The fact that the synthesis of a microcomputer, to achieve the specific requirements for real-time operation, can be achieved through bit-slice technology is utilised as a design factor. The paper presents the design of a 3 MHz clock frequency microprogrammable microcomputer based on the Intel 3000 series of microprocessors. The requirements of real-time signal processing are included in the computer specification, as are facilities to incorporate incircuit emulation for software development. The paper discusses the microprogramming technique and illustrates the flexibility of the microcode through the jump-function facility. The paper evaluates the performance to achieve a worst-case cycle time of 383 ns without pipelining and carry look ahead as opposed to a worse case of 149 ns with pipelining and carry look ahead. A 3 MHz clock frequency was easily achieved without pipelining.