Zilog Z808-bit microprocessorThe Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog, first released in 1976; it played an important role in the evolution of early personal computing. It was designed to be software-compatible with the Intel 8080, offering a compelling alternative due to its better integration and increased performance.
ZilogZilog, Inc, previously stylized as ZiLOG, is an American manufacturer of microprocessors, microcontrollers, and application-specific embedded system-on-chip (SoC) products.The company was founded in 1974 by Federico Faggin and Ralph Ungermann, who were soon joined by Masatoshi Shima. All three had left Intel after working on the 4004 and 8080 microprocessors.
Clock generatorA clock generator is an electronic oscillator that produces a clock signal for use in synchronizing a circuit's operation. The output clock signal can range from a simple symmetrical square wave to more complex arrangements. The basic parts that all clock generators share are a resonant circuit and an amplifier. The resonant circuit is usually a quartzpiezo-electricoscillator, although simpler tank circuits and even RC circuits may be used.
Z80 instruction setThe Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced in 1976. The instruction set was designed to be upward binary compatible with the Intel 8080. Intel 8080 instructions are one to three bytes long whereas the Z80 requires up to four bytes per instruction. Zilog continued to expand the instruction set of the Z80 with several successors including the Z180, Z280, and Z380. The latest iteration, the eZ80, was introduced in 2001 and was available for purchase as of 2025.
Memory management unitA memory management unit (MMU), sometimes called paged memory management unit (PMMU), is a computer hardware unit that examines all references to memory, and translates the memory addresses being referenced, known as virtual memory addresses, into physical addresses in main memory. In modern systems, programs generally have addresses that access the theoretical maximum memory of the computer architecture, 32 or 64 bits.
8-bit computingComputer architecture bit width Computer architecture bit widths Bit 1481216182426303132364045486064128256512bit slicing Application 8163264 Binary floating-point precision 16 (×½)2432 (×1)4064 (×2)80128 (×4)256 (×8) Decimal floating-point precision 3264128 vte In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet).
Direct memory accessDirect memory access (DMA) is a feature of many computer systems that allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system memory independently of the central processing unit (CPU). Without DMA, programmed input–output must be used to transfer data which typically fully occupies the CPU for the entire duration of the transfer, and is thus unavailable to perform other work.
InterruptIn digital computers, an interrupt is a request for the processor to interrupt currently executing code (when permitted), so that the event can be processed in a timely manner. If the request is accepted, the processor will suspend its current activities, save its state, and execute a function called an interrupt handler (or an interrupt service routine, ISR) to deal with the event.
IntelAmerican multinational technology companyIntel Corporation is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It designs, manufactures, and sells computer components such as central processing units (CPUs) and related products for business and consumer markets.
Wait stateA wait state is a delay experienced by a computer processor when accessing external memory or another device that is slow to respond. Computer microprocessors generally run much faster than the computer's other subsystems, which hold the data the CPU reads and writes. Even memory, the fastest of these, cannot supply data as fast as the CPU could process it.
Serial portA serial port is a serial communicationinterface through which information transfers in or out sequentially one bit at a time. This is in contrast to a parallel port, which communicates multiple bits simultaneously in parallel. Throughout most of the history of personal computers, data has been transferred through serial ports to devices such as modems, terminals, various peripherals, and directly between computers.
Data strobe encodingData strobe encoding (or D/S encoding) is an encoding scheme for transmitting data in digital circuits. It uses two signal lines (e.g. wires in a cable or traces on a printed circuit board), Data and Strobe. These have the property that either Data or Strobe changes its logical value in one clock cycle, but never both. More precisely data is transmitted as-is and strobe changes its state if and only if data stays constant between two data bits.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.