24 Jan
2018
24 Jan
'18
1:38 p.m.
I had forgotten about OrBit. According to this very nice document:
http://xeroxalto.computerhistory.org/Indigo/Spruce/documents/.orbitguide.pr…
... the Orbit hardware was 4 cards in the Alto II backplane. As I recall,
the SLOT interface was only 1 card; it was connected to a slower speed
printer. The only modification to the Alto: wire wrapping the task signals
(don't ask me how I know...)
And yes, I agree, only the high bandwidth I/O used tasks. The use of tasks
and "time sharing" the Alto processor innards is one of the Alto's real
treats.