|
Telecommunication Control Unit
A telecommunication control unit (TCU), line control unit, or terminal control unit (although terminal control unit may also refer to a terminal ''cluster controller'') is a Front-end processor for mainframes and some minicomputers which supports attachment of one or more telecommunication lines. TCUs free processors from handling the data coming in and out of RS-232 ports. The TCU can support multiple terminals, sometimes hundreds. Many of these TCUs can support RS-232 when it is required, although there are other serial interfaces as well. The advent of ubiquitous TCP/IP has reduced the need for telecommunications control units. See also * Terminal access controller * IBM 270x * IBM 3705 Communications Controller * IBM 3720 * IBM 3745 The IBM 3745 is the latest and last of a 37xx family of communications controllers for the IBM mainframe environment. As of mid-2009 there were an estimated 7,000+ of the larger 3745 models still in active production status, down from 20,000 or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Front-end Processor
A front end processor (FEP), or a communications processor, is a small-sized computer which interfaces to the host computer a number of networks, such as SNA, or a number of peripheral devices, such as terminals, disk units, printers and tape units. Data is transferred between the host computer and the front end processor using a high-speed parallel interface. The front end processor communicates with peripheral devices using slower serial interfaces, usually also through communication networks. The purpose is to off-load from the host computer the work of managing the peripheral devices, transmitting and receiving messages, packet assembly and disassembly, error detection, and error correction. Two examples are the IBM 3705 Communications Controller and the Burroughs Data Communications Processor. Sometimes FEP is synonymous with a communications controller, although the latter is not necessarily as flexible. Early communications controllers such as the IBM 270x series we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mainframe Computer
A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and large-scale transaction processing. A mainframe computer is large but not as large as a supercomputer and has more processing power than some other classes of computers, such as minicomputers, servers, workstations, and personal computers. Most large-scale computer-system architectures were established in the 1960s, but they continue to evolve. Mainframe computers are often used as servers. The term ''mainframe'' was derived from the large cabinet, called a ''main frame'', that housed the central processing unit and main memory of early computers. Later, the term ''mainframe'' was used to distinguish high-end commercial computers from less powerful machines. Design Modern mainframe design is characterized less b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minicomputer
A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a class of smaller general purpose computers that developed in the mid-1960s and sold at a much lower price than mainframe and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct competitors. In a 1970 survey, ''The New York Times'' suggested a consensus definition of a minicomputer as a machine costing less than (), with an input-output device such as a teleprinter and at least four thousand words of memory, that is capable of running programs in a higher level language, such as Fortran or BASIC. The class formed a distinct group with its own software architectures and operating systems. Minis were designed for control, instrumentation, human interaction, and communication switching as distinct from calculation and record keeping. Many were sold indirectly to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for final end use application. During the two decade lifetime of the minicomputer class (1965–1985), almost 100 companies formed and only a half ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that feasible with the human voice, but with a similar scale of expediency; thus, slow systems (such as postal mail) are excluded from the field. The transmission media in telecommunication have evolved through numerous stages of technology, from beacons and other visual signals (such as smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs), to electrical cable and electromagnetic radiation, including light. Such transmission paths are often divided into communication channels, which afford the advantages of multiplexing multiple concurrent communication sessions. ''Telecommunication'' is often used in its plural form. Other examples of pre-modern long-distance communication included audio messages, such as coded drumb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RS-232
In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such as a computer terminal, and a ''DCE'' (''data circuit-terminating equipment'' or ''data communication equipment''), such as a modem. The standard defines the electrical characteristics and timing of signals, the meaning of signals, and the physical size and pinout of connectors. The current version of the standard is ''TIA-232-F Interface Between Data Terminal Equipment and Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment Employing Serial Binary Data Interchange'', issued in 1997. The RS-232 standard had been commonly used in computer serial ports and is still widely used in industrial communication devices. A serial port complying with the RS-232 standard was once a standard feature of many types of computers. Personal computers used them for connection ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serial Communication
In telecommunication and data transmission, serial communication is the process of sending data one bit at a time, sequentially, over a communication channel or computer bus. This is in contrast to parallel communication, where several bits are sent as a whole, on a link with several parallel channels. Serial communication is used for all long-haul communication and most computer networks, where the cost of cable and synchronization difficulties make parallel communication impractical. Serial computer buses are becoming more common even at shorter distances, as improved signal integrity and transmission speeds in newer serial technologies have begun to outweigh the parallel bus's advantage of simplicity (no need for serializer and deserializer, or SerDes) and to outstrip its disadvantages (clock skew, interconnect density). The migration from PCI to PCI Express is an example. Cables Many serial communication systems were originally designed to transfer data over relatively ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM 270x
270x is a generic name for a family of IBM non-programmable communications controllers used with System/360 and System/370 computers. The family consisted of the following devices: * IBM 2701 Data Adapter Unit * IBM 2702 Transmission Control * IBM 2703 Transmission Control The 2701 and 2702 were announced simultaneously with System/360 in 1964, the 2703 was announced a year later. The 270x series was superseded by the IBM 3704 and 3705 communications controllers in 1972. 2701 The 2701 supported up to four start-stop or synchronous communications lines. It had two multiplexor channel interfaces for connection to one or two host computers. The synchronous adapter originally supported the ''Synchronous Transmit-Receive (STR)'' protocol, and later ''Binary Synchronous Communications (BISYNC)'' when it was introduced in 1967, in half duplex mode at speeds of up to 40,800 bits per second (bit/s). The 2701 could also have "data acquisition and control adapt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM 3705 Communications Controller
The IBM 3705 Communications Controller is a simple computer which attaches to an IBM System/360 or System/370. Its purpose is to connect communication lines to the mainframe channel. It was a first communications controller of the popular IBM 37xx series. It was announced in March 1972. Designed for semiconductor memory which was not ready at the time of announcement, the 3705-I had to use 1.2 microsecond core storage; the later 3705-II uses 1.0 microsecond SRAM. Solid Logic Technology components, similar to those in S/370, were used. The 3705 normally occupies a single frame two feet wide and three feet deep. Up to three expansion frames can be attached for a theoretical capacity of 352 half-duplex lines and two independent channel adapters. The 3704 is an entry level version of the 3705 with limited features. Purpose IBM intended it to be used in three ways: # Emulation of the older IBM 2703 Communications Controller and its predecessors. The relevant software is the ''Emula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM 3720
The IBM 3720 was a communications controller (front-end processor) made by IBM, suitable for use with IBM System/390. The 3720, introduced in 1986, was capable of supporting up to 60 communications lines, and was a smaller version of the 3725. Official service support was withdrawn in 1999 in favour of the IBM 3745. The IBM 3720 is unrelated to the similarly-numbered IBM 3270 The IBM 3270 is a family of block oriented display and printer computer terminals introduced by IBM in 1971 and normally used to communicate with IBM mainframes. The 3270 was the successor to the IBM 2260 display terminal. Due to the text ... display terminal system. References External linksIBM 3720 Communication Controller Service Guide (PDF) {{mainframe-compu-stub 3720 * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM 3745
The IBM 3745 is the latest and last of a 37xx family of communications controllers for the IBM mainframe environment. As of mid-2009 there were an estimated 7,000+ of the larger 3745 models still in active production status, down from 20,000 or more in 2007. The 3745 and associated 3746 models were once heavily used within financial, insurance and retail industries as well as within government agencies globally. However, today most organizations have migrated away from the use of 3745s. IBM's Enterprise Extender and the Communication Controller for Linux on System z (CCL) have largely displaced the older 3745s. IBM announced in September 2002 that it would no longer manufacture new 3745s, but IBM continues to support the hardware by providing worldwide maintenance service, by providing microcode releases and by supporting the associated software including NCP (Network Control Program) and the virtual telecommunications access method (VTAM). IBM has announced end-of-service d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mainframe Computers
A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and large-scale transaction processing. A mainframe computer is large but not as large as a supercomputer and has more processing power than some other classes of computers, such as minicomputers, servers, workstations, and personal computers. Most large-scale computer-system architectures were established in the 1960s, but they continue to evolve. Mainframe computers are often used as servers. The term ''mainframe'' was derived from the large cabinet, called a ''main frame'', that housed the central processing unit and main memory of early computers. Later, the term ''mainframe'' was used to distinguish high-end commercial computers from less powerful machines. Design Modern mainframe design is characterized less b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> IBM 3745")
.jpg "Click for more on -> Mainframe Computers")