An MSX-ENGINE chip is a specially developed

integrated circuit An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...

for home computers that are built according to the

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...

specifications. Generally, such a chip combines the functions of many separate, older/simpler chips into one. This is done to reduce required circuit board space, power consumption, and (most importantly) production costs for complete systems. The first MSX-Engine chip, the T7775, operated next to a standard

Zilog Zilog, Inc. is an American manufacturer of microprocessors, microcontrollers, and application-specific embedded System on a chip, system-on-chip (SoC) products. The company was founded in 1974 by Federico Faggin and Ralph Ungermann, who were soo ...

Z80-clone chip, the main CPU of the system, but most later versions of the engine also included the Z80 (clone) CPU in a same single chip package. The S-1990, is a special case, as it's not really an MSX-Engine, but a chip that was used as " glue logic" between the MSX-engine and an external

R800 The R800 is the central processing unit used in the MSX Turbo-R home computer. The R800 was designed by ASCII Corporation of Japan and built by Mitsui & Co The goal was a modern and pipelined CPU binary compatible with the Z80, and therefore ...

CPU. The T9769 is used in MSX 2 computers, while in MSX 1 computers mostly the T7775 and T7937 are used. You can also find the S-1985 and S-3527 in these systems. After the MSX 2 generation (from MSX2+ onwards)

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

took over the complete production of MSX engine chips. The last generation of MSX, the Turbo-R used the

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

S-1990 "TurboR bus controller" together with a

CPU. MSX engine chips from Yamaha were mostly used in MSX-computers from

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

and

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

, while the Toshiba chips were mostly used in computers from

Sanyo is a former Japanese electronics manufacturer founded in 1947 by Toshio Iue, the brother-in-law of Kōnosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita Electric Industrial, now known as Panasonic. Iue left Matsushita Electric to start his own bu ...

and Matsushita (Panasonic/National).

Overview

Here is a short overview of MSX-Engine chips.

MSX 1

;Yamaha S3527 * a Yamaha YM2149 PSG-

sound chip A sound chip is an integrated circuit (chip) designed to produce audio signals through digital, analog or mixed-mode electronics. Sound chips are typically fabricated on metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) mixed-signal chips that process a ...

, compatible with a General Instrument AY-3-8910 * parallel I/O chip: backward compatible with the Intel i8255 * standard MSX1 functions: DRAM control, slot selection, joystick ports, cassette/printer interface etc. * 100 pins Note that this IC is also used in many MSX2 computers, but does ''not'' include any MSX2-specific functions. In such machines, these are implemented using additional IC's ;Sony MB64H131 * Intel i8255 * printer port ;Toshiba T7775 *

CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss ", , ) is a type of MOSFET, metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) semiconductor device fabrication, fabrication process that uses complementary an ...

- chip with all MSX 1 functions. ;Toshiba T7937(A) * main CPU, a

Z80 (clone) with a

clock speed Clock rate or clock speed in computing typically refers to the frequency at which the clock generator of a processor can generate pulses used to synchronize the operations of its components. It is used as an indicator of the processor's ...

of 3,58 MHz. * PSG-

, compatible with a AY-3-8910 * Video Display Controller: T6950 rev. B (

TMS9918 IMAGE:TMS9918A 01.jpg, VDP TMS9918A IMAGE:TMS9918A 02.jpg, VDP TMS9918A The TMS9918 is a video display controller (VDC) manufactured by Texas Instruments, in manuals referenced as "Video Display Processor" (VDP) and introduced in 1979. The TMS9918 ...

compatible) * parallel I/O chip:

backward compatible In telecommunications and computing, backward compatibility (or backwards compatibility) is a property of an operating system, software, real-world product, or technology that allows for interoperability with an older legacy system, or with inpu ...

with the Intel i8255 * MSX 1-functions * dimensions: 10,5 × 8,60 mm ; Hitachi HD62003 * AY-3-8910 compatible PSG * DRAM controller * PPI i8255 functions

MSX 2/MSX 2+

;Yamaha S1985 * a Yamaha YM2149 a Programmable Sound Generator - sound chip, compatible with a General Instrument AY-3-8910 * parallel I/O chip: backward compatible with the Intel i8255 * MSX1- and MSX2-functions (up to 512 KB memory mapper) * Real Time Clock (Ricoh RP5C01A compatible) including 26 x 4 bits RAM, backed up by (separate) battery * 100 pin flat plastic package ;Toshiba T9769 * main CPU, a Zilog Z80 clone with a clock speed of 3,58 MHz (MSX2; switchable to 5,36 MHz on some MSX2+ machines) * a Programmable Sound Generator - sound chip, compatible with a General Instrument AY-3-8910 * parallel I/O chip: backward compatible with the Intel i8255 * MSX1 and MSX2-functions (MSX2-computers) * MSX2+-functions (MSX2+-computers) * dimensions: 10,5 × 8,60 mm

MSX turbo R

;NEC S1990, combined with a Toshiba T9769C The S1990 is not in itself an MSX-engine but acts like "bus controller", it is the combining element that combines the Z80 inside the T9769C (the actual MSX engine) and a

CPU, and the memory and slot logic and other hardware inside the T9769C. It also contains hardware to assists in the debugging of software.

External links

S3527 datasheetS1985 datasheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Msx-Engine MSX hardware