< processor > The microcontroller used in IBM PC keyboards. The 8048 was inspired by, and similar to, the Fairchild F8 microprocessor but, being a microcontroller, was designed for low cost and small size. The 8048 has a modified Harvard architecture , with program ROM on chip and 64 to 256 bytes of RAM also on chip. I/O is mapped in its own address space .
Though the 8048 was eventually replaced by the very popular but bizarre Intel 8051 and Intel 8052 , even in 2000 it is still very popular due to its low cost, wide availability, and development tools.
[Was it really _the_first_ microcontroller? Are the ROM and RAM both on-chip?]
(2000-06-01)