RTX2010

The RTX2010 radiation-hardened microprocessor manufactured by Intersil is a radiation hardened stack machine microprocessor which has been used in numerous spacecraft.

Characteristics

It is a two-stack machine, each stack 256 words deep each, that supports direct execution of Forth. Subroutine calls and returns only take one processor cycle and it also has a very low and consistent interrupt latency of only four processor cycles, which lend it well to realtime applications.

History

In 1983, Chuck Moore implemented a processor for his programming language Forth as a gate array. As Forth can be considered a dual stack virtual machine, he made the processor, Novix N4000, as a dual-stack machine. In 1988, an improved processor was sold to Harris Semiconductor, who marketed it for space applications as the RTX2000.

Example spacecraft that use the RTX2010

External links

Rash, James. "Space-Related Applications of Forth". NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Retrieved 2008-10-15.

Koopman, Philip. "Stack Computers: the new wave, Chapter 4.5 Architecture of the Harris RTX 2000". Retrieved 2008-10-15.

HS-RTX2010RH product page at Intersil. Retrieved on 2009-02-11.