PDP-11
Sign in to saveThe PDP-11 is a series of 16-bit minicomputers originally sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from 1970 into the late 1990s, one of a set of products in the Programmed Data Processor (PDP) series. In total, around 600,000 PDP-11s of all models were sold, making it one of DEC's most successful product lines. The PDP-11 is considered by some experts to be the most popular minicomputer.
Key facts
- Computing device.name
- PDP-11
- Computing device.logo
- frameless|class=skin-invert
- Computing device.image
- Pdp-11-40.jpg
- Computing device.caption
- A PDP-11/40 CPU is at the bottom, with a TU56 dual DECtape drive installed above it.
- Computing device.developer
- Digital Equipment Corporation
- Computing device.family
- Programmed Data Processor
- Computing device.type
- Minicomputer
- Computing device.lifespan
- 1970–1997
- Computing device.units_sold
- around 600,000
- Computing device.os
- BATCH-11/DOS-11, DSM-11, IAS, P/OS, RSTS/E, RSX-11, RT-11, Ultrix-11, Seventh Edition Unix, SVR1, 2BSD
- Computing device.platform
- PDP-11 architecture
- Computing device.successor
- VAX-11
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
34 sectionsContents
- History
- Previous machines
- Release
- Innovative features
- Instruction set orthogonality
- No dedicated I/O instructions
- Interrupts
- Designed for mass production
- LSI-11 integrated circuits
- Decline
- Models
- Unibus models
- Q-bus models
- Models without standard bus
- Models that were planned but never introduced
- Special-purpose versions
- Unlicensed clones
- Operating systems
- From Digital
- From third parties
- Communications
- Peripherals
- Use
- Games
- Emulators
- Ersatz-11
- SIMH
- See also
- Notes
- Explanatory citations
- Citations
- References
- Further reading
- External links
The PDP-11 is a series of 16-bit minicomputers originally sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from 1970 into the late 1990s, one of a set of products in the Programmed Data Processor (PDP) series. In total, around 600,000 PDP-11s of all models were sold, making it one of DEC's most successful product lines. The PDP-11 is considered by some experts to be the most popular minicomputer.
The PDP-11 included a number of innovative features in its instruction set and additional general-purpose registers that made it easier to program than earlier models in the PDP series. Further, the innovative Unibus system allowed external devices to be more easily interfaced to the system using direct memory access, opening the system to a wide variety of peripherals. The PDP-11 replaced the PDP-8 in many real-time computing applications, although both product lines lived in parallel for more than 10 years. The ease of programming of the PDP-11 made it popular for general-purpose computing.