Honeywell Level 6 Explained

The Honeywell Level 6 was a line of 16-bit minicomputers, later upgraded to 32-bit, manufactured by Honeywell, Inc. from the mid 1970s.[1] Honeywell literature for Models 6/06, 6/34 and 6/36 say "Series 60 (Level 6)".[2] In 1979, the Level 6 was renamed the DPS 6, subsequently DPS 6 Plus and finally DPS 6000.

Description

As initially introduced the Level 6 consisted of three models: the 6/06, the 6/34, and the 6/36. The CPU featured a real-time clock, a ROM bootstrap loader and 64 interrupt levels. The architecture provided a variety of addressing modes and 18 programmer-visible registers. Rack-mount and tabletop versions were available.

These systems supported up to 64 K words (KW) of MOS memory with a cycle time of 650 nanoseconds.

All three models all featured the Megabus, which was a proprietary asynchronous bus architecture.

By 1978, the line had been extended downwards with the introduction of the 6/23 and 6/33, and upwards with the 6/43, 6/47, 6/53, and 6/57. The 6/23 did not support the Megabus. The 6/33 was the new entry-level upgradable model. The other four models supported up to 1 MW (Mega Words) of memory and 26 registers. A memory management unit (MMU), optional on the 6/43 and 6/47, and standard on the 6/53 and 6/57, supported memory segmentation and four protection rings. An optional Scientific Instruction Processor (SIP) added single- and double-precision hardware floating-point instructions. The 6/47 and 6/57 were enhanced versions of the 6/43 and 6/53 respectively which added a Commercial Instruction Processor (CIP) including 30 additional instructions for character-string manipulation and decimal arithmetic.[3] Among the final developments in the line were the high-end 32-bit 6/95-1, 6/98-1 and dual processor 6/95-2 and 6/98-2 models.[4]

In the 1980s, Honeywell's Datanet 8[5] line of communications processors, often used as front-end processors for DPS 8 mainframes, shared many hardware components with DPS 6. Another specialised derivative of the Level 6 was the Honeywell Page Printing System.[6]

In June 1986, following Honeywell Information Systems' merger with Bull, Honeywell Bull introduced the DPS 6 Plus line of symmetric multiprocessing 32-bit systems, models 410 and 420 (code named MRX - Medium Range eXtended) with up to four processors.[7] In 1987 they introduced the uniprocessor models 210 and 220 (code named LRX - Low Range eXtended), announced the HRX (High Range eXtended), and Computerworld reported that there were more than 50,000 DPS 6 systems installed worldwide.[8] The HRX was introduced as the DPS 6000 600 series. Recognising the commercial success of Unix, in 1988 Honeywell Bull introduced an 80386-based Unix co-processor for the DPS 6 Plus 400 series.

Software

The operating system for the Level 6 was GCOS 6:

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Honeywell, Inc.. Honeywell Level 6 Minicomputer Handbook. January 1976. July 26, 2014. Handbook76.
  2. Book: Honeywell Series 60 (Level 6): Model 6/06 Minicomputer . R60 Rev. 0.
  3. Book: Honeywell, Inc.. Honeywell Level 6 Minicomputer Systems Handbook. October 1978. July 26, 2014.
  4. News: Hardware Roundup Large and Medium-Scale Systems. December 20, 2014. Computerworld. October 6, 1986.
  5. News: Honeywell revamps net architecture. December 20, 2014. Computerworld. October 7, 1985.
  6. A Nonimpact Page Printing System. December 20, 2014. IEEE Computer Society. September 1975.
  7. News: Honeywell Bull's New Computers. July 29, 2014. The New York Times. June 10, 1987.
  8. News: Bozman. Jean S.. Honeywell Bull to ax U.S. plants, old systems. July 29, 2014. Computerworld. Sep 21, 1987.
  9. Web site: Honeywell GCOS 6 . FEB-patrimoine . July 29, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140627131435/http://www.feb-patrimoine.com/projet/gcos6/gcos6.htm . June 27, 2014 .
  10. News: HONEYWELL BULL BRINGS VIRTUAL MULTIPROCESSOR DPS 6s TO EUROPE . October 27, 2023 . Tech Monitor . June 3, 1987.
  11. Book: Communications SNA6 Systems Network Architecture . January 1987 . Honeywell . Software Release Bulletin . October 26, 2023.
  12. Book: The Pick System User Reference Manual . 1985 . 16 . October 27, 2023.