PDP-9
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The PDP-9, the fourth of the five 18-bit minicomputers produced by Digital Equipment Corporation, was introduced in 1966.[1]Template:RP A total of 445 PDP-9 systems were produced,[2] of which 40 were the compact, low-cost PDP-9/L units.[3]
History
The 18-bit PDP systems preceding the PDP-9 are the PDP-1, PDP-4 and PDP-7. Its successor is the PDP-15.
Hardware
The PDP-9, which is "two metres wide and about 75cm deep,"[4] is approximately twice the speed of the PDP-7. It was built using discrete transistors, and has an optional integrated vector graphics terminal. The PDP-9 has a memory cycle time of 1 microsecond, and weighs about Template:Convert.[5]Template:Rp The PDP-9/L has a memory cycle time of 1.5 microseconds, and weighs about Template:Convert.[6]Template:Rp
It is DEC's first microprogrammed machine.[7][5]Template:Rp
A typical configuration included:[2]
- 300 cps paper tape reader
- 50 cps paper tape punch
- DECtape for operating system and user files
- 10 cps console teleprinter, Model 33 KSR
Among the improvements of the PDP-9 over its PDP-7 predecessor are:
- the addition of status flags for reader and punch errors, thus providing added flexibility and for error detection[8]
- an entirely new design for multi-level interrupts, called the Automatic Priority Interrupt (API) option
- a more advanced form of memory management[9]
User/university-based research projects for extending the PDP-9 include:
- a hardware capability for floating-point arithmetic, at a time when machines in this price range used software for floating-point arithmetic[10]
- a PDP-9 controlled parallel computer[11]
Software
The system came with an OS that functions as single-user keyboard monitor, called ADSS (ADvanced Software System).[12] DECsys provided an interactive, single-user, program development environment for Fortran and assembly language programs.[13]
Both FORTRAN II[2] and FORTRAN IV[14] were implemented for the PDP-9.
MUMPS was originally developed on the PDP-7, and ran on several PDP-9s at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Sales
The PDP-7, of which 120 were sold,[1]Template:Rp was described as "highly successful".[2] The PDP-9 sold 445 units. Both have submodels, the PDP-7A[NB 1] and the PDP-9/L,[NB 2] neither of which accounted for a substantial percentage of sales.[1][NB 3]
See also
- Programmed Data Processor
- PDP-15 - successor to the PDP-9
Notes
References
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