General-purpose interface bus for multiuser, multitasking computer system

Abstract

The architecture of a multiuser, multitasking, virtual-memory computer system intended for the use by a medium-size research group is described. There are three central processing units (CPU) in the configuration, each with 16 MB memory, and two 474 MB hard disks attached. CPU 1 is designed for data analysis and contains an array processor for fast-Fourier transformations. In addition, CPU 1 shares display images viewed with the image processor. CPU 2 is designed for image analysis and display. CPU 3 is designed for data acquisition and contains 8 GPIB channels and an analog-to-digital conversion input/output interface with 16 channels. Up to 9 users can access the third CPU simultaneously for data acquisition. Focus is placed on the optimization of hardware interfaces and software, facilitating instrument control, data acquisition, and processing.