Massbus

The Massbus is a high-performance computer input/output bus designed in the 1970s by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC).

The bus was used by Digital to interconnect its highest-performance computers with magnetic disk and magnetic tape storage equipment. The use of a common bus was intended to allow a single controller design to handle multiple peripheral models,[1]:7.0 and allowed the PDP-10, PDP-11, and VAX computer families to share a common set of peripherals. An additional business objective was to provide a subsystem entry price well below that of IBM storage subsystems which used large and expensive controllers unique to each storage technology and optimized for connecting large numbers of storage devices.

Logical implementation

The bus is logically implemented as two separate sections:

  • An asynchronous control bus used to access memory-mapped I/O registers in the individual storage devices,[1]:8.0 and
  • A high-speed, synchronous data bus that is used to carry the actual data transfers between the storage devices and the host bus adapter.[1]:8.0 The data bus is 18 bits wide plus parity. 16 bits was used for PDP-11 and VAX systems, 18 bits for DEC-10s.
  • Multiple devices of different types can transmit data over the shared data path. However, this was never supported by DEC operating systems.
  • Static dual port is also provided to permit failover or manual switching of storage devices to another CPU.

Massbus storage devices each contain their own autonomous controller units, allowing fully overlapped operation of multiple storage units connected to a single Massbus. The interface between the computer and the Massbus is basically a pass-through device that allows connection of the common Massbus to the individual computer's internal buses (whether PDP-10 memory bus, Unibus, PDP-11/70 cache bus, or VAX Synchronous Backplane Interconnect). Whenever a storage controller has a data transfer ready, it arbitrates for the use of the Massbus's synchronous data channel.

Physical implementation

The bus is physically implemented in two forms:

  • Shielded, controlled-impedance, flat, grey BC06R cables with Berg-styled IDC connectors at each end. Three cables operating in parallel carry all of the Massbus signals.
  • Single large, round, heavily shielded cables with ZIF connectors at each end.
  • All signals are full differential, and the data bus cycle is 1 microsecond.

The less-expensive flat grey cables are used within shielded equipment enclosures while the round cables are used to connect the enclosures. Transition headers allowed switching freely between the two types of cables and a single Massbus can be daisy-chained between the controller and up to eight mass storage devices. A very heavy ground conductor (wire) also usually joins the equipment.

Massbus peripherals

Disk
RP06 disk drive, with cover for removable pack atop its sliding glass door

(capacities noted are raw, not formatted)

  • RM02 80MB, CDC 9762 pack-loaded disk drives, CDC unique disks spin at 2400 RPM
  • RM03 80MB, CDC 9762 pack-loaded disk drives, CDC unique disks spin at 3600 RPM

Note the RM02 uses a different drive pulley to slow the disk transfers to a level compatible with a Unibus-based PDP11. The RM03 spun at full speed, and is supported on the pdp11/70 and larger systems. Curiously enough the DECSYSTEM 2020 can support an RM03 with its Unibus-based interface due to a highly buffered Unibus-to-memory interface.

  • RM05 300MB CDC 9766 pack-loaded disk drives, CDC unique
  • RP04 100 MB ISS/Sperry Univac pack-loaded (removable) disk drive
  • RP05/RP06 100/200 MB Memorex 677-51/677-01 pack-loaded (removable) disk drive[2][3][4]

The RP04[5] and RP06[6] disks were comparable to the 100 Mb IBM 3330 Mod I and IBM's 200 Mb Model II thereof. The 100 Mb RP05 was designated as "high performance" compared to the RP04.[7]

  • RP07 500MB ISS/Sperry Univac non-removable disks IBM 3350 type
  • RP20 - 1.2Gb (non-removable)[8]
  • RS03 1MB (formatted) very fast fixed-head disk drives, DEC proprietary plated disk
  • RS04 2MB (formatted) very fast fixed-head disk drives, DEC proprietary plated disk
  • RM80 121MB Winchester 14 inch disk

Tape
  • TU16 1600bpi
  • TU45 9 track, capable of 800 BPI and 1600 BPI; 120,000 bytes/second[7]
  • TU77 1600bpi
  • TU78/TA78 6250 GCR[9][10][11]

Analog I/O
  • DR01 Unibus size analog I/O board that connected to the RH20 Massbus controller on a PDP-10

Massbus CPU interfaces
  • RH10—To the PDP-10's memory bus
  • RH11—To the PDP-11's Unibus[12]
  • RH11C—to the KS10's (DECSYSTEM 2020) Unibus
  • RH20—To the PDP-10 KL10 CPU (DECsystem 109x, DECSYSTEM-2040/2050/206x) channel bus
  • RH70—To the PDP-11/70's Cache Bus
  • RH750—To the VAX-11/75x bus[13]
  • RH780—To the VAX-11/78x, VAX 86xx SBI (Synchronous Backplane Interconnect) bus
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References
  1. "Massbus Specification" (PDF). DEC STD 159.
  2. "RP06 disk drive". CHwiki/Computer History wiki.
  3. "RP06 disk drive". Computer History Museum.
  4. "RP05/RP06 disk drive installation manual" (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. EK-RP056-IN-001.
  5. "The DEC RP04 Disk Drive".
  6. "The DEC RP06 Disk Drive".
  7. EK-DEC20-SP-002 DECSYSTEM-20 Site Preparation Guide.
  8. "DECsystem-10 Technical Summary".
  9. top density
  10. "TA78 Magnetic Tape Drive Service Manual" (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. 1984. EK-0TA78-SV-001.
  11. "DIGITAL TU78 Reel-to-Reel Tape Drive: Overview".
  12. Bell, C. Gordon; Mudge, J. Craig; McNamara, John E. (August 1979). Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design. Digital Press. p. 278. ISBN 0-932376-00-2.
  13. "RH750 Massbus Adapter Technical Description".
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