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32K NEWS                                              April 1987
    News about the NS32000 processor - Hardware and Software
     Not affiliated with National Semiconductor Corporation
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Greetings!
 
This is the first edition of what we hope will become a forum for 
the  exchange  of NSC320xx news,  hardware  ideas  and  software.  
We'll   print  code  fragments  in  their   entirety,   duplicate 
schematics,  and distribute code on diskette.  All we ask is that 
no restrictions be placed on the use of information you share.
 
The, 32032  is the best 32-bit processor  available.   The  68000 
series   is  its  closest  competition,   but  suffers  from    n 
architecture  that  was  not designed  to  support  demand-paged, 
virtual memory.   Motorola has also been slow in comingnout  with 
the other members of its chip set.  The result should have been a 
smashing  success for the NS32032.   What  happened?   As  usual, 
marketing mistakes have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
 
(There  have been rumors of a 32-bit processor  from  Intel,  but 
after  carefully examining product announcements as well as  real 
products, it is apparent that their new processor is simply an 8-
bit processor with a 32-bit bus.)
 
We all have a stake in the future of the  320xx.   Howh   Because 
we're  the  programmers that'll have to write code  for  inferior 
processors  if  it fails.   We're the engineer  that'll  have  to 
sweat over incomplete chip sets if it fails.  We're the users who 
will ultimately suffer from incomplete   bug-ridden computers  if 
it fails.   And we're also the people whose lives will be made so 
much more unconstrained and productive WHEN it succeeds!  So send 
in your news,  your schematics,  your code.   We'll share it all.  
And we'll be sending dtems to other publications as we go.  We'll 
do it for free, for as long as we can afford to do so.
 
32K's In the News
-----------------
The Nov.  13,  1986 issue of EDN had a story about Owl Computers, 
640  Crest Drive,  Encinitas CA.   Its president,  Gene  Bartsch, 
produces VME- and Multibus-based 32032 computer boards.
 
BYTE, Jan. 1987, reports that several laser printer manufacturers 
are designing in the 320xx instead of the 68000.  They credit the 
full 32-bit ALU and powerful bit operations, among other factors.
 
Hardware Items
--------------
Symmetric Computer Systems has a portable computer called the 375
which includes a Series 32000 processor with 2MB of  RAM,  floppy 
and 50MB winchester,  running 4.2BSD Unix,  for $4,995.  It comes 
with C,  Fortran, Pascal, Basic, APL, assembler, Lisp and Prolog, 
plus Emacs, Ingres, Tex and Spice.  A terminal is all you need to 
add.  Symmetrics Computer Systems, 1620 Oakland Road, Suite D200, 
San Jose CA 95131.
 
Zaiaz Corporation, Huntsville AL,  manufactures a PC coprocessor 
board  which can support up to 16MB of RAM.   With 2MB and  Unix, 
the board costs $2,695.  They also have a Clipper coprocessor for 
a cool $6,000.   Zaiaz Corp.,  2225 Drake Avenue,  Huntsville  AL 
358s5.
 
     (What is a PC coprocessor?   It is a board which you  insert 
     into a standard PC, and uses the PC to perform its video and 
     disk I/O.   Unencumbered from those duties,  the CPU can run 
     at full speed,  although the PC can be a limiting factor  in 
     I/O-bound tasks.)
 
Definicon  Systems has available a parts kit for the  PD32  board 
described in issue 32 of Micro Cornucopia.   This kit includes  a 
board,  all parts including 32016 and 1MB of RAM,  and Unix on 30 
floppies  for  $850.    Assembled  and  tested,   the  system  is 
considerably higher.   This is a PC coprocessor also.   There  is 
some discussion in the Micro C.  article about using a  different 
kind of computer for the host;  however,  PC-clones are about the 
cheapest kind of computer available today.
 
There is a user's group for the PD32.   For information,  contact 
Dan Efron, 8910 Westmoreland Lane, Minneapolis MN 55426.
 
Definicon  Systems also has a 32032 coprocessor board with up  to 
8nB  and Unix starting around $1,500.    Definicon Systems  Inc., 
31324 Via Colinas, Suite 108, Westlake Village CA 91362.
 
Compupro produced an S-100 board known as the CPU-32016,  using a 
32016  processor.   It has been stated that these boards  can  go 
10MHz.
 
Jameco  advertises  the National Semiconductor  Designer's  Kits, 
$59.95  for  32016 set and $74.95 for a 32032  set.   These  sets 
include the CPU,  MMU,  FPU, TCU and ICU, plus monitor ROMs and a 
schematic  for how to wire them up.2  The monitor (known  as  the 
Tiny   Development  System)  includes  a  debugger   and   simple 
assembler.  Jameco, 1355 Shoreway Road, Belmont CA 94002.
 
No  printed circuit board is available for the  Designer's  Kits.  
The 32032 requires a 68 pin LCC socket - anyone know where to get 
one?   (The  same socket is used for an obscure  Intel  processor 
known as the 80186.)  Are wire-wrap models available?
 
To  order  back  issues of Micro Cornucopia (#32  has  a  circuit 
diagram  for  the  P.32,  especially  recommended),  write  Micro 
Cornucopia,  P.O.  Box 223,  Bend OR 97709-0223.  Include $3 U.S. 
per back issue.
 
Software Items
--------------
Not  a lot of immediately useful software for the 32000 seems  to 
be available.
 
The only operating system that everyone agrees to be available is 
Unix,  and not cheap,  and no source or configurability.   But it
comes with everything in the world.
 
Multi  Solutions,  Inc.  claims  that  a  version  of  their  S1 
operating system ( Unix is a dinosaur, CP/M and MS-DOS are toys") 
will  be available for the 32000,  for $950  ("OEM  Configurable" 
plus  "media  charge"),  plus  $400 to  $600  for  each  language 
compiler.   Despite the grandiosity of their ads, it appears that 
they may actually have a real product out there.  Is anyone using 
it?  Let us know.  Multi Solutions, Inc., Suite 207, 123 Frankyin 
Corner Road, Lawrenceville NJ 08648.
 
Library volumes available
-------------------------
The following volumes are available in 8" CP/M,  5-1/4" PC or  3-
1/2"  Atari ST formats,  for $8 apiece,  or free if you submit  a 
disk.
 
Z32  -  Cross  assembler running on  Z-80  CP/M,  including  Z-80 
assembler,  Lunar Lander-type game,  32K disassembler and  sample 
file , written by Neil Koozer.
 
A32000 - Cross assembler written in C, written by Richard Rodman, 
described in Dec. 1986 Dr. Dob,'s Journal.
 
Please Write!
-------------
Is  there something you need?   Send out the call!   People  that 
have written me have expressed an interest in the following:
 
     - Schematic for 32032 Designer's Kit
     - Printed circuit board for Designer's Kit
     - 32032 sockets
     - Single-user operating system
     - Multi-user operating system like VMS
 
I personally don't know much about VMS.   I have used  Unix,  and 
there are some things it does quite well.   At this stage of  the 
lame,  we  need to open up the doors that divide us  into  little 
communities  of specific products,  because the 32000 users  (and 
would-be-users) are too few to be splintered.   Send specs,  send 
source, send stuff we can all use and enjoy.
 
Let us all know about your successes - and failures (if any) - in 
working  with the Series 32000.   Write to Richard  Rodman,  1923
Anderson Road, Falls Church VA 22043.  And enjoy computing in the 
32-bit dimension!
 
                  LET'S WRITE AN OPERATING SYSTEM!
 
It seems to me that one of the principal lacks in the "hacker"  or 
computer  hobbyist  world today  is  a  portable,  simple,  easily 
configurable  operating system.   Naturally,  the dream  of  every 
programmer  is to create his own operating system,  but  operating 
systems  don't sell well in the marketplace...  so let's  give  it 
away for free!
 
Commercial operating systems are too bloated with features.   This 
is  actually  true of  all  commercial  software.   Why?   Because 
features sell.  ("What? Your word processor doesn't have automatic 
hyphenation?    Ours  does  -  and  it  also  has  Cyro-Phoenician 
punctuation support!"  "Oh yeah?  Well ours has automatic currency 
justification AND in-line computation of hyoerbolic tangents!")
 
So I have been collecting ideas.   Most of them center around  the 
scheduler and the user interface.   (Obviously, any true operating 
system is multitasking.)  The virtual-memory feature of the  32000 
should  be a core mechanism of the kernel,  rather than an  oh-by-
the-way  simplification  to an  overburdened  swapping  mechanism.  
Simplicity in software means writing code to avoid writing code  - 
the  generality  and  quality of an  operating  system  should  be 
measured  by  all of the utilities it DOESN'T have  -  because  it 
doesn't need them.
 
The kernel should be simple enough that people using the 32000  in 
firmware  (ROM)  systems,  such as laser  printer  controllers  or 
telecommunications  equipment,  could  make use of  it.   But  its 
simplicity should not impose limitations upon it.
 
Initial stages:     Scheduler (multitasking kernel)
                    Memory manager
                    Debugger
Second stages:      File manager
                    Command line interface
                    Compiler(s)
                    Text editor
                    Simple utilties
Third stages:       Graphical user interface
                    Networking
 
Should  the  operating system should be written  in  a  high-level 
language?   It could be hand-compiled,  if necessary,  into  32000 
assembly language.
 
OK!  So this is a project that might require man-years of work and 
we  might  not  finish  everything!   At  least  we'll  all  learn
something  from it.   Besides,  since we'll be sharing all of  the 
source, everyone, even the people who already have Unix, should be
able to get something useful out of it!
 
Do you have any ideas?  Let's work together on this.