| Industry | Computer hardware |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1965 |
| Founders | Keith Trickett and Avo Hiiemae |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Eric Lubbock (chairman) |
| Products | data loggers, minicomputers |
Digico was a British computer company founded in 1965 by Keith Trickett and Avo Hiiemae, two ex-ICL electronics engineers. Former MP Eric Lubbock was chairman from 1969 to 1983. [1] The company was based in Letchworth initially, moving to a new factory in Stevenage in 1973 [2] and employing about 90 staff. [3]
Digico's first product was a laboratory data-logging and spectrum analyser hardware system named DIGIAC. This product had been developed before Digico was formed, so was an immediate source of income. [1] Digico soon developed a 16-bit minicomputer series, the Micro 16, for which it was best known for. [4]
Circa 1982, Digico started manufacturing a networked CP/M based microcomputer system with business software options, named Digico Prince.
Digico quickly started developing a general purpose 16-bit minicomputer, the Micro 16, which became available in 1966. Digico was assisted by the Ministry of Technology and the National Research Development Corporation in this development. [1] [2] [5] The first version produced was the Digico Micro 16S (1968), followed by the 16P (1970), then the 16V in 1972. [4] [6]
| Example applications available for Micro 16V [7] |
|---|
| Animal feed mix control |
| Car park control |
| Census analysis |
| Electroencephalography |
| Gas chromatography |
| ICL 1900 front ending |
| Invoicing |
| Machine tool control |
| Mass spectrometry |
| Stock control |
| Typesetting |
The Digico Micro 16V had a standard memory of 4k words with 950 nano second cycle time, expandable to 64k words, and able to support up to 64 external interfaces. It had an optional microprogrammed floating-point unit. [7] The Micro 16V was supported by a simple and flexibly sized executive that could optionally support multiprogramming, disc files and teletypes. [8] The Micro 16V used semiconductor memory, rather than magnetic-core memory as in the previous models. [9]
The instruction set architecture is single accumulator based with instructions generally having a consistent 12-bit address field. A direct address thus limits memory size to 4k (4096) words in the current selected memory region, named a "stack". Three instructions (load, store, add) permit indirect addressing where the direct address contains the 16-bit address of the operand. A carry register supports multi-word arithmetic; there is no integer multiply or divide instruction. One instruction uses the address field to specify a variety of non-addressing sub-instructions such as shift, carry manipulation and input-output. Floating-point arithmetic is handled by software or an optional floating-point unit with its own registers that can work in 32, 48 or 80-bit modes. [7]
Digico primarily sold into the data logging market until 1969, when it expanded into areas like process control, stock control and front-end processors for the ICL 1900 mainframe. [1] [10] In 1974 Digico had a turnover of over £1 million (equivalent to £13 million in 2023) and in 1977 well over £1 million. [11] [12]
In 1978 the Digico Micro 16E stackable minicomputer, which was well suited to an office environment, won a Design Council Award for Engineering Products. [13] [14]
Circa 1982, Digico started manufacturing a CP/M based microcomputer with business software options, named Digico Prince, with a unique seven year maintenance guarantee. [15] [16]
A more sophisticated multi-user Digico Prince II system was also available. The Digico 3800 user terminal had three Zilog Z80A processors, 64 kilo-bytes of memory and optionally two floppy disk drives. Up to three Digico 3800s could be connected to a 3810, 3820 or 3830 master workstation with a shared 5 MB Winchester disk drive. Up to 32 of these clusters could further be connected locally or remotely to a Digico 7800 server based on a Digico Micro 16E, providing more shared disc capacity and remote access to IBM, ICL and Honeywell mainframe computers. [17]