Intel commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 4004 microprocessor
Intel 4004 microprocessor is the world’s first commercial microprocessor. Born in November 1971, it paved the way for the development of modern microprocessors, laid the foundation for modern computing, and touched every life on earth.
It all started with a calculator. In 1969, the Japanese manufacturer Nippon Calculating Machine Corp. approached Intel to design an integrated circuit for its Busicom 141-PF calculator. The original plan called for the use of 12 custom chips, but Intel’s engineers Federico Faggin, Tedd Hoff, and Stan Mazor eventually turned it into a set of four chips, which included a 4004 microprocessor.
The 4004 microprocessor has about 2300 transistors and is manufactured with a 10-micron process, a 16-pin DIP package, the highest frequency is 750kHz, and it performs 4-bit operations. Stan Mazor said that the 4004 microprocessor is revolutionary. It took Intel about five years to build a new microprocessor-based product and finally achieved great success.
After 50 years, microprocessors have become deeply ingrained in the daily lives of people all over the world. They have penetrated into all aspects, and are ubiquitous in game consoles, laptops, smartphones, and other devices. The technology of the Intel 4004 microprocessor has changed the world, allowing everyone to keep in touch with family, friends, and colleagues even during the COVID-19 quarantine period, eliminating communication barriers.
For Intel, from the 4004 microprocessor to the current 12th-generation Core series and 3rd-generation Xeon Scalable processors, it provides services for entertainment, work, AI, cloud computing, 5G, and edge computing, covering desktops, laptops, cloud, edge-to-pocket devices. Because of the Intel 4004 microprocessor, people have more than just a calculator in their pockets.
