<s>
The	O
COSMAC	B-Device
VIP	I-Device
(	O
1977	O
)	O
[	O
VIP	O
means	O
Video	O
Interface	O
Processor ]	O
was	O
an	O
early	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
that	O
was	O
aimed	O
at	O
video	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Essentially	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
COSMAC	B-Device
ELF	I-Device
with	O
a	O
supplementary	O
CDP1861/CDP1864	O
video	B-General_Concept
display	I-General_Concept
chip	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
dimensions	O
were	O
22	O
x	O
28cm	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
had	O
a	O
RCA	B-General_Concept
1802	I-General_Concept
processor	O
;	O
along	O
with	O
a	O
crystal	O
clock	O
operating	O
at	O
1.76MHz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
had	O
2	O
KB	O
(	O
2048	O
bytes	O
)	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
which	O
could	O
be	O
expanded	O
to	O
4	O
KB	O
on	O
board	O
,	O
and	O
32	O
KB	O
via	O
an	O
expansion	O
slot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
5V	O
DC	O
CDP18S023	O
power	O
supply	O
had	O
an	O
output	O
of	O
600	O
mA	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
I/O	B-General_Concept
ports	O
could	O
be	O
added	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
sensors	O
,	O
interface	O
relays	O
,	O
an	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
keyboard	B-Device
,	O
or	O
a	O
printer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VIP	O
used	O
a	O
CDP1861/CDP1864	O
video	B-General_Concept
display	I-General_Concept
chip	I-General_Concept
to	O
generate	O
the	O
video	O
output	O
,	O
and	O
sound	O
could	O
be	O
played	O
using	O
its	O
integrated	O
speaker	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programs	O
could	O
be	O
loaded	O
into	O
RAM	B-Architecture
from	O
tapes	O
,	O
and	O
vice	O
versa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
had	O
a	O
hex	O
keyboard	B-Device
for	O
input	O
,	O
which	O
had	O
16	O
keys	O
spanning	O
the	O
hex	O
digits	O
0	O
to	O
F	O
.	O
LED	O
indicators	O
were	O
used	O
to	O
display	B-Device
power	O
status	O
and	O
tape	O
input	O
;	O
a	O
third	O
LED	O
along	O
with	O
an	O
on-board	O
beeper	O
were	O
activated	O
by	O
the	O
CPU	O
's	O
1-bit	O
"	O
Q	O
"	O
register	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
run/reset	O
switch	O
was	O
used	O
to	O
start	O
user	B-Application
programs	I-Application
or	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
simple	O
4-kilobit	O
(	O
512-byte	O
)	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
was	O
built	O
into	O
its	O
ROM	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
allowed	O
one	O
to	O
type	O
in	O
programs	O
using	O
its	O
hex	O
keyboard	B-Device
,	O
show	O
memory	O
contents	O
on	O
its	O
display	B-Device
(	O
step	O
through	O
the	O
bytes	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
)	O
,	O
and	O
view	O
the	O
values	O
of	O
the	O
processor	B-General_Concept
registers	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ROM	B-Device
monitor	O
was	O
accessed	O
by	O
holding	O
the	O
"	O
C	O
"	O
key	O
while	O
switching	O
from	O
Reset	O
to	O
Run	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
COSMAC	B-Device
VIP	I-Device
was	O
shipped	O
with	O
20	O
video	O
games	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
programmed	O
in	O
CHIP-8	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
CHIP-8	B-Device
was	O
an	O
early	O
interpreted	O
programming	O
language	O
that	O
was	O
used	O
on	O
this	O
machine	O
and	O
other	O
early	O
microcomputers	B-Architecture
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Telmac	B-Device
1800	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
COSMAC	B-Device
VIP	I-Device
was	O
created	O
by	O
Joseph	O
Weisbecker	O
of	O
the	O
RCA	O
Laboratories	O
in	O
New	O
Jersey	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RCA	O
sold	O
a	O
$39	O
version	O
of	O
Tiny	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
on	O
an	O
expansion	O
board	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
years	O
later	O
the	O
VIP	O
II	O
was	O
equipped	O
with	O
a	O
ROM	B-Device
containing	O
a	O
terminal	B-Application
program	I-Application
and	O
sold	O
as	O
a	O
portable	O
terminal	O
device	O
under	O
the	O
name	O
RCA	B-Application
VP	I-Application
3000	I-Application
.	O
</s>
