The Motorola 68008 is an 8/32-bit
microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circ ...
introduced by
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...
in 1982. It is a version of 1979's
Motorola 68000 with an
8-bit external
data bus, as well as a smaller
address bus
In computer architecture, a bus (shortened form of the Latin '' omnibus'', and historically also called data highway or databus) is a communication system that transfers data between components inside a computer, or between computers. This e ...
.
The 68008 was available with 20 or 22 address lines (respective to 48-pin or 52-pin package) which allowed 1 MB or 4 MB address space versus the 16 MB addressable on the 68000. The 68008 was designed to work with lower cost and simpler 8-bit memory systems. Because of its smaller data bus, it was roughly half as fast as a 68000 of the same clock speed. It was still faster than competing 8-bit microprocessors, because internally the 68008 behaves identically to the 68000 and has the same
microarchitecture.
Motorola ended production of the 68008 in 1996.
comp.sys.m68k Usenet posting
May 16, 1995; also see other posts in thread. The end-of-life announcement was in late 1994; according to standard Motorola end-of-life practice, final orders would have been in 1995, with final shipments in 1996.
Details
The 68008 is an HMOS
In integrated circuits, depletion-load NMOS is a form of digital logic family that uses only a single power supply voltage, unlike earlier NMOS (n-type metal-oxide semiconductor) logic families that needed more than one different power supply ...
chip with about with a speed grade of . There are two versions of the chip. The original is in a 48-pin dual in-line package with a 20-bit address bus, allowing it to use up to 1 megabyte of memory. A later version is in a 52-pin plastic leaded chip carrier
In electronics, a chip carrier is one of several kinds of surface-mount technology packages for integrated circuits (commonly called "chips"). Connections are made on all four edges of a square package; compared to the internal cavity for mount ...
; this version has a 22-bit address bus and can support of RAM.
Usages
The Sinclair QL
The Sinclair QL (for ''Quantum Leap'') is a personal computer launched by Sinclair Research in 1984, as an upper-end counterpart to the ZX Spectrum. The QL was aimed at the serious home user and professional and executive users markets from small ...
microcomputer and Luxor
Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''.
Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...
ABC 1600 use the 68008 as their main processor.
References
External links
A small 68008 design
Kiwi - an 68k Homebrew Computer
{{Motorola processors
68k microprocessors