History of Computers - Intel 4004

Page by: Wren Fondren

Invented in 1971 by Intel, the 4004 chip was the first microprocessor to be sold on the open market. It was a 4-bit CPU and could process up to 92,000 instructions per second, which translates to one instruction per 11 microseconds, dramatically increasing the speed of commercial computers. Although microprocessors had been around for a short amount, the Intel 4004 opened up the market significantly for computers aimed at homes and businesses, as opposed to scientific research.

Overview

In 1971, Ted Hoff received a request from a potential client in Japan, Busicom, to build them a series of twelve custom designed chips to control everything from screen to keyboard in their calculators [1]. However, Hoff lacked the resources and manpower to take on such a task, so instead he decided to use what he did have: brainpower. Between Federico Faggin, Ted Hoff, and Stan Mazor, Intel came up with a new plan for a chip that could do the work of twelve; Busicom agreed and funded their work.

The three men each had their own part in the production of the 4004 [2]. Federico Faggin was the head of the 4004 team, and developed the silicon gate MOS technology. His work also included the complete chip layout of the four chips that were included in the 4000 series. Stan Mazor added a bulk of the instructions to the chip and designed and programmed specimen to gauge the success of the design of the 4004. Ted Hoff initiated and proposed the idea of having one chip do the work of twelve. He also initiated the idea of a programmable chip that could do what the user needed, rather than what the company programmed for it to do.

Significance

The 4004 chip was the first of its kind, the only programmable microprocessor on the market at the time of its release. It was the first chip that the owner could program themselves for whatever they needed the chip for, creating a large market of all sorts of users from researchers to businesses to computers used at home. The innovative step that Intel took in the invention of this chip was vital to the current success and use of computers. It sent the market down in both size and expense, creating a massive surge of demand.