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The CPU operates asynchronous to the memory timing control, and the computer can use memories of different speeds. The fastest memory cycle time which the CPU can efficiently use is 1 microsecond.<ref name="nord1" /> | The CPU operates asynchronous to the memory timing control, and the computer can use memories of different speeds. The fastest memory cycle time which the CPU can efficiently use is 1 microsecond.<ref name="nord1" /> | ||
===Memory Control=== | |||
Each memory block has its own memory control. The memory control permits access from two different devices to the memory block as standard - additional channels are optional. The priority between the devices is fixed (wired in). One of the devices is the CPU, usually at the lowest priority. The data channels are usually connected to devices such as disc storage, magnetic tape storage, line printers or other input / output devices with hight data transfer rate. When data channels are operating, memory cycles are stolen from the program running - for each data channel transfer of a 16 bit word one memory cycle is stolen. With a 1 microsecond cycle time the maximum total data channel transfer rate is 16.000.000 bits per second. Two CPUs may be connected to one memory block.<ref name="nord1" /> | |||
==Remaining machines== | ==Remaining machines== | ||
Revision as of 21:34, 5 May 2012
The NORD-1 was Norsk Data's first minicomputer. It was the first commercially available computer made in Norway.
It was a 16-bit system, developed in 1967. It could have 4K - 64K words of core memory[1]. The first NORD-1 (serial number 2) installed was an anti-collision system used with the NORCONTROL process control system aboard the ship M/S Taimyr, where it proved extremely reliable for its time.[2]
It was probably the first minicomputer to feature floating-point equipment as standard, and had an unusually rich complement of registers for its time. It also featured relative addressing, and a fully automatic context switched interrupt system.[citation needed]
It was also the first minicomputer to offer virtual memory, offered as an option by 1969.[3]
It was succeeded by the NORD-10.
Hardware
Core Memory
Main storage is a ferrite core memory device. It can be from 4096 to 65536 words in size. Each word is 16 bits.[1]
The CPU operates asynchronous to the memory timing control, and the computer can use memories of different speeds. The fastest memory cycle time which the CPU can efficiently use is 1 microsecond.[1]
Memory Control
Each memory block has its own memory control. The memory control permits access from two different devices to the memory block as standard - additional channels are optional. The priority between the devices is fixed (wired in). One of the devices is the CPU, usually at the lowest priority. The data channels are usually connected to devices such as disc storage, magnetic tape storage, line printers or other input / output devices with hight data transfer rate. When data channels are operating, memory cycles are stolen from the program running - for each data channel transfer of a 16 bit word one memory cycle is stolen. With a 1 microsecond cycle time the maximum total data channel transfer rate is 16.000.000 bits per second. Two CPUs may be connected to one memory block.[1]
Remaining machines
The NORD-1 has been unusually well-preserved. Approximately 60 machines seem to have been produced, and at the very least 10 machines have been preserved, including serial numbers 2, 4, and 5. This may owe to the fact that the company Norsk Data was already a very large and exceedingly rapidly growing corporation by the time many of these machines were decommissioned.
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Norsk Data Library, Hardware - NORD-1 Reference Manual, Complete Instruction Repertoire
- ↑ The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology: Det norske datafyrtårnet (In norwegian)
- ↑ Norsk Data Annual Report 1982, ND Publications, April 6th 1983
- This article was originally a copy of the English Wikipedia article NORD-1 in 19 October 2008.
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