Type Minicomputer Operating system | Units sold 270 | |
Discontinued 1986; 31 years ago (1986) CPU TTL 7400 series gate logic Memory 8 kB RAM, 20 bits word Magnetic-core memory | ||
History
The Nicolet 1080 computer was the successor of the Nicolet 1070/PDP-8 computer, released in 1971 by Nicolet Instrument Corporation, which operated between 1966 and 1992 in Madison, Wisconsin. As a part of a data processing mainframe, model 1080 allowed NMR spectrum analysis by the use of FFT algorithms. The processing of big amounts of data at a fast rate (it was possible to compute the FFT of 32000 points in just 100 seconds) was possible thanks to the uncommon 20 bits architecture, which was a significant performance advantage over other systems based on 8 and 16 bits architectures.
Contents
Architecture
The computer was formed by dozens of integrated circuits containing simple logic gates (AND, NAND, OR, NOT, etc.), transistors, diodes, and passive electronic components like resistors, capacitors and coils. The Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) had a sample rate of 100 kHz, allowing the measure of 50 kHz signals (see Nyquist frequency). Beside this, digitalized signals could be averaged "by hardware", which increased signal to noise ratio (SNR) improving processed data quality. Computer clock frequency was 2 MHz, and some complex functions like multiplication and division between 20 and 40 bits registers could be performed in one instruction cycle thanks to the complexity of the arithmetic module, in a similar way to the more recent ALUs.
Memory
The Nicolet 1080's main memory was a magnetic-core memory, with 1 to 10 modules with 4K 20-bit words per module, for a maximum of 40K words. This would be, in modern terms, between 10 and 100 kilobytes of memory (8 bits/byte).
Peripheral
The computer included an ASR-33 Teletype, used for entering or modifiyng programs, as well as reading memory contents. Two RS-232 serial ports allowed, on the other hand, the use of devices such as dot matrix printers. Although the second serial port (RS232-B) didn't have assigned functions on the original system, it could be used to achieve connectivity with other computers. The 1080 could also support hard drives, such as the Diablo Series 30, and NIC 298 8" floppy disk drive. The default media for program loading was, however, paper tape. Standard system and FFT programs were included on paper tape format.
Front panel
The front panel had three rows of red LEDs, displaying the contents of the accumulator, instruction register, and program counter (PC). A group of twenty switches and buttons were used to read or modify any selected register.