K-202
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Type | minicomputer |
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Release date | 1970s |
Units shipped | 30 |
K-202 was a
Approximately 30 units were claimed to be produced. All units shipped to M.B. Metals were returned for service. Due to friction resulting from competition with Elwro, a government-backed competitor, the production of K-202 was blocked and Karpiński thrown out of his company under the allegations of sabotage and embezzlement. Sometime later the K-202 had a successor, Mera 400 , hundreds of which were built.
Description
The K-202 was packaged in a metal box similar to other
The system was designed to be highly expandable. A minimal setup consisted of the
The expansion system was designed around two external buses, an 8-bit bus for input/output, and a 16-bit bus for memory and storage.
The K-202 was capable of running about one million operations per second; however, its instruction set was not well suited to the typical tasks, making practical performance somewhat lower. In order to reach this level of performance in a physically small machine, the design made use of integrated circuits, which were not available in the required density from Warsaw Pact countries. The required components were sourced from the west through the UK partners.
The K-202 claimed to be the first mini-computer which used the
- Multiprogramming
- Multiprocessing
- 16-bit word
- More than 90 instructions
- 7 universal registers
- 16 ways of determining argument
- Operating memory of up to 4 million words
- Direct addressing of up to 64k words
- Autonomic data exchange with operating memories at the speed of 16 Mbit/s [note: i.e. 1M words/s]
- Implementation method – TTL/MSI integrated circuits
- Memory cycle 0.7 μs
- Processing speed of 1 million operations/second
Notes
- ^ The location of the keyswitch moved at some point. The original manual shows the switch on the right face of the box, while the images here show it in the lower right of the front face.
References
Citations
- ^ Data-Loop
- ^ Modular 1971, p. cover.
- ^ Modular 1971, p. 1.
- ^ Modular 1971, p. 3.3.
- ^ Modular 1971, p. 3.4.
- ^ Modular 1971, p. 3.5.
- ^ Modular 1971, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Modular 1971, p. 3.
Bibliography
- K202 modular computer system (PDF). MB Metals. 1971.
- Kepa, Marek (7 August 2017). "The Computer Genius the Communists Couldn't Stand". Culture.pl.
Further reading
- Reklamówka z MTP Poznań 1971 (Polish)
- Brochure K-202 w j. angielskim z MTP Poznań 1971 in (English)
- "Maszyna cyfrowa K-202 – organizacja logiczna" – course materials (Polish)
- "Język operacyjny maszyny – JOM 1" – course materials (Polish)
- "Opis podstawowego języka symbolicznego M.C. K-202 – ASSK" – course materials (Polish)
- "System programowania minikomputera K-202 w języku Lisp 1.5. Instruction for programists, Poznań Instytut Automatyki Politechniki Poznańskiej 1974 (Polish)
- "60 lat polskich komputerów. Historia romantyczna" [1]
- MERA-400, K-202 successor