Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a very popular complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector in 1979. The processor implements a 32-bit instruction set by using a primary 16-bit arithmetic logic unit (ALU), with two other 16-bit ALUs for handling addressing, and has a 24-bit bus. This strange combination led Motorola to dub it a 16/32 bit processor. The processor primarily competed with the Intel 8086. Several companies licensed the 68000 and created their own versions of the chip.
Personal
I initially learned about the 68000 after I became interested in the hardware of video game consoles in the mid-2000s. Because the consoles and computers it's used in have never been very important to me, I've never spent much time learning about it.
Devices
- Amiga
- Amiga CD32 - variant
- Atari ST - variant
- Apple Lisa
- CD-i devices - variant
- Commodore CDTV
- Genesis
- Jaguar
- Macintosh Classic
- Neo Geo
- Neo Geo Pocket
- Neo Geo Pocket Color
- NetWare Server
- Saturn
- Sega CD
- Sharp X68000
- Sinclair QL
- Sun Workstations - early models.
- Xenix
The 68000 processor was also used in scores of arcade games.
Media
Photos
The exposed die of the 68000.
Documentation
User's Manual: 9th Edition.
Programmer's Reference Manual.
Instruction Set.
Links
