Encore Computer
Encyclopedia
Encore Computer was an early pioneer in the parallel computing
market, based in Marlborough, Massachusetts
. Although offering a number of system designs beginning in 1985, they were never as well known as other companies in this field such as Pyramid Technology
, Alliant
, and the most similar systems Sequent
and FLEX.
Encore was founded in 1983 by: Kenneth Fisher, former CEO of Prime Computer
; Gordon Bell
, an engineering vice president from Digital Equipment Corporation
responsible for the development of the VAX
; and, Henry Burkhardt III
, co-founder of Data General
and Kendall Square Research
. Their goal was to build massively parallel
machines from commodity processors; their first design, the Multimax, was released late in 1985. This was one of the first commercial designs to make use of bus snooping, allowing many processors to share the same memory efficiently. The Multimax could support from one to twenty 30 MHz National Semiconductor
NS32032 processors, a 32-bit
CISC
design similar to that of the Motorola 68000
. A 50 MHz speed-bumped version of the NS32032 led to the Multimax 500 in 1989, which was otherwise identical. Both machines ran a version of Unix
modified for parallel computing. However, soon after the 500's release, National stopped development of the NS32032 design.
In 1988 Encore purchased the former Systems Engineering Laboratories
(SEL) from Nippon Mining. SEL, founded in 1961, built high-performance electronics systems for industrial monitoring and control purposes, and was purchased by Gould Electronics
in 1980; Gould was in turn purchased by Nippon Mining in 1988. Because of US Government regulations which forbid foreign companies from owning control of companies providing key components of the national defense (SEL computers were used in many military flight simulators) Nippon had to sell the computer division. Nippon in essence paid Encore to buy the computer division.
Encore then turned, as did most of the market, to RISC-based CPUs. Unlike Pyramid, they chose the Motorola 88000
, and released the Encore-91 in late 1991, supporting two (9102) or four (9104) CPUs running at 25 MHz. A bottom-up redesign for the new processor led to the Infinity 90 series, starting with the Infinity 90/ES in 1994. The ES supported between 2 and 2,045 Motorola 88110
CPUs running at 50 MHz. Several newer machines in the Infinity 90 series were released, but Encore again found its CPU supplier changing direction as Motorola dropped development of the 88000 series in order to concentrate on the PowerPC
.
Trying again, this time in the high-performance real-time market, Encore turned to the Alpha 21064
to create the Infinity R/T Model 300, which first shipped in late 1994. By this point the massively-parallel market was being encroached on by machines made up of large numbers of commodity machines, and Encore released a single-CPU workstation
running OSF/1, the Series 90 RT 3000. It was intended to be used either standalone, or as a node in a massively-parallel machine.
Encore also worked on a modified RISC design known as the RSX. This was intended to operate in two modes, one as a normal CPU node for clusters, and in a CONCEPT/32 compatibility mode, which emulated earlier custom hardware from the realtime side of the company. Encore continues to offer upgrade paths for their earlier systems, some of which date back to 1975.
Parts of the computing side of the company were sold off over the years, with the last major spin-off being their Storage Products Group, sold to Sun Microsystems
in 1997.
In 1998 Gores Technology Group acquired Encore Computer Corporation, and renamed it "Encore Real Time Computing." This left the company consisting primarily of their real-time group, and the original SEL core, returning to this business niche.
In 2002, Compro Computer Services, Inc. acquired Encore Real Time Computing, although most of the non-US offices still operate under the Encore name. Compro continues its support of SelBUS-based SEL, Gould and Encore Real Time Computing products, and offers an upgrade path with the Legacy Computer Replacement System (LCRS) hardware simulator.
A sample Encore Multimax system donated from the Naval Postgraduate School
is in storage at the Computer History Museum
.
Parallel computing
Parallel computing is a form of computation in which many calculations are carried out simultaneously, operating on the principle that large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which are then solved concurrently . There are several different forms of parallel computing: bit-level,...
market, based in Marlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,499 at the 2010 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high technology industry in the late 20th century after the construction of the...
. Although offering a number of system designs beginning in 1985, they were never as well known as other companies in this field such as Pyramid Technology
Pyramid Technology
Pyramid Technology Corporation was a computer company that produced a number of RISC-based minicomputers at the upper end of the performance range. They also became the second company to ship a multiprocessor Unix system , in 1985, which formed the basis of their product line into the early 1990s...
, Alliant
Alliant Computer Systems
Alliant Computer Systems was a computer company that designed and manufactured parallel computing systems. Together with Pyramid Technology and Sequent Computer Systems, Alliant's machines pioneered the symmetric multiprocessing market...
, and the most similar systems Sequent
Sequent Computer Systems
Sequent Computer Systems, or Sequent, was a computer company that designed and manufactured multiprocessing computer systems. They were among the pioneers in high-performance symmetric multiprocessing open systems, innovating in both hardware and software Sequent Computer Systems, or Sequent, was...
and FLEX.
Encore was founded in 1983 by: Kenneth Fisher, former CEO of Prime Computer
Prime Computer
Prime Computer, Inc. was a Natick, Massachusetts-based producer of minicomputers from 1972 until 1992. The alternative spellings "PR1ME" and "PR1ME Computer" were used as brand names or logos by the company.-Founders:...
; Gordon Bell
Gordon Bell
C. Gordon Bell is an American computer engineer and manager. An early employee of Digital Equipment Corporation 1960–1966, Bell designed several of their PDP machines and later became Vice President of Engineering 1972-1983, overseeing the development of the VAX...
, an engineering vice president from Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
responsible for the development of the VAX
VAX
VAX was an instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation in the mid-1970s. A 32-bit complex instruction set computer ISA, it was designed to extend or replace DEC's various Programmed Data Processor ISAs...
; and, Henry Burkhardt III
Henry Burkhardt III
Henry Burkhardt III was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, grew up in South Hadley, Massachusetts, and was schooled there. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and attended Princeton University. He began his career as a programmer at Digital Equipment Corporation...
, co-founder of Data General
Data General
Data General was one of the first minicomputer firms from the late 1960s. Three of the four founders were former employees of Digital Equipment Corporation. Their first product, the Data General Nova, was a 16-bit minicomputer...
and Kendall Square Research
Kendall Square Research
Kendall Square Research was a supercomputer company headquartered originally in Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1986, near MIT. It was co-founded by Steven Frank and Henry Burkhardt III, who had previously helped found Data General and Encore Computer and was one of the original...
. Their goal was to build massively parallel
Massively parallel
Massively parallel is a description which appears in computer science, life sciences, medical diagnostics, and other fields.A massively parallel computer is a distributed memory computer system which consists of many individual nodes, each of which is essentially an independent computer in itself,...
machines from commodity processors; their first design, the Multimax, was released late in 1985. This was one of the first commercial designs to make use of bus snooping, allowing many processors to share the same memory efficiently. The Multimax could support from one to twenty 30 MHz National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer, that specialized in analog devices and subsystems,formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. The products of National Semiconductor included power management circuits, display drivers, audio and operational amplifiers,...
NS32032 processors, a 32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
CISC
Complex instruction set computer
A complex instruction set computer , is a computer where single instructions can execute several low-level operations and/or are capable of multi-step operations or addressing modes within single instructions...
design similar to that of the Motorola 68000
Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
. A 50 MHz speed-bumped version of the NS32032 led to the Multimax 500 in 1989, which was otherwise identical. Both machines ran a version of Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
modified for parallel computing. However, soon after the 500's release, National stopped development of the NS32032 design.
In 1988 Encore purchased the former Systems Engineering Laboratories
Systems Engineering Laboratories
Systems Engineering Laboratories was a manufacturer of minicomputers in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was one of the first 32-bit realtime computer system manufacturers...
(SEL) from Nippon Mining. SEL, founded in 1961, built high-performance electronics systems for industrial monitoring and control purposes, and was purchased by Gould Electronics
Gould Electronics
Gould Electronics Inc. -- founded in 1884 and based in Chandler, Arizona -- is a company involved in the electronics and semiconductor industries. They make printed circuit materials for use by electronics manufacturers. Having acquired Systems Engineering Laboratories Gould became involved in the...
in 1980; Gould was in turn purchased by Nippon Mining in 1988. Because of US Government regulations which forbid foreign companies from owning control of companies providing key components of the national defense (SEL computers were used in many military flight simulators) Nippon had to sell the computer division. Nippon in essence paid Encore to buy the computer division.
Encore then turned, as did most of the market, to RISC-based CPUs. Unlike Pyramid, they chose the Motorola 88000
Motorola 88000
The 88000 is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Motorola. The 88000 was Motorola's attempt at a home-grown RISC architecture, started in the 1980s. The 88000 arrived on the market some two years after the competing SPARC and MIPS...
, and released the Encore-91 in late 1991, supporting two (9102) or four (9104) CPUs running at 25 MHz. A bottom-up redesign for the new processor led to the Infinity 90 series, starting with the Infinity 90/ES in 1994. The ES supported between 2 and 2,045 Motorola 88110
88110
The MC88110 is a microprocessor developed by Motorola that implemented the 88000 instruction set architecture . The MC88110 was a second-generation implementation of the 88000 ISA, succeeding the MC88100...
CPUs running at 50 MHz. Several newer machines in the Infinity 90 series were released, but Encore again found its CPU supplier changing direction as Motorola dropped development of the 88000 series in order to concentrate on the PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
.
Trying again, this time in the high-performance real-time market, Encore turned to the Alpha 21064
Alpha 21064
The Alpha 21064 is a microprocessor developed and fabricated by Digital Equipment Corporation that implemented the Alpha instruction set architecture . It was introduced as the DECchip 21064 before it was renamed in 1994. The 21064 is also known by its code name, EV4...
to create the Infinity R/T Model 300, which first shipped in late 1994. By this point the massively-parallel market was being encroached on by machines made up of large numbers of commodity machines, and Encore released a single-CPU workstation
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
running OSF/1, the Series 90 RT 3000. It was intended to be used either standalone, or as a node in a massively-parallel machine.
Encore also worked on a modified RISC design known as the RSX. This was intended to operate in two modes, one as a normal CPU node for clusters, and in a CONCEPT/32 compatibility mode, which emulated earlier custom hardware from the realtime side of the company. Encore continues to offer upgrade paths for their earlier systems, some of which date back to 1975.
Parts of the computing side of the company were sold off over the years, with the last major spin-off being their Storage Products Group, sold to Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
in 1997.
In 1998 Gores Technology Group acquired Encore Computer Corporation, and renamed it "Encore Real Time Computing." This left the company consisting primarily of their real-time group, and the original SEL core, returning to this business niche.
In 2002, Compro Computer Services, Inc. acquired Encore Real Time Computing, although most of the non-US offices still operate under the Encore name. Compro continues its support of SelBUS-based SEL, Gould and Encore Real Time Computing products, and offers an upgrade path with the Legacy Computer Replacement System (LCRS) hardware simulator.
A sample Encore Multimax system donated from the Naval Postgraduate School
Naval Postgraduate School
The Naval Postgraduate School is an accredited research university operated by the United States Navy. Located in Monterey, California, it grants master's degrees, Engineer's degrees and doctoral degrees...
is in storage at the Computer History Museum
Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, USA. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.-History:The museum's origins...
.