Zilog: The First Decade: Z80, Z8 and the Z8000
In 1974 Federico Faggin left Intel after working on the 8-bit 8080 processor. He formed a company called ZiLOG and developed a much improved version of the 8080 called the Z80. It was released in 1976 after only 18 months of design. The Z80 was faster, cheaper, and simpler to build around then the 8080 and enjoyed extremely wide use. ZiLOG designed the CPU but it was marketed differently than most at the time. Any company could purchase a license to the design, and build them royalty free. They were also free to do with the design as they pleased. This resulted in dozens of companies making clones/versions of it. The Soviets made unlicensed copies as well. In fact other companies made more Z80s then ZiLOG did themselves.
Zilog Z-80 CPU 8400X CS – 1979 2.5MHz
The Z80 was not the only processor that ZiLOG made. Some of the processors/part numbering can be a bit confusing so we’ll look at each family and part that Zilog made up through 1985. After 1985 CMOS designs came out as well as dozens of variations. We just want to look at the first ten years of ZiLOG.
Zilog Z8300-3PS – 1984 2.5MHz
The Z80 itself was, of course, similar to the 8080 but single voltage, and only required a single clock phase. It was available in speeds of 2.5-8MHz. ZiLOG also made a low-power version known as the Z80L (Z8300) that ran from 1-2.5MHz. That’s really all there was to the Z80 family up through 1985.
