
19xx
principal papers
Hardware
The Microcomputer
is a chip like the 4004, which did not really require any other chips
to function as a CPU, the other chip, simulated other functions altogether;
the 4002 was the Ram and I/O, the 4001 was ROM and output and the
4002 was an output-only shift-register.Even the Pentium IV is organized
with the CPU and its Registers, Cache, the RAM and ROM are outside
of the CPU!
The 4004 demo board only used the 4004 and 4002,
the ROM was simulated with the I1701 EPROM. The multiplexed bus made
it impossible to simulate the read/write functions of the Ram with
logic in the same space as the 4002. It could have been done though.
Now, to simulate the actual 4004 would have taken most of a card that
size in logic by itself.
Of course, the benefits of the 1701 EPROM in a development
situation could not be outclassed in any form! That is the same organization
as that on the diagram from early 1968, a CPU with it's Registers
and the RAM (working memory), ROM (program memory) and I/O outside!
A Single Chip Computer is like the 8048, where
the ROM or EPROM Program memory, RAM working memory, CPU and Registers
are on one piece of silicon! That did not occur until 1975.
software
keywords
see also
related subjects
Ray Holt, built what
is called a slice computer where he used several elements such as
the 74818 and others to make a computer of expandable word width...
This is not at MICRO-COMPUTER-BY-ANY MEANS! Once you go outside
of one chip for the main control of the organization; al Registers,
Program Counter, Arithmetic on one piece of silicon, you are outside
the realm of the Microcomputer. |
Achievements
Pickette conceptualized the
design for putting a computer on a chip,
1968.
He participated in the development of the first Microcomputer.
He introduced the Boys of Apple to computing, they were members
of the Itty-Bitty computer-club at Foothill College.
He set up the PDP-10 Computer in 21 days for the INTEL Engineers
to utilize to design the 8085 (1972).
He was the first to utilize Switches as a Backbone to Servers, 1994.
One of the first with Interactive WEB Education in Mathematics, 1998.
Biography
He graduated from San Martin, Ca. Elementary School.
He initially proposed his revolutionary design to Fairchild Semiconductor
in 1968, but Fairchild declined. After Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore
left Fairchild to form Intel, Pickette again pitched his idea. This
time, of course, Intel bought the computer-on-a-chip design, which
turned out to be the holy grail for all processors to come. Not only
Intel.
Intel hired Pickette, and he joined Ted Hoff's team, working on the
Busicom project.
The chip Hoff, Stan Mazor, and others designed became the 4004 processor.
Pickette introduced the Intel 4004 in Las Vegas, Nev. in 1971.
Chronology
1962
- Late in 1962, he decided to begin the study of electronics.
He began to reserve technical books through the Santa Clara County
Bookmobile. Soon he was reading five to six books per week.
1964
- Disenchanted him with the library system as a means to study
Technical materials. He decided to design an up-to-date broadcast
system, which utilized Television to distribute materials to many
views with individual user control of their page presentation.
He began to determine the actual components necessary to accomplish
this feat. A computer figured in the arrangement to allow random
page selection by many users, at remote locations. In addition:
A computer was delivered to Live Oak High School, and he had a
chance access it and evaluate it. His Father began to build a Laboratory
and Machine Shop for him on the Ranch, a reasonable distance from
the house, of course.
- His design progressed until it became too complex to perform
the calculations by hand. The Chemistry Science Professor at Live
Oak High School introduced him to two Scientists at Berkeley Radiation
Laboratories. He met them, became, an understudy. In addition,
they provided him with a version of ECAP in FORTRAN II. They also
arranged for him to have access on the Math Department IBM 1620
in the basement of Birge Hall, on the U.C. Berkeley Campus.
1966
- International Research Corp. Incorporated by Wayne Pickette as
a one man, California corporation. Purpose, to research educational
resources and technological improvements for education.
- By the late of 1966 his ECAP data set was so enormous that the
1620 crunched on it from 4 a.m. Saturday till 7 p.m. Sunday,
his window for utilization of the 1620 was from Midnight
Friday till Midnight Sunday. He was not able to receive the printout,
which progressed at one line before the Midnight Shutdown.
Another friend was attempting to get him some time on an IBM 7094
at the San Jose Plant. This did not pan out.
Right in the middle
of this project, just before he received that outrageous telephone
call from the Lawyer representing that Professor at the University
of South Carolina, he read the science fiction novel
"I Robot", he decided that humanoid Robots could be
made by the end of the current Century or just beyond that.
He was also checking different so-called Minicomputers to see
which could best match the 1620 or better it's performance.
He also had a spending cap of $ 10,000, which had been worked
out, between his Father and himself. He decided to evaluate and
or purchase one at the Wescon show in San Francisco that spring
of 1967.
1967
-
He arrived at the Wescon show, with a paper printout of the
calculation core of his ECAP program. He intended to purchase
the computer that ran the program if it could. Two of the companies
refused to allow him to run his program on their computers. Two
allowed him to do it. After running the program on one computer,
he decided it was in the right price range and was fast enough.
He purchased the DEC PDP-8/S.
He studied the PDP-8/S because it
required maintenance, and he could not afford the visits of the
service guy, who had to travel 50 miles and never arrived before
11 a.m. the next day! He began to study Logic, once because he
saw it as the means to control his video presentations and to
maintain this computer. By the time he actually went to DEC School
in the winter of 1967 he already knew everything about the computer
and was writing assembly language programs for it.
-
His design progressed.
By 1967, he had evaluated and constructed the means to capture,
store and distribute the material. He used an Image-Vidicon to
read Super-8 film, stored that video on .75"
tape traversely scanned. When read, the Video Pages would be
copied from the big tape to a circulating tape-loop, which repeated
the pages as necessary for broadcast. He utilized Channel 3 in
the VHF band, and a delay line box at the TV recorded the page
and held it on the screen until the next page arrived.
The video-buffer box could encode dial pulses to dial the telephone
of the computer and command the computer through those pulses
once the connection was complete.
All that remained was how to organize the control of these functions
in a coordinated manner. He also saw the requirement to increase
the density of his storage main storage. In his research, he
came up with a means to make magnetic tape with two recording
sides.
-
Received the specification of the newly developed Fairchild
74181 Arithmetic and Logic chip in the mail, he decided this
chip could form the core of a computer with supporting logic.
He then set about the design of this computer.
- International Research, applies for a Patent for a method of
constructing Double Sided Magnetic Tape utilizing a MU-Metal Foil
Inter layer. Legal problems with a Professor at the University
of North Carolina, caused Wayne Pickette to drop the quest for
that Patent. Wayne Pickette makes aqaintence with the famous entrepreneur
Aurthur Rock of San Francisco.
1968
- Graduated from Live Oak high school in 68
- He produced a logic block diagram
depicting an organization to reduce a PDP-8/S to chip size with
some architectural enhancements. He began the design just before
leaving for Boston, worked on it in Boston and completed it by
mid-January of 1968. By February, he was calling Fairchild and
Hewlett Packard about the concept; one flatly turned him down,
the other never returned the call.
His mentor, Mr. A. Rock, of San
Francisco, had called and asked him how the approach to Fairchild
had gone. After he told him, they gave him the cold-shoulder,
he suggested he should apply to IBM for employment. He did, and
they refused him on the basis that he was not a College Student.
Mr.
Rock called again to find out how IBM had gone; when he told him
he was refused he said OK and then hung up. Two weeks later IBM
called and wanted to discuss position and salary for the summer of
1968. If his application to IBM can be found, he listed the computer
on a chip as one of his projects.
He participated in the implementation of the first Automated Integrated
Circuit Simulation and Design System. Initially a PDP-8 Computer
was used to drive a crudely automated film cutting table. Later
developments moved the design, simulation and plotting completely
in-house.
A final system developed by a newly formed firm, CALMA Corporation,
that assumed the development of those functions during 1974.
- He pioneered
and advocated the first microprocessor Chip & family.
He initiated the idea in 1968, despite initial and continuing opposition,
he persisted. He was invited to INTEL by the CEO at that time,
Dr. Robert Noyce, who after reviewing his block schematic then
introduced him to Dr. Marcian Hoff, INTEL Director of Research & Development.
1970
- Hired on April 13, 1970 by Intel, and was not required to sign
any Patent Agreement with INTEL.
He discusses the Busicom project with Dr. Hoff on several occasions.
When he was advised of the multi-chip Calculator design cost considerations
he convinced Dr. Hoff to consider the Microchip for the task seriously.
He participated in the Instruction Set and Logic Function Definition
Then he worked on the demonstration model for the chip. He set
up a macro-assembler for the 4004 on his PDP-8 computer by redefining
the assembler mnemonics to those of the 4004. He then wrote an
Octal to Hex conversion; he then proceeded to assemble the first
programs for the 4004. The EPROM was discovered just in time, and
it was immediately incorporated into the demo model. A second project
developed to build a programmer for the I1701 EPROM. These functions
were all demonstrated in Las Vegas. Afterward he assisted in the
implementation of the first microcomputer Chip Family through 1971.
1971
- He performed
the initial marketing effort with the help of leaflet distribution
on the show floor by INTEL Staff (Stanley Mazor); he introduced
and presented the micro on a small borrowed table in a hotel suite
rented by INTEL Memory Systems, at the 1971 Fall Joint Computer
Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was an immediate success!
- He designed, under contract, the computer controls for the first
low-cost retrofit system for Automatic Ink Mixing and paper alignment
for WEB type Printing Presses. Using the Money from the WEB Printing
contract, WALMOR DATA SYSTEMS was formed. As one of the developing
partners in a two man design team, they produced the first Universal
EPROM & Microcomputer Programmer. This
programmer was delivered with multi-protocol (32 separate formats)
dual-port communications capability. It was the first and only
device with these features and gained a great amount of interest.
- He
unsuccessfully attempted to purchase Fairchild Semiconductor Systems,
with a bid which was right on the money! With the Solomon Brothers
(Chicago) backing, they approached Schlumber J. of Boston, holder
of Fairchild Semiconductor Division at the time, with a bid of
$ 102 million to purchase the Fairchild Semiconductor Division.
Finally, National Semiconductor was selected because of the implied
storm of litigation facing Fairchild at the time, the settlement
price was exactly $ 102 million!
- He conceived of Work-Trak, a bar
code driven Work in Progress reporting system. Work-Trak qualified
for free advertising in four publications. The Work-Trak Product
gained greater than 3000 inquiries from around the world. Only
$ 495.00 was spent on advertising, rent of a 4x5 Camera, purchase
of film, processing of film, telephone and postage. Purchase orders
were accepted for six systems totaling over $ 200,000.00 sales.
The product could not be delivered due to several reasons. The
company was shut down and the offices were vacated in August of
1990. I met and married a Russian, Dr. of Mathematics after the
Russian Autovaz Plant sent a Telex inquiry concerning Work-Trak.
- Management Services
Company initially was formed as a subsidiary of International Research.
When IRC was disbanded Management Services became a sole entity.
- Wayne Pickette met his wife Anna in the quest to supply the
Autovaz with the user's manuals for the device, in Russian.
1973
- Graduated from University of California, Berkeley, with
a Bachelor degree in physics.
1990-1996
- Management Services Company sells computers, cellular telephones,
VHF Radios, fax machines, Computer - Networks. Computer upgrades
on a referral basis only.
They continue, receiving several contracts to develop and/or improve
computer networking at various institutions. Some third world prompted
investigations and medical device developments have been performed
on a speculative basis. Several developments have occurred in various
fields of Education and Robotics.
- EDService, Ltd. initially formed to provide Mathematical Education
via the Internet
is now in the process of refurbishing the Website. In addition,
some thought have
been into providing English Writing and Composition skill training
over the same media.
The Website is scheduled to be available in early 1st quarter of
2001.
Honors and awards
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