Motorola 68010
Encyclopedia
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
from Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
, released in 1982. In line with the Motorola 68000
Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
naming convention, it is usually just referred to as the 010 .
It fixes several small flaws in the 68000, and adds a few features. The 68010 was pin-compatible with the 68000, but was not 100% software compatible. Some of the differences were:
- The MOVE from SR instruction is privileged (it may only be executed in supervisor mode). This means that the 68010 meets Popek and Goldberg virtualization requirementsPopek and Goldberg virtualization requirementsThe Popek and Goldberg virtualization requirements are a set of conditions sufficient for a computer architecture to support system virtualization efficiently. They were introduced by Gerald J. Popek and Robert P. Goldberg in their 1974 article "Formal Requirements for Virtualizable Third...
. Because the 68000 offers an unprivileged MOVE from SR, it does not. - The MOVE from CCR instruction was added to partially compensate for the removal of the user-mode MOVE from SR.
- It can recover from bus faults, allowing it to implement virtual memory.
- The exception stack frame was different.
- It introduced a vector base register (VBR), which allowed the vector jump table to be anywhere in RAM.
Additionally, the 68010 had a "loop mode", which could be considered a tiny and special-case instruction cache, which accelerates loops that consist of only 2 instructions.
In practice, the overall speed gain compared to the 68000 at the same frequency was less than 10%.
Memory management unit
A memory management unit , sometimes called paged memory management unit , is a computer hardware component responsible for handling accesses to memory requested by the CPU...
. However, problems with the design, such as a 1 clock
Clock signal
In electronics and especially synchronous digital circuits, a clock signal is a particular type of signal that oscillates between a high and a low state and is utilized like a metronome to coordinate actions of circuits...
memory
Computer storage
Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is one of the core functions and fundamental components of computers....
access penalty, made this configuration unpopular. Some vendors such as Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
used their own MMU design.
The 68010 was never as popular as the 68000, as the added complexity and cost turned out not to be worthwhile in practice. Vendors looking for MMU support waited for the 68020
Motorola 68020
The Motorola 68020 is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1984. It is the successor to the Motorola 68010 and is succeeded by the Motorola 68030...
instead. However, due to the 68010's small speed boost over the 68000 and its support for virtual memory it can be found in a number of smaller Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
systems, both with the 68451 MMU (in the Torch Triple X
Torch Triple X
The Torch Triple X was a UNIX workstation computer produced by the British company Torch Computers, and launched in 1985. It was based on the Motorola 68010 microprocessor and ran a version of UNIX System V.- Hardware :...
), and with a custom MMU (such as the Sun-2
Sun-2
The Sun-2 series of UNIX workstations and servers was launched by Sun Microsystems in November 1983. As the name suggests, the Sun-2 represented the second generation of Sun systems, superseding the original Sun-1 series...
Workstation
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
, AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
UNIX PC, the NCR
NCR Corporation
NCR Corporation is an American technology company specializing in kiosk products for the retail, financial, travel, healthcare, food service, entertainment, gaming and public sector industries. Its main products are self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines, check...
Tower XP and early HP9000s like the Model 300 and 310) and various research machines. Occasionally, owners of Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
and Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
computers and Sega Genesis game consoles replaced their system's 68000 CPU with a 68010 to gain a small speed boost.