RTX2010

The RTX2010, manufactured by Intersil, is a radiation hardened stack machine microprocessor which has been used in numerous spacecraft.

RTX 2010
General information
Launched1988 (1988)
Common manufacturer(s)
Performance
Max. CPU clock rate8 MHz
Data width8 and 16
Address width20

Characteristics

Block diagram of the Harris RTX 2000 processor

It is a two-stack machine, each stack 256 words deep, that supports direct execution of Forth. Subroutine calls and returns only take one processor cycle and it also has a very low and consistent interrupt latency of only four processor cycles, which lends it well to realtime applications.

History

In 1983, Chuck Moore implemented a processor for his programming language Forth as a gate array. As Forth can be considered a dual stack virtual machine, he made the processor, Novix N4000 (later renamed NC4016), as a dual-stack machine. In 1988, an improved processor was sold to Harris Semiconductor, who marketed it for space applications as the RTX2000.[1]

Example spacecraft that use the RTX2010

References

  1. US Expired 5070451A, Moore, Charles H. & Murphy, Robert W., "Forth specific language microprocessor", issued 1991-12-03, assigned to Intersil
  • "HS-RTX2010RH". Intersil. Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2009-02-11. Intersil's product page.
  • "HS-RTX2010RH Data Sheet" (PDF). Intersil. March 2000. 3961.3.
  • Rash, James. "Space-Related Applications of Forth". NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Archived from the original on 2011-02-04.
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