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DDP-116, CCD 516, H316

Manufacturer Honeywell
Identification,ID DDP-116, H316
Date of first manufacture DDP-116 Apr 1965,
CCD 516 Jun 1966
Honeywell CCD 316 Jul 1969
Number produced -
Estimated price or cost-
location in museum -
donor -

Contents of this page:

- Also see Dr. Dobbs Journal

Photo
Kitchen Computer

Placard
Honeywell Kitchen Computer,
1965

The H316 was billed as the first under-$10,00016-bit machine from a major computer manufacturer. It was the smallest addition to the Honeywell "Series 16" line. The H316 was available in three versions: table-top, rack-mountable, and self-standing pedestal. This unit is the pedestal version and was also marketed by Neimann Marcus as "The Kitchen Computer," a somewhat improbable use!

From the collection of The Computer Museum

Architecture
-

Special features
16 bit

Historical Notes
from http://www.sapere.demon.co.uk/computers/history.html
The Series 16 computers were originally designed by Computer Control Company. This company was then bought by Honeywell (in 1966?).

The first computer in the range was the DDP-116.

I believe that it was designed over the summer of 1965 by Gardner Hendrie. I think it was introduced in March or April 1965. Various references describe this machine as the first 16-bit Minicomputer.

The DDP-516 was introduced in 1966. Later came H316, which has an identical instruction set. These form the core of the Series-16.

The H316 is basically a re-engineered DDP-516. Most of the logic design is identical, and it is entirely binary compatible with the DDP-516. By using more highly integrated chips, and later generation core memory, it was possible to reduce the size from something the size and weight of a small car to something that fits under a desk and can, just, be lifted by one person. The H316 has a cycle time of 1.6 microseconds.

from http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/FA.tcp-ip/81.10.14_ucbvax.4417_fa.tcp-ip.html

BBN H316 and C/30 TAC


Date: 14 May 1981
From: Bob Hinden

The Terminal Access Controller (TAC) is user Telnet host that supports TCP/IP and NCP host to host protocols. It runs in 32K H-316 and 64K C/30 computers. It supports up to 63 terminal ports. It connects to a network via an 1822 host interface.

The TAC's TCP/IP is intended to conform with the IEN-128 and IEN-129 specifications with the following exceptions: 1) IP options are accepted but ignored. 2) TCP options are not accepted. 3) Precedence, Security, etc. are ignored.

The TAC also supports Packet core, TAC Monitoring, Internet Control, and a subset of the Gateway-Gateway protocols.

For more information on the TAC's design, see IEN-166.

Currently, TAC's TCP/IP has been tested with several other implementations. This includes TOPS20 (BBND, BBNC, BBNA, ISID), Multics (MIT-Multics), IBM (UCLA), 11/70 Unix (BBN-Unix,EDN-Unix), and VAX Unix (BBN-VAX). All major features have been implemented except IP reassembly and TCP Urgent handling. These will be done in the near future.

This Artifact
Tour Description of the Kitchen Computer from Neiman Marcus

Interesting Web Sites

Other information
From The Evolution of Forth (an unusual operating/programming system now used to "boot up" SUN and other hardware).
Moore developed the first complete, stand-alone implementation of Forth in 1971 for the 11-meter radio telescope operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) at Kitt Peak, Arizona. This system ran on two early minicomputers (a 16 KB DDP-116 and a 32 KB H316) joined by a serial link.

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Updated June 15, 2003