Mostek 5065
8-bit microprocessor
The Mostek MK5065 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced by Mostek in early 1974. The design was originally developed by Motorola for use in an Olivetti electronic calculator, and was licensed to Mostek for use in non-calculator roles. It features three sets of processor registers, allowing it to switch to an interrupt handler in a single cycle, and a wait-for-data mode that aided direct memory access.
Despite a relatively low cost (for the era) of $58 in quantities of 100, the 5065 appears to have seen little use. The Fairchild F8 was introduced at about the same time, aimed at the same markets. The F8 had a number of advantages over the 5065 due to its more modern design. In June 1975, Mostek licensed the F8 under a second source arrangement. The 5065 disappeared from Mostek's 1975 catalog, which mentions only their F8, the MK3850.
Still convinced that they needed a microprocessor, and learning from their experience on the 5065, Motorola began design of their Motorola 6800 almost immediately after licensing the 5065 to Mostek.
History
The 5065 began as a custom PMOS CPU design by Motorola for a desktop calculator being built by Olivetti.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mostek 5065” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.