CMOS Technologies & Design Strategies for Microcomputers

The author use the recently-developed BELLMAC -32 as a benchmark of both achievements and possibilities in CMOS technology and design methodology. It is a full 32-bit chip with a 32-bit data and address path, 32-bit I/O, 33 control and status pins, and a midi-computer level set of instructions. A prototype of this chip was described at ISSCC 1981 . Its typical operating frequency of 8 MHz gives it a 1 MIPs performance when operated in conjunction with a 400 ns memory system. It was designed and debugged in 14 months using a newly-developed design methodology which exploits the strengths of both designer and machine.