[olug] I am old

[Jay Woods]

1620 Data Processing System 

[When I was in my last year of high school in Yakima, WA in the spring of 
1960, I also was taking classes at Yakima Valley Community College. They had 
an IBM 1620 with 20,000 digits of memory. It was programmed in FORTRAN. I 
wrote a couple of programs for it. It cost about $500,000 I was told.]

http://www-1.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/mainframe/mainframe_PP1620.html

Announced October 21, 1959 and withdrawn November 19, 1970. 

	General information

The IBM 1620 was a general-purpose, stored-program data processing system for 
small businesses, research and engineering departments of large companies, 
and schools requiring solutions to complex problems in the areas of 
engineering, research, and management science. 

Punched card, paper tape and keyboard input; card, paper tape and printed 
output.

Simultaneous read, compute and punch when using card input-output.

Large-capacity core storage - up to 60,000 digits.

High internal processing speeds. Access time - 20 microseconds.

Compatibility with other IBM equipment through FORTRAN.

Real-time input and output features enabled the 1620 to be expanded into a 
closed-loop process control system (IBM 1710).

Available in a wide variety of systems configurations with many special 
features available upon request.

Low installation and operating costs.

A comprehensive but simplified operator's console.

Simple but powerful instruction set.

Decimal and alphameric notation eased program writing and clarified report 
writing.


·
Variable field and record length for optimum use of storage.


·
Extensive library of programming systems.


·
Simplified two-address instruction format. One instruction could perform any 
one of the following combinations: 
 

 
Find, add and store the sum of two numbers.


 
Designate the data to be operated upon, specify the return address from a 
subroutine, and branch to a subroutine.


 
Transmit from location to location an entire record regardless of length.


 
Contain a constant for use in a problem in addition to the operation 
performed.



·
Automatic validity checking of all data transfers, arithmetic functions, and 
input-output operations.


·
Automatic sign control.


·
Additional instructions available.


·
Automatic floating point feature available.


Physical characteristics 
 Solid-state components. 
 High reliability with low maintenance. 


  Internal data representation


Self-checking, six-bit, binary-coded decimal. 


 
Four-bit numerical value (1-2-4-8)


 
Flag-bit for field and sign designation.


 
Check-bit to give odd parity check.


Direct conversion from card code to two-digit alphameric coding. 


  Processing speeds


Fixed point operations 
 Basic machine cycle was 21 microseconds. Time included the fetching of two 
factors and was the complete interval elapsed from one instruction to the 
next. 


 
Addition or subtraction (5 digits) - 560 microseconds. A rate of 1,780 per 
second.


 
Multiplication (5 digits by 5 digits) - 4.96 milliseconds. A rate of 200 per 
second.


 
Division (5-digit quotient) with automatic divide feature - 16.86 
milliseconds. A rate of 56 per second.


 
Logical decisions - 200 microseconds. A rate of 5,000 per second.


 
Data transmission of 5-digit fields - 360 microseconds. A rate of 2,800 per 
second.


Optional automatic floating point operations 
 When using this hardware feature, floating point numbers consisted of a 
variable length mantissa with a two digit exponent. So that the required 
degree of precision could be specified, the mantissa could vary from 2 to 100 
digits in length and the exponent field could range from -99 to + 99. 
 The times listed are based on a two-digit exponent and an eight-digit 
mantissa. They include normalizing and access to two floating point fields. 


 
Floating add or subtract - l.2 milliseconds.


 
Floating multiply - 12.5 milliseconds.


 
Floating divide - 41.7 milliseconds.


 


  Components


IBM 1620 Central Processing Unit 
 Contains console, arithmetic and logical unit, and core storage. 


 
Console


 
·
Visual display of machine check indicators, program registers and storage 
locations.


 
·
Control keys and switches for manual and semiautomatic control of computer 
operations.


 
·
Typewriter and typewriter release/start key for simultaneous release and start 
were included as part of the console. It functioned as a direct input-output 
device.


 


 
Arithmetic and logical unit


 
·
Two-address instruction format, 12 digits.


 
·
32 powerful commands - could be expanded to 47 with optional features.


 
·
Addition, subtraction and multiplication accomplished by automatic table 
lookup in core storage.


 
·
Division accomplished by available subroutine or by optional automatic divide 
feature.


 
·
Console switches and machine check indicators could be interrogated by the 
program.


 


 
Core storage


 
·
A basic system contained 20,000 digits of core storage.


 
·
Each digit position individually addressable by a five-digit address.


 
·
300 positions permanently assigned for use in arithmetic operations.


 


IBM 1623 Storage Unit 
 Expanded core storage to 40,000 or 60,000 positions. 
     Model 1 contained an additional 20,000 positions. 
     Model 2 contained an additional 40,000 positions. 


IBM 1622 Card Read Punch 
 Read 250 cards per minute, maximum. 
 Punched 125 cards per minute, maximum. 
 Synchronizer storage for input and output. 
 Overlap of reading, computing and punching. 
 Automatic conversion when reading or punching alphameric data. 
 Large-capacity radial, nonstop stackers. 
 Automatic checking of reading and punching. 


IBM 1621 Paper Tape Reader 
 Read 150 characters per second. 
 Eight-channel paper tape. 
 Self-checking code insured accuracy of reading. 
 Accommodated both numerical and alphabetic information in single-character 
coding. 


IBM 1624 Tape Punch 
 Punched 15 characters per second. 
 Eight-channel tape with self-checking code. 
 Accommodated both numerical and alphabetic information in single-character 
coding. 


  Optional features


Automatic division. 
 Automatic floating point operations. 
 Multilevel indirect addressing. 
 Additional instructions. 


  Checking features


Odd-bit parity check on internal data transmission. 
 Odd-bit parity check on tape input-output. 
 Automatic checking of card reading or punching. 
 Overflow check on addition, subtraction and compare. 
 Table-lookup arithmetic fully checked. 


  Expansion to a 1710 Control System


A 1620 was field-convertible to a 1710 Control System. A 1711 Data Converter 
model 1 connected to a 1620 Data Processing System simplified collection and 
analysis of analog data without off-line conversion units. Data from analog 
measuring devices was transferred through the 1711 directly to the 1620. The 
system's versatility made it ideal for quality control applications, process 
studies, and process optimization. 


With the 1711 model 2 and 1712 Multiplexer and Terminal Unit connected to the 
1620, the computer not only received data from analog measuring devices, but 
fed results through the 1711/1712 to control processes by closing contacts 
which completed circuits to the instrumentation for closed-loop process 
control. 


  Programming languages and systems


Symbolic Programming System 
 1620 symbolic language allowed the programmer to refer to instructions and 
data in the program by name or other meaningful designation without regard to 
their location in the machine to facilitate relocating sections of programs, 
incorporating subroutines, and inserting or deleting instructions. 
Programming was further simplified through the use of macroinstructions which 
generated linkages and incorporated subroutines into the object program. 


Subroutines available for floating point operations included add, subtract, 
multiply, divide, square root, sine, cosine, arc tangent, and (for natural 
and base ten) exponential and logarithm. A subroutine for single precision 
division was also available. SPS would make use of variable lengths 
subroutines, as well as automatic floating point, on an optional basis. 


One-Pass SPS 
 A subset of the 1620 SPS, this system required only one pass of the source 
program tape to assemble and punch out an object program. 


FORTRAN 
 A programming system which permitted users to write their programs in a 
language closely resembling that of mathematics. A source program written in 
the FORTRAN language was processed by the 1620 FORTRAN compiler to produce a 
1620 machine-language program. A separate subroutine package using the 
automatic divide feature was included. Automatic floating point operations 
were used on an optional basis. FORTRAN operated on a 20,000, 40,000 or 
60,000 digit system. 


FORTRAN Pre-Compiler 
 Used to edit source programs written in the 1620 FORTRAN language, FORTRAN 
Pre-Compiler eliminated many common errors in the source program. Console 
switch control permitted many input-output options in checking a program 
prior to compilation. 


FORTRAN II 
 Designed for a 1620 system equipped with optional automatic divide, indirect 
addressing, additional core storage (1623 Model 1) and a 1622 Card Read 
Punch, FORTRAN II was an extension of the basic 1620 FORTRAN system. 
Additional FORTRAN language statements were included, and high degrees of 
precision in computation could be achieved by specifying the length of number 
fields in excess of the fixed length normally allowed. 


GOTRAN 
 A simple "load-and-go" program whose language is a subset of, and compatible 
with, the 1620 FORTRAN, 1620 GOTRAN eliminated the compilation phase and went 
directly to problem solution. Upon execution of one program, the system was 
ready to accept another GOTRAN program. 


Program Library 
 This included programs for mathematical functions, for utility (commonly used 
small programs), and for engineering applications.