AN/USQ-20

Last updated
The AN/USQ-20 computer. AN USQ-20.jpg
The AN/USQ-20 computer.

The AN/USQ-20, or CP-642 [1] [2] [3] or Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS), was designed as a more reliable replacement for the Seymour Cray-designed AN/USQ-17 with the same instruction set. The first batch of 17 computers were delivered to the Navy starting in early 1961. [4]

Contents

A version of the AN/USQ-20 for use by the other military services and NASA was designated the UNIVAC 1206. Another version, designated the G-40, replaced the vacuum tube UNIVAC 1104 in the BOMARC Missile Program.

Technical

The machine was the size and shape of an old-fashioned double-door refrigerator, about six feet tall (roughly 1.80 meters).

Instructions were represented as 30-bit words in the following format:

  f  6 bits   function code    j  3 bits   jump condition designator    k  3 bits   partial word designator    b  3 bits   which index register to use    y  15 bits  operand address in memory

Numbers were represented as 30-bit words. This allowed for five 6-bit alphanumeric characters per word.

The main memory was 32,768 words of core memory.

The available processor registers were:

See also

Related Research Articles

The AN/USQ-17 or Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) computer referred to in Sperry Rand documents as the Univac M-460, was Seymour Cray's last design for UNIVAC. UNIVAC later released a commercial version, the UNIVAC 490. That system was later upgraded to a multiprocessor configuration as the 494.

The AN/UYK-8 was a UNIVAC computer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UNIVAC 1100/2200 series</span> Family of mainframe computers

The UNIVAC 1100/2200 series is a series of compatible 36-bit computer systems, beginning with the UNIVAC 1107 in 1962, initially made by Sperry Rand. The series continues to be supported today by Unisys Corporation as the ClearPath Dorado Series. The solid-state 1107 model number was in the same sequence as the earlier vacuum-tube computers, but the early computers were not compatible with their solid-state successors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UNIVAC 1103</span> Univac computer introduced in 1953

The UNIVAC 1103 or ERA 1103, a successor to the UNIVAC 1101, is a computer system designed by Engineering Research Associates and built by the Remington Rand corporation in October 1953. It was the first computer for which Seymour Cray was credited with design work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index register</span> CPU register used for modifying operand addresses

An index register in a computer's CPU is a processor register used for pointing to operand addresses during the run of a program. It is useful for stepping through strings and arrays. It can also be used for holding loop iterations and counters. In some architectures it is used for read/writing blocks of memory. Depending on the architecture it may be a dedicated index register or a general-purpose register. Some instruction sets allow more than one index register to be used; in that case additional instruction fields may specify which index registers to use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UNIVAC 490</span> Mid-20th century computer

The UNIVAC 490 was a UNIVAC computer with 16K or 32K words of magnetic-core memory. The words had 30 bits and the cycle time was 4.8 microseconds. It was a commercial derivative of the instruction set that had been developed for the AN/USQ-17 by Seymour Cray for the United States Navy. This was the last machine that Cray designed before leaving UNIVAC to join the early Control Data Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CMS-2</span>

CMS-2 is an embedded systems programming language used by the United States Navy. It was an early attempt to develop a standardized high-level computer programming language intended to improve code portability and reusability. CMS-2 was developed primarily for the US Navy’s tactical data systems (NTDS).

The UNIVAC III, designed as an improved transistorized replacement for the vacuum tube UNIVAC I and UNIVAC II computers. The project was started by the Philadelphia division of Remington Rand UNIVAC in 1958 with the initial announcement of the system been made in the Spring of 1960, however as this division was heavily focused on the UNIVAC LARC project the shipment of the system was delayed until June 1962, with Westinghouse agreeing to furnish system programing and marketing on June 1, 1962. It was designed to be compatible for all data formats. However the word size and instruction set were completely different; this presented significant difficulty as all programs had to be rewritten, so many customers switched to different vendors instead of upgrading existing UNIVACs.

The UNIVAC 418 was a transistorized computer made by Sperry Univac. It had 18-bit words and used magnetic-core memory. The name came from its 4-microsecond memory cycle time and 18-bit word. The assembly language for this class of computers was TRIM III and ART418.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Tactical Data System</span>

Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) was a computerized information processing system developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s and first deployed in the early 1960s for use in combat ships. It took reports from multiple sensors on different ships and collated it to produce a single unified map of the battlespace. This information could then be relayed back to the ships and to the weapons operators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CDC 1604</span> Multipurpose Mainframe Computer & Peripherals

The CDC 1604 is a 48-bit computer designed and manufactured by Seymour Cray and his team at the Control Data Corporation (CDC). The 1604 is known as one of the first commercially successful transistorized computers. Legend has it that the 1604 designation was chosen by adding CDC's first street address to Cray's former project, the ERA-UNIVAC 1103.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AN/SPS-48</span> Radar used in the US Navy

The AN/SPS-48 is a US naval electronically scanned array, air search three-dimensional radar system manufactured by ITT Exelis and deployed in the 1960s as the primary air search sensor for anti-aircraft warships. The deployment of the AN/SPY-1 and the end of the Cold War led to the decommissioning of many such ships, and many of these vessel's AN/SPS-48 sets were reused on aircraft carriers and amphibious ships where it is used to direct targets for air defense systems such as the Sea Sparrow and RIM-116 SAM missiles. Existing sets are being modernized under the ROAR program to AN/SPS-48G standard for better reliability and usability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surface-barrier transistor</span> Type of transistor developed by Philco in 1953

The surface-barrier transistor is a type of transistor developed by Philco in 1953 as an improvement to the alloy-junction transistor and the earlier point-contact transistor. Like the modern Schottky transistor, it offered much higher speed than earlier transistors and used metal–semiconductor junctions, but unlike the schottky transistor, both junctions were metal–semiconductor junctions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AN/UYK-20</span>

The AN/UYK-20 "Data Processing Set" was a ruggedized small computer manufactured by Univac and used by the United States Navy for small and medium-sized shipboard and shore systems built in the 1970s. It featured non-volatile magnetic core memory and was housed in a heavy-duty metal cube-shaped box which was designed to fit through a 25-inch circular hatch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AN/UYK-44</span>

The AN/UYK-44 is the standard 16-bit minicomputer of the United States Navy. The AN/UYK-44 was developed in the early 1980s by Sperry Corporation and was completed in early 1984. The AN/UYK-44 was used in surface ships, submarines, ground C4I platforms, radar and missile control systems. The system was designed to replace the older AN/UYK-20 model.

The AN/UYK-7 was the standard 32-bit computer of the United States Navy for surface ship and submarine platforms, starting in 1970. It was used in the Navy's NTDS & Aegis combat systems and U.S. Coast Guard, and the navies of U.S. allies. It was also used by the U.S. Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CP-823/U</span> Digital airborne computing system

The CP-823/U, also known as the Univac 1830, was the first digital airborne 30-bit computer. It was engineered, built and tested as the A-NEW MOD3 prototype computer for the Lockheed P-3 Orion.

Marine Tactical Data System, commonly known as MTDS, was a mobile, ground based, aviation command and control system developed by the United States Marine Corps for the execution of anti-air warfare in support of the Fleet Marine Force (FMF). It was the Marine Corps' first semi-automated system capable of collecting, processing, computing and displaying aircraft surveillance data while also sharing that information with other participating units via tactical data link. The system was developed in the late 1950s/early 1960s when it was recognized that due to the speed, range and complexity of fighter aircraft operations effective air control and air defense demanded enhanced situational awareness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AN/UYA-4</span>

The AN/UYA-4 is a series of system consoles developed by Hughes Aircraft Company for the United States Navy.

References

  1. David L. Boslaugh. "IEEE Global History Network - First-Hand:Testing the Naval Tactical Data System - Chapter 5 of the Story of the Naval Tactical Data System" . Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  2. "Computer History Museum:Managing the Threat" . Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  3. "UNIVAC-NTDS historical notes" . Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  4. David L. Boslaugh (13 January 2015). "IEEE Global History Network - First-Hand:Moving the Firing Key to NTDS - Chapter 6 of the Story of the Naval Tactical Data System" . Retrieved March 11, 2021.