Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!harvard!caip!nike!styx!lll-crg!gymble!umcp-cs!seismo!mcvax!cernvax!mnl
From: mnl@cernvax.UUCP (mnl)
Newsgroups: net.arch
Subject: Cray "A" processor
Message-ID: <310@cernvax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 9-May-86 22:28:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: cernvax.310
Posted: Fri May  9 22:28:19 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 14-May-86 00:49:28 EDT
Reply-To: mnl@cernvax.UUCP (Mark Nelson)
Followup-To: net.arch
Organization: CERN, Geneva/Switzerland
Lines: 25

I was going through old Communications of the ACM looking for interesting
articles, and I found the January, 1978 issue, which has a special section
on computer architecture, including an article on the Cray-I. On page 71,
under the heading "Front-End Computer Interface", it says:

     Cray Reseaaarch software development is currently being done
     using a Data General Eclipse computer [as a front end].  The
     Cray Research "A" processor, a 16-bit, 80 MIPS minicomputer
					    ^^^^^^^
     is scheduled to replace the Eclipse in early 1978.

Does anyone know what happened with this machine?  I assume that it
was a Cray-I stripped of the vector and floating point hardware, and
maybe also lacking multiply (Can you say RISC?  I knew you could.)
I suppose it probably died because it was too expensive, and due to
a lack of software, since Un*x wasn't the obvious choice for an
operating system in 1978 that it is now, and I don't think Cray
Research had the resources to write their own mainstream operating
system.
-- 
Mark Nelson

mnl@cernvax.bitnet or ...!seismo!mcvax!cernvax!mnl
"This function is occasionally useful as the arguement to a function
which requires a function as an arguement."  Guy Steele