Editing novix/nc4016

{{novix title|NC4016}}
{{chip
|name=NC4016
|no image=No
|designer=Novix
|model number=NC4016
|market=Embedded
|first announced=1984
|first launched=June, 1985
|frequency=7.5 MHz
|process=3 μm
|transistors=16,000
|technology=CMOS
|word size=16 bit
|core count=1
|thread count=1
}}
'''NC4016''' (formerly '''NC4000''') was a 16-bit [[stack machine]] [[microprocessor]] designed by Novix in 1985 primarily for the [[Forth programming language]]. The NC4016 directly executes the primitives of the high-level Forth programming language. The NC4016 was capable of executing typical Forth programs as much as 20 times faster than the [[Motorola 68000]]. Novix also offered the NC4000 Small C Compiler which was compatible with the NC4016 microprocessor.

In 1988, the NC4016 design was licensed and improved by Harris Semiconductor which later rebranded the chip as the [[RTX2000]], a radiation hardened version suitable for spacecrafts use.

The NC4016 was later replaced by the [[Novix NC5016|NC5016]] and later by the [[Novix NC6016|NC6016]].

== History ==
In 1983 Charles H. Moore founded Novix, Inc, a company with the goal of designing a [[microprocessor]] that would execute FORTH programs optimally. The chip, which was originally named NC4000, was released as the NC4016 in June of 1985. The NC4016 was a complete stack machine. The opcodes manipulated the stack directly.

The microprocessor, which was fabricated using [[3μm|3 μm]] HCMOS process technology, has a 7.5MHz clock capable of 10MIPS.

== Implementation ==
Due to the limitations in the [[gate array]] technology of the time, the chip did not have any on-chip memory. Three separate modules were required: for the return stack, data stack, and program and data stack.

== Documents ==
=== Datasheets ===
* [[:File:nc4016.pdf|NC4016 Datasheet]]
base frequency	7.5 MHz (0.0075 GHz, 7,500 kHz) +
core count	1 +
designer	Novix +
first announced	1984 +
first launched	June 1985 +
full page name	novix/nc4016 +
instance of	microprocessor +
ldate	June 1985 +
market segment	Embedded +
model number	NC4016 +
name	NC4016 +
process	3,000 nm (3 μm, 0.003 mm) +
technology	CMOS +
thread count	1 +
transistor count	16,000 +
word size	16 bit (2 octets, 4 nibbles) +