View source for 60-bit computing

{{Short description|Computer architecture bit width}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{N-bit|60|}}
[[File:CDC 6600.jc.jpg|thumb|60-bit CDC 6600 introduced in 1964]]

A 60-bit word is typically used for high-precision [[floating-point arithmetic|floating-point calculations]]; it can also store 10 [[six-bit character code|6-bit characters]].<ref>James L. Peterson, ''Computer Organization and Assembly Language Programming'', 2014, {{isbn|1483268594}}, p. 46</ref>

==Examples==
The only widely-used computers with 60-bit [[Word (data type)|words]] were produced by [[Control Data Corporation]] (CDC),<ref>Peterson; ''Concise Encyclopedia of Computer Science'', 2004 {{isbn|0470090952}}; Linda Null, Julia Lobur, ''Essentials of Computer Organization and Architecture'', 2014, {{isbn|1284033155}}; John Y. Hsu, ''Computer Architecture: Software Aspects, Coding, and Hardware'', 2017, {{isbn|1351836048}}</ref> including the [[CDC 6000]] series,<ref name="CDC6000hard"/> the [[CDC 7600]], and the [[CDC Cyber#Cyber 70 and 170 series|CDC Cyber 70 and 170 series]].<ref name="DesktopCyber"/> Though the addressable unit was the 60-bit word, instructions were either 15 or 30 bits.<ref name="CDC6000hard"/>

Early design documents for the [[IBM 7030 Stretch]] tentatively specified its word length as 60 bits; the final design used 64.<ref>Werner Buchholz, "Memory Word Length", [http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/IBM/Stretch/pdfs/06-08/102632289.pdf STRETCH Memo no. 40], July 31, 1956, archived at the [[Computer History Museum]]</ref>

==Emulator==
Museum examples of 60-bit CDC machines exist. There also exists an emulator for the series which will simulate the CDC 60-bit machines on commodity hardware and operating systems.<ref name="DesktopCyber"/>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="CDC6000hard">{{cite web|title=CDC 6000 Hardware|url=http://60bits.net/msu/mycomp/cdc6000/65hard.htm|id=Central Memory|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228092523/http://60bits.net/msu/mycomp/cdc6000/65hard.htm|archive-date=28 February 2019|df=dmy-all|website=60bits.net|access-date=28 February 2018}}</ref>
<ref name="DesktopCyber">{{cite web|title=Welcome to cray-cyber.org - home of Cray Research and CDC computer|id=Desktop Cyber|url=https://cray-cyber.org/systems/desktop-cyber/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228095346/https://cray-cyber.org/systems/desktop-cyber/|archive-date=28 February 2019|df=dmy-all|access-date=28 February 2018}}</ref>
}}

{{CPU technologies}}

[[Category:Data unit]]
[[Category:Control Data Corporation hardware]]