Microprocessors: Enhanced general-purpose and number-crunching processors are supported by specialized microcontroller `slaves'

Microprocessors moved closer to becoming true single-chip mainframe computers in 1982 with the introduction of 16- and 32-bit chips geared to multitasking and virtual memory. At the same time 8- and 16-bit microcomputers and controllers designed as slave processors were introduced. These two developments marked a trend toward distributed intelligence within microcomputer systems, with either central microprocessors capable of memory management commanding a number of peripheral microcomputers, or redundant processors making systems tolerant to faults.