General Electric |
1963-1968
Le GE-400 couvre une famille d'ordinateurs de moyenne grosse puissance développée dans le GE Computer Department. | The GE-400 series is a family of medium large computers developed in the Phoenix GE Computer Department |
Introduction Les GE-400 furent le premier
système rigoureusement planifié par General Electric au début des
années 1960 pour une introduction dans le marché des ordinateurs
universels. Développé sous le nom de code Mosaic, il devait
comprendre trois modèles (dont le plus puissant sera abandonné au
profit du GE-600). Le succès du GE-400 fut relativement plus important en Europe qu'aux États-Unis. On trouvera sur une page séparée une documentation succincte sur quelque clients.
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Introduction The GE-400 was the first system designed by
General Electric that was thoroughly planned for the general purpose
market in the early 1960s. Developed under the code name Mosaic
It should have included three models (the upper model being eventually
cancelled and replaced by the GE-600). A list of some GE-400 customers is available here. (French) Architecture The GE-400 used 24-bits words storing binary words, 4 BCD characters or 4 decimal digits (signed). Addresses are binary. Instructions are 24-bits length. Instructions have one or two addresses. There was 6 index-registers (located in lower main memory). In addition to indexation, GE-400 had indirect addressing. The architecture assumes programs to be self modifiable. The GE-400 architecture addresses a 96-bits relocatable Accumulator (sometimes named Flying accumulator) and located in main memory. A sophisticated EDT instruction ease the formatting of data with a format definition located in the relocatable Accumulator. The CPI I/O Channels provided a capability of data chaining known as scatter/gather facility that reduce the amount of memory to memory Moves. Hardware Processor The GE-400 architecture was using a 24-bits word, and BCD 6-bits characters. No SMP (multiprocessor) provision exist or were planned in the architecture and its implementation. The processor was available as two versions: GE-425 and GE-435, differing by the cycle time and addressing capabilities. A floating-point hardware option was available for the few scientific users. GE-400 also featured an IBM 1401 emulator. This emulator was a combination of hardware and software:
GE tapes had difficulties to process IBM tapes due to their lower tolerance to media defects. Overall, the penetration of the 1401 park by GE-400 was significantly inferior to that of the cheaper Honeywell H-200. A DAP Direct Access Package hardware feature was made available in 1967 and was required for DAPS operating system operation. It included:
The main memory was using magnetic core technology and had a size reaching 128K words (equivalent to 524288 characters). The models that have been marketed were the following:
Peripherals The input/output devices (unit record
equipment, tapes and discs) were connected to the central memory through
standards CPI (Common Peripheral Interface) 6-bits wide parallel
channels. The same peripheral were used on GE-400 and the GE-600 product
lines. Data communications applications, mainly remote batch, were supported through a Datanet-30 front-end processor.
Bull-General Electric developed a few specials for the GE-400, noticeably the connection of RCA-developed magnetic card based mass memory system , sold by Bull as the Bullrac. It could be also remember that the Compagnie des Machines Bull LP300 a reader/punch at 300 cards per minute (the fastest card punch ever built) had been selected as a card device by GE even before the GE-Bull merger.
Software Operating Systems MTPS Magnetic Tape Programming System
TPS was rarely used in Europe, where the majority of customers us the batch DPS system. DPS Disc Programming System DPS was functionally equivalent to TPS, but had the advantage of reducing the opertaing constraints of an all-tape system. One of the original goal of DPS
was to support GE-400 disc only systems, without tapes. DAPS Direct Access Programming System DAPS is the most advanced software system running on GE-400. The goal of that operating system was to provide , in addition to the processing of sequential files on tapes, discs the processing of "random access" files on discs and mass storage. DAPS require the DAP hardware feature. Targeting the support of relatively slow
data communication lines required an efficient multiprogramming feature.
Multiprogramming was well assisted by the asynchronous
operation of the CPI channels and their system of interrupts. DAPS supported up to 4 (four) simultaneously executing independent programs, each having the maximum size of 32K words, plus card-to-disc program-spooling and disc-to-printer and remote-printer spooling of results. The address space of programs was limited to the allocated quota of real memory. Complex business programs relied on the, then familiar, overlay mechanism for programs and temporary files for data. Telecommunications operation was generally using a resident application programs either completing all the process or communicating with other programs through disc files. DAPS was probably too ambitious for the GE-400 architecture and hardware. In Europe, its users were the Police administration in Paris and Oslo, Michelin, the insurances company SAMDA and the Austrian ministry of Finances. OLBS On Line Banking System In 1966-1968, Bull-General Electric
developed in collaboration with ACT i a transactional subsystem on the
GE-400. It was based on an analysis of the banking industry needs for
on-line processing of customers accounts. Languages Programming Languages available for DAPS include:
GE-400 DAPS applications were able to use an extensive library of service subroutines, including a math package and a comprehensive system of checkpoint and restart. Conclusion The GE-400 encounters a limited success in United States, where General Electric customers were more oriented to acquire more powerful GE-600 line. It was very successful in many European countries, where it was actively marketed by Bull-General Electric, GE Information Systems Italia and GEIS, Ltd United Kingdom. The park was several hundreds of systems. The buy-out by Honeywell of GE computer assets in 1970 stopped the distribution of GE-400, the developments of which having already suspended in Phoenix since 1967. The replacement was initially the Honeywell 3200, but the GE-400 was either evaporating or was converted into the Honeywell Level-66 product line, heir of the GE-600. Conversions were relatively painless because the great majority of applications were written in COBOL and that GCO66 (alias GCOSIII) did include peculiar functions of GE-400 (such as IDS). No emulators of GE-400 was ever developed on Level-66 or other members of Series60.
Revision : 06 décembre 2005 .
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BIBLIOGRAPHIE:
Les compatibles GE-400 BGE |
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
King of Seven Dwarves, book by Omer Oldfield IEEE Computer Society Press ISBN 0-8186-7383-4 |
centre de calcul General Electric