DX10 Data Channel
The DX10 Data Channel was an adapter which could interface between OEM-produced peripherals, and a PDP-10, using the PDP-10's PDP-10 Memory Bus and PDP-10 I/O Bus. (So, it could be connected to KA10s and KI10s, but only to KL10s with the optional old-style Memory and I/O busses (provided by the DMA20 Memory Bus Adapter and DIA20 IBus Adapter, respectively.) The DX10 can also use an MX10 Memory Multiplexer.
The original intended configuration was with a TX01 Tape Control Unit, along with one or more (up to eight, maximum) TU70 or TU71 magnetic tape drives; the ensemble was designated a 'TU70 Magnetic Tape Subsystem' (or 'TU71' as appropriate).
The 'channel bus' between the DX10 and the TX01 is apparently an IBM I/O channel bus, but the DX10 documentation does not say so explicitly.
Implementation
The DX10 is built around a PDP-8/A microprocessor; the PDP-8/A uses an OMNIBUS to talk to its sub-systems, and is enhanced with off-board logic to implement a number of IOT instruction operations specific to the TU70 Magnetic Tape Subsystem application. The PDP-8's code is held in a normal PDP-8 4K RAM, the 'control storage memory', and was loaded into the DX10 by the host CPU after power-on. (The host PDP-10 can start and stop the PDP-8, and read and write its internal memory, and DX10 internal registers.) There is also an Internal Bus (IBUS) used to communicate between the sub-systems in the DX10.
The DX10 was composed of seven major sub-systems:
- PDP-8 and its sub-systems
- Memory Bus Register and Control
- Channel Command Register
- Data Channel
- I/O Bus interface
- Data Channel Interface
- Channel Bus Interface
These are held mostly on seven hex boards, and two quad boards:
- M8315 PDP-8/A CPU
- M8311 PDP-8 4KW RAM (quad)
- M8317 PDP-8 ROM Bootstrap Loader
- 2 x M8595 Memory Bus Interface
- M8596 Channel Bus Interface (quad)
- M8597 PDP-8/A Interface
- M8598 I/O and Memory Control
- M8599 Byte Assembly Logic
and a number of single-width bus interface cards:
- 4 x M564 I/O Bus Receiver
- 4 x M664 I/O Bus Driver
They plugged into a pair of system unit-sized backplanes (a 4-slot and a 9-slot), mounted in a separate cabinet (an H950) along with the power supply.
See also
External links
- DX10 Data Channel Maintenance Manual (EK-DX10-MM-001)
