12 Facts About Intel 8080

1.

Intel 8080 is the second 8-bit microprocessor designed and manufactured by Intel.

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2.

Intel 8080 finally got the permission to develop it six months later.

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3.

Intel 8080 was explicitly designed to be a general-purpose microprocessor for a larger number of customers.

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4.

Whereas the 8008 required the use of the HL register pair to indirectly access its 14-bit memory space, the Intel 8080 added addressing modes to allow direct access to its full 16-bit memory space.

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5.

The Intel 8080 has a 16-bit stack pointer to memory, replacing the 8008's internal stack, and a 16-bit program counter.

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6.

Intel 8080 integrated circuit uses non-saturated enhancement-load nMOS gates, demanding extra voltages.

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7.

In 1979, even after the introduction of the Z80 and 8085 processors, five manufacturers of the Intel 8080 were selling an estimated 500, 000 units per month at a price around $3 to $4 each.

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8.

One of the early uses of the Intel 8080 was made in the late 1970s by Cubic-Western Data of San Diego, CA in its Automated Fare Collection Systems custom designed for mass transit systems around the world.

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9.

An early industrial use of the Intel 8080 is as the "brain" of the DatagraphiX Auto-COM line of products which takes large amounts of user data from reel-to-reel tape and images it onto microfiche.

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10.

Several early video arcade games were built around the Intel 8080 microprocessor, including Space Invaders, one of the most popular arcade games ever made.

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11.

At Intel, the 8080 was followed by the compatible and electrically more elegant 8085.

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12.

The Intel 8080 was designed for almost any application except a complete computer system.

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