The General Automation GA-16 16-bit CPU
General Automation GA-16 – 266A01 RALU and 267A02 CROM
General Automation was founded in 1968, just prior to the beginning of the microprocessor boom of the 1970’s. They were founded by Burt Yale, a former aerospace engineer from the Gemini space program, and a former exec of Honeywell (Larry Goshorn). By 1972 they went public, and by 1974 were the 4th largest minicomputer make in the world, and by 1986 they exited that business. Boom and bust was very much the the 1970’s for many companies though, and while it was boom times, General Automation was pioneering in many ways.
In 1973 another well known semiconductor company was started, Synertek, with funding from Bulova Watch Company, Victor Comptometer, AT&T, and..General Automation, who needed a reliable source for memory chips for its computers at the time. Synertek would go on to source the custom CPU GA designed for their GA-16 minicomputer. The GA16 was a LSI (2 chip) version of their SPC-16 line of computers that originally debuted in 1971. It was compatible with the original SPC-16 line which helped it become quite popular. GA marked the GA-16 in 2 main flavors originally, the GA16/110 basic computer, and the full of GA-16/220 which had an additional ‘CPU’ board that added DMA support and additional I/O capabilities. What made this ‘mini computer’ interesting was that it was also available as a bare board, an early Single Board Computer, with just the GA-16 processor. This allowed it to be integrated into all sorts of industrial applications.
Later version of the GA-16 CPU-1 board. Used extensively in industry.
Posted in:
Boards and Systems, CPU of the Day
