On 2016-11-29 5:00 PM, Eric Smith wrote:
On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 12:11 PM, Brent Hilpert <hilp...@cs.ubc.ca> wrote:
is the 8X300 the 'unusual', proto-DSP device discussed in a chapter of
the Osborne book?
I don't know whether Osborne described it that way, but since the 8X300 and
8X305 don't have a multiplier, only support 8-bit addition, and can only
address 512 bytes of data address space, they wouldn't make very good DSP
processors. However, since all instructions execute in 250 ns, they'd be
able to perform some DSP operations faster than contemporary 8-bit
microprocessors, which usually took at least 2 us for the simplest
instructions, and even longer for fancier instructions.
I just went and got my Osborne book...
" The 8X300 is described by its manufacturer as a "microcontroller"
rather than a "microprocessor". This distinction draws attention to the
unique capabilities of the 8X300 which make it the most remarkable
device described in this book"
"The 8X300 is designed to serve as a signal processor or logic
controller, operating at very high speed."
Paul.
