🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sat, 1 Mar 1997 03:47:41 GMT, mzenier@netcom.com (Mark Zenier)
wrote:

>Sorry.  According to my 1977 General Instruments Semi. division
>(Microchip's corporate predecessor) databook, it was orginally 
>Programmable Intelligent Computer, but a few years later mutated 
>into Programmable Intelligent Controller.
Hmmm, ok then since we are talking history here I will explain from
the begining using portions of the PIC micro-controller FAQ by Tom
Kellett Tom@takdsign.demon.co.uk This portion of the FAQ has been
contributed by Alex R. Baker <alex@microchp.demon.co.uk>

Back in 1965, GI formed a Microelectronics Division, and indeed used
this division to generate some of the earliest viable EPROM and EEPROM
memory architectures.As you may be aware, the GI Microelectronucs
Division were also responsible for a wide variety of digital and
analog functions, in the AY3-xxxx and AY5-xxxx families. 

GI also generated a 16 bit microprocessor, called the CP1600, in the
early 70s. This was a reasonable microprocessor, but not particularly
good at handling i/os. For some very specific applications where good
i/o handling was needed, GI designed a Peripheral Interface Controller
(or PIC for short), in around 1975. It was designed to be very fast,
since it was i/o handling for a 16 bit machine, but didn't need a huge
amount of functionality, so its microcoded instruction set was small.
Hopefully, you can see what's coming....yes, the architecture designed
in '75 is substantially the PIC16C5x architecure today. Granted, the
1975 version was manufactured in NMOS, and was only available in
masked ROM versions, but still a good little uC. The market, however,
didn't particularly think so, and the PIC remained designed in at a
handful of large customers only.

During the early 80s, GI took a long hard look at their business, and
restructured, leaving them to concentrate on their core activities,
which is essentially power semiconductors. Indeed they are still doing
this very successfully now. GI Microelectronics Division became GI
Microelectronics Inc (a wholly owned subsidiary), which in 85 was
finally sold to venture capital investors, including the fab in
Chandler, Arizona.  The venture capital people took a long hard look
at the products in the business, and got rid of most of it - all the
AY3- and AY5- parts and a whole bunch of other stuff, leaving the core
business of the PIC and the serial and parallel EEPROMs and the
parallel EPROMs. A decision was taken to restart the new company,
named Arizona Microchip Technology, with embedded control as its
differentiator from the rest of the pack.

As part of this strategy, the PIC165x NMOS family was redesigned to
use one of the other things that the fledgling company was good at,
i.e. EPROM - the concept of the CMOS based, OTP and eraseable EPROM
program memory PIC16C5x family was born.

>
>Back then they were NMOS with a factory programmed ROM and therefore
>were nowhere near as popular as the later CMOS EPROM versions.
Indeed they were.


---
Simon Thompson   email simon@tyrant.demon.co.uk
Electronic Engineer 
Manchester
England