Processor Terminator, Bender, Dandy and Apple 2: MOS 6502
What do Dandy and Terminator have in common? Both the game console and the robot villain from the first film of the series worked on the same processor - 6502 from MOS Technology.
In 1975, the company MOS Technology introduced an eight-bit microprocessor 6502. It was distinguished from its competitors by Motorola and Intel by its low cost and lower clock frequency. At the same time, the performance of the 6502 was not inferior to the analogues. The architecture was later licensed by Rockwell, Synertek and other companies, and it is still in use.
The MOS 6502 was a team of engineers who created the Motorola 6800. The 6800 crystal was produced using a 6-micron process technology, had a clock frequency of 2 MHz and could address 64K of memory. This processor was used in many computers, and on its base, Motorola 6801 and 6803 microcontrollers were then developed.
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Initially, the MOS Technology 6501 processor was released - it was ideally suited for systems built for the Motorola 6800, thanks to pin compatibility. Motorola solved the problem with such competition in court, after which MOS released 6502.
MOS Technology 6502 had a 16-bit address bus, worked with a clock frequency of 1 MHz, had 64 KB of RAM. At the same time, it cost several times cheaper than Intel and Motorola processors - only $ 25 in 1975, which is about $ 114 today. Today, Intel Core i5 in the US will cost $ 229, and i3 - $ 130, which roughly corresponds to the price of 6502 forty years ago.
The architecture features of the 6502 allow the processor to more quickly execute control commands than 8-bit processors of other architectures do.
To interest fans and developers in the processor, the company MOS released a single-board microcomputer based on 6502 - KIM-1, or Keyboard Input Monitor. The computer had 1152 bytes of RAM and 2 KB of ROM. It was supplied without a case and I / O devices, but allowed to assemble a computer for less than $ 500. The fee cost 245 dollars, and later it could be supplemented with a terminal and a cassette tape recorder.
In 1976, Jobs and Wozniak began assembling the Apple 1 using the 6502 processor. Based on the same processor, they produced the Apple II, which was sold from 1977 until the 1990s.
Commodore PET also used 6502. This competitor to Apple’s computers was released in 1977, it included a keyboard, a built-in 9-inch monitor with a resolution of 40x25 characters and a tape drive.
Commodore used Texas Instruments components in calculator manufacturing. But in the second half of the 1970s, the supplier raised prices, and the founder of Commodore acquired MOS Technology, Inc., which at the time released the KIM-1 microcomputer on MOS 6502. KIM-1 became the prototype for PET 2001.
In the USSR, a similar compatible 4K602BM1 processor was produced for embedded systems. But in the personal computers "Agat" they used the original 6502.
"Agat became" the first Soviet serial 8-bit computer and was intended for use in the educational field. It was built at the Research Institute of Computer Complexes (NIIVK) based on the Apple computer. Produced a computer since 1984, the assembly continued until 1993. In schools, computers were used until 2001.
The manufacturers of computers of the Agat series had no problems with the sales market - even considering the cost of 4,000 rubles. All the PC took the Ministry of Education.
The low cost of the processor was one of the reasons for the availability of computers for the mass consumer. Game consoles have become an important area of ​​processor usage.
The 6507 processor, a variation of 6502 with fewer outputs and the ability to address 8 KB of memory, was used by Atari in the Atari 2600 game console . The second-generation console went on sale by Christmas 1977 and became one of the most common gaming consoles in the next twenty years. It sold more than forty million copies.
In 1983, a game console appeared on the Japanese market on MOS Technology 6502 - Famicom from Nintendo, known in Europe as the Nintendo Entertainment System. In Russia, it sold its clone Dendy. The console has won almost the entire American and Japanese market. According to official data, more than 60 million copies have been sold, but how many of them, considering the clones, are unknown. Today, the console continues to produce and sell, but not Nintendo. Officially, the prefix was supported until 2003 in Japan and until 1995 in the USA.
November 11, 2016 Nintendo plans to release an updated version of the NES.
The wide distribution of the processor led to his references in works of art. One of the first examples is the first Terminator. Cyborg T-800 by Arnold Schwarzenegger worked, judging by the commands in the first-person shots, on MOS 6502.
The processor MOS Technology 6502 is also used by another well-known robot, the Bender from Futurama. This is evidenced by the series “Fry and the Slurm Factory”, which was released on the screens on November 14, 1999. Below is a link to the series from the moment where the Professor shines through the inside of the robot. The fact that this is the processor 6502, indicate the big numbers on it.
The age of the processor has exceeded forty years, but enthusiasts continue to develop hardware for it and write software.
What components, living for so long, you know? Have any of these devices been preserved in your working condition?
In 1975, the company MOS Technology introduced an eight-bit microprocessor 6502. It was distinguished from its competitors by Motorola and Intel by its low cost and lower clock frequency. At the same time, the performance of the 6502 was not inferior to the analogues. The architecture was later licensed by Rockwell, Synertek and other companies, and it is still in use.
The MOS 6502 was a team of engineers who created the Motorola 6800. The 6800 crystal was produced using a 6-micron process technology, had a clock frequency of 2 MHz and could address 64K of memory. This processor was used in many computers, and on its base, Motorola 6801 and 6803 microcontrollers were then developed.
')
Initially, the MOS Technology 6501 processor was released - it was ideally suited for systems built for the Motorola 6800, thanks to pin compatibility. Motorola solved the problem with such competition in court, after which MOS released 6502.
MOS Technology 6502 had a 16-bit address bus, worked with a clock frequency of 1 MHz, had 64 KB of RAM. At the same time, it cost several times cheaper than Intel and Motorola processors - only $ 25 in 1975, which is about $ 114 today. Today, Intel Core i5 in the US will cost $ 229, and i3 - $ 130, which roughly corresponds to the price of 6502 forty years ago.
The architecture features of the 6502 allow the processor to more quickly execute control commands than 8-bit processors of other architectures do.
To interest fans and developers in the processor, the company MOS released a single-board microcomputer based on 6502 - KIM-1, or Keyboard Input Monitor. The computer had 1152 bytes of RAM and 2 KB of ROM. It was supplied without a case and I / O devices, but allowed to assemble a computer for less than $ 500. The fee cost 245 dollars, and later it could be supplemented with a terminal and a cassette tape recorder.
In 1976, Jobs and Wozniak began assembling the Apple 1 using the 6502 processor. Based on the same processor, they produced the Apple II, which was sold from 1977 until the 1990s.
Commodore PET also used 6502. This competitor to Apple’s computers was released in 1977, it included a keyboard, a built-in 9-inch monitor with a resolution of 40x25 characters and a tape drive.
Commodore used Texas Instruments components in calculator manufacturing. But in the second half of the 1970s, the supplier raised prices, and the founder of Commodore acquired MOS Technology, Inc., which at the time released the KIM-1 microcomputer on MOS 6502. KIM-1 became the prototype for PET 2001.
In the USSR, a similar compatible 4K602BM1 processor was produced for embedded systems. But in the personal computers "Agat" they used the original 6502.
"Agat became" the first Soviet serial 8-bit computer and was intended for use in the educational field. It was built at the Research Institute of Computer Complexes (NIIVK) based on the Apple computer. Produced a computer since 1984, the assembly continued until 1993. In schools, computers were used until 2001.
The manufacturers of computers of the Agat series had no problems with the sales market - even considering the cost of 4,000 rubles. All the PC took the Ministry of Education.
The low cost of the processor was one of the reasons for the availability of computers for the mass consumer. Game consoles have become an important area of ​​processor usage.
The 6507 processor, a variation of 6502 with fewer outputs and the ability to address 8 KB of memory, was used by Atari in the Atari 2600 game console . The second-generation console went on sale by Christmas 1977 and became one of the most common gaming consoles in the next twenty years. It sold more than forty million copies.
In 1983, a game console appeared on the Japanese market on MOS Technology 6502 - Famicom from Nintendo, known in Europe as the Nintendo Entertainment System. In Russia, it sold its clone Dendy. The console has won almost the entire American and Japanese market. According to official data, more than 60 million copies have been sold, but how many of them, considering the clones, are unknown. Today, the console continues to produce and sell, but not Nintendo. Officially, the prefix was supported until 2003 in Japan and until 1995 in the USA.
November 11, 2016 Nintendo plans to release an updated version of the NES.
The wide distribution of the processor led to his references in works of art. One of the first examples is the first Terminator. Cyborg T-800 by Arnold Schwarzenegger worked, judging by the commands in the first-person shots, on MOS 6502.
The processor MOS Technology 6502 is also used by another well-known robot, the Bender from Futurama. This is evidenced by the series “Fry and the Slurm Factory”, which was released on the screens on November 14, 1999. Below is a link to the series from the moment where the Professor shines through the inside of the robot. The fact that this is the processor 6502, indicate the big numbers on it.
The age of the processor has exceeded forty years, but enthusiasts continue to develop hardware for it and write software.
What components, living for so long, you know? Have any of these devices been preserved in your working condition?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/397577/
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