 An early U880D microprocessor, manufactured in December 1981 | |
| General information | |
|---|---|
| Launched | 1980 |
| Discontinued | c. 1996 |
| Common manufacturer |
|
| Performance | |
| Max.CPUclock rate | 1 MHz to 8 MHz |
| Architecture and classification | |
| Instruction set | Zilog Z80 |
| Physical specifications | |
| Package | |
TheU880 is an8-bitmicroprocessor that was manufactured byVEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx"Erfurt (abbreviated as MME; part ofKombinat Mikroelektronik Erfurt) in theGerman Democratic Republic. Production of the U880 started in 1980[1] at VEB Funkwerk Erfurt (abbreviated as FWE; the plant was renamed to VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" in 1983[2]). The U880 is an unlicensedclone of theZilogZ80 microprocessor, also supportingillegal opcodes andbugs, except for very minor differences like not setting the CY flag for theOUTI command (when L goes zero).
The U880 was manufactured inNMOS technology and encased in a plasticDIL40 package with a pin spacing of 2.5 mm[3][4] (export versions had the Western pin spacing of 2.54 mm;Russian variants also came in a ceramic package).
| Temperature range | Clock rate | Designations |
|---|---|---|
| 0 °C to 40 °C | 1 MHz | UD880D,[a][5] UB880D S1[a][6] |
| 0 °C to 70 °C | 2.5 MHz | U880D,[b][3] UB880D,[4] 80-CPU[c] |
| 4 MHz | UA880D,[4] 80A-CPU[c] | |
| 8 MHz | U880DC08,[d] Thesys Z80H[e] | |
| −25 °C to +85 °C | 2.5 MHz | VB880D[4] |
The military version of the U880 has an additional "MEK 4" marking.
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VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" also manufactured a number of support chips for the U880. The prefixes UA, UB, VB, 80, and 80A correspond to the same temperature ranges and clock rates as for the processor variants above. Likewise, the suffix S1 indicates the out-of-spec, hobbyist version.
| Designation | International equivalent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| U855D,[a][3] UA855D,[4][7] UB855D,[4][7] UD855D,[b][5] VB855D,[4] UB855D S1,[b][6] 80-PIO,[c] 80A-PIO[c] | Zilog Z80 PIO | parallel input/output |
| U8560D,[a][3] UA8560D,[4] UB8560D,[4][7] VB8560D,[4] UB8560D S1,[b][6] 80-SIO/0,[c] 80A-SIO/0[c] | Zilog Z80 SIO/0 | serial input/output |
| U857D,[a][3] UA857D,[4][7] UB857D,[4][7] VB857D,[4] UB857D S1,[b][6] 80-CTC,[c] 80A-CTC[c] | Zilog Z80 CTC | counter/timer circuit |
| UA858D,[4] UB858D,[4] UB858D S1,[b] 80-DMA,[c][7] 80A-DMA[c] | Zilog Z80 DMA | DMA controller |
| U8561D,[a] UB8561D[8] | Zilog Z80 SIO/1 | serial input/output |
| UA8563D,[4] UB8563D,[4] VB8563D,[4] UB8563D S1,[b] 80-DART,[c] 80A-DART[c] | Zilog Z80 DART | dual asynchronous receiver/transmitter |
| U8272D04,[4] U8272D08[4] | Intel 8272 | floppy-disk controller |
| U82530DC04,[9] U82530DC06[9] | Zilog SCC | serial communications controller |
| U82536DC04[9] | Zilog CIO | counter/timer and parallel input/output |
| U82720DC02, U82720DC03, U82720DC04[4] | Intel 82720 | graphics display controller |
The U880 was by far the most widely used microprocessor in the German Democratic Republic. Examples are:
At the time the U880 was the most advanced 8-bit processor available in the Eastern Bloc. Only clones of theIntel 8080 were manufactured in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and the Soviet Union. As the Z80 replaced the Intel 8080 in the West, the U880 was used throughout the Eastern Bloc. Examples are:
Following the example of Zilog where the Z80 was succeeded by the 16-bit processorsZ8001 / Z8002, VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" produced theU8001 / U8002. And just like its Western counterpart, the U8001 / U8002 saw far less use than the U880. WhenMS-DOS emerged as the dominant operating system for personal computers, in the Eastern Bloc the only available clone of theIntel 8086 was the SovietK1810VM86. VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" then proceeded to develop a clone of theIntel 80286, theU80601.[9] Furthermore, a CMOS version of the Z80 was developed with the designation U84C00.[9][15][16] Due to the economic changes following theGerman reunification in 1990, neither project proceeded beyond pilot production. VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" (MME) was privatized in 1990 under the name ERMIC GmbH, a large part of which became Thesys Gesellschaft für Mikroelektronik mbH in 1992.[17] Both ERMIC and Thesys continued to manufacture the NMOS version of the U880, ERMIC still with the MME name and logo,[18] Thesys under its new name. Adie shrink chip with the marking U880/6 had been developed in 1990 and went into production some time after that. The smaller chip allowed clock rates up to 8 MHz for the U880DC08 and Thesys Z80H. While Zilog likely could have taken up legal action against the successors of VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" for copyright infringement, they recruited Thesys as a Zilog distributor instead.[19]
From about 1991 until 1993, bare U880 chips were sold to Russian and Ukrainian companies and packaged there. Initially the U880/5 chip revision was labelled as 80A-CPU[20] andT34VM1 [ru] (Russian:Т34ВМ1).[21] Later integrated circuits with U880/6 chips inside received the officialdesignationKR1858VM1 [ru] (Russian:КР1858ВМ1) for the plastic package and KM1858VM1 (Russian:КМ1858ВМ1) for the ceramic package.[22] Manufacturers includeAngstremZelenograd, Kvazar Kiev, and VZPPVoronesh.[22]