board containing a microprocessor and the minimal support logic needed for an engineer to become acquainted with the microprocessor on the board, and to learn to do some elementary assembler programming on it. It also served for the producer of the microprocessor as a platform for testing their new chip.
It differs from a home computer by not having any logic above what is absolutely necessary to create a working system with an ability to enter and execute a machine language program, and evaluate the result. So normally all the things you would expect to have in a computer system designed for entertainment, such as a Video Display Controller, a sound-chip, and a keyboard usable for Basic, would not be available as a standard feature.
History
The reason for the existence of a development board was only to provide a system for learning to use a new microprocessor, not for entertainment. So everything superfluous was left out to keep costs down. Even an enclosure was not supplied, nor a power supply. This is because the board would only be used in a "laboratory" environment so it did not need an enclosure, and the board could be wah
yea like anyones gunna read this
Features
The most important feature of the microprocessor development board was the ROM based built-in machine language monitor, or "debugger" as it was also sometimes called. Often the name of the board was related to the name of this monitor program, for example the name of the monitor program of the KIM-1 was "Keyboard Input Monitor", because the ROM based software allowed entry of programs without the rows of cumbersome toggle switches that older systems used. The popular 6800 based systems often used a monitor with a name with the word "bug" for "debugger" in it, for example the popular "MIKBUG".
Input was normally done with a hexadecimal keyboard, using a machine language monitor program, and the display only consisted of a 7-segment display. Backup storage of written assembler programs was primitive, only a cassette type interface was typically provided, or the serial telex interface was used to read (or punch) a papertape.
Often the board has some kind to expansion connector that brought out all the necessary CPU signals, so that an engineer could build and test an experimental interface or other electronic device.
External interfaces on the bare board were often limited to an RS232 serial port, so a terminal, printer, or teletypewriter could be connected.
lol