The 4004 CPU of my youth
Masatoshi Shima · IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine · 2009
This article is a recollection of the development of the world's first microprocessor, the 4004, as seen from Busicom Corp., the Japanese desktop calculator manufacturer where I was working from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. In 1969, Busicom Corp. launched a project to develop LSI chips for a ROM-based, macroinstruction-programmable decimal computer system. At that time, Busicom was a successful Japanese manufacturer of electronic calculators with a reputation for innovation. Through the LSI project, Busicom and Intel Corporation succeeded in March 1971 in developing the world's first 4-b microprocessor, the 4004, a product that was conceptually the exclusive property of Busicom.