hollen@spot.megatek.uucp (Dion Hollenbeck) (12/10/88)
From article <2618@rti.UUCP>, by bcw@rti.UUCP (Bruce Wright): > There is, of course an 80186 (and an 80188) - this was a chip used briefly > before the 80286 came out. It was never very popular, but it was used by > a few clones (like the Radio Shack Model 2000 I believe). It was really > just an 8086/8088 which had some of the microcode optimizations used by > the 80286 - which means it runs about the speed of a '286 at a similar > MHz rating, but without protected memory. > Sorry, Bruce, but this chip is VERY popular with embedded system developers. Yes, it does have some of the microcode optimizations of the '286, but the factor that makes it so popular is that it has on board 3 timers, 2 DMA controllers and in interrupt controller. For many embedded system applications, this chip is the entire chip set and for the 8 mHz version at about $9 apiece, they can't hardly be beaten. We use the 80186 as the heart of I/O controller boards used in hgih-performance graphics workstations. Dion Hollenbeck (619) 455-5590 x2814 Megatek Corporation, 9645 Scranton Road, San Diego, CA 92121 seismo!s3sun!megatek!hollen ames!scubed/
bcw@rti.UUCP (Bruce Wright) (12/10/88)
In article <404@megatek.UUCP>, hollen@spot.megatek.uucp (Dion Hollenbeck) writes: > From article <2618@rti.UUCP>, by bcw@rti.UUCP (Bruce Wright): > > There is, of course an 80186 (and an 80188) [...] > > > Sorry, Bruce, but this chip is VERY popular with embedded system > developers. [...] Sorry, Dion, but I thought the thread of this discussion was about PC-type machines. In that context the 80186/80188, although not unknown, is not at all popular. Bruce C. Wright
spectre@cisunx.UUCP (Robert Sillett) (12/11/88)
In article <2623@rti.UUCP> bcw@rti.UUCP (Bruce Wright) writes: > >Sorry, Dion, but I thought the thread of this discussion was about >PC-type machines. In that context the 80186/80188, although not >unknown, is not at all popular. > If you have an open mind, you can argue that the 80186 is popular with PC's. After all, the NEC V20/30 chips support the 80186's code. Not only did Intel add support chips to the 80186, but they added a few more code inctructions (4 if memory serves). I realize that this is a minute point, but it's nice to be able to write code written for the 286 at work and run it on my V20 at home. This can be done directly with MASM or even Turbo C -- just set the code generation for 80186/80286. --- Robert Sillett