Fifty Years Ago .... from the pages of Computer Weekly
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Winter 1971 computing, compiled by TNMOC volunteer archivist, Brian Aldous.
A selection of stories from Computer Weekly from the Winter of 1971. The full archive of Computer Weekly can be seen at TNMOC, where there are special rolling displays of front pages from 25 and 40 years ago.
CERN orders Satellite One terminals:
A significant export order has been won by Computer Technology, which will supply five Satellite One terminals, Model 10, to CERN, the centre for nuclear research at Geneva. CERN will use the five identical systems as remote input/output stations to its Control Data 7600 computer system, due to be installed in the spring. Total value of the order is in the region of £100,000 and was won by Computer Technology’s Paris sales office. Each of the terminals will have 600 lpm line printers, and will be linked to the 7600 by 4,800 baud lines, forming part of a communications network which CERN is building round the 7600. (CW 2/12/71 p1)
IBM-based TOPS for BR freight:
Plans to install a computer-based freight information and control system at a cost of £10 million, have been announced by British Rail. The announcement confirms a report published exclusively in Computer Weekly earlier this year that British Rail intended to purchase a US freight management system, known as TOPS, which would be run on a dual IBM 370/165 configuration. TOPS - Total Operations Processing System - has been developed over a period of at least eight years by a US railway, the Southern Pacific Transportation Co. Marketing of TOPS and installation support is provided by an associate company, TOPS On-line Systems Inc, which will assist British Rail in modifying the system to cope with conditions in the UK. Heart of the system will be a computer installation comprising two 370/165 machines rented from IBM. One will support the system on a 24 - hours - a - day, seven - days - a - week basis, with the other stand-by machine being used for off-line processing unless, of course, it is required to assume the real time role. (CW 2/12/71 p1)
Enhancements to boost System 4:
Fulfilling its promise that System 4 would be kept up to date, ICL has announced a large number of hardware and software enhancements that will, in particular, improve the real time and communications performance of the range. A network of System 4 computers can now be constructed using a new Remote Processor Controller. It provides communication from one processor to one or more remote processors at speeds up to 1.5 Mbps or at speeds from 1,200 bps to 48 Kbps on the standard Post Office Datel services. The controller will handle ISO, ASCII and EBCDIC codes and may be used where the J Operating System is used. It is modular and consists of an interface control and scan module and from one to eight channel control modules. It provides for half-duplex working in synchronous mode and its maximum throughput is 200K bytes a second. (CW 2/12/71 p1)
UK to get network nodal centre:
The UK intends to install one of the nodal centres of the computer-to-computer communications network which is to be set up to link European research centres, but the projected European software information centre is likely to be at the Euratom laboratory at Ispra, near Milan, and not at the National Computing Centre’s Manchester base. The network project was agreed and the software information centre project was approved in principle at a two-day meeting of 19 European ministers of technology in Brussels at the beginning of last week. The meeting’s swift and cordial despatch of business concerning 10 projects augured well for these new attempts at European co-operation. The groundwork for the two computing projects, details of which were given last week, was largely done by the National Physical Laboratory in the case of the network, and by the NCC in the case of the information centre. And both these organisations will play a large part in the realisation of the projects. (CW 2/12/71 p)
Ferranti equipment for Brazilian Navy:
Under a £5 million contract the digital system division of Ferranti is to supply tactical action information and weapon control systems based on its FM 1600B computers to the Brazilian Navy. The Ferranti systems will be fitted to frigates now being built for Brazil by shipbuilders, Vosper Thorneycroft. Three systems will be fitted to each ship. In the design of the ships, as with the Royal Navy’s Type 21 class, Ferranti are acting as weapon system designers and engineers in association with the shipbuilders. In this role they will assist in co-ordinating and integrating weapon system equipment from a number of suppliers, in addition to providing the main control systems themselves. (CW 9/12/71 p7)
1904A to handle Concorde flight test processing:
All Concorde’s flight test processing is to be taken over by an ICL 1904A system, due to be delivered in a few weeks to Concorde’s home airfield at Fairford, Glos, which is the British Aircraft Corporation’s flight test centre. The 1904A will take over processing previously carried out at Fairford by a GEC 9030 system and at Filton by an IBM 360/65. The 1904A will be large enough to process several test flights simultaneously, though ideally each flight will be processed before the next takes place, so that the maximum information can be made available for the next flight. The system will be used for testing Concorde prototype and production models. Test data will be recorded in flight on king-size magnetic tape – 33 track tapes each 72,000 feet long which contain about 150 million characters or 21/2 hours of test data. The tape reader of the Tolana tape system used will have a special interface with two nine-spindle EDS 30 disc units. (CW 9/12/71 p16)
£3m dockyard system installed for Navy:
The four Royal Naval dockyards have taken delivery of their ICL computers which will be used to process the distribution and supply of stores and the operation of motor transport. At Chatham, Rosyth and Devonport, 1904A systems have been installed and an ICL 1902S was delivered to Portsmouth last week. The last remaining system of the £3 million order announced earlier in 1971 is an ICL 1906A, which will be delivered to Ensleigh, near Bath, as soon as a new building being prepared to house it, is ready, probably about the middle of 1972. This will be the new inventory control centre for the Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service. The new machines replace ICL punched card equipment and IBM 1401 computers and ancillary equipment at the dockyards. One of the most important advantages to be gained from the new installations will be the degree of centralisation that will be possible. Each dockyard computer will process distribution and supply for that dockyard, but they will all be linked on-line to the Ensleigh system through VDU and teletypewriter inquiry terminals and also off-line via magnetic tape encoders. The Ensleigh 1906A will hold a complete inventory of all naval stores and their location, and will among other things be able to process a request for an item from one dockyard by instructing another dockyard to supply it. (CW 30/12/71 p1)
Banks set up Access to win credit market:
The other big banks’ answer to Barclaycard credit is to be called Access, and will become operational at the end of 1972 or early 1973 based on two IBM 370/145 computer systems. Joint Credit Card Co Ltd was set up earlier this year by Lloyds, National Westminster and Midland Banks, and the consortium expects to have an initial three million customers. An important difference between Access and Barclaycard is that Access will be run with immediate credit control. Shops where a customer presents his card will be able to ring the Access centre, where the customer’s particulars will be taken over the telephone and keyed in on one of 70 visual display units. Knowledge of how the customer’s credit stands will thus be available to the shop. (CW 30/12/71 p1)
Texas introduce giant to Europe:
A super computer, said to be faster and considerably more powerful than an IBM 360/195 is to be installed in Amsterdam this year. The machine which is known as the ASC, Advanced Scientific Computer, has been developed by Texas Instruments for geophysical work, but if applied to a wider range of applications it could well have a substantial impact on the business of some of the larger European service bureaux. The existence of the ASC has been known about for more than 18 months, but it now appears that this powerful machine is soon to make its public debut. At least two ASCs are understood to have been manufactured and to be operating at TI’s headquarters in Dallas, Texas. A third is earmarked for installation in Amsterdam. The fact that TI has developed such a machine should not be interpreted as a move into the computer mainframe business. It is most unlikely that they have any intention of competing with IBM or the other major computer manufacturers as suppliers of computing systems. However, an eventual move into the international computer service business with the new machine cannot be ruled out. (CW 13/1/72 p1)
Honeywell plugs gaps in range:
In a bid to maintain and, if possible, increase its share of the market for medium-scale computers, currently estimated to be worth £75 million a year, Honeywell has announced the Series 2000, a range of four central processors, featuring enhanced communications and software facilities, and priced from £120,000 to more than £500,000. Important features of the announcement are the availability of a new communications processor, the Datanet 2000, which can be used in conjunction with the Series 2000 processors to handle up to 120 communication lines; and the OS/2000 operating system which supports the Datanet 2000 and provides facilities for database management. In introducing the Series 2000 Honeywell has done much the same sort of thing that ICL did with the introduction of the 1900S series, Burroughs with the 4700, and Univac with the 9700. It has moved to plug the gaps in its current product line in order to protect its customer base against competitive offerings, particularly those such as the 370/135 and 370/145 from IBM. In Honeywell’s case the four processors of the Series 2000 are compatible with and, in terms of performance slot into, the existing Series 200 product line. However, it is claimed that the new models give up to 75 per cent more power for the same purchase price, than comparable Series 200 configurations. The current Series 200 product line includes the 115/2, 1200, 1250, 1015, 2015, 3200 and 4200 computers. Now, with the introduction of the Series 2000 some important gaps in this range are closed. (CW 20/1/72 p1)
CAP file store in operation at NPL:
Independent access to a free standing file store from a network of computers is now a reality at the National Physical Laboratory, where Computer Analysts and Programmers have completed a £30,000 contract for initial development of the file store. At present there are nine computers and about 20 terminals in the network, ranging from one of the laboratory’s KDF9s and an ICL 4120, down through a Computer Technology Modular One three-processor installation to Digital PDP-8s and a Digico Micro-16, the network itself and the file store are each controlled by Honeywell 516s. The file store is at present in rather a primitive state, and one of its most pressing limitations is that it can only be accessed by one computer at a time. This can be rectified by the provision of a software packet switching interface on the network itself, matched by an interface on the file store. (CW 20/1/72 p1)
Grid 77 plan to aid Defence operations:
Four major computer centres as the focal points of a massive bureau grid, are the main feature of a plan being developed for the Ministry of Defence. A ministry team is at present carrying out a feasibility study of the grid which, if implemented, would take over all MoD data processing activities at present handled by about 60 separate computers. The report on the feasibility of Grid 77, as the scheme is known, will be produced in July, and if current plans are followed, hardware orders will be placed in the first half of next year and the first grid centre will become operational by the end of 1974 or early 1975. The full network with all four centres, a packet switching communications subsystem with maybe eight switching nodes and many hundreds of terminals, intelligent and otherwise, would come into existence probably in 1977. (CW 10/2/72 p1)
Pattern recognition system aids medical research:
Automatic detection of the critically sized asbestos particles that cause asbestosis, and examination of cervical smears for malignancy are among the important applications of the new 720R pattern recognition system from Image Analysing Computers (Imanco) of Royston, Herts. The 720R is the latest addition to the Quantimet 720 range of image analysing computers. It consists essentially of a set of hard-wired digital processor modules that can be combined in many ways to recognise and classify distinct objects in an image regardless of their orientation. There is a wide choice of source image input devices including optical scanning electron microscopes, cine and slide projectors, X-ray systems and electron probes, and photographs and objects can be scanned directly. The image or object is scanned electronically at the rate of 10.6 720-line frames a second and is converted into 650,000 picture points in a single scan. The digital equivalent of the grey value of the point is processed by the 720R to determine shapes, sizes and optical densities and to classify the objects in the image. This data can be further processed by an on-line desk-top or other computer, or it can be output onto computer compatible paper tape. (CW 10/2/72 p15)
Desktop Model 20 launched:
A desktop calculator introduced by Hewlett-Packard Ltd. can, in its expanded version, solve 36 simultaneous equations with 36 unknowns with its 429-register memory. Known as the Model 20, the calculator has 173 registers in its basic form and a new algebraic program language, ALCAL, has been developed for use with it. Input to the Model 20, which has algebraic notation, complete alphanumeric capability and plug-in read-only memory function blocks, is through a keyboard or by way of magnetic cards. It is also fitted with a 16-character digital display and a thermal printer for the production of output. Peripherals including a plotter, marked card reader, typewriter, digitiser paper tape reader and magnetic tape cassette unit can be attached to the new machine, which, say Hewlett-Packard, is suited for both mathematical and statistical applications and computations where the full potential of a digital computer would not be realised. The high-level algebraic calculator language, ALCAL, has been designed to be a natural man/machine interface which allows the writing of compact statements with minimum characters. The common mathematical symbols are used as well as branching, Boolean capability, and implied multiply. Operations are keyed as written and in the case of keyboard calculations results are displayed as numerical answers. A series of statements separated by semicolons, in lines of from 35 to 68 keystrokes, make up the program. (CW 17/2/72 p20)
Southampton linked with 11 other ports on MDS network:
Twelve ports in six countries are linked in a communications network set up by Atlantic Container Line Services in Southampton, to transmit manifest information for ships belonging to the Atlantic Container Line. The network links MDS 6403 and 1103 data recorders installed in ACLS Southampton offices and in all the foreign ports. Two 6403 data recorders are installed in ACLS’s headquarters office in Southampton, and similar units are also installed in Gothenburg, Rotterdam, Le Havre, New York and Halifax, Nova Scotia. ACLS maintains three separate shipping services which call weekly at Gothenburg, Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Le Havre, Southampton, Liverpool and Greenock and on the other side of the Atlantic at Halifax, New York, Baltimore and Portsmouth, Virginia. Manifest information has to be received and distributed at the ship’s destination port at least two working days before the arrival of the ship, otherwise heavy fines can be imposed, and in the past ACLS has found that air freight was too slow to send the documents for a container ship which travels at speeds up to 24 knots and takes only five days to cross the Atlantic from Liverpool to Halifax. A typical voyage, visiting Gothenburg, Liverpool, Halifax and New York would take 11 days. (CW 24/2/72 p17)