The 8800 CHAR-MUX line concentrator

This paper describes the design and implementation of the 8800 CHAR-MUX, a computer program based on the Intel 8080 microprocessor chip, which functions as a data terminal line concentrator. The following documentation is an excerpt from the graduate thesis submitted toward a Master of Science Degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Recent breakthroughs in microelectronic technology have led to the mass production of inexpensive devices which possess much computing power. Intel Corporation produced the Intel 8080 microprocessor chip in late 1973 and it soon became an industry standard. With the production of the first general purpose microcomputer, the Altair 8800, MITS Inc. placed the industry's standard in homes everywhere. It seems reasonable then, when discussing a specific application of a microcomputer, to choose a device which is known and understood even by owners of other type microcomputers -- the Altair 8800.