Issue 147 October 2002
Watch Me Pull A Rabbit Out of My Hat

Start • Rabbit 3000 • No-Risk CISC • Peck-O-Periphs • Time Traveler • One-Stop Shopping • Keep Motoring • Sources and PDF

RABBIT 3000

Fortunately, the history and basic features of the Rabbit design are excellently documented in the pages of Circuit Cellar, including words of wisdom from one of chip’s developers, Monte Dalrymple, and a five-part article series from our own Fred Eady. [1, 2] You can check them out (not to mention the copious documentation on the Rabbit web site) for the inside story.

Perhaps the Rabbit 3000 is easiest to understand as the next step in the evolution of the ’80 species (see Figure 1). At each chip along the way between the 8080, Z80, ’180, and now the Rabbit 3000 (and EZ80), designers figured out ways to add new and improved features while retaining the essence that made the predecessor popular in the first place.

Figure 1—The Rabbit 3000 is the latest in a long line of ’80 chips that goes all the way back to the dawn of micros.

On this historic scale, basic evolutionary trends can be seen in the instruction set, performance, peripherals, glue logic, and interfacing. As you examine each trait, you can see how the Rabbit Semiconductor 3000 continues along the trajectory set by the ’80 chips of yore.