<s>
The	O
IBM	B-Device
System/7	I-Device
was	O
a	O
computer	O
system	O
designed	O
for	O
industrial	O
control	O
,	O
announced	O
on	O
October	O
28	O
,	O
1970	O
and	O
first	O
shipped	O
in	O
1971	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
a	O
16-bit	B-Device
machine	O
and	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
made	O
by	O
IBM	O
to	O
use	O
novel	O
semiconductor	B-Architecture
memory	I-Architecture
,	O
instead	O
of	O
magnetic	O
core	O
memory	O
conventional	O
at	O
that	O
date	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
had	O
earlier	O
products	O
in	O
industrial	O
control	O
market	O
,	O
notably	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
1800	I-Device
which	O
appeared	O
in	O
1964	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
there	O
was	O
minimal	O
resemblance	O
in	O
architecture	O
or	O
software	O
between	O
the	O
1800	O
series	O
and	O
the	O
System/7	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
System/7	B-Device
was	O
designed	O
and	O
assembled	O
in	O
Boca	O
Raton	O
,	O
Florida	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
processor	O
designation	O
for	O
the	O
system	O
was	O
IBM	B-Device
5010	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
8	O
registers	B-General_Concept
which	O
were	O
mostly	O
general	O
purpose	O
(	O
capable	O
of	O
being	O
used	O
equally	O
in	O
instructions	O
)	O
although	O
R0	O
had	O
some	O
extra	O
capabilities	O
for	O
indexed	O
memory	O
access	O
or	O
system	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
instruction	O
set	O
would	O
be	O
familiar	O
to	O
a	O
modern	O
RISC	B-Architecture
programmer	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
emphasis	O
on	O
register	O
operations	O
and	O
few	O
memory	O
operations	O
or	O
fancy	O
addressing	O
modes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
machine	O
was	O
physically	O
compact	O
for	O
its	O
day	O
,	O
designed	O
around	O
chassis/gate	O
configurations	O
shared	O
with	O
other	O
IBM	O
machines	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
3705	O
communications	O
controller	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
typical	O
configuration	O
would	O
take	O
up	O
one	O
or	O
two	O
racks	O
about	O
high	O
,	O
the	O
smallest	O
System/7	B-Device
'	O
s	O
were	O
only	O
about	O
high	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
usual	O
console	O
device	O
was	O
a	O
Teletype	B-Application
Model	I-Application
33	I-Application
ASR	O
(	O
designated	O
as	O
the	O
IBM	O
5028	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
also	O
how	O
the	O
machine	O
would	O
generally	O
read	O
its	O
boot	O
loader	O
sequence	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
semiconductor	B-Architecture
memory	I-Architecture
emptied	O
when	O
it	O
lost	O
power	O
(	O
in	O
those	O
days	O
,	O
losing	O
memory	O
when	O
you	O
switched	O
off	O
the	O
power	O
was	O
regarded	O
as	O
a	O
novelty	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
S/7	O
did	O
n't	O
have	O
ROM	O
,	O
the	O
machine	O
had	O
minimal	O
capabilities	O
at	O
startup	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
external	O
devices	O
used	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
used	O
the	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
character	I-Protocol
set	I-Protocol
,	O
the	O
internal	O
operation	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
used	O
the	O
EBCDIC	B-Language
character	O
set	O
which	O
IBM	O
used	O
on	O
most	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CPU	O
had	O
4	O
banks	O
of	O
registers	B-General_Concept
each	O
of	O
different	O
priority	O
and	O
it	O
could	O
respond	O
to	O
interrupts	O
within	O
one	O
instruction	O
cycle	O
by	O
switching	O
to	O
the	O
higher	O
priority	O
set	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
specialized	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
devices	I-General_Concept
could	O
be	O
configured	O
for	O
things	O
such	O
as	O
analog	O
measurement	O
or	O
signal	O
generation	O
,	O
solid	O
state	O
or	O
relay	O
switching	O
,	O
or	O
TTL	B-General_Concept
digital	O
input	B-General_Concept
and	I-General_Concept
output	I-General_Concept
lines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
System/7	B-Device
is	O
typically	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
the	O
following	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	B-Device
5010	I-Device
:	O
Processing	O
Module	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
module	O
is	O
always	O
present	O
in	O
a	O
System/7	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Effectively	O
this	O
is	O
the	O
controller	O
for	O
the	O
System/7	B-Device
,	O
performing	O
arithmetic	O
and	O
logical	O
functions	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
providing	O
control	O
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
module	O
handles	O
both	O
digital	O
and	O
analog	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
5013	O
:	O
Digital	O
Input/Output	B-General_Concept
Module	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
module	O
handles	O
digital	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
attachment	O
for	O
custom	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Announced	O
in	O
1971	O
,	O
it	O
could	O
hold	O
either	O
1.23	O
million	O
or	O
2.46	O
million	O
16-bit	B-Device
words	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
effectively	O
the	O
rack	O
into	O
which	O
the	O
power	O
supplies	O
and	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
modules	O
are	O
installed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
photo	O
captioned	O
IBM	B-Device
System/7	I-Device
in	O
use	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
to	O
the	O
left	O
of	O
the	O
operator	O
in	O
the	O
foreground	O
of	O
the	O
photo	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
first	O
announced	O
in	O
1970	O
,	O
one	O
Operator	O
Station	O
was	O
mandatory	O
for	O
each	O
System/7	B-Device
,	O
but	O
in	O
1971	O
IBM	O
announced	O
that	O
one	O
5028	O
could	O
be	O
shared	O
by	O
several	O
System/7s	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
5090	O
:	O
N01	O
Radar	B-Application
Navigation	O
Interface	O
Module	O
(	O
RNIM	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Interfaces	O
with	O
OEM	O
equipment	O
such	O
as	O
radar	B-Application
,	O
gyros	O
,	O
navigation	O
equipment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
provides	O
a	O
radar	B-Application
plan	O
position	O
indicator	O
(	O
PPI	O
)	O
that	O
allows	O
the	O
navigator	O
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
and	O
control	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
advanced	O
(	O
for	O
the	O
time	O
)	O
semiconductor	B-Architecture
memory	I-Architecture
made	O
the	O
machine	O
fast	O
but	O
also	O
expensive	O
,	O
so	O
a	O
lot	O
of	O
work	O
went	O
into	O
minimizing	O
the	O
typical	O
memory	O
footprint	O
of	O
an	O
application	O
before	O
deployment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
development	O
tools	O
normally	O
ran	O
on	O
IBM	O
's	O
360	O
computer	O
system	O
and	O
the	O
program	O
image	O
was	O
then	O
downloaded	O
to	O
a	O
System/7	B-Device
in	O
a	O
development	O
lab	O
by	O
serial	O
link	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Static	O
variable	O
binding	O
,	O
like	O
Fortran	B-Application
,	O
was	O
the	O
norm	O
and	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
arbitrary	O
subroutine	O
call	O
patterns	O
was	O
rare	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
often	O
extended	O
to	O
the	O
real-time	B-General_Concept
interrupt	O
latency	O
,	O
using	O
the	O
4	O
levels	O
of	O
priority	O
and	O
the	O
carefully	O
crafted	O
software	O
paths	O
to	O
ensure	O
guaranteed	O
latencies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fortran	B-Application
and	O
a	O
PL/1	B-Language
subset	O
(	O
PL/7	O
)	O
compilers	O
were	O
available	O
no	O
later	O
than	O
1976	O
as	O
larger	O
configurations	O
became	O
more	O
affordable	O
and	O
more	O
complex	O
data	O
processing	O
was	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
System/7	B-Device
programmers	O
still	O
needed	O
to	O
be	O
aware	O
of	O
the	O
actual	O
instructions	O
that	O
were	O
available	O
for	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
provide	O
more	O
flexibility	O
in	O
programming	O
the	O
System/7	B-Device
,	O
a	O
group	O
in	O
the	O
IBM	O
San	O
Jose	O
Research	O
Laboratory	O
in	O
San	O
Jose	O
,	O
California	O
developed	O
the	O
LABS/7	B-Operating_System
operating	O
environment	O
,	O
which	O
with	O
its	O
language	O
Event	B-Operating_System
Driven	I-Operating_System
Language	I-Operating_System
(	O
EDL	O
)	O
,	O
was	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
Series/1	B-Device
environment	O
as	O
the	O
very	O
successful	O
Event	B-Operating_System
Driven	I-Operating_System
Executive	I-Operating_System
(	O
EDX	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
System/7	B-Device
was	O
designed	O
to	O
address	O
the	O
needs	O
of	O
specific	O
"	O
real-time	B-General_Concept
"	O
markets	O
which	O
required	O
collecting	O
and	O
reacting	O
to	O
input	B-General_Concept
and	I-General_Concept
output	I-General_Concept
(	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
)	O
from	O
analog	O
devices	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
an	O
eclectic	O
list	O
of	O
customers	O
intended	O
to	O
show	O
the	O
variety	O
of	O
use	O
cases	O
for	O
which	O
the	O
System/7	B-Device
could	O
be	O
employed	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1971	O
IBM	O
claimed	O
their	O
first	O
customer	O
delivery	O
of	O
a	O
System/7	B-Device
,	O
made	O
to	O
American	O
Motors	O
Corporation	O
(	O
AMC	O
)	O
in	O
Kenosha	O
,	O
WA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1972	O
it	O
was	O
reported	O
that	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Pennsylvania	O
was	O
using	O
remote	O
terminals	O
with	O
card	O
readers	O
,	O
attached	O
to	O
an	O
IBM	B-Device
System/7	I-Device
,	O
to	O
reduce	O
the	O
incidence	O
of	O
meal	O
contract	O
abuse	O
among	O
2000	O
students	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1978	O
it	O
was	O
reported	O
that	O
Pfizer	O
Corporation	O
was	O
using	O
a	O
System/7	B-Device
equipped	O
with	O
audio-response	O
to	O
allow	O
around	O
1,300	O
sales	O
representatives	O
to	O
remotely	O
enter	O
orders	O
through	O
a	O
mini-terminal	O
that	O
could	O
send	O
touch-tone	O
signals	O
via	O
a	O
telephone	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
System/7	B-Device
Maritime	O
Application/Bridge	O
System	O
is	O
designed	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
navigation	O
of	O
large	O
ships	O
safer	O
and	O
more	O
efficient	O
,	O
by	O
reducing	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
data	O
that	O
bridge	O
personnel	O
needed	O
to	O
correlate	O
while	O
improving	O
how	O
it	O
is	O
presented	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Collision	O
assessment	O
:	O
This	O
uses	O
the	O
ships	O
radar	B-Application
as	O
well	O
as	O
speed	O
log	O
and	O
gyrocompass	O
to	O
determine	O
where	O
collision	O
risks	O
exist	O
in	O
up	O
to	O
a	O
16.5	O
nautical	O
mile	O
radius	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
's	O
subsequent	O
product	O
in	O
industrial	O
control	O
was	O
the	O
Series/1	B-Device
,	O
also	O
designed	O
at	O
Boca	O
Raton	O
.	O
</s>
