Process Unit D8000 Prototype
- developed from 1985 to 1989
- 32-bit system
- unfinished project
The D8000 project was started in 1985 by Iskra Delta in cooperation with the University of Maribor but ended prematurely in 1989 when Iskra Delta fell apart.
The goal of the project was manufacturing a computer processing unit based on the already existing VAX processors developed by American company Digital Equipment Corporation. Iskra Delta had previously also used the company’s VAX 11 in the Delta 4780 and Delta 4850 systems. Developing its own processing units was part of Iskra Delta’s strategy to increase autonomy, as it would have no longer needed to import DEC components. The project was also seen as a step towards becoming part of the world’s technological elite.
The VAX processors were 32-bit systems with a CISC architecture which replaced the PDP processors also produced by DEC. At the time the D8000 was being developed, the VAX 11/780 and the 30 % slower VAX 11/750 occupied the market and were used in the aforementioned Delta systems. An interesting fact is that the name D8000 does not relate to the VAX 8000 series but was intended to be an upgrade on the D800 based on the PDP architecture.
The D8000 was a 32-bit unit. It would have run on an instruction set identical to the VAX 11 processors and the Delta V operating system, Iskra’s version of the VAX/VMS already used in the Delta 4780 and the Delta 4850 systems. The goal of the D8000 project was to increase the level of integration and enhance the processing speed by using the pipeline principles, as well as creating a physically smaller product than the VAX 11 and doubling the speed of the VAX11/780. The processing unit was placed on two extended hex boards called the E (executive) and I (imperative) processors. The CISC VAX instruction set was used. A 32-bit processing unit was developed by using eight 4-bit Gate Arrays. The microcode controlling the circuit was made up of words spanning 132 bits. To model the digital logic circuits, the HILO simulator was used.
Milan Palian (Iskra Delta) created his own CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing) system which was used in making graphical documentation and electric-circuit tables, as well as in automatizing the production of wirings/montage platforms.
Due to Iskra Delta’s business problems from 1988 onward, the project was ended before its goals were achieved and so never reached the production stage. When it ended, the teams involved were able to develop a circuit based on the Wire Wrap technique, both extended hex boards, and a segment of the Integer instructions from the CISC VAX set.
DEC went on to develop a new 64-bit architecture named Alpha. DEC was later taken over by Compaq, which was then bought by HP. The architecture used in the aforementioned processors in time became used in Intel processors.
- Members of the Iskra Delta team:
- Marko Ambrož, Grad. Eng.
- Silvester Kink, Grad. Eng.
- Peter Knego, Grad. Eng.
- Mihajlo Knežević, Grad. Eng., leader of the SM department until 1988
- Milan Palian, Grad. Eng.
- mag. Radivoj Pavlin, Grad. Eng. ?
- Viki Povše, Eng.
- Boško Simonović, Grad. Eng.
- Dušan Vukadin, Grad. Eng.
- Anton Žvanut, Grad. Eng., leader of the SM department after 1988
- o Interns: Erik Brumat, Dušan Ponikvar, Damjan Škvarč
- University of Maribor team leader:
- Prof. dr. Jožef Gjerkeš
References/Sources:
- Anton Žvanut
- Podjetje Digital