View source for Microprocessor development board

{{short description|Type of printed circuit board}}
{{refimprove|date=March 2012}}
[[File:MSP430-experimenter boards.jpg|thumb|300px|Photo of two experimenter boards for the [[MSP430]] chipset by [[Texas Instruments]]. On the left the larger chip version, on the right a small version in [[USB]] format.]]
A '''microprocessor development board''' is a [[printed circuit board]] containing a [[microprocessor]] and the minimal support logic needed for an [[electronic engineer]] or any person who wants to become acquainted with the microprocessor on the board to learn to program it. It also served users of the microprocessor as a method to prototype applications in products.

Unlike a general-purpose system such as a [[home computer]], usually a development board contains little or no hardware dedicated to a user interface. It will have some provision to accept and run a user-supplied program, such as downloading a program through a [[serial port]] to [[flash memory]], or some form of [[EPROM|programmable memory]] in a socket in earlier systems.

==History==
The reason for the existence of a development board was solely to provide a system for learning to use a new microprocessor, not for entertainment, so everything superfluous was left out to keep costs down. Even an enclosure was not supplied, nor a power supply. This is because the board would only be used in a "laboratory" environment so it did not need an enclosure, and the board could be powered by a typical bench power supply already available to an electronic engineer.

Microprocessor training development kits were not always produced by microprocessor manufacturers. Many systems that can be classified as microprocessor development kits were produced by third parties, one example is the Sinclair [[MK14]], which was inspired by the official [[SC/MP]] development board from [[National Semiconductor]], the "NS introkit".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Site en construction |url=http://www.old-computers.com/ |access-date=2025-12-30 |website=www.old-computers.com}}</ref>

Although these development boards were not designed for hobbyists, they were often bought by them because they were the earliest cheap microcomputer devices available. They often added all kinds of expansions, such as more memory, a video interface etc. It was very popular to use (or write) an implementation of [[Tiny Basic]]. The most popular microprocessor board, the [[KIM-1]], received the most attention from the hobby community, because it was much cheaper than most other development boards, and more software was available for it (Tiny Basic, games, [[Assembly_language#Assembler|assemblers]]), and cheap expansion cards to add more memory or other functionality.<ref>{{Cite web |title=KIM-1 computer |url=http://oldcomputers.net/kim1.html |access-date=2025-12-30 |website=oldcomputers.net}}</ref> More articles were published in magazines like "[[Kilobaud Microcomputing (magazine)|Kilobaud Microcomputing]]" that described home-brew software and hardware for the KIM-1 than for other development boards.<ref>[http://www.commodore.ca/gallery/magazines/kim1/where_is_kim_going.htm why Kilobaud published KIM software]</ref>

Today some chip producers still release "test boards" to demonstrate their chips, and to use them as a "[[reference design]]". Their significance these days is much smaller than it was in the days that such boards, (the [[KIM-1]] being the canonical example) were the only low cost way to get "hands-on" acquainted with microprocessors.

==Features==
The most important feature of the microprocessor development board was the [[read only memory|ROM]]-based built-in [[machine language monitor]], or "debugger" as it was also sometimes called. Often the name of the board was related to the name of this monitor program, for example the name of the monitor program of the KIM-1 was "Keyboard Input Monitor", because the ROM-based software allowed entry of programs without the rows of cumbersome [[toggle switch]]es that older systems used. The popular [[Motorola 6800]]-based systems often used a monitor with a name with the word "bug" for "debugger" in it, for example the popular "[[MIKBUG]]".<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.computermuseumgroningen.nl/motorola/mek6800d2.html
|title=The MEK6800D2 system with MIKBUG
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001080235/http://www.computermuseumgroningen.nl/motorola/mek6800d2.html
|archive-date=1 October 2011
|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Input was normally done with a [[hexadecimal]] keyboard, using a [[machine language monitor]] program, and the display only consisted of a 7-segment display. Backup storage of written assembler programs was primitive: only a cassette type interface was typically provided, or the serial [[teleprinter|Teletype]] interface was used to read (or punch) a [[papertape]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Retro computing - Micro-KIM |url=http://retro.hansotten.nl/index.php?page=micro-kim |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20141214155520/http://retro.hansotten.nl/index.php?page=micro-kim |archive-date=2014-12-14 |access-date=2025-12-30 |website=retro.hansotten.nl |language=en}}</ref>

Often the board has some kind to expansion connector that brought out all the necessary CPU signals, so that an engineer could build and test an experimental interface or other electronic device.

External interfaces on the bare board were often limited to a single [[RS-232]] or [[current loop]] serial port, so a [[dumb terminal|terminal]], printer, or Teletype could be connected.

==List of historical development boards==
[[File:Drago12P 68HC12 EVB.jpg|thumb| Dragon12-P [[Freescale 68HC12|Freescale HCS12]]/9S12 microcontroller trainer, an All-In-One EVB, EVBU and project development board]]
*8085AAT, an [[Intel 8085]] microprocessor training unit from Paccom
*CDP18S020 evaluation board for the [[RCA Corporation|RCA]] CDP1802 microprocessor
*EVK 300 6800 single board from [[American Microsystems, Inc.|American Microsystems]] (AMI)
*[[Explorer/85]] expandable learning system based on the 8085, by Netronics's research and development ltd.
*ITT experimenter used switches and LEDs, and an [[Intel 8080]]
*JOLT was designed by [[Ray Holt (computer scientist)|Raymond M. Holt]], co-founder of [[Microcomputer Associates, Incorporated]].
*[[KIM-1]] the development board for the [[MOS Technology]]/[[Conexant|Rockwell]]/[[Synertek]] [[MOS Technology 6502|6502]] microprocessor. The name KIM is short for "keyboard input monitor"
**[[SYM-1]] a slightly improved KIM-1 with improved software, more memory, and [[I/O]]. Also known as the VIM
**[[AIM-65]] an improved KIM-1 with an [[Alphanumericals|alpha-numerical]] LED display, and a built-in printer.
**The KIM-1 also lead to some unofficial copies, such as the super-KIM and the [[Elektor Junior Computer|Junior]] from the magazine [[Elektor]], and the MCS Alpha 1
*[[LC80]] by [[Kombinat Mikroelektronik Erfurt]]
*MAXBOARD development board for the [[Motorola 6802]].
*[[MEK6800D2]] the official development board for the Motorola 6800 microprocessor. The name of the monitor software was [[MIKBUG]]
*MicroChroma 68 color graphics kit. Developed by [[Motorola]] to demonstrate their new [[Motorola 6847|6847]] video display processor. The monitor software was called TVBUG
*[[Motorola EXORciser]] development system (rack based) for the [[Motorola 6809]]
*[[Microprofessor I]] (MPF-1) [[Zilog Z80|Z80]] development and training system by [[Acer Inc.|Acer]]
*[[Tangerine Microtan 65]] [[MOS 6502|6502]] development system with [[video display unit|VDU]], that could be expanded to a more capable system.
*MST-80B [[Intel 8080|8080]] training system by the [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]]
*NS introkit by [[National Semiconductor]] featuring the [[National Semiconductor SC/MP|SC/MP]], the predecessor to the Sinclair [[MK14]]
*NRI microcomputer, a system developed to teach computer courses by [[McGraw-Hill]] and the [[National Radio Institute]] (NRI)
*[[MK14]] Training system for the [[SC/MP]] microprocessor from [[Sinclair Research Ltd.]]
*[[Intel SDK#Intel SDK-80|SDK-80]] [[Intel|Intel's]] development board for their [[Intel 8080|8080]] microprocessor
*[[Intel SDK#Intel SDK-51|SDK-51]] Intel's development board for their [[Intel MCS-51]]
*[[Intel SDK#Intel SDK-85|SDK-85]] Intel's development board for their [[Intel 8085|8085]] microprocessor
*[[Intel SDK#Intel SDK-86|SDK-86]] Intel's development board for their [[Intel 8086|8086]] microprocessor
*Siemens Microset-8080 boxed system based on an 8080.
*[[Signetics]] Instructor 50 based on the [[Signetics 2650]].
*[[SGS-ATES]] Nanocomputer Z80.
*RCA Cosmac Super Elf by [[RCA Corporation|RCA]] . a 1802 learning system with an RCA 1861 [[Video Display Controller]].
*[[TK-80]] the development board for [[NEC]]'s clone of [[Intel]]'s [[8080|i8080]], the μPD 8080A
*TM 990/100M evaluation board for the [[Texas Instruments]] [[TMS9900]]
*TM 990/180M evaluation board for the Texas Instruments TMS9800
*XPO-1 Texas Instruments development system for the PPS-4/1 line of microcontrollers

== DSP evaluation boards ==

A DSP evaluation board, sometimes also known as a DSP starter kit (DSK) or a DSP evaluation module, is an electronic board with a [[digital signal processor]] used for experiments, evaluation and development.<ref>{{cite web|title=DSP Starter Kits|url=http://www.kanecomputing.co.uk/dsk.htm|work=DSP|publisher=Kane Computing|accessdate=23 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203010830/http://www.kanecomputing.co.uk/dsk.htm|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Applications are developed in DSP Starter Kits using software usually referred as an [[integrated development environment]] (IDE).<ref name="Robert Oshana">{{cite book|author=Robert Oshana|title=DSP Software Development Techniques for Embedded and Real-Time Systems|date=29 September 2005|publisher=Newnes|isbn=978-0750677592|pages=384|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7iD9B10c1A8C&q=DSP+Starter+Kit&pg=PA369|access-date=23 April 2012}}</ref> [[Texas Instruments]] and Spectrum Digital are two companies who produce these kits. 

Two examples are the DSK 6416 by Texas Instruments,<ref name="IEEE NSSC 2004">{{cite book|title=IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record 2004|year=2004|publisher=[[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]]|location=[[Rome]]|isbn=978-0780387003|page=4161|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Q9WAAAAMAAJ&q=DSK6416|access-date=23 April 2012}}</ref> based on the TMS320C6416 [[Fixed-point arithmetic|fixed point]] digital signal processor, a member of C6000 series of processors that is based on VelociTI.2 architecture,<ref name="Rulph Chassaing">{{cite book|author=Rulph Chassaing|title=Digital Signal Processing and Applications with the C6713 and C6416 DSK|date=13 December 2004|publisher=Wiley-Interscience|isbn=978-0471690078|page=497|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hrlRFMh-dgYC&pg=PA497|access-date=23 April 2012}}</ref> and the DSK 6713 by Texas Instruments, which was developed in cooperation with Spectrum Digital, based on the TMS320C6713 32-bit [[floating point]] digital signal processor,<ref name="Rulph Chassaing" />{{rp|page=3}} which allows for programming in C and assembly.

== See also ==
* [[Embedded system]]
* [[Intel system development kit]]
* [[Single-board computer]]
* [[Single-board microcontroller]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Microprocessor Development Board}}
[[Category:Early microcomputers]]
[[Category:Telecommunications engineering]]