Panafacom

Panafacom MN1610

Panafacom (currently PFU) was a conglomerate of the Japanese companies—formed by Fujitsu, Fuji Electric and the Matsushita Group on July 2, 1973. They developed one of the first commercially available 16-bit microprocessors, the MN1610.[1][2][3]

The PANAFACOM Lkit-16 was a learning kit released in March 1977 to popularize Japan's first 16-bit single-chip microcomputer. The microcomputer was equipped with the nation's first 16-bit parallel high-performance single-chip processor (*1), developed by PANAFACOM in 1975.

This processor provided better cost performance than conventional 8-bit microcomputers with its enhanced speed (about 200%) and reduced memory usage (about 60%). The unique features of the Lkit-16 were: (1) a simplified keyboard for assembler input, (2) console functions that allowed easy debugging, and (3) a built-in audio cassette interface for data I/O. Through a simplified program input by a one-step assembler and implementation of Tiny BASIC that was popular among microcomputer users at that time, the Lkit-16 greatly contributed to the expansion of computer knowledge from would-be engineers to amateur users who were interested in microcomputers.[4]

  • Main unit price was \98,000.
  • Main specifications:- CPU: MN1610 (clock rate of 2 MHz, 16-bit parallel processing)
  • ROM: 1KW (maximum 2KW)- RAM: 0.5KW (maximum 1KW)- I/O port: MN1630
  • Equipped with an audio cassette interface[5]

Merge with USAC Electronic Industrial

In 1987, PANAFACOM Limited merged with USAC Electronic Industrial to create PFU.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "16-bit Microprocessors". CPU Museum. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  2. ↑ "History". PFU. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "Panafacom 1613 Processors". Ukcpu.net. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  4. ↑ "PANAFACOM Lkit-16". IPSJ Computer Museum. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  5. ↑ "PANAFACOM Lkit-16 Specifications". IPSJ Computer Museum. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "PFU History". Fujisoft Archives. Retrieved 27 April 2018.


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