Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Intel Releases 4004 Microprocessor Schematics

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the 2,300-transistors-and-nothin'-on dept.

mcpublic writes, "Intel is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Intel 4004, their very first microprocessor, by releasing the chip's schematics, maskworks, and users manual. This historic revelation was championed by Tim McNerney, who designed the Intel Museum's newest interactive exhibit. Opening on November 15th, the exhibit will feature a fully functional, 130x scale replica of the 4004 microprocessor running the very first software written for the 4004. To create a giant Busicom 141-PF calculator for the museum, 'digital archaeologists' first had to reverse-engineer the 4004 schematics and the Busicom software. Their re-drawn and verified schematics plus an animated 4004 simulator written in Java are available at the team's unofficial 4004 web site. Digital copies of the original Intel engineering documents are available by request from the Intel Corporate Archives. Intel first announced their 2,300-transistor 'micro-programmable computer on a chip' in Electronic News on November 15, 1971, proclaiming 'a new era of integrated electronics.' Who would have guessed how right they would prove to be?"

19 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Heh by Mitchell+Mebane · · Score: 3, Funny

    At first, I thought this was about Intel's new quad-core processors. How wrong I was. :P

    Wouldn't it be cool, though, if Intel did name the quad-core chips the 4004 series?

    --

    The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
    --Aristotle
  2. Does it run Linux? by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 2, Funny

    With a better FPU and a faster front-side bus, that chip could possibly be useful.

    As it is, I don't think it can even run a stripped down 1.0 Linux kernel.

    1. Re:Does it run Linux? by gadzook33 · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, no, it's fine. You just need to cross compile with ARCH=4004; OPTIMIZE_FOR_CPU=4004; STRIP_EVERYTHING_EXCEPT_RESET_INCLUDING_THE_KERNEL =true.

    2. Re:Does it run Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Try it out! The Java simulator on modern hardware should simulate it almost as fast as it ran 35 years ago in silicon.

    3. Re:Does it run Linux? by mode13 · · Score: 5, Funny
      I can see it now:

      From forums.gentoo.org / Architectures & Platforms / Gentoo on 4004 ...

      Yea, I just did a stage 1 install, it took 12865 hours but the binaries are TOTALLY optimized!

    4. Re:Does it run Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      if you coupled it with a modern graphics card you should be able to use the 4004 to bootstrap linux into the graphics card and run it from there!

    5. Re:Does it run Linux? by springbox · · Score: 2, Funny

      640 addressable bytes of memory should be enough for anyone....

  3. Zzzz by KNicolson · · Score: 4, Funny

    Get back to me once you've ported Linux to it.

    And imagine OGG supporting a Beowolf cluster of them in Soviet Russia.

    1. Re:Zzzz by jpardey · · Score: 2, Funny

      I can imagine that one would... profit!

      --
      I have freaks! I did something right...
    2. Re:Zzzz by Scarletdown · · Score: 4, Funny
      Get back to me once you've ported Linux to it.

      And imagine OGG supporting a Beowolf cluster of them in Soviet Russia.


      Well, Belgium! You had to go and use up most of the old standbys yourself. But you missed at least one...

      I, for one, welcome our 4 bit overlords.

      --
      This space unintentionally left blank.
  4. 640k by Aehgts · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ah, back in the good old days when 640K _was_ enough for anyone...

    --
    "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" - Albert Einstein
  5. Digital archaeologists by Timesprout · · Score: 2, Funny

    wipe wipe
    "early gang bang porn, log it"
    wipe wipe
    "early vivid movie, looks like Jemma was young and need the money, log it"
    wipe wipe
    "some girl on girl stuff, log it" wipe wipe
    "holy crap I am taking this home"

    --
    Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
    What truth?
    There is no dupe
    1. Re:Digital archaeologists by msobkow · · Score: 5, Funny

      Before DivX pr0n there was MJPEG pr0n.

      Before MJPEG pr0n there was JPEG pr0n.

      Before JPEG pr0n there was bitmap pr0n.

      Before bitmap pr0n there was ASCII art pr0n.

      Before that, some weirdo was convinced that two LED's looked like nipples...

      *g*

      --
      I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
  6. 000640 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "Dude, my first computer had 256 Bytes (not K -- *BYTES*) of memory (Built form the September 1976 issue of Popular Electronics -- Build Your Own Microcomputer, based on the COSMAC 1802 processor). 640K was beyond freaking imagination."

    Pfft! Youngsters. I had to wire-wrap my own tubes and hand-spin the drum

  7. Try Debian by The_Abortionist · · Score: 2, Funny

    Debian will probably catch up to it in a year or two.

    --
    Linux violates 235 Microsoft patents.
  8. Re:how about minix ? by Amadodd · · Score: 3, Funny

    Operating systems are for sissies.

    --
    Freedom of speech doesn't come with bandwidth.
  9. They have released docs for single core 4004... by Brane2 · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... only to encourage sales of dual core 8008... ;o)

    .

  10. LED porn? by Dion · · Score: 5, Funny

    Like this?

    http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/circuits-discover- each-other-024002.php

    --
    -- To dream a dream is grand, but to live it is divine. -- Leto ][
  11. Re:4004 tic tac toe by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 3, Funny

    No, you're thinking about Global Nuclear War and politics. The only winning move in Tic-Tac-Toe is to play a 6-year-old who's never seen the game before.

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.