RTX2010
The RTX2010 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 lends 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
- Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE)
- NEAR/Shoemaker
- TIMED
- Rosetta's lander - Philae
External links
- "HS-RTX2010RH". Intersil. Retrieved 2009-02-11. Intersil's product page.
- Rash, James. "Space-Related Applications of Forth". NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Archived from the original on 2011-02-04.
- Hand, Tom. "The Harris RTX2000 Microcontroller" (PDF). The Journal of Forth Application and Research 6 (1): 5–13. ISSN 0738-2022. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- Koopman, Philip (1989). "4.5 Architecture of the Harris RTX 2000". Stack Computers: the new wave. Ellis Horwood. ISBN 978-0138379230. Retrieved 2016-04-16.