Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Intel Allows Release of Full 4004 Chip-Set Details

Posted by timothy on from the cool-move-from-the-valley dept.

mcpublic writes "When a small team of reverse engineers receives the blessing of a big corporate legal department, it is cause for celebration. For the 38th anniversary of Intel's groundbreaking 4004 microprocessor, the company is allowing us to release new details of their historic MCS-4 chip family announced on November 15, 1971. For the first time, the complete set of schematics and artwork for the 4001 ROM, 4002 RAM, 4003 I/O Expander, and 4004 Microprocessor is available to teachers, students, historians, and other non-commercial users. To their credit, the Intel Corporate Archives gave us access to the original 4004 schematics, along with the 4002, 4003, and 4004 mask proofs, but the rest of the schematics and the elusive 4001 masks were lost until just weeks ago when Lajos Kintli finished reverse-engineering the 4001 ROM from photomicrographs and improving the circuit-extraction software that helped him draw and verify the missing schematics. His interactive software can simulate an ensemble of 400x chips, and even lets you trace a wire or click on a transistor in the chip artwork window and see exactly where it is on the circuit diagram (and vice-versa)."

11 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. Awesome! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Maybe that means that computer architecture classes can finally start using real chips to study rather than made up chip designs?

    One of the things I hated most about my computer arch class was that we had to learn about a completely made up system design which didn't translate to ANYTHING in the real world. Oh yeah, and it was RISC. *Snoooreeee*

  2. So in 2047... by CityZen · · Score: 4, Funny

    When we get the Core i7 details, will it seem as quaint as the 4004 does now?

    1. Re:So in 2047... by Elder+Entropist · · Score: 4, Funny

      I mean with the 4004 everything was realy, realy basic. It had a design team consisting of four people. Nowadays it takes a whole team to improve it all.

      Yes, one person for each bit. Nowadays you need 64 or 128 person teams.

    2. Re:So in 2047... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      And quantum computers require one person per qubit.

      The only problem is they're both working on it and not working on it at the same time ... if you know what I mean.

  3. Re: Intel Allows Release of Full 4004 Chip-Set Det by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Imagine a beowulf cluster of 4004 emulators...

  4. So, will it... by filesiteguy · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...run Linux?

    j/k

    This should actually be quite cool. I can see garage-based tinkerers messing with this chip, the registry and even coming up with a retro User Group.

    --
    The Kai's Semi-Updated Website Thingy
    1. Re:So, will it... by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2, Funny

      Can you compile a Linux kernel into 2048 bytes?

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  5. Re:Wow! Imagine a Beowulf Cluster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    4004 - chip not found.

  6. Old joke for old hardware... by ilsaloving · · Score: 1, Funny

    Imagine a beowulf cluster of these!

  7. 4004.com = 4004 Web Server? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Cruising over to 4004.com gives "page cannot be displayed". While I'm sure it's slashdotted, I can't help but wonder if they used one for their web server......

  8. Non commercial use? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Funny

    Available for non commercial use? Are they even entertaining the possibility that somoent might try to profit from the design?

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.