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The HP 2100 is a series of
16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...
minicomputer A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a type of general-purpose computer mostly developed from the mid-1960s, built significantly smaller and sold at a much lower price than mainframe computers . By 21st century-standards however, a mini is ...
s that were produced by
Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...
(HP) from the mid-1960s to early 1990s. Tens of thousands of machines in the series were sold over its 25-year lifetime, making HP the fourth-largest minicomputer vendor during the 1970s. The design started at Data Systems Inc (DSI), and was originally known as the DSI-1000. HP purchased the company in 1964 and merged it into their Dymec division. The original model, the 2116A built using
integrated circuit An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...
s and
magnetic-core memory In computing, magnetic-core memory is a form of random-access memory. It predominated for roughly 20 years between 1955 and 1975, and is often just called core memory, or, informally, core. Core memory uses toroids (rings) of a hard magneti ...
, was released in 1966. Over the next four years, models A through C were released with different types of memory and expansion, as well as the cost-reduced 2115 and 2114 models. All of these models were replaced by the HP 2100 series in 1971, and then again as the 21MX series in 1974 when the magnetic-core memory was replaced with semiconductor memory. All of these models were also packaged as the HP 2000 series, combining a 2100-series machine with optional components in order to run the
BASIC programming language Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film * Basic, on ...
in a multi-user
time sharing In computing, time-sharing is the concurrent sharing of a computing resource among many tasks or users by giving each task or user a small slice of processing time. This quick switch between tasks or users gives the illusion of simultaneous ...
fashion.
HP Time-Shared BASIC HP Time-Shared BASIC (HP TSB) is a BASIC, BASIC programming language Interpreter (computing), interpreter for Hewlett-Packard's HP 2100#HP 2000, HP 2000 line of minicomputer-based time-sharing computer systems. TSB is historically notable as th ...
was popular in the 1970s, and many early BASIC programs were written on or for the platform, most notably the seminal ''Star Trek'' that was popular during the early
home computer Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a s ...
era. The People's Computer Company published their programs in HP 2000 format. The introduction of the
HP 3000 The HP 3000 series is a family of 16-bit computing, 16-bit and 32-bit computing, 32-bit minicomputers from Hewlett-Packard. It was designed to be the first minicomputer with full support for time-sharing in the hardware and the operating system, ...
in 1974 provided high-end competition to the 2100 series; the entire line was renamed as the HP 1000 in 1977 and positioned as real-time computers. A greatly redesigned version was introduced in 1979 as the 1000 L-Series, using
CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss ", , ) is a type of MOSFET, metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) semiconductor device fabrication, fabrication process that uses complementary an ...
large scale integration An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components ...
chips and introducing a desk-side
tower case In personal computing, a tower unit, or simply a tower, is a computer form factor, form factor of desktop computer, desktop computer case whose height is much greater than its width, thus having the appearance of an upstanding tower block, as opp ...
model. This was the first version to break backward compatibility with previous 2100-series expansion cards. The final upgrade was the A-series, with new processors capable of more than 1 MIPS performance, with the final A990 released in 1990.


History


Origins

HP formed Dynac in 1956 to act as a development shop for projects the main company would not normally undertake. Their original logo was simply the HP logo turned upside down, forming something approximating "dy" and thus inspiring the name. Learning that Westinghouse owned a trademark on that name, in 1958 they changed it to Dymec. The company was brought in-house in 1959 to become the Dymec Division, and in November 1967 was renamed the Palo Alto Division. Dymec originally made a variety of products for the HP family, but over time became primarily an integrator, building test equipment and similar systems that were used by HP. In 1964, Kay Magleby and Paul Stoft began experimenting with the use of
PDP-5 The PDP-5 was Digital Equipment Corporation's first 12-bit computer, introduced in 1963. History An earlier 12-bit computer, named LINC has been described as the first minicomputer and also "the first modern personal computer." It had 2,048 1 ...
and
PDP-8 The PDP-8 is a family of 12-bit minicomputers that was produced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). It was the first commercially successful minicomputer, with over 50,000 units sold during the model's lifetime. Its basic design follows the pi ...
computers to act as controllers for their complex test systems, but they felt the machines would require changes to truly suit their needs. At the time,
Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president until ...
(DEC) was still a small company and a takeover target. David Packard found Ken Olsen too difficult to deal with, and such plans went nowhere. Looking for another design they could purchase, Packard was led to the five-person Data Systems, Inc. (DSI) of Detroit. DSI was owned by Union Carbide, and when Packard asked how it was that Union Carbide came to own a computer company, HP Labs manager Barney Oliver replied, "We didn't demand an answer to that question." Bill Hewlett initially refused to consider the development of a "minicomputer", but when Packard reframed it as an "instrument controller" the deal was approved. DSI was purchased in 1964 and initially set up at Dymec with four of the original five employees of DSI and a number of other employees coming from HP's instrumentation divisions. The computer group later moved to its own offices in
Cupertino, California Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose, California, San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The ...
, in a building purchased from
Varian Associates Varian Associates was one of the first high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1948 by Russell H. and Sigurd F. Varian, William Webster Hansen, and Edward Ginzton to sell the klystron, the first vacuum tube which could amp ...
, becoming the Cupertino Division.


First models

Led by Magleby, the new division completed the design as the 2116A, which was demonstrated 7–10 November 1966 at the
Joint Computer Conference The Joint Computer Conferences were a series of computer conferences in the United States held under various names between 1951 and 1987. The conferences were the venue for presentations and papers representing "cumulative work in the omputerfield ...
in San Francisco. It was one of the earliest 16-bit minis to hit the market, but at the time it was more notable as "an unusual new instrumentation computer" with a highly expandable design and real-time support. The system featured an oversized cabinet that held up to 16 expansion cards, or could be further expanded to 48 cards with an external expansion cage. The system launched with 20 different instrumentation cards, including "counters, nuclear scalers, electronic
thermometer A thermometer is a device that measures temperature (the hotness or coldness of an object) or temperature gradient (the rates of change of temperature in space). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb ...
s, digital
voltmeter A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electric potential difference between two points in an electric circuit. It is connected in parallel. It usually has a high resistance so that it takes negligible current from the circuit. A ...
s, ac/ohms converters, data amplifiers, and input scanners." An additional set added input/output devices like tape drives, printers,
punched card A punched card (also punch card or punched-card) is a stiff paper-based medium used to store digital information via the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Developed over the 18th to 20th centuries, punched cards were widel ...
s, and paper tape, and other peripherals. Real-time service was provided by having each card slot be assigned a fixed
interrupt vector An interrupt vector table (IVT) is a data structure that associates a list of interrupt handlers with a list of interrupt requests in a table of interrupt vectors. Each entry of the interrupt vector table, called an interrupt vector, is the addre ...
that called the appropriate
device driver In the context of an operating system, a device driver is a computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer or automaton. A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabli ...
. As the machine entered the market, it quickly became clear it was selling much more rapidly into the business
data processing Data processing is the collection and manipulation of digital data to produce meaningful information. Data processing is a form of ''information processing'', which is the modification (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an o ...
market than the originally targeted instrumentation market. This led to the introduction of the 2115A in 1967, which removed much of the expansion capabilities to make a lower-cost offering for commercial users. A further simplified version shipped as the 2114A in 1968, which had only eight slots, leaving room for the power supply to be incorporated into the main chassis. The 2115 and 2114 also lacked the extensive DMA control of the 2116, removed some of the mathematical operations, and ran at slightly slower speeds. These are the original models using core memory and a hardwired CPU: *2116A, 10 MHz clock, 1.6-microsecond (μs) cycle time. Normally supplied with 4k words, expandable to 8k internally or 16k with an external memory system. Chassis includes 16 I/O slots, also expandable. Weight . Introduced November 1966. It marked HP's first use of integrated circuits. *2116B, supported a new 32k memory expansion option. Weight as above. Introduced September 1968. *2116C, used smaller core so a full 32k could fit in the main chassis. Introduced October 1970. *2115A, short-lived, cost-reduced version that removed the DMA and some math functions, had only 8 I/O slots, and ran at 8 MHz clock and a 2.0 μs cycle time. Weighed , required a bulky external power supply – total weight: . Introduced November 1967. *2114A, further simplified 2115 with a new front panel and internal power supply. Non-mechanical touch switches on front panel. Weight . Introduced October 1968. *2114B, 2114A with a single DMA channel and a new front panel with illuminated push-buttons. Introduced November 1969. *2114C, as 2114B with a maximum 16k memory. Introduced October 1970.


HP 2000

In November 1968 the company released the 2000A Timeshare System, later known as HP 2000/Access. This was based on the 2116B (a 2116A with an expanded 8k core memory) running
HP Time-Shared BASIC HP Time-Shared BASIC (HP TSB) is a BASIC, BASIC programming language Interpreter (computing), interpreter for Hewlett-Packard's HP 2100#HP 2000, HP 2000 line of minicomputer-based time-sharing computer systems. TSB is historically notable as th ...
and used a separate 2114 as a
terminal server A terminal server connects devices with a serial port to a local area network (LAN). Products marketed as terminal servers can be very simple devices that do not offer any security functionality, such as data encryption and user authentication. ...
. T-S BASIC allowed multiple user accounts to be created with up to 16 users logged in at once. Later models of the 2000, B through F, used newer versions of the underlying CPU as they were introduced. Some models used low-end versions of the same CPU as the terminal server; the 2000F, for instance, used a 2100S as the main CPU and primary storage controller, while a 2100A acted as the terminal server. The B, C and F models were dual-processor. In the last version, the 2000F, a 2100S and 2100A CPU were used, with the 2100A connected to up to 32 serial terminals via serial multiplexer interfaces. In spite of its relatively high costs—the 2000F cost $105,000 in 1974, or about $ in —it was the first minicomputer to offer time-shared BASIC, which made it very popular in the early-to-mid-1970s.


2100

Through the 1970s, the lineup was constantly improved with new models that remained compatible in software and expansion with the original 2116. In early 1970, Fred Allard, formerly of
Ampex Ampex Data Systems Corporation is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name ''AMPEX'' is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excell ...
's Memory Core Division, was asked to design a new magnetic-core memory system for the systems rather than continue purchasing them from Ampex. Using newer 18  mil cores, down from 22 mil, and using a single sense/inhibit line, they fit an 8 kW memory onto a single expansion card. This was used starting in the 2116C models. In 1971, the updated 2100A replaced the entire existing 211x lineup. The overall system was similar to the earlier models and continued to be based on core memory. Physically, it most resembled the 2114, as the power supply was built-in and it had limited internal expansion. However, the CPU was rebuilt with
microcode In processor design, microcode serves as an intermediary layer situated between the central processing unit (CPU) hardware and the programmer-visible instruction set architecture of a computer. It consists of a set of hardware-level instructions ...
that could be user-programmed, added hardware multiply and divide, and it added a simple
memory protection Memory protection is a way to control memory access rights on a computer, and is a part of most modern instruction set architectures and operating systems. The main purpose of memory protection is to prevent a process from accessing memory that h ...
system, which caused a high-priority interrupt when triggered. A two-channel DMA controller provided higher throughput. An optional
floating-point unit A floating-point unit (FPU), numeric processing unit (NPU), colloquially math coprocessor, is a part of a computer system specially designed to carry out operations on floating-point numbers. Typical operations are addition, subtraction, multip ...
was also available. Front panel buttons were illuminated by small incandescent lamps that burned out with use. The use of a
switched-mode power supply A switched-mode power supply (SMPS), also called switching-mode power supply, switch-mode power supply, switched power supply, or simply switcher, is an electronic power supply that incorporates a switching regulator to electric power conversio ...
allowed the chassis to be significantly smaller than the earlier models. By 1972, HP had shipped 4,500 minis, making it one of the largest companies in the market. That year, they merged the Mountain View Division, which made magnetic tape drives, with the Cupertino Division to create the Data Systems Division (DSD). By this time, the
HP 3000 The HP 3000 series is a family of 16-bit computing, 16-bit and 32-bit computing, 32-bit minicomputers from Hewlett-Packard. It was designed to be the first minicomputer with full support for time-sharing in the hardware and the operating system, ...
project was in serious trouble, and in February 1973, Packard sent Paul Ely to take over the division. Sales of the 2100 series remained strong; the 6000th shipped in August 1973, the 8000th in February 1974, and its 10,000th in February 1975. They were declared obsolete in 1978. *2100A, normally with 4 kW but expandable to 32 kW, 14 I/O slots expandable to 45. Introduced in 1971. *2100S, a 2100A bundled with the floating-point option, a time base generator for interfacing with time-dependent hardware, and a teleprinter interface card. Introduced in 1973.


21MX

In 1972, the division decided to move to 4kbit SRAM memory chips in place of core. These were about twice as fast as contemporary low-cost core, and much smaller, allowing 32kword machines to be built in a 2114-like form factor. At the time they made this decision, 4kbit SRAMs were not actually available, so experimental machines using the core from a 2100 series were used initially, replaced by 1kbit SRAM. At first it appeared 4k parts would not be available by the time the rest of the machine had been upgraded, so the company canvassed various manufacturers and found that a few were aggressively developing 4k parts. In particular,
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
,
Mostek Mostek Corporation was a semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturer, founded in 1969 by L. J. Sevin, Louay E. Sharif, Richard L. Petritz and other ex-employees of Texas Instruments. At its peak in the late 1970s, Mostek held an 85% market sh ...
,
Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...
, and
Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...
were all suggesting such parts would be available in quantity by late 1974. Using such memories in an expansion chassis like the earlier systems meant there was room for much more memory, into the megaword range. However, the CPU's use of 15-bit addresses limited the size to 32kwords. To address the desire for larger systems, HP developed the "Dynamic Mapping System", or DMS. DMS expanded the address format from 15 to 20 bits, allowing a maximum of 1,048,576 words, a dramatic expansion of the original system. These changes led to the 1974 introduction of the first of the 21MX series machines. This stood for the "21-M" processor and the "21-X" memory, as the memory control systems were separated from the CPU in order to provide flexibility in case the chosen 4k parts were changed during production. This proved useful in practice as the machines were shipped with memories using either Motorola or Texas Instruments parts, and they could be mixed in a single machine, while the higher density system based on 16-pin Mostek parts could be supported by replacing the normal 21-X/2 controller with the 21-X/1. The entire 2100 series was replaced in 1974 with the first of these 21MX series machines. Using the highest-density parts, the new machines could support up to 1.2 MB in the largest models. When the CPU was further upgraded in 1976, the new models became the "21MX E-Series" and the original models retroactively became the "21MX M-Series". The main difference between the M and E was that the E used clever timing to improve the speed to about twice that of the M. A wider variety of machine styles were released as part of the 21MX series, including smaller systems with four slots and larger ones with 9 or 14 slots. The 21MX series featured a
memory management unit A memory management unit (MMU), sometimes called paged memory management unit (PMMU), is a computer hardware unit that examines all references to computer memory, memory, and translates the memory addresses being referenced, known as virtual mem ...
and
semiconductor memory Semiconductor memory is a digital electronic semiconductor device used for digital data storage, such as computer memory. It typically refers to devices in which data is stored within metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) memory cells on a si ...
expandable to 1,048,576 words (one megaword). The bit displays on the front panel buttons used small red
light-emitting diode A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corre ...
s (LEDs), instead of the burnout-prone incandescent bulbs used in earlier versions. *M-series – 2105A, 2108A, 2112A (blue line on front panel) *E-series – 2109A, 2113A (yellow line on front panel; E for extended) *F-series – 2111F, 2117F (red line on front panel; F for
floating-point processor A floating-point unit (FPU), numeric processing unit (NPU), colloquially math coprocessor, is a part of a computer system specially designed to carry out operations on floating-point numbers. Typical operations are addition, subtraction, multipli ...
in a separate 2U chassis) The 21MX ran the HP RTE (real time) operating system (OS). They started out as refrigerator-sized 19-inch rackmount systems with lights and switches on the front panels. The last models would use a 1-chip processor and fit under a desk using a console terminal rather than a front panel. The new L and A series models had
HP-IB Glycoprotein Ib (GPIb), also known as CD42, is a component of the GPIb-V-IX complex on platelets. The GPIb-V-IX complex binds von Willebrand factor, allowing platelet adhesion and platelet plug formation at sites of vascular injury. Glycoprotein ...
interface ability, but as with all HP systems at that time, the blinking LED lights were removed from the front panel. Despite customer demands for a real-time ability and HP R&D's efforts using an installable real-time card, the RTE-A OS was not as good at real-time operations as RTE on a 21MX. This was an important reason this computer was hard to kill. Many companies use real-time operations to take a measurements and control processes—turn on or off a pump, heater, a valve, speed up or slow down a motor, etc.


1000 series

At the end of 1977, the entire line was renamed as the "HP 1000", becoming the "HP 1000 M-Series" and "HP 1000 E-Series". The next year the "HP 1000 F-Series" was introduced, which was an E-Series with an added floating point unit. By 1978, the success of the line had propelled HP to become the fourth-largest manufacturer in the minicomputer space, trailing only DEC,
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
, and
Data General Data General Corporation was an early minicomputer firm formed in 1968. Three of the four founders were former employees of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Their first product, 1969's Data General Nova, was a 16-bit minicomputer intended to ...
. In 1980, the "HP 1000 L-Series" was introduced. This used a new processor based on HP's
large-scale integration An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...
silicon on sapphire Silicon on sapphire (SOS) is a hetero-epitaxial process for metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing that consists of a thin layer (typically thinner than 0.6  μm) of silicon grown on a sapphire () wafer. S ...
process. Additionally, the expansion cards were also equipped with their own processors that allowed them to access
main memory Computer data storage or digital data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. The central processin ...
and conduct
input/output In computing, input/output (I/O, i/o, or informally io or IO) is the communication between an information processing system, such as a computer, and the outside world, such as another computer system, peripherals, or a human operator. Inputs a ...
without bothering the CPU. Although this made the expansion cards incompatible with the earlier models for the first time, it also greatly improved overall performance. These models lacked the memory management unit. *HP1000L
silicon on sapphire Silicon on sapphire (SOS) is a hetero-epitaxial process for metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing that consists of a thin layer (typically thinner than 0.6  μm) of silicon grown on a sapphire () wafer. S ...
(SOS) CPU and I/O processors The L-Series was, in turn, replaced in 1982 with the "HP 1000 A-Series", which included a new "Lightning" CPU design that reached 1  MIPS, and the even faster "Magic" CPU at 3 MIPS. A wide variety of different models was produced, including desk-side towers, and a variety of different size rack-mount systems. A low-end A400 model was introduced in 1986, and the final high-end A990 released in 1990. Each addressable up to 32 MB of RAM. *1981: **A600 – based on
Am2900 Am2900 is a family of integrated circuits (ICs) created in 1975 by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). They were constructed with bipolar devices, in a bit-slice topology, and were designed to be used as modular components each representing a different ...
bit-slice Bit slicing is a technique for constructing a processor from modules of processors of smaller bit width, for the purpose of increasing the word length; in theory to make an arbitrary ''n''-bit central processing unit (CPU). Each of these c ...
processor, 1 MIPS, 53k
FLOPS Floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance in computing, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations. For such cases, it is a more accurate measu ...
Codename: LIGHTNING **A600+ – based on Am2900 bit-slice processor, supports code and data separation, optional ECC (error correcting) memory. *1982??: **A700 – based on AMD AM2903 bit-slice processor, optional hardware floating point processor, 1MIPS, 204kFLOPS, microprogramming, optional
ECC memory Error correction code memory (ECC memory) is a type of computer data storage that uses an error correction code (ECC) to detect and correct ''n''-bit data corruption which occurs in memory. Typically, ECC memory maintains a memory system immun ...
. Codename: PHOENIX *1984: **A900 – Provides pipelined data path, 3MIPS, 500kFLOPS, ECC memory. Codename MAGIC *1986: **A400 – first single-board CPU including 4 serial lines; CPU fabricated by
VLSI Technology VLSI Technology, Inc., was an American company that designed and manufactured custom and semi-custom integrated circuits (ICs). The company was based in Silicon Valley, with headquarters at 1109 McKay Drive in San Jose. Along with LSI Logi ...
with their CMOS-40 process, 512 KB RAM on board. Codename Yellowstone *1992: **A990 – CPU implemented with two 208-pin CMOS
application-specific integrated circuit An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC ) is an integrated circuit (IC) chip customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use, such as a chip designed to run in a digital voice recorder or a high-efficienc ...
s (ASICs), 298 instructions, supports up to 512 MB of memory.


Legacy

The HP 2000 series was introduced in 1969, sold until June 1978, and was supported until 1985. Versions of many seminal BASIC games were written on, or ported to, the platform. Notable among these was Mike Mayfield's ''Star Trek'' of 1971. Its popularity made its dialect of BASIC a ''
lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...
'' and many BASIC listings were normally provided in that format; the People's Computer Company published their programs in HP 2000 format. HP systems were also used for teaching statistics, regression analysis, and economics.


21st century

The 2000 and 2100 designations have been reused: * ''HP 2000'' refers to a laptop computer * ''HP 2100'' refers to a LaserJet printer


Architecture


Memory organization

The HP 2100 was designed in an era when RAM in the form of magnetic core memory was falling from dollars to pennies per bit, while implementing
processor register A processor register is a quickly accessible location available to a computer's processor. Registers usually consist of a small amount of fast storage, although some registers have specific hardware functions, and may be read-only or write-onl ...
s using transistors or
small-scale integration An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components ...
remained very expensive. This favored designs with few registers and most storage in RAM, which in turn influenced the
instruction set architecture In computer science, an instruction set architecture (ISA) is an abstract model that generally defines how software controls the CPU in a computer or a family of computers. A device or program that executes instructions described by that ISA, ...
(ISA) to use a memory-memory or memory- accumulator design. This basic concept was first widely introduced in the seminal 12-bit PDP-8, which spawned many similar designs like the 2100. In the 2100, addresses are 15-bits long, allowing a total of 32k 16-bit words of memory (64 KB in modern terms). The smallest addressable unit of memory is a 16-bit word; it has no instructions that fetch a single 8-bit byte. The address is broken into two parts, the 5 most significant bits refer to one of 32 "pages", while the 10 least significant bits are the "displacement" pointing to a single word within the 1,024-word page. With the DMS system in the 21MX series, the upper 5 bits are instead used to select one of 32 registers, each of which holds 12 bits. The least significant 10 bits of the register are then placed in front of the original 10-bit displacement to produce a 20-bit address. The two most significant bits are used to implement
memory protection Memory protection is a way to control memory access rights on a computer, and is a part of most modern instruction set architectures and operating systems. The main purpose of memory protection is to prevent a process from accessing memory that h ...
. Most processing is handled in the two A and B registers, each 16 bits wide. The registers are also accessible at memory locations 0 and 1, respectively. This means that one can load a value into an accumulator using the normal register-save operation, for instance, LDA 1 will LoaD the value of the A register into memory location 1, thereby copying the value of A into B. In addition to the A and B registers, the CPU also includes the M register which holds the current memory address, and the T register which holds the value at that address. The P register is used as the
program counter The program counter (PC), commonly called the instruction pointer (IP) in Intel x86 and Itanium microprocessors, and sometimes called the instruction address register (IAR), the instruction counter, or just part of the instruction sequencer, ...
and automatically incremented with every instruction, but it is also used as the base address for some memory accesses (see below) that are calculated and placed in M. There are also two one-bit registers, Overflow and Extend, in modern terms, these bits would be considered the
status register A status register, flag register, or condition code register (CCR) is a collection of status Flag (computing), flag bits for a Central processing unit, processor. Examples of such registers include FLAGS register (computing), FLAGS register in the ...
. Additionally, there is the 16-bit S/D (Switch/Display) register, which is used for input and output from the front panel. Certain areas of memory are reserved for special purposes, like locations 0 and 1 used by the accumulators. Additional words in the lowest 64 locations in memory are used for
direct memory access Direct memory access (DMA) is a feature of computer systems that allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system computer memory, memory independently of the central processing unit (CPU). Without DMA, when the CPU is using programmed i ...
(DMA), and
vectored interrupt In computer science, a vectored interrupt is a processing technique in which the interrupting device directs the processor to the appropriate interrupt service routine. This is in contrast to a polled interrupt system, in which a single interrupt ...
s (see below). In later models, the highest 64 words of available memory are reserved for the
boot loader A bootloader, also spelled as boot loader or called bootstrap loader, is a computer program that is responsible for booting a computer and booting an operating system. If it also provides an interactive menu with multiple boot choices then it's o ...
.


Instructions

The original instruction set contained 68 or 70 instructions. *
Arithmetic Arithmetic is an elementary branch of mathematics that deals with numerical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In a wider sense, it also includes exponentiation, extraction of roots, and taking logarithms. ...
 – Add, Increment, And, Or,
Exclusive or Exclusive or, exclusive disjunction, exclusive alternation, logical non-equivalence, or logical inequality is a logical operator whose negation is the logical biconditional. With two inputs, XOR is true if and only if the inputs differ (on ...
* Program Control – Skip, Jump, Jump to
Subroutine In computer programming, a function (also procedure, method, subroutine, routine, or subprogram) is a callable unit of software logic that has a well-defined interface and behavior and can be invoked multiple times. Callable units provide a ...
* Shift and Rotate – Arithmetic and Logical Shifts, 16- and 17-bit Rotates * Optional – Multiply, Divide, 32-bit Load and Store, 32-bit Shifts All 68 instructions in the standard instruction set are 16 bits long. Most execute in one memory cycle, or 16 clock cycles, although indirect addressing and the ISZ can use up to 36 cycles.
Conditional branching In computer science, conditionals (that is, conditional statements, conditional expressions and conditional constructs) are programming language constructs that perform different computations or actions or return different values depending on t ...
is done with a conditional skip-over-one instruction, that one instruction normally being a
jump instruction A branch, jump or transfer is an instruction in a computer program that can cause a computer to begin executing a different instruction sequence and thus deviate from its default behavior of executing instructions in order. ''Branch'' (or ''br ...
. There is no
stack Stack may refer to: Places * Stack Island, an island game reserve in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia, in Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group * Blue Stack Mountains, in Co. Donegal, Ireland People * Stack (surname) (including a list of people ...
for subroutines; instead, the first memory location of the routine is reserved, and the return address written to that location by the JSB instruction. This means there is no internal support for re-entrant code; support for this has to be added via a user-implemented stack. There are three basic styles of instructions in the ISA; memory references, register references, and input/output. Certain models extended the ISA with add-on hardware, adding, for instance, floating point instructions or additional integer math and memory instructions, but these would fall into the same three basic categories. Memory instructions use four bits for the instruction, and two more for special flags, for a total of six bits of the 16-bit word. This leaves room for a 10-bit address in the instruction, stored in the least significant bits (LSBs), 0 to 9. If bit 15 is set, this indicates "indirect" addressing instead of "direct". In Direct mode, the address in the instruction is the address of the operand, while in Indirect mode, the address was a pointer to another memory location that contained the address of the operand. One could set bit 15 on that location as well, allowing the indirection to be of any required depth, ending when one of the locations has a 0 in bit 15. In addition to the Direct/Indirect mode, bit 10 of the instruction controls the Z/C flag. When set to 0, this means the address's upper five bits were zero while the lower 10 were the value in the instruction. This allows fast access to the Z(ero) page, the first 1,024 words of memory. When set to 1, the address is constructed by combining the 10 bits in the instruction to the top 5 bits of the P register, the C(urrent) page of memory, allowing memory to be accessed as 32 pages of 1024 words. Thus 2,048 words can be addressed at any given time; 1,024 of them within page zero and another 1,024 within the same page as the instruction performing the reference. Register instructions do not require an address, and thus have more free bits to work with. This is used to pack up four or eight instructions into a single memory word, which, used properly, can significantly speed operations. A total of 39 register operations are included, which are broken down into shift-and-rotate instructions, and the alter-and-skip instructions, indicated by bit 10, while bit 11 indicates whether this is being applied to register A or B. There are two general classes of register instructions, the shift-and-rotate group and the alter-and-skip. The first is used for basic bitwise manipulation of the values in a register and can have up to four instructions per word, although the two instructions in the middle are always a CLE,SLA/B (clear E, skip if A/B is zero). The second group has eight instructions that perform increments on the registers and then a conditional branch. These are normally used to implement loops.


I/O and interrupts

Input/Output instructions normally communicate through the accumulators. The instruction format starts with the bits "1000" in the most significant bits, followed by a single bit indicating which register to use (A=0, B=1), followed by a "1", the H/C flag bit, and then three bits for the instruction and the remaining six bits for the I/O device ID, or channel, allowing up to 64 devices. Some device numbers are used by the system itself. I/O is initiated by clearing the Flag bit with STF and then setting the C bit using STC. The hardware notices this pattern and begins its operation. When the operation is complete, the device sets the Flag bit and then the program loads the resulting data from the card using the LI* instruction, or sends it to the card with OT*. The actual data transfer is normally accomplished using the interrupt system. Memory locations 4 through 63 (decimal) hold the addresses of routines to jump to when an interrupt is fired, providing 60 interrupt levels. Location 4 through 7 are hard-wired to power failures, parity check errors, and in later models memory protection errors. Locations 8 and up are user-accessible interrupt vectors, mapped to an I/O channel and arranged in priority order. So if I/O device 13 produced an interrupt, the CPU jumps to the location in memory location 13, but only if it is not masked out by a higher-priority interrupt, 1 to 12. Another key feature of the 2100 series is a separate direct memory access controller that uses
cycle stealing In computing, traditionally cycle stealing is a method of accessing computer memory (RAM) or bus without interfering with the CPU. It is similar to direct memory access (DMA) for allowing I/O controllers to read or write RAM without CPU interven ...
to access memory when the CPU is not using it, during the times when it is performing internal calculations for instance. Using this feature, lengthy I/O processes can be completed while the CPU works on other problems. The system is set up by sending an instruction to the DMA controller using the I/O commands; the DMA controller is channel 6, and is initially sent an instruction containing the number of the I/O device that wants to use DMA, whether it is an input (write to memory from device) or output (read from memory to device), the starting location in memory for the data, and the number of words. This setup code is often installed into one of the interrupt vectors, automating the process. The DMS has separate tables for the CPU and DMA system, so DMA can load data into separate parts of extended memory.


Programming

HP supplied a three-pass assembler for the machine, using a column-delimited format. The first area, on the left of the line of code, is the label, which has to start in column 1 if present. Next comes the instruction mnemonic, then the parameters. The rest of the line can be used for a comment. The assembler allows basic mathematical expressions to be written directly, instead of using mnemonics, and also includes a number of pseudo-instructions like ORG to set the base address of the program. In addition to the assembler and associated
linker Linker or linkers may refer to: Computing * Linker (computing), a computer program that takes one or more object files generated by a compiler or generated by an assembler and links them with libraries, generating an executable program or shar ...
, the machines initially shipped with a FORTRAN 66
compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that Translator (computing), translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primaril ...
, the
operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...
, and I/O drivers. Over time, additional languages were added including BASIC,
ALGOL ALGOL (; short for "Algorithmic Language") is a family of imperative computer programming languages originally developed in 1958. ALGOL heavily influenced many other languages and was the standard method for algorithm description used by the ...
, FORTRAN IV and FORTRAN 77. HP ported implementations of AGL to the platform, which added commands to their BASIC to produce graphics on their graphics terminals and
plotter A plotter is a machine that produces vector graphics drawings. Plotters draw lines on paper using a pen, or in some applications, use a knife to cut a material like Polyvinyl chloride, vinyl or leather. In the latter case, they are sometimes k ...
s. A similar expansion in their FORTRAN was called GRAPHICS/1000.


Operating systems

The 2100s were normally used with the "Real Time Executive" operating system, or RTE for short. Several versions of RTE were released for the different versions of the machine; RTE-II for the 2114-2116, RTE-III for the 2100s, RTE-IV for the 21MX series, and RTE-A for the "A" series. The operating system shell, even in the late 1970s, was very primitive, with a single-level file system, File Manager, or FMGR. For example, the command to run a FORTRAN compiler would be as follows:Fortran 77 manual
/ref> ru, f77, &test,'test,%test meaning run the f77 program, using special characters to distinguish between source file, object, and executable files. The HP 1000 also was one of the few minicomputers that restricted file names to only five characters, rather than the six common at the time, which made porting and even writing programs a challenge. The later RTE-A for HP 1000 provided conventional directory structure with 16.4 file names, and made the ru command optional. TODS (Test Oriented Disk System) was developed by a technician at the HP board repair center to improve turn-around time in the center. It was used to load diagnostics from a central repository as opposed to loading individual paper tapes. TODS was also used on HP 2116 thru 21MX-F series for test systems for missiles such as Phoenix (9206B), Harpoon (9500D-354), Tomahawk, and many others. Early test sets were the 9500A, evolving to the 9500D, followed by the ATS (Automated Test System); specific HP test systems, such as the 9500D-A46 Minuteman launch component test set and ATS-E35 Peacekeeper/Minuteman launch component test set; the HP 8580/8542 Microwave ANA/ASA (Automatic Network Analyzer / Automated Spectrum Analyzer) ran on TODS; and the
TDRSS The U.S. Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS, pronounced "T-driss") is a network of American communications satellites (each called a tracking and data relay satellite, TDRS) and ground stations used by NASA for space communications ...
microwave transponder test set used TODS and was a very large system. There was also MTOS (Magnetic Tape Operating System) similar to TODS.


Descendants and variants

The HP 9810, 9820, and 9830 desktop computers use a slow, serialized TTL version of the 2116 CPU, although they did not ultimately use any of the operating system or application software, instead relying on user-friendly
ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...
-based
interpreters Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...
, such as
BASIC Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...
, which work when powered up, and integrated keyboards and displays rather than disks or standard terminals. In 1975, HP introduced the BPC (Binary Processing Chip), one of the world's first
16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...
microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...
s, using HP's NMOS-II process. The BPC was usually packaged in a ceramic hybrid module with the EMC and IOC chips, which added extended math and I/O instructions. The hybrid was developed as the heart of the new 9825 desktop computer. The later 9845 workstation added an MMU chip. These were the forerunners of
personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...
s and technical workstations. The major differences between the original 2116 architecture and the BPC microprocessor are a completely redesigned I/O structure, the removal of multiple levels of indirect addressing, and the provision of a stack register for subroutine call and return. The elimination of multiple indirection made an additional bit available in a memory word containing an indirect address, allowing the maximum memory capacity to be increased from 32K 16-bit words to 64K. The BPC also added an input allowing the "current page" to be relative to the location of the current instruction, rather than a power-of-two aligned page. The BPC was used in a wide range of HP computers, peripherals, and test equipment, until it was discontinued in the late 1980s.
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
manufactured an HP 2114B clone since 1973. The Polish clones were called MKJ-28 (prototype, 1973), SMC-3 (pilot production, 17 machines, 1975-1977), and PRS-4 (production in series over 150 machines, 1978-1987).
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
produced its own HP 1000 compatible clones, designated ADT4000 (4300, 4500, 4700, 4900). The vendors Aritma Prague (development), ZPA Čakovice, and ZPA Trutnov delivered more than 1,000 units between 1973 and 1990. Those computers served in power plants, including nuclear ones, other industry, military, at universities, etc., for their high reliability and real-time features. Operating systems were DOS/ADT (several versions) and Unix. The oldest hybrid ADT7000 (1974) was composed of digital ADT4000 and analog ADT3000 parts, but only the digital part was interesting for customers. ADT4316 (1976) had 16K words of ferrite core memory, the ADT4500 (1978) up to 4M words of semiconductor RAM. The ADT 4900 was designed as a
single-board computer A single-board computer (SBC) is a complete computer built on a single circuit board, with microprocessor(s), memory, input/output (I/O) and other features required of a functional computer. Single-board computers are commonly made as demonst ...
, but its mass production did not start.
Czechoslovak People's Army The Czechoslovak People's Army (, , ČSLA) was the armed forces of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1954 until 1989. From 1955 it was a member force of the Warsaw Pact. On 14 March 1990 ...
used ADT-based MOMI 1 and MOMI 2 mobile minicomputers, built into a container carried by the Tatra 148 truck.


Notes


References


Citations


Bibliography

* *The Hewlett Packard Company.
HP1000/RTE Home page.
' * * * *


External links


Simulator, with executable binaries and source in C1972 HP 2100 BrochureRack-mounted HP2100 system
Guilherme Bittencourt's site image showing from top to bottom, left: a 21MX E-series computer, 2100A computer, 2100 power supply (PS), 7905 disc drive, 13037 drive controller; right: paper tape reader, paper tape punch, 7900 disk drive, 7900 PS.
HP Computer Museum: 1000-L & A Series
*Computer History Museum
The HP WayHP 2116Year 1966
{{Authority control 16-bit computers Computer-related introductions in 1966 Computers using bit-slice designs
2100 In contemporary history, the third millennium is the current millennium in the ''Anno Domini'' or Common Era, under the Gregorian calendar. It began on 1 January 2001 ( MMI) and will end on 31 December 3000 ( MMM), spanning the 21st to 30th ...
Minicomputers