Intel 80186 and 80188 processors
Introduction: 1982
After Intel produced the 8086 and 8088 chips, it turned its sights toward producing a more powerful chip with an increased instruction set. The company's first efforts along this line - the 80186 and 80188 - were unsuccessful. But incorporating system components into the CPU chip was an important idea for Intel because it led to faster, better chips, such as the 286.
The relationship between the 80186 and 80188 is the same as that of the 8086 and 8088; one is a slightly more advanced version of the other. Compared CPU to CPU, the 80186 is almost the same as the 8088 and has a full 16-bit design. The 80188 (like the 8088) is a hybrid chip that compromises the 16-bit design with an 8-bit external communications interface. The advantage of the 80186 and 80188 is that they combine on a single chip 15 to 20 of the 8086-8088 series system components - a fact that can greatly reduce the number of components in a computer design.
The 80186 and 80188 chips were used for highly intelligent peripheral adapter cards of that age, such as network adapters.
Source: Upgrading and Repairing PCs (13th Edition) by Scott Mueller.