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- The Fairchild 9440 MICROFLAME, also known as the F9440 and μFLAME, was a 16-bit microprocessor introduced by Fairchild Semiconductor in 1977. The 9440 implemented the Data General Nova 2's instruction set in a single-chip 40-pin DIP. The name "MICROFLAME" was part of a wider branding exercise called "FIRE", which was a development software system. An updated version, the 9445, was announced in 1978 but did not reach market until late 1981. By this time the 16-bit designs were being surpassed by 32-bit designs and hybrids like the Motorola 68000, and Fairchild began turning their attention to their own 32-bit Fairchild Clipper design. The underlying core of the 9445 was also used to implement the 9450, which used new microcode to implement the MIL-STD-1750A instruction set. The 9440 and 9445 were subject to constant lawsuits from Data General (DG) that dragged on both companies. DG finally settled all ongoing litigation in September 1986 by paying Fairchild over $52 million. Fairchild was purchased and sold several times during this period, ending up at National Semiconductor in 1987. National ended production of the 9445, leaving several users in the lurch. A final version, the IDC9445, was introduced to fill this need. (en)
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