5 Apr
2013
5 Apr
'13
5:05 p.m.
On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 9:54 AM, <Paul_Koning at dell.com> wrote:
On Apr 4, 2013, at 6:44 PM, Clem Cole wrote:
...
My 1976 Peripherals Handbook has a description of the DMC-11 in it.
Best version of that book ever ;_0
A DMC-11 is essentially a KMC-11 with programming fixed in ROM, rather than dowloadable in
RAM, plus a line card. The KMC-11 processor is a custom engine, its instruction set
looks somewhat like microcode.
Right. Now it's coming back.
No connection to any Intel chips, that couldn't possibly have come within a mile of
the performance requirements. Come to think of it, the first use of a 808x series chip
in DEC products I can think of is the head servo control processor in the RA80. There
may have been 8031s in some other spots, I no longer remember where I saw those.
The 11/34 had an 8008-1 that ran the keypad console and could actually DMA on the Unibus
(al beit very slowly).
...
Positive. It was RSTS V4A-12, which did not use an MMU and required only 28 kW of memory
(24 kW for a minimal install). RSTS started requiring an MMU in version 5, the first
version that was called RSTS/E (for "Extended" as in extended memory).
Cool.
Clem