Engineers
Ray Holt
Also Known As Raymond M. Holt
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Ray Holt is an American computer designer who, at 23 years old, led the logic design of the Central Air Data Computer (CADC), a classified chip set Garrett AiResearch built between 1968 and 1970 for the F-14 Tomcat's flight control system. Working with his brother Bill Holt and colleague Steve Geller, he helped design a multi-chip processor architecture, fabricated by American Microsystems, that computed the aircraft's flight parameters in real time, a design some historians credit as the first working microprocessor, roughly a year ahead of Intel's commercially released 4004. Because the CADC's military classification kept the project secret, Holt received no public credit for the design until it was declassified in 1998. He later co-founded Microcomputer Associates, designed early microcomputer boards including the Jolt and the SYM-1, and continues to work in engineering education as president of the nonprofit Mississippi Robotics.
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The Microprocessor, Inventions Why this is disputed. Holt led the design of Garrett AiResearch's classified Central Air Data Computer chip set, built 1968 to 1970 for the F-14 Tomcat, which computed flight parameters on a multi-chip processor architecture roughly a year before Intel released the 4004. The CADC's military classification kept it secret until 1998, so Intel's commercially available 4004 became the design most popular histories of computing credit as the first microprocessor.
Sources
1. Ray Holt (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationCareer sectionQuote, Career section
Ray and his brother Bill Holt were on the Garrett AiResearch's small design team that developed what he claims is the world's first microprocessor chip set, the 20-bit Central Air Data Computer (CADC), for the F-14 Tomcat
1. Ray Holt (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead section
Born 1944 in Compton, California
1. Ray Holt (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationGarrett AiResearch paragraphQuote, Garrett AiResearch paragraph
From 1968 to 1970, Ray and his brother Bill Holt were on the Garrett AiResearch's small design team that developed what he claims is the world's first microprocessor chip set, the 20-bit Central Air Data Computer (CADC), for the F-14 Tomcat.
The World's First Microprocessor: F-14 Central Air Data Computer (Hackaday)
Hackaday staff, HackadayCADC Declassification sectionQuote, CADC Declassification section
wrote an article for Computer Design magazine that was naturally immediately classified by the Navy until released to the public in 1998
The World's First Microprocessor: F-14 Central Air Data Computer (Hackaday)
Hackaday staff, HackadayInvented: The Microprocessor, CADC vs 4004 sectionQuote, Invented: The Microprocessor, CADC vs 4004 section
The Tomcat was the first aircraft to use a microprocessor-driven flight system, as well as the first microprocessor unit (MPU) ever demonstrated, beating the Intel 4004 by a year.
A History of Technology
Charles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors, Oxford University Press, 1954In Category: Engineer
A History of Technology
Charles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors, Oxford University Press, 1954In Field: Computer Engineering
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