"new" classics (was Re: Pre-history of Digital Research)

From: allisonp_at_world.std.com <(allisonp_at_world.std.com)>
Date: Mon Mar 22 09:06:24 1999

> ok, I see (all of) your points and unhappily agree. So, what are the goals
> of your system design?

A hardware platform to run the z280 as it has system/user space as well as
I&D capability in the MMU. Code development will include a revised
version of CP/M based on clone code to add hierachial directories in a way
that doesn't break current applications. The ZCPR named path and user
space was a limited fix in this area of directory management. Other
changes planned will include foreground/background processing off a banked
BDOS/BIOS. This will extend the work I did back in the early 80s with
base z80s in a multiprocessor configuration. To accomplish the project of
then I needed a version of the z80 that trapped on illegal instructions
and knew the difference between user and system spaces, the z280 added the
capability and extended the instruction set as well over the z180. The
z280 is roughly similar to the PDP-11/73 cpu in the MMU capability.
A limited subset of the project may apply to non z280 sytems. I'd like to
see CP/M get a real directory structure that does not break the BDOS
interface and can address really big devices (atleast 500mb) senseably.

Non trivial project.

Allison
Received on Mon Mar 22 1999 - 09:06:24 GMT