The Intellec computers were a series of early microcomputers Intel produced in the 1970s as a development platform for their processors.[1] The Intellec computers were among the first microcomputers ever sold, predating the Altair 8800 by at least two years.[2]
 Intel Intellec 4 Mod 40 | |
| Also known as | Intellec 4 Mod 40, Intellec 8 Mod 80, Intellec MCS4/MCS8 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Intel[1] |
| Type | Microcomputer |
| Release date | 1973 (1972)[2] |
| Introductory price | $2395 |
| Media | Floppy disk, paper tape[2] |
| CPU | Intel 4004, Intel 4040, Intel 8008 or Intel 8080 |
| Memory | 5 K standard, expandable up to 16 K for the Intellec 8 |
| Storage | ROM, PROM, RAM |
| Input | Front panel switches, optional terminal interface |
| Dimensions | 7 in. × 17 in. × 14 in.[2] |
| Mass | 14 kilograms (31 lb)[2] |
Introduction
editThe first series of Intellecs included the Intellec 4 for the 4004, the Intellec 4 Mod 40 for the 4040, the Intellec 8 for the 8008, and the Intellec 8 Mod 80 for the 8080.[2]
The Intellec 4 and 8 were introduced at the June 1973 National Computer Conference in the New York Coliseum.[3] The Intellec computers were sold not to the general public, only to developers, and a very limited number were built. The Intellec 8 retailed for $2,395.[2]
Features
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The Intellecs have resident monitors stored in ROMs.[3] They also included an assembler, linker, and debugger, as well as the ability to act as an in-circuit emulator.[4] Additionally, a PL/M compiler, cross-assembler and simulator were available, which allowed writing programs in a higher-level language than assembly. FORTRAN compilers were also available.[5] The Intellec 8 supported a Teletype operating at 110 baud, a high speed punched paper tape reader[6] and a CRT terminal at 1200 baud.[7]
The Intellec 8 is able to address up to 16 K of memory and came with 5 K pre-installed. The Intellec 4 came with 1 K of PROM and 4 K of RAM for instruction memory, as well as 320 4-bit words of data memory, expandable to 2560 words. The Intellec 8 ran with a two-phase clock of 800 kHz, resulting in an instruction cycle time of 12.5 us. The Intellec 4 ran at a slower clock rate of 750 kHz, but had a faster instruction cycle time of 10.8 us. Both systems were available in "Bare Bones" editions, which omitted the front panel, power supply, and completed chassis; instead, it is designed to mount into a rack. Both systems also weighed 14 kilograms (31 lb).[5]
Usage
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Intel did not market the Intellec as a general-purpose microcomputer, but rather as a development system. As the first microprocessors were intended to run embedded systems such as in calculators, cash registers, scientific instrumentation, computer terminals, printers, plotters, industrial robots, synthesizers, game consoles, and so on, the Intellec was used for programming programmable memory chips used by embedded systems, e.g. the 2048-bit (256-byte) Intel 1602A programmable read-only memory (PROM) or erasable 1702A EPROM chips which were plugged into a ZIF socket on the Intellec-8's front panel.[8][9][10] The chip-programming socket is the green device in the lower right corner of the Intellec's front panel.
Intel also marketed the Intellec microcomputer development system as a system for developing other OEM microcomputers.[11][12]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Intellec 8/Mod 80 Microcomputer Development System Reference Manual (PDF). Intel. 1975. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-06-25.
- ^ a b c d e f g Crosby, Kip (January–March 1994). "Dawn of the Micro: Intel's Intellecs" (PDF). The Analytical Engine. 1 (3). Computer History Association of California: 10–14. ISSN 1071-6351. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-10-17. Retrieved 2023-10-17. pp. 10–11:
[…] the Intel Intellec 8 […] first appeared sometime in 1972 or 1973, two years or more before the Altair 8800 often credited as the "first microcomputer" by standard histories […] Intel maintains that the 8 Mod 8 was first produced in 1973 and discontinued in 1975. Tony Duell has an 8 Mod 80 CPU board dated 1972, and the 8 Mod 8 and 4 Mod 40 are both listed in the Intel Data Catalog published in February 1976, so the actual period of production may have been somewhat longer. (Pertinent Intel docs must be read carefully because the names MCS4, MCS40, MCS8 and MCS80 were used almost indiscriminately to refer to chipsets, computers or full systems.) […]
(52 pages) - ^ a b "Bare-bones and stand-alone microcomputers to bow". Electronics. 1973-05-24. p. 130.
- ^ "Intellec 8". Center for Computing History. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
- ^ a b "Intellec Brochure" (PDF). Intel. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
- ^ Intel Microcomputer Peripherals: imm8-90 Intellec 8 High Speed Paper Tape Reader
- ^ Intellec 8 Bare Bones 8 and Microcomputer Modules
- ^ Freiberger & Swaine (2000). Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer (Second Edition), McGraw Hill, ISBN 0-07-135892-7.
- ^ imm8-76 PROM Programmer Module
- ^ Intel Silicon Gate MOS 1602A/1702A 2048-bit electrically programmable read only memory
- ^ "Intellec: A new, easy, and inexpensive way to develop microcomputer systems" (PDF).
- ^ "Intellec 8 Bare Bones 8 and Microcomputer Modules".
Further reading
edit- Burgett, Ken (2017-11-10). "Development of Intel ISIS Operating System - An interview with Ken Burgett". Archived from the original on 2023-11-24. Retrieved 2023-11-25. [1][2]
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