417:(DAC) with 0.5% non-linearity and an auto-calibrated zero. The output range was 0V to +10.23V and the sample rate was 3.84K samples/sec. It had 36 output stages (option to 128), each containing a sample and hold and a buffer. Whenever analog-to-digital conversion was not occurring, the contents of a dedicated track were continuously fed to the DAC, and the results were held for each of the outputs. This allowed up to 128 analog control output voltages to be continuously updated at 60 samples per second without software intervention. This slowed to 30 samples per sec during frequent A/D conversion.
358:. Each instruction took two word times to read, plus one or more word times to execute, during which the drum continued to rotate. If the next instruction was located under a read head at the time that the previous instruction completed, the access time would be 260 μs. Alternatively, if the next instruction were located immediately after the first, the computer would have to wait for an entire drum rotation (16.7 ms) before proceeding. This execution-time savings required careful placement of instructions and data on the 60 tracks, a technique called
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Some of the process control outputs were relays that could drive a voltage under program control. The relays were bi-stable, magnetically latching their state until altered by a subsequent instruction. The output voltage levels were determined at installation, and 540 output signals could be driven.
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The digit counter generated timing signals to synchronize the operation of the system. It contained nine flip flips sequencing through 14 states which simplified the state detection logic in the circuits being controlled. The count sequence changed the state of only one of the nine flip flops, except
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Five of the registers consisted of flip flop shift registers which continually recirculated their contents through dedicated drum tracks. The register contents were written to every word on their associated tracks and dedicated read heads allowed written contents to be read back starting 130us later.
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A magnetic drum memory performed many operations of the RW-300, generating clocks and holding register contents in addition to storing programs and data. There were 72 tracks plus 15 spares in the baseline configuration. Each track contained 128 18-bit words, with two unused bit spaces separating the
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All information was stored in binary on the computer, but programs were generally entered in octal with some alphabetic characters used to identify the octal info. A resident program converted this to binary for use by the machine. An optional resident program allowed decimal and floating point data
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The drum shape allowed access to multiple tracks simultaneously, and the dedicated tracks listed above had continuous read and/or write except the one which loaded programs. Most of the 60 tracks for programs and data shared common read and write amplifiers. The use of multiple heads on some tracks
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Track and instruction registers were flip flop only multiply method and time No interrupts Stored in
Smithsonian List of applications incl FAA Oscilloscope RSX-11 link registers repairability diode AND/ORs use of transformers in flip flops total numbers of diodes, transistors and tubes no special
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in the second word. The execution code determined the number of bits in a product or quotient, or the number of places to be shifted, but was unused in most instructions. Some instructions performed differently depending on the operand address. The inclusion of the next address improved execution
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Up to eight TRW magnetic tape storage units could be interfaced via a shared bi-directional core memory buffer. This stored up to 128 x 18 bit words (one drum track or tape block), and included parity generation and checking. The tape transports were modified Ampex FR-400 digital tape handlers.
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There was an option to have some or all of the analog outputs force a current rather than a voltage. This required use of a current monitoring resistor in the output stages of the associated analog outputs. The output range was 0mA to 5.115mA with 10 bit resolution, and closed loop feedback
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A 153.6kHz clock signal was stored on the drum and converted to two phases for use throughout the system. The clock buffers used the only tubes in the system outside of the power supply. Logic gates were diode ANDs and ORs, while flip flops included transistors and had transformer-coupled
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The configurations of the various analog inputs were determined during installation, but could be manually(?) changed afterwards. During operation, the A/D conversion and drum storage of the result were automatic: no programming was required.
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5 tracks stored the 5 main registers, each repeated continuously around its track. The loops which recopied the words around the track passed through flip flop shift registers so that parallel versions of the register contents were
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Ramo-Wooldrige merged with their financial backer, Thompson
Products, to form TRW in 1958. The name Ramo-Wooldrige was then used for several years for the subsidiary which produced computers, located in
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Datamation, September 1967, p.25, "For Bendix and Ramo-Wooldridge, the G-20 and RW-400 were parallel core machines rather than serial drum machines of the type already in their product lines." Per
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first installation: closed loop Mar 12, 1959 per
Business Week of April 4, 1959 other installations images - RW-30, RW-300, Texaco plant (fair use?) Lead should contain info from bulk of article
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The same DAC formed the core of the 10 bit successive approximation ADC that monitored the 32 analog inputs (option to 1024). Use of the ADC decreased the update frequency of the analog outputs.
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market, including computers for guidance and control. One of their early products was the RW-30 airborne computer, built in 1957 (this ref is for the RW-300?) under subcontract to
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missile. The RW-30 took advantage of the recent availability of transistors and diodes to improve the size, power and reliability of digital computers. It was one of the first
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heating or cooling requirements total power (~half in drum) Safari assembler
Computer was simulated on an ERA 1103A computer by UNIVAC (First was IBM 704 on IBM 701)
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249:, Ramo-Wooldridge targeted niche applications. The RW-30 was modified to serve the industrial process control market, and the resulting RW-300 featured analog
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The drum spun at a constant 3600 rpm, and the average access time for programs and data was 8.3 ms, reduced to 2.08 ms on the track with only 32 words.
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1 track stored numerical outputs of the process control software to be provided to a digital-to-analog converter to drive the system being controlled
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Finished writing a draft article? Are you ready to request an experienced editor review it for possible inclusion in
Knowledge (XXG)?
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in the instruction, which also determined the time required for the operation. The result was stored in two registers, so there was no overflow.
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Another peripheral was the housing for the low-level analog signal support circuits: the, preamplifiers, 30Hz filters, and reference junctions.
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at the wrap-around transition after the fourteenth state. The digit counter contents were synchronized to the drum via the word number track.
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1 track stored the analog-to-digital conversion of the signals being monitored by the computer (expandable up to 8 tracks during installation)
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Multiplication and division were accomplished by shifting and adding or subtracting. The amount of precision was determined by the
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2 tracks for mag tape input(output?) number of read and write circuits
Optimum programming using one-plus-one octal machine code
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sample rates as high as 3.84K samples/sec, assuming no analog outputs (1 sec for all 1024 inputs assuming no 30Hz filter delays)
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265:, California. (TRW left the commercial computer marketplace in 1964, when the subsidiary was spun off in a joint venture with
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1 track contained 32 words repeated four times around the track for 4x faster access of frequently used instructions and data
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in the power supply and clock driver since transistors that could handle high enough power were not available at the time.
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ADC sample delays as long as 270ms to allow the 30Hz filter to settle to 99.9% after switching to a new input
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There was an option to roughly double the number of tracks available, providing nearly 16k x 18-bit words.
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for thermocouple monitoring, which also stored the preamplifiers and 30Hz filters for low-level signals.
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There were a variety of options that could be configured for the various inputs in any installation:
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The flip flops made the parallel contents of the registers available once per 130us word time.
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differential outputs. Addition and subtraction used sign-and-magnitude fixed-point arithmetic.
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241:. Looking to expand outside the military market and realizing they could not compete against
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lowpass filtering at 30Hz with 1000x attenuation of 60Hz pickup in industrial environments
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549:, Instrumentation and Control in the Process Industries Conference, Chicago, p. 5
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60 tracks were available for storing programs and data (nearly 8k x 18-bit words)
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1 track stored word numbers around the drum describing all the other tracks
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Data was stored in a single word as a 17 bit plus sign fixed point number.
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electric typewriter. Paper tape I/O was via the
Flexowriter, but a
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allowed written information to be read back starting within 130 μs.
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The Ramo-Wooldridge
Corporation was formed in part to target the
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1 track stored a routine which loaded programs onto the drum
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time, and the instruction format was called "one plus one".
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The access time could be reduced dramatically by using the
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In addition, up to 540 digital inputs could be monitored.
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All 21 possible instructions comprised two words: a 5-bit
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using transistors and diodes almost exclusively. It used
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1 track stored the 153.6 kHz clock used by the computer
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SOME RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN DIGITAL CONTROL SYSTEMS
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45:page, and may be incomplete and/or unreliable.
253:, a real-time operating system, and the high
51:Knowledge (XXG):So you made a userspace draft
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388:The instruction register stored either the
49:For guidance on developing this draft, see
559:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
459:temperature-controlled reference junctions
495:paper punch writer were also compatible.
483:Human interface to the RW-300 was via a
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289:in the first word, followed by a 5-bit
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39:This is not a Knowledge (XXG) article
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436:differential and single-ended inputs
439:preamplifiers with gains up to 1000
257:that solid-state devices provided.
538:Grabbe, E. M. (February 7, 1957),
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540:"The Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation"
491:punched paper tape reader and a
457:optional separate housing for
454:-10.23V to +10.23V input range
413:The RW-300 contained a 10 bit
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189:Submit your draft for review!
41:: It is an individual user's
277:Instruction and data formats
415:digital-to-analog converter
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369:Electronic hardware design
451:0V to +10.23V input range
356:next instruction address
295:next instruction address
239:all transistor computers
392:being processed or its
271:Bunker Ramo Corporation
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578:example.com
516:Drum Memory
485:Flexowriter
309:Drum memory
293:and 13-bit
285:and 13-bit
263:Canoga Park
152:last edited
91:free images
525:References
328:available.
221:Background
128:Easy tools
390:operation
291:operation
143:Advanced:
590:Category
555:citation
493:Teletype
489:Ferranti
314:words.
235:Lacrosse
233:for the
227:avionics
165:contribs
156:Overjive
305:entry.
255:up-time
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84:scholar
247:UNIVAC
200:RW-300
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173:Update
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66:Google
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543:(PDF)
212:tubes
177:timer
114:JSTOR
70:books
16:<
561:link
245:and
198:The
161:talk
136:help
106:FENS
77:news
273:.)
251:I/O
243:IBM
208:TRW
154:by
122:TWL
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