- Email: [email protected]
Vector display
Vector display The HP 13515 is 1020 x 1020 pixels graphics display system which includes the 1351A graphics generator. Screen sizes of 14, 17, 19 and 21 in are available. The generator contains 32 kbytes of memory, capable of generating 8 k vectors or cbaracters. The memory is organized into 64 files which are selectable in size, separately addressable and eraseable and which can be directed to flash selected information. Screen brightness is programmable, in 8 levels. Prices start at £5902. (Hewlett-
Packard Limited, King Street Lane, Winnersh, Wokingham, Bucks RGI I 5AR, UK. Tel: Reading 784774)
Fast mini Gould subsidiary SEL Computers have launched what they claim to be the fastest 32-bit mini on the market. The Concept 32187, dubbed inhouse 'Thunderbird', operates on a Whetstone benchmark at 4 million instructions a second. This compares with 1.8 for the new Prime 850, 1.4 for the SEL 3217780 and 1.2 for the DEC VAX
111780. With the 32187, SEL hope to regain the price/performance leadership they held about three years ago. Development of the new model started in August 1978 and cost $I .6 million. It uses 10 k ECL (emmiter coupled logic) and cache memory, despite the unsuitability of some present applications. The CPU has 18 boards and 3189 chips, with a cycle time of 75 ns and an internal 64-bit bus structure. It has a built-in floating-point processor and a Z80 based diagnostics processor. After diagnostics, the instruction set is loaded from floppy disc into the RAM control store. The computer is also smaller in size than previous models it can now fit into a jumbo jet's cargo area. Operating system is MPX/M, supporting FORTRAN 77, PASCAL,
308
COBOL, BASIC, and CORAL 66. Prices start at £I 40 000. Although main application area at present is simulation (both flight and power), SEL see CAD/CAM as a major growth area (growing at 50-60 per cent. A major OEM customer in the UK is Matra-Datavision of Bath, for their EUCLID system. (SEL Computers
Limited, Rafferty House, 2-4 Sutton Court Road, Sutton SM 1 4S Y, UK. Tel: 01-643 8020. Systems Engineering Laboratories Inc, 6901 WestSunrise Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FA 33313, USA. Tel: (305) 587-2900)
UK mini Quest have developed and built their own 16-bit computer. On trial inhouse for the past year, the 1600 is now being marketed by Quest subsidiary Computer Instrumentation Limited of Chandler's Ford. According to Quest's Tony Earl, the decision to build their own computer grew from a need for value for money, especially with the recent fluctuations of the pound. Work started on the 1600 in 1978 with a design team of 12-15 engineers and programmers. It was a natural development from Quest's microprocessor applications in peripherals such as Datapad. The result is a CPU on a single six-layer board containing 210 chips, based on AMD 2900 bit-slice architecture. A second 15 inch card contains up to 128 kbytes of MOS memory. The boards were, of course, designed on Quest's own PCB design system - with a little human intervention. The computer will replace the Data General Novas in Quest's turnkey systems and compares favourably in speed with the Nova 4X and DEC's PDP 11/23 (see Table). It has hardware multiply/divide and fast DMA,
Cost-effective computer from Quest so it is ideal for realtime applications - C I L predict most sales in process control. 64-bit precision floating point is in development. Quest have also developed their own operating system QUDOS, based on SAMOS from Datema, Sweden. It supports at present FORTRAN, PASCAL and BCPL-BASIC later. The 1600 has been developed by Quest Automation Research with funding from the UK National Research Development Corporation and the Department of Industry, and is being built at Quest's Ferndown factory. Quest have also announced proposals to raise £4.7 million through an equity subscription by the UK National Enterprise Board (due to merge with the NRDC into an organization called the British Technology Group) and intend soon to seek a full stock exchange listing. So what are Quest gomg to do next? A 32 bit development looks likely and, after moving into building design through the acquisition of Genesys, Quest are now looking to mechanical design. They already have their own 2D drafting package inhouse and will probably buy in a 3D modeller soon. They also seem seriously committed to the local area network approach of building up large multiuser systems. (Quest,
I0 Whittle Road, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 7SD, UK. Tel: (0202) 891518. Tx: 41358)
Comparative systems
Add, ~s
Multiply,/~s
Memory cycle time, ns
Price, 10 Mbyte disc
PDP 11/34 DG Nova4X
2 0.9
9 5.6
450 400
£13 140 £14586
Quest 1600
0.9
4.2
400
£ 9 850
computer-aided design
Packard Limited, King Street Lane, Winnersh, Wokingham, Bucks RGI I 5AR, UK. Tel: Reading 784774)
Fast mini Gould subsidiary SEL Computers have launched what they claim to be the fastest 32-bit mini on the market. The Concept 32187, dubbed inhouse 'Thunderbird', operates on a Whetstone benchmark at 4 million instructions a second. This compares with 1.8 for the new Prime 850, 1.4 for the SEL 3217780 and 1.2 for the DEC VAX
111780. With the 32187, SEL hope to regain the price/performance leadership they held about three years ago. Development of the new model started in August 1978 and cost $I .6 million. It uses 10 k ECL (emmiter coupled logic) and cache memory, despite the unsuitability of some present applications. The CPU has 18 boards and 3189 chips, with a cycle time of 75 ns and an internal 64-bit bus structure. It has a built-in floating-point processor and a Z80 based diagnostics processor. After diagnostics, the instruction set is loaded from floppy disc into the RAM control store. The computer is also smaller in size than previous models it can now fit into a jumbo jet's cargo area. Operating system is MPX/M, supporting FORTRAN 77, PASCAL,
308
COBOL, BASIC, and CORAL 66. Prices start at £I 40 000. Although main application area at present is simulation (both flight and power), SEL see CAD/CAM as a major growth area (growing at 50-60 per cent. A major OEM customer in the UK is Matra-Datavision of Bath, for their EUCLID system. (SEL Computers
Limited, Rafferty House, 2-4 Sutton Court Road, Sutton SM 1 4S Y, UK. Tel: 01-643 8020. Systems Engineering Laboratories Inc, 6901 WestSunrise Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FA 33313, USA. Tel: (305) 587-2900)
UK mini Quest have developed and built their own 16-bit computer. On trial inhouse for the past year, the 1600 is now being marketed by Quest subsidiary Computer Instrumentation Limited of Chandler's Ford. According to Quest's Tony Earl, the decision to build their own computer grew from a need for value for money, especially with the recent fluctuations of the pound. Work started on the 1600 in 1978 with a design team of 12-15 engineers and programmers. It was a natural development from Quest's microprocessor applications in peripherals such as Datapad. The result is a CPU on a single six-layer board containing 210 chips, based on AMD 2900 bit-slice architecture. A second 15 inch card contains up to 128 kbytes of MOS memory. The boards were, of course, designed on Quest's own PCB design system - with a little human intervention. The computer will replace the Data General Novas in Quest's turnkey systems and compares favourably in speed with the Nova 4X and DEC's PDP 11/23 (see Table). It has hardware multiply/divide and fast DMA,
Cost-effective computer from Quest so it is ideal for realtime applications - C I L predict most sales in process control. 64-bit precision floating point is in development. Quest have also developed their own operating system QUDOS, based on SAMOS from Datema, Sweden. It supports at present FORTRAN, PASCAL and BCPL-BASIC later. The 1600 has been developed by Quest Automation Research with funding from the UK National Research Development Corporation and the Department of Industry, and is being built at Quest's Ferndown factory. Quest have also announced proposals to raise £4.7 million through an equity subscription by the UK National Enterprise Board (due to merge with the NRDC into an organization called the British Technology Group) and intend soon to seek a full stock exchange listing. So what are Quest gomg to do next? A 32 bit development looks likely and, after moving into building design through the acquisition of Genesys, Quest are now looking to mechanical design. They already have their own 2D drafting package inhouse and will probably buy in a 3D modeller soon. They also seem seriously committed to the local area network approach of building up large multiuser systems. (Quest,
I0 Whittle Road, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 7SD, UK. Tel: (0202) 891518. Tx: 41358)
Comparative systems
Add, ~s
Multiply,/~s
Memory cycle time, ns
Price, 10 Mbyte disc
PDP 11/34 DG Nova4X
2 0.9
9 5.6
450 400
£13 140 £14586
Quest 1600
0.9
4.2
400
£ 9 850
computer-aided design