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GE-400 Series
The GE-400 series were time-sharing Information Systems computers by General Electric introduced in 1964 and shipped until 1968. System description The GE-400 series (Compatibles/400) came in models: 415, 425, 435 (1964), 455 and 465. GE-400 systems had a word length of 24 bits which could contain binary data, four six-bit BCD characters, or four signed decimal digits. GE-400 systems could have up to 32,768 words (132K characters) of magnetic-core memory with a cycle time of 2.7 microseconds (435) or 5.1 microseconds (425). The systems supported up to eight channels for input/output. The GE 412 (1962) was an incompatible computer system with a 20-bit word length intended for process control applications. Unique features GE-400 systems featured a "variable length, relocatable accumulator" which could be set programmatically to a length of one to four words and relocated to overlay any four adjacent locations in memory (modulo four). "The accumulator can be moved to the data ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energy, digital industry, additive manufacturing and venture capital and finance, but has since divested from several areas, now primarily consisting of the first four segments. In 2020, GE ranked among the Fortune 500 as the 33rd largest firm in the United States by gross revenue. In 2011, GE ranked among the Fortune 20 as the 14th most profitable company, but later very severely underperformed the market (by about 75%) as its profitability collapsed. Two employees of GE – Irving Langmuir (1932) and Ivar Giaever (1973) – have been awarded the Nobel Prize. On November 9, 2021, the company announced it would divide itself into three investment-grade public companies. On July 18, 2022, GE unveiled the brand names of the companies it will ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Time-sharing
In computing, time-sharing is the sharing of a computing resource among many users at the same time by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking.DEC Timesharing (1965), by Peter Clark, The DEC Professional, Volume 1, Number 1 Its emergence as the prominent model of computing in the 1970s represented a major technological shift in the history of computing. By allowing many users to interact concurrently with a single computer, time-sharing dramatically lowered the cost of providing computing capability, made it possible for individuals and organizations to use a computer without owning one, and promoted the interactive use of computers and the development of new interactive applications. History Batch processing The earliest computers were extremely expensive devices, and very slow in comparison to later models. Machines were typically dedicated to a particular set of tasks and operated by control panels, the operator manually entering small programs via switches in order ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
24-bit
Notable 24-bit machines include the CDC 924 – a 24-bit version of the CDC 1604, CDC lower 3000 series, SDS 930 and SDS 940, the ICT 1900 series, the Elliott 4100 series, and the Datacraft minicomputers/Harris H series. The term SWORD is sometimes used to describe a 24-bit data type with the S prefix referring to sesqui. The range of unsigned integers that can be represented in 24 bits is 0 to 16,777,215 ( in hexadecimal). The range of signed integers that can be represented in 24 bits is −8,388,608 to 8,388,607. Usage The IBM System/360, announced in 1964, was a popular computer system with 24-bit addressing and 32-bit general registers and arithmetic. The early 1980s saw the first popular personal computers, including the IBM PC/AT with an Intel 80286 processor using 24-bit addressing and 16-bit general registers and arithmetic, and the Apple Macintosh 128K with a Motorola 68000 processor featuring 24-bit addressing and 32-bit registers. The eZ80 is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BCD (6-bit)
BCD (''binary-coded decimal''), also called alphanumeric BCD, alphameric BCD, BCD Interchange Code, or BCDIC, is a family of representations of numerals, uppercase Latin letters, and some special and control characters as six-bit character codes. Unlike later encodings such as ASCII, BCD codes were not standardized. Different computer manufacturers, and even different product lines from the same manufacturer, often had their own variants, and sometimes included unique characters. Other six-bit encodings with completely different mappings, such as some FIELDATA variants or Transcode, are sometimes incorrectly termed BCD. Many variants of BCD encode the characters '0' through '9' as the corresponding binary values. History Technically, '' binary-coded decimal'' describes the encoding of decimal numbers where each decimal digit is represented by a fixed number of bits, usually four. With the introduction of the ''IBM card'' in 1928, IBM created a code capable of representing a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnetic-core Memory
Magnetic-core memory was the predominant form of random access, random-access computer memory for 20 years between about 1955 and 1975. Such memory is often just called core memory, or, informally, core. Core memory uses toroids (rings) of a hard magnetic material (usually a Ferrite (magnet)#Semi-hard ferrites, semi-hard ferrite) as transformer cores, where each wire threaded through the core serves as a transformer winding. Two or more wires pass through each core. Magnetic Magnetic hysteresis, hysteresis allows each of the cores to "remember", or store a state. Each core stores one bit of information. A core can be magnetized in either the clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. The value of the bit stored in a core is zero or one according to the direction of that core's magnetization. Electric current pulses in some of the wires through a core allow the direction of the magnetization in that core to be set in either direction, thus storing a one or a zero. Another wire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Channel I/O
In computing, channel I/O is a high-performance input/output (I/O) architecture that is implemented in various forms on a number of computer architectures, especially on mainframe computers. In the past, channels were generally implemented with custom devices, variously named channel, I/O processor, I/O controller, I/O synchronizer, or ''DMA controller''. Overview Many I/O tasks can be complex and require logic to be applied to the data to convert formats and other similar duties. In these situations, the simplest solution is to ask the CPU to handle the logic, but because I/O devices are relatively slow, a CPU could waste time (in computer perspective) waiting for the data from the device. This situation is called 'I/O bound'. Channel architecture avoids this problem by processing some or all of the I/O task without the aid of the CPU by offloading the work to dedicated logic. Channels are logically self-contained, with sufficient logic and working storage to handle I/O tasks. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Process Control
An industrial process control in continuous production processes is a discipline that uses industrial control systems to achieve a production level of consistency, economy and safety which could not be achieved purely by human manual control. It is implemented widely in industries such as automotive, mining, dredging, oil refining, pulp and paper manufacturing, chemical processing and power generating plants. There is a wide range of size, type and complexity, but it enables a small number of operators to manage complex processes to a high degree of consistency. The development of large industrial process control systems was instrumental in enabling the design of large high volume and complex processes, which could not be otherwise economically or safely operated. The applications can range from controlling the temperature and level of a single process vessel, to a complete chemical processing plant with several thousand control loops. History Early process control breakthrou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accumulator (computing)
In a computer's central processing unit (CPU), the accumulator is a register in which intermediate arithmetic logic unit results are stored. Without a register like an accumulator, it would be necessary to write the result of each calculation (addition, multiplication, shift, etc.) to main memory, perhaps only to be read right back again for use in the next operation. Access to main memory is slower than access to a register like an accumulator because the technology used for the large main memory is slower (but cheaper) than that used for a register. Early electronic computer systems were often split into two groups, those with accumulators and those without. Modern computer systems often have multiple general-purpose registers that can operate as accumulators, and the term is no longer as common as it once was. However, to simplify their design, a number of special-purpose processors still use a single accumulator. Basic concept Mathematical operations often take place i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GE-600 Series
The GE-600 series was a family of 36-bit mainframe computers originating in the 1960s, built by General Electric (GE). When GE left the mainframe business the line was sold to Honeywell, which built similar systems into the 1990s as the division moved to Groupe Bull and then NEC. The system is perhaps best known as the hardware used by the Dartmouth Time Sharing System (DTSS) and the Multics operating system. Multics was supported by virtual memory additions made to later versions of the series. Architecture The 600 series used 36-bit words and 18-bit addresses. They had two 36-bit accumulators, eight 18-bit index registers, and one 8-bit exponent register. It supported floating point in both 36-bit single-precision and 2 x 36-bit double precision, the exponent being stored separately, allowing up to 71 bits of precision and one bit being used for the sign. It had an elaborate set of addressing modes, many of which used indirect words, some of which were auto-incrementing or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GE-200 Series
GE 210 advertisement from 1960 The GE-200 series was a family of small mainframe computers of the 1960s, built by General Electric (GE). GE marketing called the line ''Compatibles/200'' (GE-205/215/225/235). The GE-210 of 1960 is not compatible with the rest of the 200 series. 200 series models The main machine in the line was the GE-225 (1961). It used a 20-bit word, of which 13 bits could be used for an address. Along with the basic central processing unit (CPU) the system could also include a floating-point unit (the "Auxiliary Arithmetic Unit"), or a fixed-point decimal option with three six-bit decimal digits per word. It had 11 I/O channel controllers, and GE sold a variety of add-ons including disks, printers and other devices. The machines were built using discrete transistors, with a typical machine including about 10,000 transistors and 20,000 diodes. They used magnetic-core memory, and a standard 8 k-word system held 186,000 magnetic cores. They weighed about ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Electric Mainframe Computers
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. March 2021. Oxford University Press. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/77489?rskey=dCKrg4&result=1 (accessed May 11, 2021) The term ''general'' is used in two ways: as the generic title for all grades of general officer and as a specific rank. It originates in the 16th century, as a shortening of ''captain general'', which rank was taken from Middle French ''capitaine général''. The adjective ''general'' had been affixed to officer designations since the late medieval period to indicate relative superiority or an extended jurisdiction. Today, the title of ''general'' is known in some countries as a four-star rank. However, different countries use different systems of stars or other insignia for senior ranks. It has a NATO rank scal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transistorized Computers
upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch electrical signals and electrical power, power. The transistor is one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics. It is composed of semiconductor material, usually with at least three terminals for connection to an electronic circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals controls the current through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be higher than the controlling (input) power, a transistor can amplify a signal. Some transistors are packaged individually, but many more are found embedded in integrated circuits. Austro-Hungarian physicist Julius Edgar Lilienfeld proposed the concept of a field-effect transistor in 1926, but it was not possible to actually construct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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