Xerox 500 series
The Xerox 500 series is a discontinued line of computers from
Although orders for the Xerox 530 were deemed "encouraging" as of January 1974,
Binary integer arithmetic is standard on all models;
16-bit systems (Xerox 530)
The Xerox 530 system is a
The 530 supports memory sizes of 8 K to 64 K 16-bit words (16 KB to 128 KB) with a cycle time of 800 ns.[6] The memory protection feature protects the foreground (real-time) program from the background tasks.
When IBM discontinued the 16-bit IBM 1130, Xerox began marketing the 530 as a possible successor, including mention of Fortan IV, COBOL and RPG.[7][6] Both the 1130 and Xerox 530 had Indirect addressing and 8-bit relative addressing.[8]
On the IBM 1130/1800
32-bit systems (Xerox 550, 560)
The Xerox 550 and Xerox 560 systems are
applications and intended as an upgrade for the Sigma 5. The 560 was aimed at the general-purpose Sigma 6, 7, and 9 upgrade market.The systems are microprogrammed and constructed using large-scale and medium-scale integration (LSI and MSI) and magnetic-core memory.[11] They feature independent Input/Output Processors (IOP), and "Direct Control" instructions for direct input/output of a single word via a parallel interface[9]
The 550 and 560 support 16 K to 256 K 32-bit words (64 KB to 1 MB) .[12] Main memory cycle time was 645 ns. Virtual memory and memory protection are standard features.
A 590 system was designed but never built.[2]
Operating systems
The 530 can run either the Basic Control Monitor (BCM) or the Real-time Batch Monitor (RBM) operating systems.[9]
RBM supports a combination of real-time and general-purpose batch jobs running at the same time.[13] An example of this could be RJE to a larger machine while running local computing.[14]
The 550 runs the Control Program for Real-Time (CP-R) operating system,[15] or the CP-V operating system.
Much as IBM's Job Control Language statements begin with //
(Slash-Slash), Xerox uses an exclamation point (!
), which it called "Bang."[16]
References
- ^ "Xerox 530 orders "encouraging"". Democrat and Chronicle. 22 January 1974. p. 32.
- ^ a b Calkins, Keith. "The COMPUTER That Will Not Die: The SDS SIGMA 7". Retrieved Sep 23, 2014.
- ^ Xerox Corporation (1974). The Xerox 550 Computer Reference Manual (PDF). Retrieved Sep 24, 2014.
- ^ "Xerox Announces a Computer for Companies with more Data than Money". Computerworld (Ad). Vol. VII, no. 6. Feb 7, 1973. p. 23. Retrieved Sep 23, 2014.
- ^ "New Xerox Mini-Computer". The New York Times. January 29, 1973. p. 39.
- ^ a b Rank Xerox. "Rank Xerox 530 Computer" (PDF). computerhistory.org. Retrieved Sep 23, 2014.
- ^ "Xerox 530 to get COBOL". ComputerWorld. Vol. VII, no. 52. December 26, 1973. p. 13.
- ^ "Real Machines with 16, 32, and 30-bit words".
- ^ a b c Xerox Corporation (Sep 1973). Xerox 530 Computer Reference Manual (PDF). Retrieved Sep 22, 2014.
- ^ Xerox Corporation. "XEROX OFFERS TWO MODELS OF A NEW COMPUTER LINE" (PDF). bitsavers.org. Retrieved Sep 23, 2014.
- ^ Xerox Corporation (Jan 1974). Xerox 560 Computer Reference Manual (PDF). Retrieved Sep 22, 2014.
- ^ Xerox Corporation. The Xerox 560 Computer (PDF). Retrieved Sep 22, 2014.
- ^ "Rank/Xerox 530 Computer, 1973 ca" (PDF). ComputerHistory.org.
- ^ "Xerox Program Availability List" (PDF). Bitsavers.org.
SIGMA 3 TO 1108 REMOTE JOB ENTRY
- ^ Xerox Corporation. The Xerox 550 Computer (PDF). Retrieved Sep 22, 2014.
- ^ "Operating systems list". Archived from the original on 7 April 2022.