NS320xx

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NS16032SD-6

The NS320xx were a family of 32-bit processors from National Semiconductor , which were characterized by an extensive instruction set .

development

The first processor of the family presented was the NS16032 (later renamed NS32016 ), this had an external 16-bit data bus and appeared on the market around 1979. The NS32032 followed in 1984 with a completely 32-bit wide data bus and significantly increased performance. Also available was the NS32008 , which was supposed to find a place in the market as an embedded processor with a data bus reduced to 8 bits , but had little success.

With the subsequent NS32332 and NS32532 , the performance was further increased. The planned NS32732 never reached the market. Parts of the development for the NS32732 were then used for specialized processors that were tailored to control laser printers . The NS32000 family has now been completely discontinued.

NS320xx family
Type Introductory year Clock frequencies casing technology description
Kl National Semiconductor NS32008.jpg NS32008 06 MHz
08 MHz
10 MHz		 DIP -48 XMOS / CMOS
  • CPU with 8-bit data and 24-bit address bus
KL National NS32016D.jpg NS32016 Late 1970s 06 MHz
08 MHz
10 MHz		 DIP-48
  • with 16-bit data and 24-bit address bus
KL National NS32032.jpg NS32032 1984 06 MHz
08 MHz
10 MHz		 CLCC-68 XMOS / CMOS
NS32132 06 MHz
08 MHz
10 MHz		 LCC-68 XMOS / CMOS
  • CPU with 32-bit data and 24-bit address bus
  • for multiprocessor systems
  • Data sheets are available, but the existence of this CPU is not proven.
NS32332 1985 10 MHz
12 MHz
15 MHz		 PGA-84 XMOS / CMOS
  • CPU with 32-bit data and address bus
  • compatible with FPU NS32081 or NS32381
KL National NS32532U.jpg NS32532 1987 20 MHz
25 MHz
30 MHz		 PGA- 175 1.25 µm CMOS
  • CPU with 32-bit data and address bus
  • 512 byte instruction cache
  • 1024 byte data cache
  • approx. 320,000 transistors
KL National NS32081.jpg NS32081 6 MHz
8 MHz
10 MHz
15 MHz		 DIP-24
  • FPU
  • Compatible with the CPUs NS32008, NS32016, NS32032, NS32132 and NS32332
  • supports 32-bit and 64-bit operations
Kl National NS32381U.jpg NS32381 15 MHz
20 MHz
25 MHz
30 MHz		 PGA-68
PLCC-68		 CMOS
  • this FPU is software compatible with NS32081
  • Compatible with all CPUs of the NS32000 family

Architecture and instruction set

What was remarkable about the NS32xxx was the architecture that was completely based on 32 bits from the start. There were only minimal differences in the instruction set between the different generations of processors. The MMU and FPU functions , which were initially implemented as coprocessors, were integrated into the processor in subsequent chip generations without any noteworthy adjustments to the software being necessary.

The instruction set was very extensive, as were the types of addressing. Various combinations of index and offset registers allowed direct access to complex data structures with a single command. All instructions could use any type of addressing or register for each of their data source or destination addresses, and many instructions could work with two source and one destination address. From the standpoint of symmetry and orthogonality , the NS320xx family instruction set should represent the design pinnacle of what was designed as a CISC CPU.

Web links

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