00100	.REQUIRE "GOOD.PUB" SOURCE_FILE;
00200	.LTR Mr. Phil Rafield
00300	Vice President - Marketing
00400	Digital Computer Controls, Inc.
00500	12 Industrial Road
00600	Fairfield, New Jersey 07006
00700	
00800	Dear Mr. Rafield:
00900	.FAC
01000	This letter follows up on our telephone conversation of a week or so ago.
01100	
01200	A group in the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory has been
01300	designing a new processor over the past two and one-half years.  In
01400	informal communications with us and in a letter to our sponsor (Advanced
01500	Research Projects Agency) about a year and a half ago, your organization
01600	expressed interest in possible commercial rights to the machine.  This
01700	letter summarizes the current situation.
01800	
01900	The design of the new processor, internally called "Super Foonly", is
02000	essentially complete.  It is a 36 bit microprgrammed machine which, with
02100	suitable microcode, can run PDP-10 code about 10 times as fast as a KA-10
02200	processor, or about 4 times as fast as a KI-10.  It achieves this speed
02300	through the use of S-series TTL logic and a 2000 word cache memory.
02400	
02500	Other features include a memory map that includes the functions of the
02600	BBN and KI-10 maps, and a "console computer".  There will be almost
02700	no lights or switches on the console.  Instead, these functions will be
02800	performed by the console computer, which will be a mini with display and
02900	keyboard.
03000	
03100	The console computer will be able to examine and change the contents of
03200	any register in the big machine and control the clock as well.  Thus, it
03300	can simulate all the display and control functions of a console and can
03400	also perform much more sophisticated debugging functions.
03500	
03600	In support of this work, we have developed a number of design automation
03700	programs that run on displays attached to our PDP-10 timesharing system.
03800	All logic drawings and printed circuit card designs have been created
03900	interactively and are represented by computer files.  These files are
04000	automatically checked for certain kinds of consistency and are used to
04100	produce PC artwork and wirelists directly.
04200	
04300	The processor contains about 9000 DIPS.  Currently, all logic design is
04400	complete (214 drawings) and paper debugging is underway.  20 of 24 PC
04500	cards are completely designed as are 36 of 44 wirewrap cards.  We have
04600	fabricated prototype PC and wirewrap boards and completed engineering
04700	tests on them.
04800	
04900	Our sponsor, ARPA, has underwritten the design costs, but is not willing
05000	to pay for the hardware costs.  We are interested in finding an organization
05100	that would be willing to buy the parts for a prototype, which we would 
05200	keep, in exchange for design rights.  Toward this end, we are opening
05300	discussions with several industrial groups.
05400	
05500	The cost of parts and fabrication services for the prototype will be
05600	about $195,000.  It would be somewhat less with volume discounts, but
05700	we are not in a position to obtain these for ourselves.
05800	
05900	If you would like to examine the design more closely, I suggest that 
06000	someone from your organization come here and receive a briefing from our
06100	staff.  The drawings are available for inspection.
06200	
06300	.LDE