Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
X86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel, based on the 8086 microprocessor and its 8-bit-external-bus variant, the 8088. The 8086 was introduced in 1978 as a fully 16-bit extension of 8-bit Intel's 8080 microprocessor, with memory segmentation as a solution for addressing more memory than can be covered by a plain 16-bit address. The term "x86" came into being because the names of several successors to Intel's 8086 processor end in "86", including the 80186, 80286, 80386 and 80486. Colloquially, their names were "186", "286", "386" and "486".
The term is not synonymous with IBM PC compatibility, as this implies a multitude of other computer hardware. Embedded systems and general-purpose computers used x86 chips before the PC-compatible market started, some of them before the IBM PC (1981) debut.
As of June 2022[update], most desktop and laptop computers sold are based on the x86 architecture family, while mobile categories such as smartphones or tablets are dominated by ARM. At the high end, x86 continues to dominate computation-intensive workstation and cloud computing segments.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, when the 8088 and 80286 were still in common use, the term x86 usually represented any 8086-compatible CPU. Today, however, x86 usually implies binary compatibility with the 32-bit instruction set of the 80386. This is due to the fact that this instruction set has become something of a lowest common denominator for many modern operating systems and also probably because the term became common after the introduction of the 80386 in 1985.
A few years after the introduction of the 8086 and 8088, Intel added some complexity to its naming scheme and terminology as the "iAPX" of the ambitious but ill-fated Intel iAPX 432 processor was tried on the more successful 8086 family of chips, applied as a kind of system-level prefix. An 8086 system, including coprocessors such as 8087 and 8089, and simpler Intel-specific system chips, was thereby described as an iAPX 86 system. There were also terms iRMX (for operating systems), iSBC (for single-board computers), and iSBX (for multimodule boards based on the 8086 architecture), all together under the heading Microsystem 80. However, this naming scheme was quite temporary, lasting for a few years during the early 1980s.
Although the 8086 was primarily developed for embedded systems and small multi-user or single-user computers, largely as a response to the successful 8080-compatible Zilog Z80, the x86 line soon grew in features and processing power. Today, x86 is ubiquitous in both stationary and portable personal computers, and is also used in midrange computers, workstations, servers, and most new supercomputer clusters of the TOP500 list. A large amount of software, including a large list of x86 operating systems are using x86-based hardware.
Modern x86 is relatively uncommon in embedded systems, however; small low power applications (using tiny batteries), and low-cost microprocessor markets, such as home appliances and toys, lack significant x86 presence. Simple 8- and 16-bit based architectures are common here, as well as simpler RISC architectures like ARM and RISC-V, although the x86-compatible VIA C7, VIA Nano, AMD's Geode, Athlon Neo and Intel Atom are examples of 32- and 64-bit designs used in some relatively low-power and low-cost segments.
There have been several attempts, including by Intel, to end the market dominance of the "inelegant" x86 architecture designed directly from the first simple 8-bit microprocessors. Examples of this are the iAPX 432 (a project originally named the Intel 8800), the Intel 960, Intel 860 and the Intel/Hewlett-Packard Itanium architecture. However, the continuous refinement of x86 microarchitectures, circuitry and semiconductor manufacturing would make it hard to replace x86 in many segments. AMD's 64-bit extension of x86 (which Intel eventually responded to with a compatible design) and the scalability of x86 chips in the form of modern multi-core CPUs, is underlining x86 as an example of how continuous refinement of established industry standards can resist the competition from completely new architectures.
Hub AI
X86 AI simulator
(@X86_simulator)
X86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel, based on the 8086 microprocessor and its 8-bit-external-bus variant, the 8088. The 8086 was introduced in 1978 as a fully 16-bit extension of 8-bit Intel's 8080 microprocessor, with memory segmentation as a solution for addressing more memory than can be covered by a plain 16-bit address. The term "x86" came into being because the names of several successors to Intel's 8086 processor end in "86", including the 80186, 80286, 80386 and 80486. Colloquially, their names were "186", "286", "386" and "486".
The term is not synonymous with IBM PC compatibility, as this implies a multitude of other computer hardware. Embedded systems and general-purpose computers used x86 chips before the PC-compatible market started, some of them before the IBM PC (1981) debut.
As of June 2022[update], most desktop and laptop computers sold are based on the x86 architecture family, while mobile categories such as smartphones or tablets are dominated by ARM. At the high end, x86 continues to dominate computation-intensive workstation and cloud computing segments.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, when the 8088 and 80286 were still in common use, the term x86 usually represented any 8086-compatible CPU. Today, however, x86 usually implies binary compatibility with the 32-bit instruction set of the 80386. This is due to the fact that this instruction set has become something of a lowest common denominator for many modern operating systems and also probably because the term became common after the introduction of the 80386 in 1985.
A few years after the introduction of the 8086 and 8088, Intel added some complexity to its naming scheme and terminology as the "iAPX" of the ambitious but ill-fated Intel iAPX 432 processor was tried on the more successful 8086 family of chips, applied as a kind of system-level prefix. An 8086 system, including coprocessors such as 8087 and 8089, and simpler Intel-specific system chips, was thereby described as an iAPX 86 system. There were also terms iRMX (for operating systems), iSBC (for single-board computers), and iSBX (for multimodule boards based on the 8086 architecture), all together under the heading Microsystem 80. However, this naming scheme was quite temporary, lasting for a few years during the early 1980s.
Although the 8086 was primarily developed for embedded systems and small multi-user or single-user computers, largely as a response to the successful 8080-compatible Zilog Z80, the x86 line soon grew in features and processing power. Today, x86 is ubiquitous in both stationary and portable personal computers, and is also used in midrange computers, workstations, servers, and most new supercomputer clusters of the TOP500 list. A large amount of software, including a large list of x86 operating systems are using x86-based hardware.
Modern x86 is relatively uncommon in embedded systems, however; small low power applications (using tiny batteries), and low-cost microprocessor markets, such as home appliances and toys, lack significant x86 presence. Simple 8- and 16-bit based architectures are common here, as well as simpler RISC architectures like ARM and RISC-V, although the x86-compatible VIA C7, VIA Nano, AMD's Geode, Athlon Neo and Intel Atom are examples of 32- and 64-bit designs used in some relatively low-power and low-cost segments.
There have been several attempts, including by Intel, to end the market dominance of the "inelegant" x86 architecture designed directly from the first simple 8-bit microprocessors. Examples of this are the iAPX 432 (a project originally named the Intel 8800), the Intel 960, Intel 860 and the Intel/Hewlett-Packard Itanium architecture. However, the continuous refinement of x86 microarchitectures, circuitry and semiconductor manufacturing would make it hard to replace x86 in many segments. AMD's 64-bit extension of x86 (which Intel eventually responded to with a compatible design) and the scalability of x86 chips in the form of modern multi-core CPUs, is underlining x86 as an example of how continuous refinement of established industry standards can resist the competition from completely new architectures.