Zilog
Zilog, Inc. is an American manufacturer of microprocessors and 8-bit and 16-bit microcontrollers. It is also a supplier of application-specific embedded system-on-chip (SoC) products.
Company type
CPU, microprocessor
1974
Microcontrollers
Microprocessors
Motion detection
TV controllers
Single board computers
$82 million (2007)
$67.2 million (2008)$36.2 Million (2009)
−$18.39 million (2008)
$3.18 million (2008)
Its most famous product is the Z80 series of 8-bit microprocessors that were compatible with the Intel 8080 but significantly cheaper. The Z80 was widely used during the 1980s in many popular home computers such as the TRS-80, MSX, Amstrad CPC and the ZX Spectrum,[4] as well as arcade games such as Pac-Man. The company also made 16- and 32-bit processors, but these did not see widespread use. From the 1990s, the company focused primarily on the microcontroller market.
The name (pronunciation varies)[5] is an acronym of Z integrated logic, also thought of as "Z for the last word of Integrated Logic".[6] In the oral history interview video which Federico Faggin (co-founder of Zilog) recorded for the Computer History Museum, he pronounced Zilog with a long "i" (/ˈzaɪlɒɡ/) consistently.
Microprocessors[edit]
Z80[edit]
The Z80(i) is an improved implementation of the Intel 8080 architecture, with substantial extensions to the register model and instruction set and with added hardware interface features.
At introduction, the Z80 was faster, more capable, and much cheaper than the 8080. Alongside the 6502, the Z80 was one of the most popular 8-bit processors for general purpose microcomputers and other applications from the late 1970s well into the 1980s, and modern CMOS versions of both CPUs are still in production and use today (as of May 2021). The Z80 CPU was used in the Sinclair ZX80, ZX81, ZX Spectrum and the Amstrad CPC home computers as well as the MSX architecture and the Microbee and Tandy TRS-80 (models I, II, III, 4, and others). The CP/M-80 operating system (and its huge software library featuring hits like WordStar and dBase) was known to be the Z80 disk operating system, and its success is partly due to the popularity of the Z80. The 1985 Commodore 128 added a Z80 to the Commodore 64 hardware allowing it to run CP/M software; the Digital Equipment Corporation Rainbow 100 similarly added a Z80 to an Intel 8088-based MS-DOS computer to enable the machine to run both MS-DOS and CP/M software natively.
The Z80 was a common choice for creators of video games during the Golden age of arcade video games, with a Z80 powering Pac-Man,[22] dual Z80s in Scramble,[23] and three in each Galaga machine.[24] It was the central processor for the ColecoVision game console (1982) and Sega's Master System (1986) and Game Gear (1990).
In the 1990s, the Z80 was the CPU of the Texas Instruments graphing calculator series, as well as being used as the secondary/support CPU in the Sega Genesis (most typically used for sound[25]).
Other chips[edit]
After the Z80 Zilog introduced the 16-bit Z8000 and 32-bit Z80000 processors, but these were not particularly successful, and the company refocused on the microcontroller market, producing both basic CPUs and application-specific integrated circuits/standard products (ASICs/ASSPs) built around a CPU core. As well as producing processors, Zilog has produced several other components. One of the most famous was the Zilog SCC serial communications controller as found on early Apple Macintosh, Sun SPARCstations and SPARCservers up to the SPARCstation 20.
Zilog also formed a Systems Division, which designed the Zilog System 8000, a Z8000- or Z80000-based multiuser computer system running a Unix derivative called ZEUS (Zilog Enhanced UNIX System).[26][27]
Zilog attempted to enter the 32-bit microcontroller market in February 2006 with the demonstration of ARM9-based Point-Of-Sale (POS) microcontroller product line.[28][29] The final product was released in 2007 called Zatara.[30] Sales were disappointing and the entire ARM9 series was sold to Maxim Integrated Products in 2009.
Zilog also produced Zdots single board computers. It includes Zilog eZ80AcclaimPlus controller, 1MB flash memory, 512KB SRAM, 10BaseT Ethernet Controller, IrDA transceiver, 2 x 60-pin system expansion interface with full MPU bus/control signals, RJ-45 Ethernet connector.[31] Motion detection version includes Z8 Encore! XP MCU.[32]