<s>
Sylvania	O
's	O
MOBIDIC	B-Device
,	O
short	O
for	O
"	O
MOBIle	B-Device
DIgital	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
"	O
,	O
was	O
a	O
transistorized	B-Device
computer	I-Device
intended	O
to	O
store	O
,	O
sort	O
and	O
route	O
information	O
as	O
one	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
Army	O
's	O
Fieldata	B-Device
concept	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fieldata	B-Device
aimed	O
to	O
automate	O
the	O
distribution	O
of	O
battlefield	O
data	O
in	O
any	O
form	O
,	O
ensuring	O
the	O
delivery	O
of	O
reports	O
to	O
the	O
proper	O
recipients	O
regardless	O
of	O
the	O
physical	O
form	O
they	O
were	O
sent	O
or	O
received	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOBIDIC	B-Device
was	O
mounted	O
in	O
the	O
trailer	O
of	O
a	O
semi-trailer	O
truck	O
,	O
while	O
a	O
second	O
supplied	O
power	O
,	O
allowing	O
it	O
to	O
be	O
moved	O
about	O
the	O
battlefield	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Army	O
referred	O
to	O
the	O
system	O
as	O
the	O
AN/MYK	O
-1	O
,	O
or	O
AN/MYK	O
-2	O
for	O
the	O
dual-CPU	O
version	O
,	O
Sylvania	O
later	O
offered	O
a	O
commercial	O
version	O
as	O
the	O
S	O
9400	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
early	O
1956	O
the	O
Army	O
Signal	O
Corps	O
at	O
Fort	O
Monmouth	O
released	O
a	O
contract	O
tender	O
for	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
a	O
van-mounted	O
mobile	O
computer	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
their	O
Fieldata	B-Device
efforts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fieldata	B-Device
envisioned	O
a	O
system	O
where	O
any	O
sort	O
of	O
reports	O
would	O
be	O
converted	O
into	O
text	O
format	O
and	O
then	O
sent	O
electronically	O
around	O
an	O
extended	O
battlefield	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fieldata	B-Device
can	O
be	O
thought	O
of	O
as	O
a	O
general	O
purpose	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
the	O
US	O
Air	O
Force	O
was	O
developing	O
in	O
their	O
SAGE	B-Device
system	I-Device
,	O
which	O
did	O
the	O
same	O
task	O
but	O
limited	O
to	O
the	O
field	O
of	O
information	O
about	O
aircraft	O
locations	O
and	O
status	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
heart	O
of	O
Fieldata	B-Device
would	O
be	O
computer	O
systems	O
that	O
would	O
receive	O
,	O
store	O
,	O
prioritize	O
and	O
send	O
the	O
messages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
machines	O
would	O
have	O
to	O
be	O
built	O
using	O
transistors	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
meet	O
the	O
size	O
and	O
power	O
requirements	O
,	O
so	O
in	O
effect	O
,	O
the	O
Army	O
was	O
paying	O
to	O
develop	O
transistorized	B-Device
computers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
experimental	O
machine	O
,	O
retroactively	O
known	O
as	O
MOBIDIC	B-Device
A	O
,	O
was	O
delivered	O
to	O
Fort	O
Monmouth	O
in	O
December	O
1959	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
this	O
time	O
the	O
Army	O
had	O
expressed	O
increasing	O
interest	O
in	O
the	O
concept	O
and	O
had	O
ordered	O
four	O
additional	O
machines	O
and	O
associated	O
software	O
,	O
including	O
a	O
COBOL	B-Application
compiler	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOBIDIC	B-Device
B	O
was	O
supplied	O
to	O
the	O
Army	O
's	O
Tactical	O
Operations	O
Center	O
and	O
featured	O
dual	O
CPUs	B-Device
for	O
increased	O
reliability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOBIDIC	B-Device
A/B	O
weighed	O
about	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOBIDIC	B-Device
C	O
was	O
sent	O
to	O
Fort	O
Huachuca	O
as	O
a	O
software	O
testing	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOBIDIC	B-Device
D	O
was	O
ordered	O
for	O
the	O
Army	O
Security	O
Agency	O
in	O
Europe	O
,	O
and	O
MOBIDIC	B-Device
7A	O
was	O
shipped	O
to	O
the	O
7th	O
Army	O
Stock	O
Control	O
Center	O
in	O
Zweibrücken	O
,	O
Germany	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOBIDIC	B-Device
C/D/7A	O
weighed	O
about	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Fieldata	B-Device
was	O
developed	O
for	O
battlefield	O
information	O
,	O
MOBIDIC	B-Device
was	O
just	O
as	O
useful	O
for	O
other	O
sorts	O
of	O
information	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
7A	O
machine	O
demonstrated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
so	O
successful	O
that	O
the	O
MOBIDIC	B-Device
D	O
was	O
diverted	O
to	O
the	O
Army	O
's	O
3922nd	O
Ordnance	O
Supply	O
Control	O
Agency	O
in	O
Orléans	O
,	O
France	O
(	O
Maison	O
Fort	O
)	O
to	O
replace	O
the	O
existing	O
RAMAC	B-Device
305	I-Device
card	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
1962	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
the	O
Army	O
had	O
lost	O
interest	O
in	O
Fieldata	B-Device
and	O
canceled	O
the	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
B	O
machine	O
was	O
no	O
longer	O
needed	O
for	O
Fieldata	B-Device
software	O
development	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
1965	O
it	O
was	O
purchased	O
by	O
the	O
National	O
Bureau	O
of	O
Standards	O
for	O
software	O
development	O
and	O
research	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
C	O
,	O
D	O
,	O
and	O
7A	O
machines	O
were	O
later	O
all	O
moved	O
to	O
Karlsruhe	B-Algorithm
,	O
Germany	O
,	O
where	O
they	O
operated	O
in	O
the	O
supply	O
role	O
for	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOBIDIC	B-Device
's	O
success	O
,	O
independent	O
of	O
Fieldata	B-Device
's	O
failure	O
,	O
led	O
to	O
additional	O
Army	O
contracts	O
for	O
the	O
smaller	O
AN/APQ	O
-32	O
computers	O
,	O
which	O
processed	O
artillery	O
radar	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
basic	O
layout	O
of	O
the	O
MOBIDIC	B-Device
system	O
was	O
also	O
used	O
for	O
the	O
AN/ASD	O
-1	O
computer	O
used	O
on	O
the	O
Boeing	O
RC-135	O
ELINT	O
aircraft	O
,	O
the	O
PARADE	O
and	O
TIDEWATER	O
projects	O
,	O
and	O
its	O
basic	O
circuitry	O
was	O
used	O
extensively	O
in	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
7090	I-Device
for	O
the	O
BMEWS	B-Architecture
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOBIDIC	B-Device
was	O
adapted	O
into	O
the	O
Sylvania	O
9400	O
that	O
was	O
marketed	O
towards	O
factory	O
automation	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOBIDIC	B-Device
's	O
design	O
goal	O
was	O
the	O
real	B-General_Concept
time	I-General_Concept
operation	O
of	O
its	O
input/output	B-General_Concept
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
typical	O
use	O
for	O
MOBIDIC	B-Device
would	O
be	O
to	O
collate	O
all	O
the	O
messages	O
flowing	O
through	O
an	O
input	O
to	O
different	O
tape	O
outputs	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
field	O
in	O
the	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
a	O
large	O
supply	O
depot	O
might	O
have	O
numerous	O
warehouses	O
for	O
different	O
sorts	O
of	O
materials	O
;	O
MOBIDIC	B-Device
could	O
route	O
incoming	O
requests	O
by	O
examining	O
the	O
part	O
number	O
and	O
then	O
sending	O
that	O
message	O
to	O
a	O
particular	O
tape	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOBIDIC	B-Device
replaced	O
many	O
manual	O
steps	O
;	O
it	O
performed	O
the	O
collation	O
lookup	O
,	O
sorting	O
the	O
data	O
,	O
and	O
collecting	O
all	O
the	O
printed	O
messages	O
for	O
delivery	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOBIDIC	B-Device
was	O
a	O
36-bit	O
binary	O
machine	O
,	O
a	O
common	O
word	O
size	O
for	O
early	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Machines	O
were	O
normally	O
equipped	O
with	O
two	O
parallel	O
banks	O
of	O
core	B-General_Concept
memory	I-General_Concept
with	O
4096	O
words	O
each	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
expandable	O
to	O
seven	O
banks	O
maximum	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
could	O
support	O
up	O
to	O
63	O
tape	O
drives	O
,	O
punch	O
tape	O
input	B-General_Concept
and	I-General_Concept
output	I-General_Concept
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
Flexowriter	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
connection	O
could	O
also	O
be	O
dedicated	O
to	O
sending	O
data	O
to	O
another	O
MOBIDIC	B-Device
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
of	O
the	O
52	O
instructions	O
were	O
in	O
the	O
one-address	O
format	O
,	O
collecting	O
into	O
an	O
accumulator	B-General_Concept
,	O
but	O
a	O
small	O
number	O
(	O
load	O
,	O
move	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
15	O
arithmetic	O
,	O
eight	O
transfer	O
(	O
memory	O
)	O
,	O
17	O
logic	O
,	O
three	O
sense	O
and	O
nine	O
input-output	B-General_Concept
instructions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
add	O
required	O
16	O
microseconds	O
,	O
a	O
multiply	O
or	O
divide	O
86	O
,	O
these	O
slow	O
times	O
a	O
side	O
effect	O
of	O
its	O
serial	B-Device
operation	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOBIDIC	B-Device
's	O
CPU	B-Device
and	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
systems	O
were	O
housed	O
in	O
a	O
30-foot	O
(	O
10	O
meters	O
)	O
van	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
dual-CPU	O
MOBIDIC	B-Device
B	O
(	O
only	O
one	O
was	O
produced	O
)	O
included	O
three	O
additional	O
general	O
instructions	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
nine	O
new	O
instructions	O
for	O
supporting	O
subroutines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CPUs	B-Device
were	O
independent	O
but	O
shared	O
a	O
single	O
main	O
memory	O
consisting	O
of	O
8,192	O
words	O
of	O
core	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
sample	O
use	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
CPUs	B-Device
would	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
import	O
data	O
,	O
handing	O
off	O
data	O
via	O
shared	O
memory	O
to	O
the	O
second	O
for	O
output	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
machines	O
failed	O
,	O
the	O
program	O
could	O
be	O
restarted	O
on	O
the	O
remaining	O
CPU	B-Device
,	O
running	O
both	O
sides	O
of	O
the	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
task	O
with	O
reduced	O
throughput	O
.	O
</s>
