A microprogrammed architecture for front end processing

Abstract

The increasing diversity of hardware devices and software procedures developed for remote processing has yielded a multiplicity of new facilities and telecommunication network structures. The corresponding architectures for front-end systems range from specialized device control to sophisticated multi-purpose multi-terminal support. Simultaneously, the very complexity of new data transmission and processing techniques has created a need for flexible and powerful yet transparent communications processors. The functions of a front-end system will be analyzed in order to derive the concepts which will be used to establish a classification. In a first part, telecommunications and control functions are analyzed in detail, as well as the user facilities at the functional level. The level of support provided by major commercial operating systems with respect to front-end systems is then examined. Their facilities and shortcomings provide the basis for front-end systems. Finally, the architecture of a commercial microprogrammed front-end processor is presented. A modular microprogrammed architecture of this type allows efficient and economical system structuring for a wide range of teleprocessing services.