alt Hacker NewsThe other early 16-bit CPUs include:
National Instrument's PACE- I've never seen one used in anything: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Semiconductor_PACE
but its bit-slice precursor, the IMP-16 was used in Aston Martin's Lagonda https://sprague.com/peter-sprague/aston-martin/
https://opposite-lock.com/topic/90934/lagonda-dashboards
General Instrument's CP1600, used in the Intellivision (a video game console yes, but there was a home computer keyboard attachment).
http://spatula-city.org/~im14u2c/chips/GICP1600.pdf
Its co-processor, the CP1640 is famous for evolving into Microchip's PIC microcontroller.
Much more influential 16-bit CPUs from that era include the PDP-11's CPU, the Data General Nova's CPU, the Xerox Alto's CPU, and arguably even the 8086 and 8088. The chronology seems to go as follows:
- 01965: IBM 1130
- 01966: HP 2116A, the first model of the HP 2100 series
- 01969: Nova
- 01970: PDP-11
- 01971: IBM System/7
- 01973: Alto (not shipped. NEVER shipped)
- 01973: TI-990 (the 990/3, according to https://cozx.com/dpitts/ti990.html)
- 01974: HP 3000
- 01974: PACE (which was from National Semiconductor, not National Instruments)
- 01975: CP1600
- 01976: TMS9900 (what the TI-99/4A used)
- 01976: Tandem (first Tandem/16 shipped to Citibank)
- 01978: 8086
- 01979: 8088
- 01981: TI-99/4A
Since there were plenty of 6-bit, 8-bit, 12-bit, 32-bit, 36-bit, 60-bit, and 64-bit CPUs in the 01950s, you'd think there would be some 16-bit CPUs then too, but I can't think of any. I'd even forgotten about the HP 2100 until I went looking just now.