iAPX
This article is about iAPX as a name. For the most well-known iAPX CPUs, see Intel iAPX 432 or iAPX 86.
In microprocessors, iAPX (Intel Advanced Performance Architecture with X standing in for the Greek letter chi (χ) denoting the word architecture,[1] sometimes known as Intel Advanced Processor Architecture) was an early and now unused name for several microprocessors manufactured by Intel, including the early x86 processors.[2] Not being a simple initialism seems to have confused even Intel's technical writers as can be seen in iAPX-88 Book published by Intel where the asterisked expansion shows iAPX to mean Intel Advanced Processor System.[3]
Originally, around 1980, the iAPX designation belonged to the Intel iAPX 432 architecture (alias Intel 8800). However, as this design was a disappointment performance wise and soon failed in the marketplace, Intel also tried the same iAPX-prefix on its more conventional 8086-family of processors. It was mainly used as a kind of system prefix but also to denote individual processors in the family. The 8086 based line was therefore called the iAPX 86 series for a few years during the early 1980s.[2][4] However, this iAPX designation was abandoned rather soon, and the industry around the widespread de facto standard of IBM PC and IBM AT designs (built around the 8088 and 80286) also seldom used that naming scheme. As a result, the iAPX prefix is now, again, more closely associated with the (non-x86) iAPX 432 architecture (which, although being a commercial failure, may be seen as historically important).
List of x86 Intel chips named iAPX
- iAPX 86 was the 8086[2][4]
- iAPX 88 was the 8088[2][4][5]
- iAPX 186 was the 80186[2][5]
- iAPX 286 was the 80286[2]
List of non-x86 Intel chips named iAPX
References
- ^ dvorak.org
- ^ a b c d e f Official Intel iAPX 286 programmers' manual (page 1-1)
- ^ Intel iAPX 88 Book (page i)
- ^ a b c iAPX 86, iAPX 88 user's manual
- ^ a b [1]