[ COFF not TUHS ] Clem Cole <clemc@ccc.com> wrote: > On Sun, May 9, 2021 at 3:58 PM Larry McVoy <lm@mcvoy.com> wrote: > > > National couldn't get it together to produce bug free chips or maybe > > we'd all be running that, pretty nice architecture (in theory). > > I've always wondered if a Nat Semi NS32016 based system running in a PC/AT > form factor had appeared that was priced like a PC/AT if that might have > had a chance. Acorn Computers made an odd machine consisting of a BBC micro with a 32016 second processor in a box. (It didn't run a unix-like OS, I'm afraid.) The 32016 was one of the CPUs that inspired the ARM, because its performance was so terrible: it was not able to make good use of the available memory bandwidth. (There wasn't a 68000 second processor because its interrupt latency was too bad to drive the "tube" interface.) http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/ACW.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Computers#New_RISC_architecture Tony. -- f.anthony.n.finch <dot@dotat.at> https://dotat.at/ Malin, Southeast Hebrides: Cyclonic 4 to 6. Slight or moderate in southeast, moderate or rough in northwest. Showers. Good, occasionally poor. _______________________________________________ COFF mailing list COFF@minnie.tuhs.org https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/coff