Draft:30-bit computing

A 30-bit word can also store 5 6-bit characters. Generally if floating-point arithmetic was supported in such systems they had option of using double-precision format of 60-bits. Systems with a 30-bit architecture were heavily used for military and aerospace applications particularly with projects initiated in the 1950/60's.

One of the most notable families of machines to use a 30-bit words were those developed for the Naval Tactical Data System. The first machine in the class been the AN/USQ-17 which was designed by Seymour Cray, subsequently variations of this architecture would be used by the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, NASA and the FAA for the ARTS III TRACON. This was based around the Univac 8303 IOP (I/O Processor) which could be configured in a multiprocessor configuration, depending on the specific Air traffic control site (New York had the largest). It was also used by several airlines in the form of the UNIVAC 490-494 to provide a Airline reservations system in competition with IBM's Sabre Reservation system.

The unrelated Univac 1050 system was notable for been the largest military order for commercial computers in the early 1960's. It was deployed in Vietnam and other parts of SE Asia and was heavily used with regards to Air Materiel Command logistic supply chain.

The RCA 4100 series was a family of militarized machines that was used in Aerospace operations. The RCA 4101 model been used in the AN/FPQ-6 radar system to provide corrections to the output data. The 4202-S model was built for use in tracking of recently launched Space vehicles.

The Adage Graphics Terminal family was built around a 30-bit processor with up to 32KW of core memory combined with a specialised DAC, vector generator and display.

Examples

 * UNIVAC 1104
 * AN/USQ-17
 * AN/USQ-20
 * AN/UYK-8
 * UNIVAC 1289 (CP-890/UYK) - used as the primary navigation computer of the Trident SSBN.
 * UNIVAC 490
 * UNIVAC 491
 * UNIVAC 492
 * UNIVAC 494
 * UNIVAC 1050
 * RCA 4100