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ICL Direct Machine Environment
Direct Machine Environment, abbreviated DME, was a mainframe environment for the ICL 2900 Series of computing systems from International Computers Limited that was developed in the 1970s. DME was more-or-less an ICL 1900 order code processor in microcode, which permitted the ICL 1900 series executive, operating systems and program libraries In computer science, a library is a collection of non-volatile resources used by computer programs, often for software development. These may include configuration data, documentation, help data, message templates, pre-written code and subr ... to operate on the ICL 2900 series. Reason for Development At this time most companies that had computers had large teams of programmers to write their applications. DME was developed so that customers could buy the new hardware and run their 1900 or System 4 applications whilst they developed their replacement VME applications. This led to some users running DME and VME alternately on the same ... [...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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ICL 2900 Series
The ICL 2900 Series was a range of mainframe computer systems announced by the British manufacturer ICL on 9 October 1974. The company had started development under the name "New Range" immediately on its formation in 1968. The range was not designed to be compatible with any previous machines produced by the company, nor for compatibility with any competitor's machines: rather, it was conceived as a ''synthetic option'', combining the best ideas available from a variety of sources. In marketing terms, the 2900 Series was superseded by Series 39 in the mid-1980s; however, Series 39 was essentially a new set of machines implementing the 2900 Series architecture, as were subsequent ICL machines branded "Trimetra". Origins When ICL was formed in 1968 as a result of the merger of International Computers and Tabulators (ICT) with English Electric, Leo Marconi and Elliott Automation, the company considered several options for its future product line. These included enhancements ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Computers Limited
International Computers Limited (ICL) was a British computer hardware, computer software and computer services company that operated from 1968 until 2002. It was formed through a merger of International Computers and Tabulators (ICT), English Electric Computers (EEC) and Elliott Automation in 1968. The company's most successful product line was the ICL 2900 Series range of mainframe computers. In later years, ICL diversified its product line but the bulk of its profits always came from its mainframe customers. New ventures included marketing a range of powerful IBM clones made by Fujitsu, various minicomputer and personal computer ranges and (more successfully) a range of retail point-of-sale equipment and back-office software. Although it had significant sales overseas, ICL's mainframe business was dominated by large contracts from the UK public sector, including Post Office Ltd, the Inland Revenue, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Defence. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ICT 1900 Series
ICT 1900 was a family of mainframe computers released by International Computers and Tabulators (ICT) and later International Computers Limited (ICL) during the 1960s and 1970s. The 1900 series was notable for being one of the few non-American competitors to the IBM System/360, enjoying significant success in the European and British Commonwealth markets. Origins In early 1963, ICT was engaged in negotiations to buy the computer business of Ferranti. In order to sweeten the deal, Ferranti demonstrated to ICT the Ferranti-Packard 6000 (FP6000) machine, which had been developed by its Canadian subsidiary Ferranti-Packard, to a design known as Harriac that had been initiated in Ferranti by Harry Johnson and fleshed out by Stanley Gill and John Iliffe. The FP6000 was an advanced design, notably including hardware support for multiprogramming. ICT considered using the FP6000 as their medium-sized processor in the 1965–1968 timeframe, replacing the ICT 1302. Another pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microcode
In processor design, microcode (μcode) is a technique that interposes a layer of computer organization between the central processing unit (CPU) hardware and the programmer-visible instruction set architecture of a computer. Microcode is a layer of hardware-level instructions that implement higher-level machine code instructions or internal finite-state machine sequencing in many digital processing elements. Microcode is used in general-purpose central processing units, although in current desktop CPUs, it is only a fallback path for cases that the faster hardwired control unit cannot handle. Microcode typically resides in special high-speed memory and translates machine instructions, state machine data, or other input into sequences of detailed circuit-level operations. It separates the machine instructions from the underlying electronics so that instructions can be designed and altered more freely. It also facilitates the building of complex multi-step instructions, whil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operating System
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also include accounting software for cost allocation of Scheduling (computing), processor time, mass storage, printing, and other resources. For hardware functions such as input and output and memory allocation, the operating system acts as an intermediary between programs and the computer hardware, although the application code is usually executed directly by the hardware and frequently makes system calls to an OS function or is interrupted by it. Operating systems are found on many devices that contain a computer from cellular phones and video game consoles to web servers and supercomputers. The dominant general-purpose personal computer operating system is Microsoft Windows with a market share of aroun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Library (computer Science)
In computer science, a library is a collection of non-volatile resources used by computer programs, often for software development. These may include configuration data, documentation, help data, message templates, pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications. In IBM's OS/360 and its successors they are referred to as partitioned data sets. A library is also a collection of implementations of behavior, written in terms of a language, that has a well-defined interface by which the behavior is invoked. For instance, people who want to write a higher-level program can use a library to make system calls instead of implementing those system calls over and over again. In addition, the behavior is provided for reuse by multiple independent programs. A program invokes the library-provided behavior via a mechanism of the language. For example, in a simple imperative language such as C, the behavior in a library is invoked by using C's normal func ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ICL VME
VME (''Virtual Machine Environment'') is a mainframe operating system developed by the UK company International Computers Limited (ICL, now part of the Fujitsu group). Originally developed in the 1970s (as VME/B, later VME 2900) to drive ICL's then new 2900 Series mainframes, the operating system is now known as OpenVME incorporating a Unix subsystem, and runs on ICL Series 39 and Trimetra mainframe computers, as well as industry-standard x64 servers. Origins The development program for the New Range system started on the merger of International Computers and Tabulators (ICT) and English Electric Computers in 1968. One of the fundamental decisions was that it would feature a new operating system. A number of different feasibility and design studies were carried out within ICL, the three most notable being: * VME/B (originally System B), targeted at large processors such as the 2970/2980 and developed in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire and West Gorton, Manchester * VME/K (orig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Electric System 4
The English Electric (later ICL) System 4 was a mainframe computer announced in 1965. It was derived from the RCA Spectra 70 range, itself a variant of the IBM System 360 architecture. The models in the range included the System 4-10 (cancelled), 4-30 (1967), 4-50 (1967, practically the same as the RCA 70/45), 4-70 (1968, designed by English Electric) and 4-75. ICL documentation also mentions a model 4-40. This was a slugged version of the 4-50, introduced when the 4-30 (intended to be the volume seller) was found to be underpowered and had to be withdrawn. The 4-10 was introduced as a satellite computer, but demand was very low, so it was withdrawn. Only the 4-50 and 4-70, and their successors, the 4-52 and 4-72, sold in any numbers. A slugged 4-72 (the 4-62) was introduced for sale in Eastern Europe. The System 4-50 and 4-70 were intended for real-time applications, for they had four processor states, each with its own set of general-purpose registers A processor registe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ICL Series 39
The ICL Series 39 was a range of mainframe and minicomputer computer systems released by the UK manufacturer ICL in 1985. The original Series 39 introduced the "S3L" (whose corrupt pronunciation resulted in the name "Estriel") processors and microcodes, and a nodal architecture, which is a form of Non-Uniform Memory Access . Origins The Series 39 range was based upon the New Range concept and the VME operating system from the company's ICL 2900 line, and was introduced as two ranges: * Series 39 "Estriel" systems (Series 39 Level 40 and above, including multinodes), which replaced previous mid-range and large processors from the 2900 range, and needed a full computer room environment * Series 39 DM1 systems (up to Series 39 Level 30), which were intended to replace the smaller processors such as the ICT1901/2, the ICL2903/4 and the ME29 ranges. These brought mainframe class operating system facilities into the office environment, a first for ICL Design The original Series ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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