View source for Nord-100

{{Short description|16-bit microcomputer series}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2022}}
{{Primary sources|date=June 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox information appliance
| name = Nord-100
| title = 
| aka = 
| logo = 
| image = <!-- File name only. -->
| caption = 
| developer = [[Norsk Data]]
| manufacturer = [[Norsk Data]]
| family = Nord
| type = [[Minicomputer]]
| generation = 4
| release date = {{Start date and age|1979}}<!-- If known, add |mm|dd|df=yes -->
| retail availability = 
| lifespan = 1979–198?
| price = 
| discontinued = <!-- {{Start date and age|198?}} If known, add |mm|dd|df=yes -->
| units sold = 
| units shipped = 
| media = 
| os = [[Sintran III]]
| power = 
| soc = 
| cpu = [[16-bit computing|16-bit]]
| memory = 
| storage = 
| memory card = 
| display = 
| graphics = 
| sound = 
| input = 
| controllers = 
| camera = none
| touchpad = none
| connectivity = 
| currentfw = 
| platform = 
| service = 
| dimensions = 
| weight = 
| topgame = 
| compatibility= 
| predecessor = [[Nord-10]]
| successor = [[ND-500]]?
| related = 
| marketing_target = 
| website = {{URL|example.org}}
| language = 
}}
The '''Nord-100''' was a [[16-bit computing|16-bit]] [[minicomputer]] series made by [[Norsk Data]], introduced in 1979. It shipped with the [[Sintran III]] [[operating system]], and the architecture was based on, and backward compatible with, the [[Nord-10]] line.

The Nord-100 was originally named the Nord-10/M (''M'' for ''Micro'') as a [[Bit slicing|bit sliced]]<ref name="nd-100-functional-description">{{cite manual|url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/norskData/ND-100-FD-ND-06.015.02_ND-100_Functional_Description_1985.pdf|title=ND-100 Functional Description|id=ND.06.015.02|date=1985|publisher=[[Norsk Data]]}}</ref> OEM processor. The board was laid out, finished, and tested when they realized that the [[central processing unit]] (CPU) was far faster than the Nord-10/S. The result was that all the marketing material for the new NORD-10/M was discarded, the board was rechristened the Nord-100, and extensively advertised as the successor of the Nord-10 line. Later, in an effort to internationalize their line, the machine was renamed ''ND-100''.

==Performance==
{| class=wikitable
|+  Relative CPU performance
! !! ND-100 !! ND-100/CE !! ND-110 !! ND-110/CX !! ND-120/CX !! ND-125/CX 
|-
| Minimum number of microinstructions per instruction || 3{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} || 3 || 1{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} || 1 
|-
| Minimum microinstruction cycle time || 150ns{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} || 150ns || 100ns{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} || 100ns
|-
| [[Whetstone (benchmark)|Whetstone]] MWIPS || 0.5{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} || 0.5 || 0.3{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} || 0.3
|}

==CPU==
The ND-100 line used a custom processor, and like the [[PDP-11]] line, the CPU decided the name of the computer.

*Nord-100/CE, Commercial Extended, with decimal arithmetic instructions (The decimal instruction set was later renamed CX)
*ND-110, incrementally improved ND-100
*ND-110/CX, an ND-110 with decimal instructions
*ND-120/CX, full redesign

The ND-100 line was machine-instruction compatible with the Nord-10 line, except for some ''extended instructions'', all in supervisor mode, mostly used by the operating system. Like most processors of its time, the native bit grouping was [[octal]], despite the 16-bit word length.

The ND-100 series had a [[microcode]]d CPU, with [[Microcode#Writable control store|downloadable microcode]],<ref name="nd-100-functional-description" /> and was considered a [[complex instruction set computer]] (CISC) processor.

===ND-100===

The ND-100 was implemented using [[Integrated circuit#Medium-scale integration (MSI)|medium-scale integration]] (MSI) logic and bit-slice processors,<ref name="nd-100-functional-description" /> combining as many as the 16 boards employed in previous generations of Norsk Data computers into what was described as "the world's first high-performance single-board minicomputer".<ref name="electronicdesign19800118">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/electronic_design-1980_01_18/page/10/mode/1up | title=Powerful 16-bit mini comes on a single PC board | magazine=Electronic Design | date=18 January 1980 | access-date=1 July 2024 | pages=120C }}</ref>

The ND-100 was frequently sold together with a [[memory management unit]] card, the MMS.<ref name="nd-100-functional-description" /> The combined power use of these boards was 90 watts. The boards would usually occupy slots 2 and 3, for the CPU and MMS, respectively. Slot 1 was reserved for the Tracer, a hardware [[debugger]] system.

===ND-100/CE===
The CE stood for Commercial Extended. The processor was upgraded by replacing the microcode PROM.

It added instruction for decimal arithmetic and conversion, stack instructions, segment-change instructions used by the OS, a block move, test-and-set, and a read-without-cache instruction.

===ND-110===
The ND-110 was an incremental improvement over the ND-100.

The ND-110 combined the memory management system and CPU, formerly separate cards, on one board. The single CPU/MMS board was plugged into the memory management board slot, usually numbered 3. Power consumption was reduced from 90 watts to 60. 

The ND-110 made extensive use of [[Programmable Array Logic]] (PALs) and [[gate array]]s, with ''semi-custom'' [[Very Large Scale Integration]] (VLSI) chips. 

The ND-110 had three gate arrays:

* The Micro Instruction Controller, the MIC, also known as RMIC, for ''Rask MIC'' (''Speedy MIC''). It replaced three 74S482 sequencers and about 30 other ICs.
* The Arithmetical and Logical Unit gate array ([[Arithmetic logic unit|ALU]], also known as the ''BUFALU''). Replaced four [[AMD Am2900|Am2901]] bit-slice processors, and some added registers like the data bus register the general purpose register, and the internal register block.
* The Micro Address Controller (The MAC, also called RMAC, for ''Rask MAC'' (''Speedy MAC''). It implemented hardware address arithmetic, which in the ND-100 had been done in microcode.

Along with the macro-instruction cache memory also in the ND-100, the ND-110 had a unique implementation of cache memory on the micro-instruction level. The step termed ''mapping'' in the ND-100 was then avoided because the first micro-instruction word of a macro-instruction was written into the control store cache.

Unlike the ND-100 CPU, it handled synchronous interrupts as traps, similar to how it was handled by the ND-500.

The [[control store]] consisted of 4K x 4 bit 40ns ''[[static random-access memory]]'' (SRAM) chips. This meant that [[Microcode#Writable control store|the control store was writable]]. It was loaded at power up and Master Clear from two 32Kx8 bit ''erasable programmable read-only memory'' ([[EPROM]]) units.

The CPU clock and the bus arbitration network were implemented using 15ns PALs.

The main oscillator was a 39.3216&nbsp;MHz crystal oscillator.

===ND-110/CX===
This was the ND-110 with the CX microcode [[programmable read-only memory]] (PROM). The added instructions were the same as the /CE.{{citation needed | date=July 2024}}

The ND-110CX was introduced in 1986 to replace the earlier ND-100CX model as part of a broader renewal of the company's ND-100 products, this also introducing the ND-110 Compact and ND-110 Satellite models, with existing systems being upgradable to the new configurations.<ref name="ndnews198604_nd110">{{ cite magazine | url=http://norsk-data.com/library/libnews/NDNE-1986-04-EN.pdf | title=New ND-100 Series: Major Performance Improvements | magazine=ND News | date=April 1986 | access-date=6 July 2024 | pages=44–45 }}</ref> The ND-110CX CPU was enhanced from the earlier ND-100 processor, employing three new integrated circuits to reduce the device count from 365 to 228 and to permit the provision of the CPU on a single module. Cache memory was increased and power consumption reduced by 40 percent. ND-500 systems were also upgraded to use the ND-110CX, these employing the ND-100 architecture in an input/output processing role.<ref name="ndnews198604_nd110cx">{{ cite magazine | url=http://norsk-data.com/library/libnews/NDNE-1986-04-EN.pdf | title=News in brief | magazine=ND News | date=April 1986 | access-date=6 July 2024 | pages=46 }}</ref>

A variant of the ND-110CX known as the ND-110PCX was incorporated into the Butterfly-110 workstation. This workstation was based on an [[IBM Personal Computer AT|IBM PC/AT]]-compatible model made by Ericsson, employing an Intel 80286 and featuring 512&nbsp;KB of RAM, [[Enhanced Graphics Adapter|EGA]] display capabilities, floppy and hard drives,<ref name="butterfly110"/>{{rp|pages=1-12}} augmented with two expansion cards providing the ND-110PCX system.<ref name="butterfly110">{{ cite book | url=http://www.home.neab.net/ND-library/06-NORD-10%20ND-100%20ND-110%20ND-120%20CPU/ND-06.025.3%20EN%20BUTTERFLY-110%20Technical%20Reference%20Manual-Gandalf-OCR.pdf | title=Butterfly-110 Technical Reference Manual | publisher=Norsk Data AS | date=1987 | access-date=27 June 2024 }}</ref>{{rp|pages=2-5}} The ND-110PCX was equipped with 1&nbsp;MB of RAM, of which 128&nbsp;KB was "donated" to the PC to provide the more desirable 640&nbsp;KB configuration for DOS applications of the era.<ref name="butterfly110"/>{{rp|pages=2-16}} 

The ND-110PCX functionality was included to support applications such as the NOTIS range of software,<ref name="butterfly110"/>{{rp|pages=1-5}} and where the workstation was deployed with terminals accessing the system via its serial ports, the complete product was known as the Butterfly Teamstation.<ref name="butterfly110"/>{{rp|pages=1-6}} The PC system itself ran [[MS-DOS 3.1]] which, along with other programs, booted the SINTRAN III/VSX operating system on the ND-110PCX expansion.
<ref name="butterfly110"/>{{rp|pages=2-9}} The workstation itself could run DOS software concurrently with SINTRAN applications exported to terminal users.<ref name="butterfly110"/>{{rp|pages=1-6|quote=In this configuration, the Butterfly—110 User may run ND or IBM—PC-compatible application packages, while the other users in the cluster may run ND application packages.}}

Low-end versions of the Butterfly workstation were also marketed – models 10, 11 and 12 – these omitting the ND-110 functionality but providing [[Microsoft Windows]] and the Norsk Data Desk Top Manager software: a Windows-based version of the NOTIS-WP software able to read and write documents stored on Norsk Data systems or on the local disk.<ref name="ndnews198703_butterfly">{{ cite magazine | url=http://norsk-data.com/library/libnews/NDNE-1987-03-EN.pdf | title=ND-BUTTERFLY: A New Standard for Office Workstation Functionality | magazine=ND News | last1=Bakke | first1=Henrik | last2=Marman | first2=Øyvind | date=March 1987 | access-date=6 July 2024 | pages=50–51 }}</ref>

===ND-120/CX===
The ND-120 CPU was a complete reimplementation on an LSI chip (The so-called [[Delilah]] chip), and was originally intended to be sold as the ''ND-1000'', to reflect the technology change, which paralleled the change from the [[ND-500]] series to the [[ND-5000]] (codenamed [[Samson]]).

The Samson/Delilah naming scheme may reflect that around the time of the development of the ND-120, it was increasingly clear that the mixed 16/32-bit architecture was a bottleneck for the ND-500(0) architecture; Internal technical documentation used at Norsk Data for the Delilah chip has a drawing of a grinning woman with hair in her clenched fist.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite manual|url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/norskData/ND-100-RM-ND-06.014.02_ND-100_Reference_Manual_1984.pdf|title=ND-100 Reference Manual|id=ND.06.014.02 Revision A|date=1984|publisher=[[Norsk Data]]}}
* {{cite manual|url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/norskData/ND-100-IO-ND-06.016.01_NORD-100_Input_Output_System_1980.pdf|title=NORD-100 Input/Output System|id=ND.06.016.01|date=1980|publisher=[[Norsk Data]]}}

{{Norsk Data}}

[[Category:Norsk Data minicomputers]]
[[Category:16-bit computers]]