Intel 8080 CPU Chip Development

Within a year of the introduction of Intel´s first 8-bit CPU chip, the 8008, in April 1972, the author was working on the design specification for a faster and more capable CPU chip, the 8080. Here, the author describes the development of the 8080 chip that helped launch the personal computer industry. The author also addresses two common complaints about the 8080´s architecture - its lack of register symmetry and the absence of an index register.