MOS Technology 6508

The MOS Technology 6508 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by MOS Technology. Based on the popular 6502, the 6508 is augmented with two additional features: an internal 8-bit digital I/O port and 256 bytes of internal static RAM.

File:MCS6508.jpg

Memory layout

The internal RAM is mapped into the CPU address space both at {{mono|$0000}}-{{mono|$00FF}} and at {{mono|$0100}}-{{mono|$01FF}}, so it can serve as both zero page and stack space. The I/O port is available at location {{mono|$0001}}, with a data-direction register at {{mono|$0000}}, which is the same layout of the 6510.

Variants

File:Mos 6508.png

There may be different strapping/bonding variants of this chip; the datasheet below lists pin 40 as clock phase two, but in the CBM900 computer, the 6508 controlling floppydisk has pin 40 as "Set Overflow" (SO). SO is a pin that is also offered on the 40-pin 6502, but omitted on all the 28-pin 650x variants (6503–6507). The SO pin, on 6500 family CPUs that have it, sets the Overflow flag in the P register, which can be tested using BVC/BVS instructions. Using SO, a tight polling loop of 3 machine cycles can be constructed, tighter than the minimum two instructions of any test and branch loop not using the SO pin functionality.

References

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Further reading

{{See also|MOS Technology 6502#Further reading|l1=List of books about 65xx microprocessor families}}