A program-controlled program interruption system
Fred P. Brooks · 1958
In a computer complex now under development at IBM for the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, a major objective is to improve performance by eliminating unnecessary waiting. A fundamental concept is that of multiple data processing units sharing a common memory and operating simultaneously and asynchronously. This complex must be capable of immediate and coordinated response to external signals. These two concepts demand special methods of switching any single unit from one program to another. The system by which a computer unit responds to arbitrarily timed signals with programs pertinent to each signal will be called a program interruption system.