Talk:UNIVAC BP

The Univac buffer processor also had the ability to be connected to a paper tape punch reader to load and dump memory. It could not duplicate a tape except by reading all of it into memory. A program could be loaded with the reader.

The machine had as many as eight program counters and status registers to serve the connected agent terminals or other connected devices without the need for interrupt processing. The program counters were locations in memory. This allowed for rapid text sending and receiving to agent terminals and the main computer. The main computer had automatic direct memory buffer transfers. A UNIVAC 418 was often used between the Univac 490 or 494 or 1108 and the buffer processor. A Univac 418 could share a magnetic drum unit or tape drive between several main processors at high speeds. When a Univac 418 was sent to Paris, France without a connected drum, the multiple bank extra large magnetic memory that it had, was filled with the test and installation programs modified with one of the first Ram Disc-emulators.

One of the persons designing the Alto computer was informed that the BP was already using the very powerful Alto high speed ram multiple program counter design which was much more productive with separate very high speed memory for its registers. The Alto drew its screen image with a simple single line bit buffer and a high speed program activation for each line. The UNIVAC 1108 already had two sets of program registers at that time. It also had multiple buffer pointers for direct memory access and a variant which allowed multiple simultaneous text buffers on a single direct memory channel.GoldSilverMercury (talk) 01:53, 12 July 2016 (UTC)