UNIVAC 490: Difference between revisions
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== Overview == | == Overview == | ||
[[File:UNIVAC 490.jpg|thumb|UNIVAC 490 at [[System Source Computer Museum]] (upgraded to a 494)]] | |||
At least 47 of these machines were made (serial numbers run from 101 to 147). Six were installed at [[NASA]] and played important roles in [[Project Gemini|Gemini]] and the [[Apollo program|Apollo]] missions. The U490 had complete control of most or all of the data readout screens in [[Houston Mission Control]]. The [[United States Air Force|USAF]] had two installed, as did [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]].<ref name="BossWilen" /> | At least 47 of these machines were made (serial numbers run from 101 to 147). Six were installed at [[NASA]] and played important roles in [[Project Gemini|Gemini]] and the [[Apollo program|Apollo]] missions. The U490 had complete control of most or all of the data readout screens in [[Houston Mission Control]]. The [[United States Air Force|USAF]] had two installed, as did [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]].<ref name="BossWilen" /> | ||
Airlines using the 490 Real-Time system included [[Eastern Air Lines|Eastern]] and [[Northwest Orient Airlines|Northwest Orient]] – principally [[airline]] reservations systems at [[Eastern Air Lines]] (1963) and [[British European Airways]] (BEACON – 1964).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Knight |first1=Michael |title=Beacon 1963-7: A System Design Ahead of its Time? |journal=Resurrection: The Journal of the Computer Conservation Society |date=Summer 2008 |issue=43 |pages=24–33 |url=https://www.computerconservationsociety.org/resurrection/pdfs/res43.pdf |access-date=8 May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Yardley |first1=Christopher B. |title=Also Innovators: How one computer salesman contributed to the digital revolution |date=30 April 2019 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=978-1-76046-299-4 |pages=24, 27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-DWbDwAAQBAJ |access-date=8 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Mayes |first1=Phil |title=Univac 494s at BEA |url=https://www.philmayes.com/work/univac-494s-at-bea/ |access-date=8 May 2024 |date=5 January 2016}}</ref> Other commercial installations of the 490 Real-Time included two at [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation|Westinghouse]], two at Hammermill Paper Company, and one each at [[Alcoa]], [[U.S. Steel]], [[Bethlehem Steel]] and [[General Motors]].<ref name="BossWilen">Univac 490 Failure Finding by L. D. Boss and J. G. Wilen, August 10, 1964.</ref> | Airlines using the 490 Real-Time system included [[Eastern Air Lines|Eastern]] and [[Northwest Orient Airlines|Northwest Orient]] – principally [[airline]] reservations systems at [[Eastern Air Lines]] (1963) and [[British European Airways]] (BEACON – 1964).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Knight |first1=Michael |title=Beacon 1963-7: A System Design Ahead of its Time? |journal=Resurrection: The Journal of the Computer Conservation Society |date=Summer 2008 |issue=43 |pages=24–33 |url=https://www.computerconservationsociety.org/resurrection/pdfs/res43.pdf |access-date=8 May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Yardley |first1=Christopher B. |title=Also Innovators: How one computer salesman contributed to the digital revolution |date=30 April 2019 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=978-1-76046-299-4 |pages=24, 27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-DWbDwAAQBAJ |access-date=8 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Mayes |first1=Phil |title=Univac 494s at BEA |url=https://www.philmayes.com/work/univac-494s-at-bea/ |access-date=8 May 2024 |date=5 January 2016}}</ref> Other commercial installations of the 490 Real-Time included two at [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation|Westinghouse]], two at Hammermill Paper Company, and one each at [[Alcoa]], [[U.S. Steel]], [[Bethlehem Steel]] and [[General Motors]].<ref name="BossWilen">Univac 490 Failure Finding by L. D. Boss and J. G. Wilen, August 10, 1964.</ref> | ||
The only surviving, nearly complete, original, civilian version of the 490 Real Time System is on display at the [[System Source Computer Museum]] in [[Hunt Valley, Maryland]]. It has six banks of memory cores. System Source also has a nearly complete set of original documentation for the machine, including original blueprints and troubleshooting data. This includes the Boss and Wilen document.<ref name="BossWilen" /> | The only surviving, nearly complete, original, civilian version of the 490 Real Time System is on display at the [[System Source Computer Museum]] in [[Hunt Valley, Maryland]]. It has six banks of memory cores. System Source also has a nearly complete set of original documentation for the machine, including original blueprints and troubleshooting data. This includes the Boss and Wilen troubleshooting document.<ref name="BossWilen" /> | ||
The standard [[operating system]] was REX (RealTime Exec), except at Eastern and B.E.A. where a custom operating system was developed for airline reservations (CONTORTS – CONTrol Of Real Time System). CONTORTS was the origin of Univac's subsequent RT operating systems for 494 (STARS) and later converted to the [[UNIVAC 1100/2200 series|1100 Series]] (RTOS). | The standard [[operating system]] was REX (RealTime Exec), except at Eastern and B.E.A. where a custom operating system was developed for airline reservations (CONTORTS – CONTrol Of Real Time System). CONTORTS was the origin of Univac's subsequent RT operating systems for 494 (STARS) and later converted to the [[UNIVAC 1100/2200 series|1100 Series]] (RTOS). | ||
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== Successor systems == | == Successor systems == | ||
In June 1965, UNIVAC launched a family of successor systems known as the UNIVAC 490 Modular Real Time Systems. This consisted of the UNIVAC 491, 492 and 494.<ref>{{cite book |title=Digital Computer Newsletter |date=1966 |publisher=Office of Naval Research, Mathematical Sciences Division. |page=24 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FdvcNdNZ8DgC&pg=PA24 |language=en}}</ref> The 494 was heavily used by NASA as part of the communications complex for the Apollo Mission.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Astronautics |first1=United States Congress House Committee on Science and |title=Hearings |date=1967 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KK2gfdE99tUC |access-date=8 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref> Other users include BEA, [[Iberia (airline)|Iberia Airlines]],<ref>{{cite book |title=International Commerce |date=1968 |publisher=Bureau of International Commerce |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REBHAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA18-PP4 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Garcia |first1=Pedro |title=On the origins of the Airline's Electronic Reservations Systems. A grandfather's story (Part I) |url=https://aeriaa.com/on-the-origins-of-the-airlines-electronic-reservations-systems-a-grandfathers-story-part-i/ |access-date=8 May 2024}}</ref> [[Scandinavian Airlines]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Computerworld |date=15 January 1979 |publisher=IDG Enterprise |page=84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HnXc-0VvV4YC |language=en}}</ref> and [[Lufthansa]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kuglin |first1=Bernd |last2=Thielmann |first2=Heinz |title=The Practical Real-Time Enterprise: Facts and Perspectives |date=15 August 2005 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-540-27367-7 |page=86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g8hSAlszg1sC |language=en}}</ref> | In June 1965, UNIVAC launched a family of successor systems known as the UNIVAC 490 Modular Real Time Systems. This consisted of the UNIVAC 491, 492 and 494.<ref>{{cite book |title=Digital Computer Newsletter |date=1966 |publisher=Office of Naval Research, Mathematical Sciences Division. |page=24 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FdvcNdNZ8DgC&pg=PA24 |language=en}}</ref> The 494 was heavily used by NASA as part of the communications complex for the Apollo Mission.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Astronautics |first1=United States Congress House Committee on Science and |title=Hearings |date=1967 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KK2gfdE99tUC |access-date=8 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref> Other users include [[British European Airways|BEA]], [[Iberia (airline)|Iberia Airlines]],<ref>{{cite book |title=International Commerce |date=1968 |publisher=Bureau of International Commerce |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REBHAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA18-PP4 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Garcia |first1=Pedro |title=On the origins of the Airline's Electronic Reservations Systems. A grandfather's story (Part I) |url=https://aeriaa.com/on-the-origins-of-the-airlines-electronic-reservations-systems-a-grandfathers-story-part-i/ |access-date=8 May 2024}}</ref> [[Scandinavian Airlines]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Computerworld |date=15 January 1979 |publisher=IDG Enterprise |page=84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HnXc-0VvV4YC |language=en}}</ref> and [[Lufthansa]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kuglin |first1=Bernd |last2=Thielmann |first2=Heinz |title=The Practical Real-Time Enterprise: Facts and Perspectives |date=15 August 2005 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-540-27367-7 |page=86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g8hSAlszg1sC |language=en}}</ref> | ||
Subsequently as UNIVAC decided to focus on the [[UNIVAC 1100/2200 series]] an option to run the 1110/80 in 494 mode was added. This emulator was implemented using microcode. | Subsequently as UNIVAC decided to focus on the [[UNIVAC 1100/2200 series]] an option to run the 1110/80 in 494 mode was added. This emulator was implemented using [[microcode]]. | ||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
Latest revision as of 04:40, 12 December 2025
The UNIVAC 490 was a UNIVAC computer with 16K or 32K words of magnetic-core memory. The words had 30 bits and the cycle time was 4.8 microseconds. It was a commercial derivative of the instruction set that had been developed for the AN/USQ-17 by Seymour Cray for the United States Navy. This was the last machine that Cray designed before leaving UNIVAC to join the early Control Data Corporation.
Univac Federal Systems would further develop this system into the AN/USQ-20 for the US Navy. That system was the heart of the Naval Tactical Data System which pioneered the use of shipboard computers for air defense. The military version went by a variety of names: UNIVAC 1232,[1] AN/USQ-20, MIL-1206 and CP642.
Overview
At least 47 of these machines were made (serial numbers run from 101 to 147). Six were installed at NASA and played important roles in Gemini and the Apollo missions. The U490 had complete control of most or all of the data readout screens in Houston Mission Control. The USAF had two installed, as did Lockheed.[2]
Airlines using the 490 Real-Time system included Eastern and Northwest Orient – principally airline reservations systems at Eastern Air Lines (1963) and British European Airways (BEACON – 1964).[3][4][5] Other commercial installations of the 490 Real-Time included two at Westinghouse, two at Hammermill Paper Company, and one each at Alcoa, U.S. Steel, Bethlehem Steel and General Motors.[2]
The only surviving, nearly complete, original, civilian version of the 490 Real Time System is on display at the System Source Computer Museum in Hunt Valley, Maryland. It has six banks of memory cores. System Source also has a nearly complete set of original documentation for the machine, including original blueprints and troubleshooting data. This includes the Boss and Wilen troubleshooting document.[2]
The standard operating system was REX (RealTime Exec), except at Eastern and B.E.A. where a custom operating system was developed for airline reservations (CONTORTS – CONTrol Of Real Time System). CONTORTS was the origin of Univac's subsequent RT operating systems for 494 (STARS) and later converted to the 1100 Series (RTOS).
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A circuit board from the UNIVAC 490 computer on display at the Deutsches Museum
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The Univac 1232 was a military version of the UNIVAC 490.
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A Univac 1232 at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Architecture
Template:Computer architecture bit widths The instruction word format:
- f – Function code designator (6 bits)
- j – Branch condition designator (3 bits)
- k – Operand-interpretation designator (3 bits)
- b – Operand address modification designator (3 bits)
- y – Operand designator (15 bits)
Numbers were represented in ones' complement.
The machine provided the programmer with the following registers:
- Seven B-registers (Address modifying index registers) 15 bits each
- One A-register or accumulator 30 bits
- One Q-register and auxiliary arithmetic register 30 bits
Hardware
The arithmetic unit used 13,819 transistors of various types and 37,543 diodes of various types.[6]
Successor systems
In June 1965, UNIVAC launched a family of successor systems known as the UNIVAC 490 Modular Real Time Systems. This consisted of the UNIVAC 491, 492 and 494.[7] The 494 was heavily used by NASA as part of the communications complex for the Apollo Mission.[8] Other users include BEA, Iberia Airlines,[9][10] Scandinavian Airlines[11] and Lufthansa.[12]
Subsequently as UNIVAC decided to focus on the UNIVAC 1100/2200 series an option to run the 1110/80 in 494 mode was added. This emulator was implemented using microcode.
See also
References
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- ↑ a b c Univac 490 Failure Finding by L. D. Boss and J. G. Wilen, August 10, 1964.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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- ↑ UNIVAC 490 Real-Time System
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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