Intel SYP-310
(Intel System 3xx)

General Description
Documents
SYS-310 Boards

General description

The System 310 (shown on the pictures above) is a versatile, stand-alone microcomputer system, designed to provide low-cost 16-bit computing power and Open System versatility for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) applications. It offers a selection of operating systems, processors, and mass storage devices. The industry- standard MULTIBUS® system bus (IEEE-796) and extra board slots allow hardware to be easily added to the system to support specific applications.

OPEN SYSTEM SUPPORT

The design of the System SYP 310 exemplifies Intel’s Open System concept of allowing OEMs to add value to the system in any of the following three ways:

  • Adding the most recent as well as future generations of VLSI microcomputers
  • Taking advantage of industry-standard hardware and software, both from Intel and independent vendors
  • Integrating OEM-designed hardware and software into the system at any level (system, board, or component)

To support this Open System concept, Intel offers the following hardware and software modules for use in the System 310.

PROCESSOR

The processor board or use with the System SYP 310 is the iSBC® 286/12 processor board, based on the Intel 80286 microprocessor. For increased processing power, you can add an 80287 floating-point math coprocessor to the board.

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Intel offers a choice of two industry-standard operating systems for use with the System 310: Intel’s iRMX™ Operating System and Microsoft’s XENIX* Operating System. Both of these operating systems are powerful vehicles for developing and supporting applications programs or for running off-the-shelf iRMX- or XENIX- compatible programs.

DISK DRIVES

The System 310 chassis provides space for two 5i-inch disk drives. These spaces can be filled with one or two double-sided, double-density diskette drive and a Winchester hard disk drive.

CHASSIS

The attractive, low-profile chassis for the System 310 is 17 inches
wide, 6% inches high, and 20 inches deep, and weighs 40 pounds. It
contains a power supply, cooling fans, and a seven-slot cardeage.

DIAGNOSTICS

A monitor program and a set of diagnostie programs, located in PROMs, are included with the System 310. These programs provide start-up diagnostics for verifying that the system is operating correctly. An additional set of diagnostic programs, some provided on a diskette and some with the operating system, can be used for troubleshooting and fault isolation.

SYP-310 Boards

MULTIBUS BORDS IN MY SYP-310

The architecture of the System 310 is based upon Intel’s industry-standard (IEEE-796) MULTIBUS® system bus. The MULTIBUS system bus provides a common electrical and physical structure for transferring data between the processors, memories, disk controllers, and other MULTIBUS-compatible circuit board modules comprising the core of the System 310.

MULTIBUS circuit boards are classed either as bus masters or slaves. The processor boards and the Winchester controller used in the System 310 are bus masters. A bus master has the ability to control the bus; it exercises this control by generating command signals and memory addresses. Bus masters may exchange control of the bus with other bus masters. Slaves decode addresses and act upon the command signals from the bus masters. The memory boards used in the System 310 are examples of slaves.

 

System 310’s major functional elements are:

  • The processor board.
  • Memory, which may be contained entirely on the processor or may include one or more separate memory boards.
  • The flexible diskette and Winchester drives and their controllers.
  • The backplane.
  • The front panel switches and indicators.

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