When we think of a CPU, we imagine a microchip capable of executing floating-point operations in milliseconds. Top of the range to overclock. But we do not think about the other spectrum, which is so low-end that it has a very specific use. Into that field enters single bit CPU and its mounting kit from the Japanese company Switch Science.
According to Tom's Hardware, this single-board computer allows the buyer to mount and run a 1-bit CPU. Despite warning that it is a CPU with the lowest possible power, the stock has been quickly exhausted.
The world's least powerful CPU is a bestseller
As far as the features of this CPU are concerned, it runs at approximately 1 Hz, has a bus width of 1 bit, an address space of 2 bits, and a ROM capacity of 4 bits. Practically the minimum at which a CPU could operate. Claims to be a “super low performance computer”, which goes against current trends of making CPUs more powerful.
The Switch Science product page details the content of the Naoto64 GitHub page. It uses four logic ICs and can only make one LED blink, the LED on, or the LED off. That's it, that's all you can do. Its power supply is a USB Type-C terminal, power connection is not included, and it is not compatible with PowerDelivery.
Of the CPU instructions, it only has ADD' and 'JMP' and the arithmetic operation 'XOR'. To program in it, you must adjust the positions of the four DIP switches of the ROM. Your assembly kit comes as a set of parts in a simple ziplock bag with approximately 50 components inside, plus the unfilled printed circuit board and a set of printed instructions. For those wondering, instructions are available at PDF.
Why would it be so popular? We can speculate that with its low price, it can be used as a gift to children for Christmas, birthdays, or to invisible friends, so that they can learn something basic about how computers and a CPU work. It would be a modern version of Quimicefa or the classic Windows program to learn robotics in which we move a turtle through a circuit.
