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In the late 1960’s, many
scientists had discussed the possibility of a computer on a
chip, but nearly everyone felt that integrated circuit
technology was not ready to support such a chip. In
1971,
an Intel team developed such an architecture with just over
2,300 transistors in an area of only 3 by 4 millimeters. It was
called the 4004 microprocessor. With its 4-bit CPU, command
register, decoder, decoding control, control monitoring of
machine commands and interim register, the 4004 was a great
invention. It was used to build the first hand-held calculator.
Suddenly, scientists and engineers could carry the computational
power of a computer with them to job sites, classrooms, and
laboratories. The microprocessor was developed by
Robert Noyce,
Ted Hoff,
Federico
Faggin and
Stan Mazor.
New manufacturing processes had to be invented in the
manufacturing of these chips. A piece of dust or dirt too small
to be seen by the human eye could prevent their successful
manufacture. And thus, the clean room was born.
The
Pioneer 10 spacecraft used the 4004 microprocessor. It was
launched on March 2, 1972 and was the first spacecraft and
microprocessor to enter the Asteroid Belt.
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