Revision as of 04:00, 24 May 2016

Am286ZX/LX
Am286ZX Marketing Sample
Developer	AMD
Manufacturer	AMD
Type	System on chips
Introduction	October 1990 (announced) October 1990 (launch)
Production	April 1991
Architecture	80286 and PC-AT integrated on chip
ISA	x86-16
µarch	80286
Word size	16 bit 2 octets 4 nibbles
Technology	CMOS
Clock	12 MHz-16 MHz
Package	PQFP-216
Succession
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Am286

Am286ZX/LX was a family of system on chips based on the Am286 (80286) architecture designed by AMD and introduced in late 1990. These chips integrated the CMOS core from the Am286 family along with all the logic functions found in the original IBM PC-AT motherboard. These chips provided a clear advantage for mobile devices and laptops by providing lower-power, smaller space, and higher performance at cheaper.

History

By 1990 just over 2.2 million laptops/notebooks were sold and they were projecting that number to increase to 4.6 by 1993.^[1]. In an attempt to reduce power consumption and reduce the overall size of mobile devices AMD introduced the AMD286ZX/LX family of processors which essentially took all the logic functions and glue chips found on the original IBM PC-AT motherboard and incorporated them onto a single chip. The system on a chip used AMD's existing static CMOS core from the Am286 family and incorporated a bus controller, DMA controller, interrupt controller, and clock generator. The chips were 100% compatible with the IBM PC-AT board.

Members

AMD offered two slightly different versions: Am286ZX and Am286LX.

Am286ZX

The Am286ZX offered the base features, which is the entire SoC with all of its basic functions.

Am286LX

The Am286LX chips offered everything found in the Am286ZX but included a number of other power saving features such as CPU shutdown mode, system shutdown mode, staggered DRAM refresh, and slow-refresh DRAM support

See also

• Am286
• 80286

References