Honeywell 6000 series - Revision history

Flx: fix wikilink

2025-11-28T02:08:43Z

fix wikilink

Jnc: +links

2024-12-16T02:37:25Z

+links

Jnc: /* NSA architectural extension */ fmt

2024-10-23T13:15:23Z

‎NSA architectural extension: fmt

Jnc: Add NSA panel image

2024-10-13T00:01:28Z

Add NSA panel image

Jnc: Add img of H6180 at CISL

2024-01-03T17:24:09Z

Add img of H6180 at CISL

Larsbrinkhoff: 36-bit cat.

2023-07-11T11:36:04Z

36-bit cat.

Jnc: /* External links */ + CPU manuals

2023-01-04T21:54:31Z

‎External links: + CPU manuals

Jnc: /* Series 60, Level 66 and Level 68 */ link LED

2021-07-06T12:08:30Z

‎Series 60, Level 66 and Level 68: link LED

Jnc: correct date -not sure where '1966' came from

2021-02-15T16:58:39Z

correct date -not sure where '1966' came from

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 The '''Honeywell 6000 series''' was a long-lived family of [[mainframe]]s, in production from 1970 to 1989. They are probably best-known now for being the machines that [[Multics]] ran on for most of its life, after the initial period on a [[General Electric]] [[GE-645]] machine.
-They were descendants of the [[GE 600 series]] family; after GE's computer business was sold to [[Honeywell] in 1970, the 6000 series were Honeywell's replacements. They used [[Transistor-transistor logic|TTL]] [[Integrated circuit|SSI integrated circuits]] and larger [[printed circuit board]]s, unlike the older (and obsolescent) discrete [[transistor]] GE machines.
+They were descendants of the [[GE 600 series]] family; after GE's computer business was sold to [[Honeywell]] in 1970, the 6000 series were Honeywell's replacements. They used [[Transistor-transistor logic|TTL]] [[Integrated circuit|SSI integrated circuits]] and larger [[printed circuit board]]s, unlike the older (and obsolescent) discrete [[transistor]] GE machines.
 The basic [[architecture]] of the GE and Honeywell series was the same: a [[tightly-coupled]] [[multi-processor]], with all the [[Central Processing Unit|CPUs]] sharing access to a collection of [[multi-port memory]] units. All used 36-bit [[word]]s, and almost identical [[instruction set]]s; Honeywell added an [[Commercial Instruction Set|Extended Instruction Set]] (EIS) which provided string-manipulation instructions, [[binary-coded decimal|packed decimal]] instructions, etc.

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 [[Image:CISLMultics.jpg|350px|thumb|right|An SCU (left) and an H6180 CPU (center) at CISL]]
-The '''Honeywell 6000 series''' was a long-lived family of [[mainframe]]s, in production from 1970 to 1989. They are probably best-known now for being the machines that [[Multics]] ran on for most of its life, after the initial period on a General Electric machine.
+The '''Honeywell 6000 series''' was a long-lived family of [[mainframe]]s, in production from 1970 to 1989. They are probably best-known now for being the machines that [[Multics]] ran on for most of its life, after the initial period on a [[General Electric]] [[GE-645]] machine.
-They were descendants of the [[GE 600 series]] family; after GE's computer business was sold to Honeywell in 1970, the 6000 series were Honeywell's replacements. They used [[Transistor-transistor logic|TTL]] [[Integrated circuit|SSI integrated circuits]] and larger [[printed circuit board]]s, unlike the older (and obsolescent) discrete [[transistor]] GE machines.
+They were descendants of the [[GE 600 series]] family; after GE's computer business was sold to [[Honeywell] in 1970, the 6000 series were Honeywell's replacements. They used [[Transistor-transistor logic|TTL]] [[Integrated circuit|SSI integrated circuits]] and larger [[printed circuit board]]s, unlike the older (and obsolescent) discrete [[transistor]] GE machines.
 The basic [[architecture]] of the GE and Honeywell series was the same: a [[tightly-coupled]] [[multi-processor]], with all the [[Central Processing Unit|CPUs]] sharing access to a collection of [[multi-port memory]] units. All used 36-bit [[word]]s, and almost identical [[instruction set]]s; Honeywell added an [[Commercial Instruction Set|Extended Instruction Set]] (EIS) which provided string-manipulation instructions, [[binary-coded decimal|packed decimal]] instructions, etc.

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 In mid-1973, a team looked at the possibility of porting GCOS to the Multics hardware, to gain increased security, but this was decided to be un-economic.
-The effort did result in a new architectural extension to the 6000 Series, the 'New Series 6000 Architecture' or 'New System Architecture' (NSA); also later known as the 'Advanced Development Program', ADP, and 'Virtual Memory and Security' (VMS).
+The effort did result in a new architectural extension to the 6000 Series, the 'New Series 6000 Architecture' or 'New System Architecture' (NSA); also later known as the 'Advanced Development Program' (ADP), and 'Virtual Memory and Security' (VMS).
 It added a set of registers used to produce a more secure system, using [[domain]] ideas and '[[working set]]s'; and also [[virtual memory]] (which the GCOS machines had not previously supported - they only had [[base and bounds]] [[memory management]] hardware).

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 They were descendants of the [[GE 600 series]] family; after GE's computer business was sold to Honeywell in 1970, the 6000 series were Honeywell's replacements. They used [[Transistor-transistor logic|TTL]] [[Integrated circuit|SSI integrated circuits]] and larger [[printed circuit board]]s, unlike the older (and obsolescent) discrete [[transistor]] GE machines.
-The basic [[architecture]] of the GE and Honeywell series was the same: a [[tightly-coupled]] [[multi-processor]], with all the [[Central Processing Unit|CPUs]] sharing access to a collection of [[multi-port memory]] units. All used 36-bit [[word]]s, and almost identical [[instruction set]]s; Honeywell added an Extended Instruction Set (EIS) which provided string-manipulation instructions, [[binary-coded decimal|packed decimal]] instructions, etc.
+The basic [[architecture]] of the GE and Honeywell series was the same: a [[tightly-coupled]] [[multi-processor]], with all the [[Central Processing Unit|CPUs]] sharing access to a collection of [[multi-port memory]] units. All used 36-bit [[word]]s, and almost identical [[instruction set]]s; Honeywell added an [[Commercial Instruction Set|Extended Instruction Set]] (EIS) which provided string-manipulation instructions, [[binary-coded decimal|packed decimal]] instructions, etc.
 Most 6000 series machines ran [[GCOS]] (General Comprehensive Operating System), an evolution of the earlier GECOS (General Electric Comprehensive Operating Supervisor) - early Honeywell documentation continued to call it GECOS.
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 ===Series 60, Level 66 and Level 68===
-Announced in April 1974, introduced in 1975, these were re-badged versions of the 6000 series, in slightly lower cabinets; they did, however, offer larger memory units. The incandescent light bulbs in the control panels (which changed from the white of the original 6000's, to black) were replaced by [[Light Emitting Diode|LEDs]].
+Announced in April 1974, introduced in 1975, these were re-badged versions of the 6000 series, in slightly lower cabinets; they did, however, offer larger memory units. The incandescent light bulbs in the [[front panel]]s (which changed from the white of the original 6000's, to black) were replaced by [[Light Emitting Diode|LEDs]].
 The Level 66 machines were GCOS, and Level 68 were Multics.
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 A lightly re-engineered version (about 1/3 of the boards were identical; 1/3, or slightly more, were lightly modified; the rest were totally different) of the previous generation, announced in October 1979, and released that year.
-The extensive 'lights and switches' maintenance panels of the earlier machines were replaced with a console terminal, driven by a [[micro-computer]], the 'diagnostic processor', which interfaced to the CPUs, SCUs and IOMs; the smaller configuration panels were retained.
+The extensive 'lights and switches' maintenance panels of the earlier machines were replaced with a console terminal, driven by a [[microprocessor|microcomputer]], the 'diagnostic processor', which interfaced to the CPUs, SCUs and IOMs; the smaller configuration panels were retained.
 DPS-8 systems supported a maximum of four SCU's, down from the eight of earlier models, although each DPS-8 SCU could provide up to 16 Mbytes of memory, for 64 Mbytes total. A maximum of four IOMs were normally supported. The SCUs and IOMs were not separate cabinets, as in early models, but shared a cabinet with the CPU.
-The low-end GCOS models - the DPS-8/20 and DPS-8/44 - used [[microcode]], instead of being hard-wired (as all the other 6000 series processors were). Other GCOS models included the DPS-8/47, /49, /52, /62 and /70 (the first two being implemented in 74F technology). The /47 was limited to a single CPU and IOM, and the /49 to four CPUs and two IOMs; the /70 could support up to four IOMs.
+The low-end GCOS models - the DPS-8/20 and DPS-8/44 - used [[microcode]], instead of being hard-wired (as all the other 6000 series processors were). Other GCOS models included the DPS-8/47, /49, /52, /62 and /70 (the first two being implemented in 74F TTL technology). The /47 was limited to a single CPU and IOM, and the /49 to four CPUs and two IOMs; the /70 could support up to four IOMs.
 The Multics units were the DPS-8/M models - the DPS-8/52M, DPS-8/62M and DPS-8/70M; all likewise limited to 4 SCUs (although this was not a problematic limit, as SCUs now could handle much more memory). Apparently all three used the same hardware, but the two lower-performance one has delays inserted into their clocks. The /70M came with an 8KW [[cache]]; later, an optional 32KW cache was introduced. The performance with the 8KW cache was about 1.68 times that of the 6180; with the 32KW cache, about 1.85.
 ==NSA architectural extension==
 In mid-1973, a team looked at the possibility of porting GCOS to the Multics hardware, to gain increased security, but this was decided to be un-economic.
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 It added a set of registers used to produce a more secure system, using [[domain]] ideas and '[[working set]]s'; and also [[virtual memory]] (which the GCOS machines had not previously supported - they only had [[base and bounds]] [[memory management]] hardware).
-Implementation was delayed until the late 1970s, as GCOS was not in a position to use it until then. The concept was that the Series 60 machines could have either a Multics-style AU ('Appending Unit'), or the NSA-style 'VU' (Virtual Unit') optionally added to the CPU; the VU was actually available as an add-on option for deployed Level 66 machines.
+Implementation was delayed until the late 1970s, as GCOS was not in a position to use it until then. The concept was that the Series 60 machines could have either a Multics-style AU ('Appending Unit'), or the NSA-style VU ('Virtual Unit') optionally added to the CPU; the VU was actually available as an add-on option for deployed Level 66 machines.
 The later DPS/8 machines also implemented as standard the 'VU' hardware, which was used by the GCOS 8 version of GCOS, which came into use starting in 1980.
 ==External links==

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:24, 3 January 2024
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		+	[[Image:CISLMultics.jpg\|350px\|thumb\|right\|An SCU (left) and an H6180 CPU (center) at CISL]]
		+
	The '''Honeywell 6000 series''' was a long-lived family of [[mainframe]]s, in production from 1970 to 1989. They are probably best-known now for being the machines that [[Multics]] ran on for most of its life, after the initial period on a General Electric machine.		The '''Honeywell 6000 series''' was a long-lived family of [[mainframe]]s, in production from 1970 to 1989. They are probably best-known now for being the machines that [[Multics]] ran on for most of its life, after the initial period on a General Electric machine.

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:36, 11 July 2023
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	[[Category: Mainframes]]		[[Category: Mainframes]]
		+	[[Category: 36-bit Computers]]

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 ==External links==
 * [http://www.feb-patrimoine.com/english/gecos_to_gcos8_part_2.htm From GECOS to GCOS8: Part II - The Honeywell years]
 * [http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/multics/MulticsPanels.html Multics and Related 6000 Series Front Panels] - Images of most of the front panels
 [[Category: Mainframes]]

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 Most 6000 series machines ran [[GCOS]] (General Comprehensive Operating System), an evolution of the earlier GECOS (General Electric Comprehensive Operating Supervisor) - early Honeywell documentation continued to call it GECOS.
-Some models in the line had the additional [[hardware]] - the 'Appending Unit' (APU) - needed to implement the [[segmentation|segmented]] [[single-level memory]] used by Multics, which ran only on those models of the GE 600 and Honeywell 6000 series lines.
+Some models in the line had the additional [[hardware]] - the 'Appending Unit' (APU) - needed to implement the [[segment]]ed [[single-level memory]] used by Multics, which ran only on those models of the GE 600 and Honeywell 6000 series lines.
 ==System organization==