Morrow Decision 1 microcomputer (PDF MULTIPAGINA)

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Titolo: Morrow Decision 1 microcomputer

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Dimensione file: 1,3 MB (2 pagine PDF MULTIPAGINA)

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Tipo del contenuto: brochure o inserto staccato

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Data della fonte: 1980

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Linguaggio: en (English)

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Marca del contenuto: Morrow  

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Caricato da: Maverich il 03-02-2023

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Full text of "morrow :: brochure :: Decision 1 Brochure"
See other formats
DECISION




The Decision 1 is a flexible micro-
computer that can be configured as a
single user system running CP/M, or
can be expanded to a sophisticated
multi-user system running the Micronix
Operating System,

The basic Decision 1 is an S-100 bus
system that comes with a 14 slot
motherboard, a Z80 CPU board, one
parallel and three serial ports, and a
64K RAM board (main memory can be
expanded to 1 Megabyte). Optional
5 1/4" floppy and hard disks come
with DMA disk drive controllers.

The Decision 1 system's architecture
capitalizes on the cost advantages of
micro-processors, yet it has many
sophisticated features typically found
only on expensive main frame
systems. These features include



memory management on the CPU, in-
terrupt driven I/O, and Direct Memory
Access on the hard and floppy disk
controllers; all features designed to
maximize system throughput and
reliability. Most important, the system
architecture was designed around a
multi-user operating system. Not just
any system, but Morrow's Micronix
Operating System, a UNIX like system
with a CP/M emulator that allows you
to have more than one user running
CP/M application programs.

The Decision 1 achieves its flexibility
through its bus structure which can
handle 14 functionally distinct S-100
boards. Just as a component stereo
can be improved and expanded, a bus
structure allows the computer to grow
or change as the technology is im-
proved or functions are added. An ex-

MORROW



tra advantage of the S-100 bus is the
over fifty manufacturers that provide a
wide assortment of peripherals. The
competition between these manufac-
turers assures the consumer that the
S-1 00 bus will be on the leading edge
of price/performance in the microcom-
puter marketplace.



Morrow has been in business since the
very origins of the S-1 00 bus and micro
computing. George Morrow, along with
Engineering Director Howard Fullmer,
pioneered the standards while serving
as chairmen of the IEEE S-100 bus
committee. Their work for Morrow en-
sures our customers of high perfor-
mance state of the art components
which conform to every letter of the
bus standards. No shortcuts; just
sound, conservative design principles.



STANDARD FEATURES:

Cabinet & Utilities:

n 2 switched convenience outlets

n AC power breaker

D Front panel reset - Key switch

D Rear panel connector access

a Forced air cooling

D Dimension: 19" wide, 21" deep, and 7.5"

high, with steel contruction
D Weight: 40 lbs., with drives
D Rackmount option

Power Supply:

a 250 watt average output
n FCC class A operation certified
D 1 1 0/220 switch option
n Power requirements: 3.0 AMPS max. at
95-1 28 VAC: 1 .5 AMPS max. at 1 90-265 VAC



BOARD SPECIFICATIONS:

Motherboard:

D 14 S- 100 slots

D Programmable interrupt controller (8259)
D Real time clock (NEC 1990)
D Parallel daisy-wheel printer port (Diablo Hy-
— Type)
D Three serial RS 232C (8250) ports

CPU:

D Z80A CPU at 4 MHz

D 24 bit extended addressing

D Sophisticated trapping mechanism and

memory management
n Memory protection hardware
D 2K bootstrap PROM/monitor, and IK RAM

MM 64 KS: 64K Static RAM

D
D
D

n

D



High speed static RAM
2K X 8 NMOS RAM chips (6116)
Operating speed up to 6 MHz
Draws only ,5 AMPS of power
Extended addressing or bank select



MM 256 KD: 256K Dynamic RAM

D High speed dynamic RAM
(4164 type 150 NS RAMchips)

n Operating speed up to 6MHz

n Draws only .98 AMPS

D Extended addressing

D Supports both 8 and 16 bit access as speci-
fied by S-100 bus standards.

n 1 50 NS typical access time 350 NS minimum
cycle time (as measured from pSTVAL)

HOC/OMA: Hard Disk Controller

D DMA bus arbitration as outlined by the IEEE

696 standards
n Controls 1 to 4 soft sectored Winchester

5 1/4" drives (ST506 compatible)
n Variable format (128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048

byte sector lengths) under on-board software

control
n Automatic error checking
D Addresses 1 to 8 heads per drive
n Addresses up to 65,000 tracks
n 24-bit address burst DMA transfers
n Maximum transfer rate of 625K BPS

DJ/DMA: Floppy Disk Controller

n DMA bus arbitration logic

n IEEE standard 24-bit memory addressing

D Resident disk driver routines

D Supports up to four 8" drives, and up to four 5
1/4" drives

n On board firmware supports soft sectored IBM
compatible 8" and MICRO DECISION format
5 1/4" diskettes, as well as hard sectored
NorthStar CP/M compatible 5 1/4" diskettes

n Automatically determines whether media is
single or double density and calculates num-
ber of sectors per track



DRIVE SPECIFICATIONS

10 Megabyte 5 1/4" Hard Disk:

D 12.76 megabytes unformatted, 11.2
Megabytes formatted as shipped

n 2 platters, 4 read/write heads, 306 cylinders,
1 224 tracks

n Average random access: 95 milliseconds

n Maximum transfer rate: 625K BPS

16 Megabyte 5 1/4" Hard Disk:

□ 19 megabytes unformatted, 16 megabytes
formatted as shipped

n 3 platters, 6 read/write heads, 306 cylinders,

1 836 tracks
n Average random access: 95 milliseconds
n Maximum transfer rate: 625K BPS

400K 5 1/4" Floppy Disk:

n Double sided, double density 48 TPI

□ 384K bytes of usable memory
D Rotational Speed 300 rpm

n Transfer rate: 1 25KNBPS
n Average access time: 180 milliseconds
n Format: hard sectored NorthStar CP/M com-
patible



BUSINESS APPLICATION
SOFTWARE:

n CP/M* 2.2 operating system
D WordStar* word processing
n Correct-It" spelling checker
D LogicCalc ' spread sheet
D Personal Pearl' djta base manager
D M BASIC 80 " & BaZic' programming
languages



MICRONIX OPERATING
SYSTEM:

With Micronix you have access to more software
than anyone else in the world, because you can
run both CP/M and UNIX programs simul-
taneously. If you are familiar with CP/M you can
begin by using Micronix as a multi-user version
of CP/M while you gradually learn to use its more
powerful features.

The highlights Include:

u Multi-user: Add another computing station
by simply adding another terminal.

D Multi-tasking: Each user can run several
programs at once.

D Hierarchical file system: Data is or-
ganized logically by subject as in an outline.
No more hunting through hundreds of ran-
domly listed file names.

n File protection: Data can be protected or
shared. For example, reports can be opened
to people in a particular department and
closed to all others.

n Versatile input and output: The output of
a program can be sent anywhere — to a
screen, a printer, a file, or another program.

n CP/M compatibility: Micronix includes a
CP/M emulator that runs CP/M application
programs unchanged. Micronix can read and
write CP/M floppy diskettes.

n UNIX compatibility: Micronix is compati-
ble with Bell Lab's version 6 UNIX at the
system call and library level. Source code
written to run under UNIX will compile and run
under Micronix.

n Over 1 00 software tools including most
standard UNIX utililies.

D On line reference manual and extensive
tutorials for the novice.

D Choice of user interface: Novices can
use the friendly Menu shell, CP/M users can
choose the CP/M shell, and UNIX users can
run the powerful UNIX shell.



^



DMA controllers: ~

A DMA controller's speed is enhanced by tl
channel concept. In brief, the CPU places a S"«
of instructions in RAM, and signals the disk con-
troller telling it where in memory to pick up the
commands. The CPU then goes on to perform
other tasks. The controller picks up these instruc-
tions from memory and executes the command
(a typical command might be to load sector five,
track 16, drive B, into a particular address in
RAM). When necessary, commands can be
chained together by the CPU co the controller
can execute many commands in succession.
The controller can generate an interrupt telling
the CPU it is finished when a particular com-
mand or a string of commands is completed.

The traditional I/O based controller needs the
CPU's supervision to tell it what to do as it moves
data sector by sector. By contrast a DMA con-
troller serves as a highly efficient assistant that
can be given a set of instructions and, without
supervision, will report back to the CPU when the
job is done. By taking care of data transfer
responsibilities, the DMA controller frees the
CPU for its processing functions. DMA controllers
provide a CP/M system with a faster transfer rate,
but they make tfieir greatest contribution in the
multi-user, multi-tasking environment of the
Micronix Operating System.

Interrupts:

An interrupt driven system maximizes the
program execution role of the Central Processing
Unit. In a system without interrupts, the CPU is
required to spend a significant portion of its time
going from device to device (whether terminal,
printer or disk controller) asking each device in
the system whether it is ready to input or output
new data. In an interrupt driven system the CPU
is free to spend most of its time running
programs. When a device is ready to transmit it
interrupts the CPU. Upon interruption the CPU
immediately executes the service routine ap-
propriate to the device, then returns to what it
was doing. This is particularly useful in a multi-
user system where the large array of individual
devices do not consume CPU resources until
they are required.

Memory Management:

Sophisticated memory management hardware
on the CPU allows multiple users to share
memory space by allocating memory in 4K in-
crements as it is needed. Under operating
system controls you can specify protection at-
tributes for each 4K segment. Memory mapping
maximizes the efficient utilization of RAM, while
the protection attributes prevent users from ac-
cessing memory that has not been allocated to
them.

Trapping:

The hardware trap mechanism allows the operat-
ing system complete control over user opera-
tions. This offers each user protection from other
users and keeps system resources (disk I/O,
memory, etc.) from user corruption. Traps can be
set in any configuration, or disabled in the case
of one user running one task.



MORROW



600 McCormick Street, San Leandro, CA 94577

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Tag:

morrow morrow decision 1 microcomputer cp/m unix s-100