AMD 2900 evaluation and learning kit
Advanced Micro Devices Am 2900 evaluation and learning kit "the next giant"
1977 Am2901 4-bit bit-slice ALU
1976 Am2909 4-bit-slice address sequencer
The cheapest sockets possible: bare clips!
This trainer features the
AMD 2900
bit slice processor.
The main chips are
- Am2901 4-bit bit-slice ALU, chip dated 1977
- Am2909 4-bit-slice address sequencer, chip dated 1976
- 8: Am27S03 64 BIT ram
Bit slice processors are building blocks used to build processors
of any word length and complexity.
The AMD 2900 was used in systems such as:
- Data General Nova 4, which obtained 16-bit word width using four Am2901 ALUs in parallel
- Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) PDP-11/23, PDP-11/34, and 11/44 floating-point options (FPF11, FP11-A and FP11-F, respectively)
- Atari's vector graphics arcade machines Tempest, Battlezone, and Red Baron each used 4 Am2901 ICs in their "math box" auxiliary circuit boards.
- AT&T 3B20D Processor
- Mike Loewen adds:
The Hughes HMP-1116 was the 16-bit PPC (Parallel Peripheral Controller)
used in the AN/FYQ-93 air defense system which replaced SAGE.
Several 1116s were used in the system, controlled by a Hughes H5118ME central computer.
- Dave McGuire adds:
The VAX-11/730 and DECsystem-2020 are both built around 2901s as well;
the 2901 microcode implements the VAX and PDP-10 (respectively) instruction sets.
Each node of the Navier-Stokes Supercomputer, a project I worked on at Princeton,
used an Am2910 (not 2901) microsequencer, from the same family.
To learn more:
1977 Am2901 4-bit bit-slice ALU
1976 Am2909 4-bit-slice address sequencer
The cheapest sockets possible: bare clips!