An operating system and programming systems for the 6600
B. B. Clayton, E. K. Dorff, R. E. Fagen · 1965
As has been seen from the discussion of the 6600 organization, the hardware design leaves a flexible arrangement, and communication between the 10 peripheral processors (PP's) with the 12 I/O channels and with central memory has few built-in hardware restrictions. Similarly, the rules for the central processor (CP) are also simple but relatively unrestricted, with the CP operation and communication with central memory subject to control of any of the 10 PP's at any time. Thus a complete discussion of operation of the 6600 system is possible only in the context of an operating system. There are many ways in which an operating system may be organized; each different way leads in effect to a different overall system when considered in the light of the processing of a given work load or problem mix.