The Bellmac-32 was developed by AT&T’s Bell Labs and was a pioneering 32-bit processor running at 2 MHz when most processors were 8 or 16-bit.
It used CMOS rather than the more usual PMOS or NMOS transistors, and ran compiled C programmes, and pioneered the use of domino logic to improve its operation.
While it was eclipsed by later CPUs from Intel and Motorola, the decisions taken in its design meant that many of its architectural and fabrication choices were correct, laying the path for the CPUs that would follow.
It was used in AT&T’s 3B computers and laid the ground for the WE 32×00 family of CPUs.
“You can tell it’s the 70’s by the ashtrays in the dev meeting”: theBellmac-32, one of the first 32-bit processors, has been highlighted by Spectrum in a recent post, noting that while it was eclipsed by the likes of the Intel 8088 and Motorola 68000, its choices of using CMOS and domino logic to improve its operation saw it carve out a significant chunk of computing history, influencing the industry through its design and testing techniques.
