Fairchild 9445 Microprocessor

1. Introduction

The Fairchild 9445 is a 16-bit microprocessor that was introduced by Fairchild Semiconductor in 1978. It
represents an important milestone in the evolution of microprocessor technology, bridging the gap
between early 8-bit microprocessors and the emerging generation of full 16-bit designs.

The 9445 implements the instruction set architecture of the Data General Nova 3 minicomputer in a
single VLSI chip. It leverages advanced circuit design and manufacturing processes to deliver
performance rivaling contemporary minicomputers. The processor points to the future potential of the
microprocessor to displace more complex and costly computing systems.

This article provides a comprehensive technical overview of the Fairchild 9445. It examines the
processor's origins and motivation, architectural features, circuit implementation, performance
benchmarks, and historical impact.

2. Background

The 9445 has its roots in Fairchild Semiconductor's earlier 8-bit microprocessors and the pioneering
Nova minicomputers from Data General.

2.1 Fairchild and Early Microprocessors

Fairchild Semiconductor was one of the pioneers of integrated circuit technology and an early developer
of microprocessors. In the early 1970s, Fairchild produced some of the very first single chip
microprocessors, including the 8-bit F8 CPU.

While competitive with contemporary products from Intel and other microprocessor firms, Fairchild's
early 8-bit designs were limited in performance. By the mid-1970s, the company sought to leapfrog the
competition with a next-generation 16-bit processor.

2.2 Data General Nova Computers

The Nova was a series of 16-bit minicomputers introduced by Data General starting in 1969. The Nova
line became widely popular in the 1970s, displacing earlier 12-bit minicomputers with its speed, lower
cost, and innovative architecture.

Data General took a novel approach in the original Nova, implementing the processor from standard
small-scale TTL integrated circuits rather than custom chips. This allowed rapid design iterations and
lower manufacturing costs.
The Nova instruction set architecture (ISA) was key to its success. It included powerful addressing modes,
hardware stack support, and bit manipulation instructions ideal for compilers and system software. The
clean orthogonal design made programming straightforward.

Later Nova CPUs implemented the ISA in faster custom LSI and VLSI logic. The Nova line eventually
evolved into the Eclipse family of 32-bit minicomputers.

2.3 Motivation for the 9445

By the mid-1970s, second-source microprocessor clones had become commonplace. These copied the
internals of processors like the 8080 and 6800. However, directly implementing a complex minicomputer
ISA in a microprocessor was still a significant challenge.

Fairchild saw an opportunity to leapfrog competitors by translating the proven Nova ISA into silicon. This
would provide Nova software compatibility while reaching speeds previous Nova CPUs could not match.
The result was the Fairchild 9445 and its predecessor, the 9440.

3. Architecture

The 9445 architecture builds upon the earlier 8-bit Fairchild microprocessors but expands to 16-bit data
paths and registers. It implements the complete instruction set of the Nova 3 minicomputer.

3.1 Registers

The 9445 includes a 16-bit program counter, 16 general purpose 16-bit registers (R0-R15), and a 16-bit
status register. Additional registers provide stack pointer, frame pointer, and multiply/divide functions.

The expanded registers allow the 9445 to directly manipulate 16-bit data and addresses. This avoids the
need to chain together multiple 8-bit operations as on earlier 8-bit microprocessors.

3.2 Addressing Modes

The 9445 supports 8 addressing modes for memory access:

- Register Direct
- Register Deferred
- Relative
- Absolute
- Immediate
- Indexed
- Autoincrement
- Autodecrement

This provides flexibility for accessing operands in memory and manipulating the instruction stream. The
powerful addressing modes were one of the strengths of the Nova architecture for systems
programming.
3.3 Instruction Set

The instruction set consists of 72 instructions, including:

- Data Movement: LOAD, STORE

- Arithmetic/Logical: ADD, SUBTRACT, COMPARE, LOGICAL
- Bit Manipulation: SHIFT, ROTATE
- Control Flow: JUMP, SKIP, RETURN
- Stack: PUSH, POP
- I/O: INPUT, OUTPUT
- Decimal: ADD DECIMAL, COMPARE DECIMAL

Instructions operate on 8-bit bytes as well as 16-bit words. The complete Nova 3 instruction set is
implemented in microcode, including the privileged instructions.

3.4 Interface

The 9445 provides a 16-bit bidirectional data bus and 16-bit address bus, allowing it to directly address
64KB of memory. Support for the Nova 3 extended addressing expands this to 128KB.

Control signals such as interrupts, bus status lines, and power/clock inputs facilitate integrating the 9445
in a complete system. DMA channels allow external devices to directly access memory.

4. Implementation

Fairchild implemented the 9445 using their advanced bipolar Isoplanar Integrated Injection Logic (I3L)
process. This provided the high speeds needed to rival minicomputers.

4.1 Circuit Technology

I3L combines bipolar transistor logic with injection techniques for fast switching speeds while minimizing
power and base drive requirements. It was well-suited to complex VLSI devices like the 9445.

The 9445 was fabricated on a 2 micron I3L process, enabling integration of over 5000 gate equivalents on
a single 40-pin chip. This was an order of magnitude reduction compared to earlier Nova CPUs built from
TTL logic packages.

4.2 Microarchitecture

Internally, the 9445 employs a 16-bit data path, arithmetic logic unit (ALU), and dedicated hardware
multiplier/divider. Microcode sequencers control execution of the Nova instructions.
Pipelining of fetch, decode, and execute stages maximizes performance. Two internal buses allow
simultaneous access to the register file and microsequencers.

The microcoded design allows the Nova ISA to be implemented independently of the underlying logic.
This provided flexibility to optimize the microarchitecture for speed.

4.3 Clock and Control

The 9445 contains an on-chip clock generator and oscillator circuitry. This eliminates the need for
external clock hardware as required by earlier Nova CPUs.

The clock speed is adjustable over a range from 0 to 24 MHz. Typical systems operate the 9445 at 16-20
MHz, with a 24 MHz version providing maximum performance.

5. Performance

The combination of 16-bit architecture, pipelining, fast circuit technology, and integrated clock
generation allowed the 9445 to achieve significant performance improvements over prior Nova
processors.

5.1 Speed

The 9445 clock speed reached 24 MHz, compared to 12 MHz for contemporary Nova 3 systems based on
discrete TTL logic.

Instruction cycle times as fast as 100 ns were achieved, over 2.5x faster than the Nova 3. Fairchild
advertised up to 10x speed gains on typical applications code.

5.2 Benchmarks

Exact performance depends heavily on the application workload. Published benchmarks provided some
sense of the 9445's capabilities:

- Whetstone: 180 KWIPS at 16 MHz, up to 250 KWIPS at 24 MHz

- Dhrystone: 15 KIPS at 16 MHz, up to 21 KIPS at 24 MHz
- Livermore Loops: Up to 320 KFLOPS at 24 MHz

These figures were 2-3x faster than Nova 3 systems clocked at 12 MHz. Floating point was aided by
optional assist processors.

5.3 Real-World Systems

End user benchmarks showed the 20 MHz 9445 matching or exceeding a Nova 3/12 system at 2-3x lower
cost. This delivered minicomputer-class performance in a microprocessor-based system.
6. Historical Impact

The Fairchild 9445 was ultimately short-lived, but demonstrated the potential of 16-bit microprocessors.
It pioneered VLSI implementations of complex minicomputer ISAs a full decade before similar CISC
designs like the Intel 386.

6.1 Microprocessor Evolution

Prior to the 9445, microprocessors were largely seen as a class apart from higher-end minicomputers. By
implementing the full Nova ISA in a microprocessor, Fairchild showed the convergence of the two classes
of computing systems.

The 9445 fueled rapid innovation in 16-bit processors including the Motorola 68000, Zilog Z8000, and
Intel 8086. Within 10 years, 16-bit microprocessors fully displaced minicomputers.

6.2 Legal Legacy

Data General disputed Fairchild's implementation of the Nova ISA in the 9445 and subsequent 9440. The
lawsuits that followed helped define legal protections for ISAs and established that only specific
implementations, not instruction sets themselves, could be copyrighted. This enabled broad adoption of
common ISAs like x86.

7. Conclusion

The Fairchild 9445 16-bit bipolar microprocessor demonstrated the potential for microprocessors to
match and exceed the capabilities of more complex and costly minicomputer systems. Its innovative
implementation of the Nova ISA in a 2 micron VLSI process resulted in a processor that delivered high
performance for its era.

Though short-lived in the marketplace, the 9445 pointed the way forward for future generations of
microprocessors. It pioneered concepts such as microcoded CISC implementations that became
commonplace in the 32-bit era. By breaching the divide between microprocessors and minicomputers,
the 9445 opened the door for the microprocessor revolution that followed.