Computer History Wiki - User contributions [en]

Talk:Interface Message Processor

2020-07-25T19:52:09Z

Dab: /* IMP varieties */

==IMP varieties==

More IMP varieties? 316, Pluribus, C30. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 06:38, 16 March 2018 (CET)

: As in, I should say more about them? :-) [[User:Jnc|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc|talk]]) 14:45, 16 March 2018 (CET)

:: Not necessarily. It's just that current text makes it sound like the 516 IMP was the only model. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 14:52, 16 March 2018 (CET)

: Huh? "Later, other similar minicomputers were also used." [[User:Jnc|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc|talk]]) 15:24, 16 March 2018 (CET)

:: Sorry, I missed that! [[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 15:57 16 March 2018 (CET)

: Eh, no biggie. It's not that clear, so I'll add a bit of detail. [[User:Jnc|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc|talk]]) 16:06, 16 March 2018 (CET)

: I was under the impression that IBM RTs ( weird old RISC ) served as a IMP*, but apparently they predated IMPs,

:*IMP is a misnomer, They were passing computer to computer message packets, which would later become part of IP, Internet Proticall

<blockquote>"The National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) was the forerunner of the Internet. From July 1988 to November 1992, the NSFNET's T1 backbone network used routers built from multiple RT PCs (typically nine) interconnect by a Token Ring LAN."</blockquote> [[User:ForOldHack|ForOldHack]] ([[User talk:ForOldHack|talk]]) 09:53, 5 July 2020 (CEST)

:: A few points on what ForOldHack wrote here:

:::*IMPs first appeared in 1969 and the IBM RT came out in 1986 so IMPs predated RTs by some 17 years. While it's possible that there were some later IMPs that used RTs, I'm highly doubtful. I only used computers connected to IMPs and ported an IMP driver from the PDP-11 to the microVAX so I didn't use all possible IMPs, but by the time the IBM RT came along that style of building computer networks had long passed. We were now using local-area networks and point-to-point links with routers (and were just making the change from calling them gateways to calling them routers).

:::*I don't know about IMP being a misnomer but that is what they were called. Yes, they passed computer message packets (usually just called packets) and some of those packets were Internet Protocol packets but saying that the packets they passed later became part of IP is a very strange way to look at it. That's just not how it worked. The IP protocol was defined, it was implemented in IMPs (and other places), and then IMPs forwarded IP packets as well as all the other stuff they did (NCP and routing packets and I don't know what all else).

:::*I started working on the Internet in 1982, several years before the NSFNet came along in 1988, and I was hardly there at the beginning. In fact, I figure I was about the third generation working on the Internet. In other words, the NSFNet was not in any way the forerunner of the Internet. The NSFNet was a transition away from the ARPANet being the backbone of the Internet and it soon gave way to the commercial Internet backbone that grew up in the 90s.

::: [[User:Dab|Dab]] ([[User talk:Dab|talk]]) 21:48, 25 July 2020 (CEST)

Help:Introduction to Templates

2017-10-04T01:16:19Z

Dab: Corrected link for Infobox App

Templates are used in the Computer History Wiki to prevent the reduplication of work and help provide a uniform layout. For example, we have the template <nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> to show a short, very incomplete article. Instead of having to include this text manually on every such article, placing the text <nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki> in an article produces:

{{stub}}

== Infoboxes ==

Infoboxes allow the uniform display of information based on a template. Custom data can be fed into the template by entering it into the article, for example:

<pre>
{{Infobox Machine
| name = Apple I
| manufacturer = [[Apple Computer]]
| form factor = [[Personal Computer]]
| year introduced = July 1976
| year discontinued = March 1977
| cpu = [[MOS 6502]]
| clock speed = 1 MHz
| ram = 4 KB standard
| graphics = 40x24 character output
| successor = [[Apple II]]
}}
</pre>

{{Infobox Machine
| name = Apple I
| manufacturer = [[Apple Computer]]
| form factor = [[Personal Computer]]
| year introduced = July 1976
| year discontinued = March 1977
| cpu = [[MOS 6502]]
| clock speed = 1 MHz
| ram = 4 KB standard
| graphics = 40x24 character output
| successor = [[Apple II]]
}}

produces the box on the right of the screen here. The Infobox Machine template is the general template for most computer systems in this wiki. See [[Template:Infobox Machine]] for an overview of the values you can use with this template.

To avoid the insanity of a haphazard set of datasheets for a million different devices, we've got some basic templates in place which we <i>really</i> would like you to use:

* [[Template:Infobox Machine]] - for a system in general
* [[Template:Infobox Tape drive]] - for tape drives
* [[Template:Infobox Disk drive]] - for disk drives
* [[Template:Infobox Software]] - for software, etc.
* [[Template:Infobox OS]] - for operating systems
* [[Template:Infobox App]] - for applications (similar to Software above)

If these are not sufficient, or you have any requests or comments, you can discuss it on the [[Help talk:Introduction to Templates|talk page of this article]] -- the people writing the infoboxes are watching these talk pages.

PDP-10

2017-10-04T01:10:38Z

Dab: /* See Also */

[[Image:DECsystem-10 ad.jpg|150px|right|thumb|PDP-10 ad]]

A series of large, 36-bit [[mainframe]]-like systems built by [[DEC]]; they were basically a re-implementation of the earlier [[PDP-6]] architecture, whose engineering had been a failure. (The machines were so similar at the programming level that PDP-6 code could run on a PDP-10.)

DEC sold 4 different generations of PDP-10 processors: the [[KA10]], the [[KI10]], the [[KL10]], and the [[KS10]]. The first three were marketed as the [[DECsystem-10]], running the [[TOPS-10]] operating system; the third was also sold as the [[DECSYSTEM-20]], running [[TOPS-20]]. (The varying capitalization was the result of a trademark infringment suit.)

PDP-10s were very important machines on the early Internet, being one of the few (relatively!) cheaply available machines which could run a full NCP and later TCP/IP stack as a multi-user environment at the time.

They still have a large following today. There are several emulators available, notably [[SIMH]] and [[KLH10]].

== Operating Systems ==

[[Image:PDP-10 1090.jpg|thumb|A PDP-10 1090]]

*[[TOPS-10]]
*[[TOPS-20]]
*[[ITS]]
*[[TENEX]]

== See Also ==

* [[SIMH]] has a PDP-10 emulator
* Emulators ! - http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/pdp10emu.html
* GCC port ! - http://pdp10.nocrew.org/gcc/

[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:DEC Computer Systems]]

Metal Oxide Semiconductor

2017-10-04T00:50:56Z

Dab: Not NPN but N-channel

'''Metal Oxide Semiconductor''' (usually given as the acronym, '''MOS''') is a [[transistor]] family using [[field-effect transistor]]s. A subset of MOS, '''Complementary MOS''' (usually '''CMOS'''), built out of paired N-channel and P-channel MOS transistors, is now the most common form.

They are now not usually fabricated as discrete devices, but rather form the active elements in [[integrated circuit]]s. First used in [[dynamic RAM]] [[main memory]], they are now ubiquitously used in computers, due to their low power consumption, which reduces cooling issues.

The name is now something of a misnomer, as the basic material has always been silicon, and the insulating layers are no longer oxides, but dielectric materials chosen for specific properties.

User:Dab

2017-10-03T21:54:57Z

Dab:

Some of the earliest computers I used were a [[PDP-10]] running [[TOPS-10]] and a [[PDP-11/45]] running [[v6 UNIX]]. I was involved at the start of the PC/IP project to implement the Internet Protocols on a personal computer. These days I play at building a PDP-10 replica on an FPGA and a [[QBUS]] board that will emulate some of the disk drives of old.

User:Dab

2017-10-03T21:52:17Z

Dab: Created page with "Some of the earliest computers I used were a PDP-10 running TOPS-10 and a PDP-11/45 running v6 UNIX. I was involved at the start of the PC/IP project to implement the Interne..."

Some of the earliest computers I used were a PDP-10 running TOPS-10 and a PDP-11/45 running v6 UNIX. I was involved at the start of the PC/IP project to implement the Internet Protocols on a personal computer. These days I play at building a PDP-10 replica on an FPGA and a QBUS board that will emulate some of the disk drives of old.