The AM29501 was not designed as a DSP, but it was marketed as a signal processor, at least for the first 5 years of manufacture. DSP tasks were handled by other processors, or by completely custom designs. The Signetics 8X300 was well suited for such work, but was not inherently designed for it. In 1981, there was not a clear DSP (Digital Signal Processor) architecture, or really purpose built design. However, the 1980’s brought another AMD design as well, though not as complicated, it is no less interesting. It was a bit different than its competition.ĪMD is well known for its 2901 bit-slice processor of the 1970’s (being made well into the 1990’s), as well as the previously detailed AM29116 16-bit processor released in 1981. This was a Schottky TTL 4-bit slice processor (and the SN74S482 sequencer for it). In 1976, the same year as the SBP0400, the 6701 and the AMD AM2901, TI released the SN74S481. TI made the SBP0400 in I 2L that enjoyed some success, but that apparently wasn’t enough. Motorola had the MC10800, made in ECL and Intel made the ill-fated (probably since it was only 2-bits) Intel 3002 Processor. There were others, the MMI 6701 (a company which AMD would go on to merge with). The most famous was of course the AMD AM2901, which undoubtable won the battle. Somewhat remarkable in 1976 considering 16-bit designs were now being released. At the same time there was a competition of 4-bit processors. Most of the processors were new designs, a few were single chip implementations of older mainframes (such as the TMS9900 and the Intersil 6100. The 1970’s was a rush to design new and innovative processors, faster, more features, and more bits. The AN/ALQ-136 is designed to prevent the Cobra from being successfully targeted by RADAR guided missiles, failure means a strong possibility that the helicopter gets hit, not something its crew would like to deal with. This is required to protect the digital components of the system from electronic interference, whether from external sources, or from the helicopters own RADAR systems. It is built on a ceramic substrate with gold traces, and sealed in a metal package. The single package contains almost 100 dies, and many discrete components. The ITT hybrid integrates 4 AMD AM2901B processor dies, as well as associated memory and interfacing elements. In this case the very versatile AMD 2901 was used. In 1982 a fast custom processor needed to be built with bit-slice elements. However in the early 80’s (the AN/ALQ-136 debuted in 1982) DSP processors were in their infancy. Today a modern DSP processor could handle this task without issue. This requires relatively fast processing, and a generally custom design. These boards are used to detect hostile pulse RADAR systems, analyze them, and begin jamming based on what type they are. Two of these hybrids are used in the system, one for the Mod Recovery board, and one for the SLO processor board. It was designed and used for the AN/ALQ-136(V)1 CMS (CounterMeasures System) for the AH-1F Cobra Attack helicopter. A great example is this ITT hybrid processor. Military computing applications require many custom designs, as they are very mission specific. The 2901B’s are the 4 larger dies in a row, middle right.
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