Memorial Day Chip: Motorola 6800/BQCJC 8-Bits of Military spec
Motorola 6800/BQCJC – Mil-spec 6800 from 1985
The Motorola MC6800 was Motorola’s first full 8-bit processor. Introduced in 1974 it was a very good processor, and at the time it did not have a lot of competition, mainly the Intel 8080 and 8008. Within 2 years though it was competing against the 6502. the 1802, the Z80 and a host of other processors.
This particular example was made in 1985 and is a MIL-STD-883 rated device for use in high reliability military applications.
But the 1980s 8-bit designs were surpassed by 16 and 32-bit designs for most computer use, leaving the 8-bit MC6800 to largely be relegated to use in embedded application and microcontroller work. Motorola made several version of the 6800 specifically for use as MCUs, the 6802, the widely used 6805 (and its CMOS version the 68HC05) and the 68HC08. All of which are still in use today, 40 years after Motorola made the first 6800. The 6800 (and its derivatives also continue to be used as IP cores, read for dropping into ASIC/FPGA designs. Just this year Digital Core Designs added the 68HC08 to their library of available IP cores.
