68k

The Motorola 680x0/0x0/m68k/68k/68K family of CISC microprocessor CPU chips were 32-bit from the start, and were the primary competition for the Intel x86 family of chips.

The 68k family built upon Motorola's 8/16-bit 68h series of processors.

Contents

The 68k family members

Architectural heritage

People who are familiar with the PDP-11 or VAX usually feel comfortable with the 68000. With the exception of the split of general purpose registers into specialized data and address registers, the 68000 architecture is in many ways a 32-bit PDP-11.

Where did the 68050 go? Was there no -070?

Note that there is no 68050, this is because the design that was destined to be the 68050 was eventually released as a version of the 68040. There is also no revision of the 68060, as Motorola was in the process of shifting away from the 68k and 88k processor lines into its new PowerPC business, so the 68070 was never developed. Had it been, it would have been a revised 68060.

The next 68k generation

The 4th generation 68060 shared most of the features of the Intel P5 architecture of x86. Should Motorola have decided to stick with the 680x0 series it is very likely that the next processor (68080) would have resembled Intel's P6 architecture.

Other variants

After the mainline 68k processors' demise, the 68k family has been used to some extent in microcontroller/embedded microprocessor versions. These chips include the ones listed under "other" above, i.e. the CPU32 (aka 68330), the Coldfire, and the Dragonball.

Competitors to the mainstream 68ks

The principal competitors in the microcomputer market for generation one were the x86 architecture P1 and P2 IA-16 chips (8088, 80286). For generation two, it was the P3 IA-32 chips (80386), and for generation three it was the P4 IA-32 chips (80486). Generation four did compete against the P5 IA-32 chips (Pentiums), but to a lesser extent, as much of the hitherto 68k marketplace was shifting over to the PowerPC, sounding the death knell for the 680x0 on the desktop.

Template:Microcompu-stubfr:M68k pl:M68000

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