HP-48 series

The HP-48 is a series of graphing calculators using Reverse Polish notation (RPN) and Reverse Polish Lisp (RPL), produced by Hewlett-Packard (HP) from 1990 until 2003. The series include the HP-48S, HP-48SX, HP-48G, HP-48GX, and HP-48G+, the G models being expanded and improved versions of the S models. The models with an X suffix have more onboard memory and are expandable via special RAM (memory expansion) and ROM (software application) cards. Models with a + suffix have more onboard memory only.

Note that the similarly named HP-48GII (2004) is not really a member of the series, but rather much more closely related to the HP-49G and HP-49G+.

The hardware architecture developed for the HP-48 series became the basis for the HP-38G, with a simplified user interface and an infix input method, and the HP-49G with various software enhancements. Likewise, the hardware and software design of the HP-48 calculators are themselves strongly influenced by other calculators in the HP line, most of all by the HP-18 and HP-28 series.

Contents

1 Specifications

1.1 Common for all models
1.2 HP48-S/SX specific
1.3 HP48-G/GX specific

2 Programming

3 References

4 External links

Specifications

The HP-48 series' Saturn microprocessor is an 8-bit CPU hardware-wise but acts like a 4-bit processor in that it presents nibble-based data to programs and uses a nibble-based addressing system. External logical data fetches are transparently converted to 8-bit physical fetches. The processor has a 20 bit address bus available to code but due to the presence of the high/low nibble selection bit, only 19 bits are available externally.

In both the HP-48S/SX and G/GX series, the Saturn CPU core is integrated as part of a more complex integrated circuit (IC) package. These packages have codenames inspired by the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The codename of the IC is Clarke in the S/SX, after William Clark, and Yorke in the G/GX, after Clark's manservant. The previous series of Saturn-based ICs were codenamed Lewis, after Meriwether Lewis.

Common for all models

CPU architecture: Saturn
Screen resolution: 131×64 pixels
Communication: Serial port (using the Kermit or XModem protocols) or Infrared port (via a proprietary protocol)
Data bus width: 8-bit (external)
Maximum 4-bit-cell address width: 20 bits (leading to the address space shown next)
Logical address space: 512 kB
Maximum register size: 64 bit (both working and scratch registers)
Available expansion card ports on X models: 2
Expansion card pins: 40

HP48-S/SX specific

CPU clock frequency: 2 MHz
CPU codename: Clarke
On-board ROM: 256 KB
On-board RAM: 32 KB (S) or 128 KB (SX)
Maximum additional memory per expansion card: 128 KB

HP48-G/GX specific

CPU clock frequency: 4 MHz (variable according to the ambient temperature)
CPU codename: Yorke
On-board ROM: 512 KB
On-board RAM: 32 KB (G) or 128 KB (G+/GX)
Maximum additional memory for expansion card port 1: 128 KB
Maximum additional memory for expansion card port 2: 4 MB (128 KB addressable at any given time via bank switching)

Programming

The HP-48 series of calculators support a stack-based programming language named Reverse Polish Lisp (RPL), a combination of Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) and Lisp. RPL adds the concepts of lists and functions to stack-based programming, allowing the programmer to pass unevaluated code as arguments to functions, or return unevaluated code from a function by leaving it on the stack.

References

Wickes, W. C. and Patton, C. M. (1991). "The HP 48SX Scientific Expandable Calculator: Innovation and Evolution". Hewlett-Packard Journal 42 (3): 6–12.
Byrne, Diana K., et al. (1994). "An Advanced Scientific Graphing Calculator: A concise treatment of design objectives, major engineering decisions, and the hardware/software of the HP-48G/GX, compared to the S/SX". Hewlett-Packard Journal 45 (4): 6–22.
Mastracci, M. (1998) "Guide to the Saturn Processor." (with HP48 applications). Accessed on March 28, 2005.