Electrologica X8
Encyclopedia
The Electrologica X8 was a digital computer designed as a successor to the Electrologica X1
and manufactured in the Netherlands by Electrologica NV from 1965 onwards.
Like its predecessor, the X1, the X8 system included core memory, 27-bit word length with 15-bit addressing, and drum memory
as secondary storage (not as primary storage). The X8 included an independent peripheral processor called CHARON (Centraal Hulporgaan Autonome Regeling Overdracht Nevenapparatuur, or Central Coprocessor Autonomous Regulation Transfer Peripherals) which handled I/O. Other features included up to 48 input/output channels designed for low speed devices such as paper tape, plotters and printers. Unlike the X1, the arithmetic unit of the X8 included floating point arithmetic, with a 40-bit mantissa and 11-bit exponent.
The system is most notable as the target processor for Edsgar Dijkstra's implementation of the THE multiprogramming system
.
Electrologica X1
The Electrologica X1 was a digital computer designed and manufactured in the Netherlands from 1958 to 1965. About thirty were produced and sold in the Netherlands and abroad....
and manufactured in the Netherlands by Electrologica NV from 1965 onwards.
Like its predecessor, the X1, the X8 system included core memory, 27-bit word length with 15-bit addressing, and drum memory
Drum memory
Drum memory is a magnetic data storage device and was an early form of computer memory widely used in the 1950s and into the 1960s, invented by Gustav Tauschek in 1932 in Austria....
as secondary storage (not as primary storage). The X8 included an independent peripheral processor called CHARON (Centraal Hulporgaan Autonome Regeling Overdracht Nevenapparatuur, or Central Coprocessor Autonomous Regulation Transfer Peripherals) which handled I/O. Other features included up to 48 input/output channels designed for low speed devices such as paper tape, plotters and printers. Unlike the X1, the arithmetic unit of the X8 included floating point arithmetic, with a 40-bit mantissa and 11-bit exponent.
The system is most notable as the target processor for Edsgar Dijkstra's implementation of the THE multiprogramming system
THE multiprogramming system
The THE multiprogramming system was a computer operating system designed by a team led by Edsger W. Dijkstra, described in monographs in 1965-66 and published in 1968....
.