perm filename DPY.RFP[D,LES]1 blob
sn#006680 filedate 1972-10-03 generic text, type T, neo UTF8
00050 DRAFT ------------------- DRAFT --------------------- DRAFT
00075
00100 Computer Science Department
00200 Stanford University
00300 Stanford, California 94305
00400
00500
00600 Request for Proposals
00700
00800 for
00900
01000 A Computer Display System
01100
01200
01300
01400
01500 28 September 1972
01600
01700
01800
01900 ABSTRACT
02000
02100 A Display system is needed with the following properties.
02200
02300 1. At least 12 terminals and a maximum growth of 128.
02400
02500 2. Displays capable of showing point plots, text in arbitrary
02600 character sets, and line drawings.
02700
02800 3. Keyboards for direct entry of at least 128 distinct characters.
02900
03000 4. Concurrent online interaction with two independent computer
03100 systems, one nearby and one remote.
03200
03300 5. An average cost per terminal not exceeding $12,000 and preferably
03400 $3,000 or less.
03500
03600
03700 Vendors may offer either complete systems meeting these requirements,
03800 or major subsystems.
03900
04000 DRAFT ------------------- DRAFT --------------------- DRAFT
00100 1. FUNCTION
00200
00300 The display system specified here will be used to support instruction
00400 and research in computer science at Stanford University. It will be
00500 located on the campus and will permit operators to interact with
00600 either of two computers - a nearby IBM 360/67 and a DEC PDP-10
00700 timesharing system located about 5 miles away.
00800
00900 2. CONFIGURATION
01000
01100 Depending on cost and availability of funds, at least 12 and at most
01200 128 terminals will be purchased. Each terminal will include at least
01300 a display and a keyboard. There will be one or more computers in the
01400 display system to control the functions of the various subsystems and
01500 the switching of terminals between the two external computers.
01600
01700 While a given terminal may be restricted to interactions with just
01800 one external computer at a time, it must be capable of switching to
01900 the other machine at any time. This switching function will be under
02000 control of the operator at the given terminal, possibly through
02100 keyboard inputs.
02200
02300 There will be no direct connection between the keyboards and
02400 displays. Each keystroke will be passed directly to the selected
02500 external computer, which in turn will control and update the
02600 content of the corresponding display.
02700
02800 All terminals will be located within a 300 foot cable length of a
02900 central site where any common equipment may be located.
03000
03100 3. DISPLAYS
03200
03300 The active area of each display must be at least 20 centimeters
03400 square and preferably larger - up to 50 centimeters. The display
03500 must be legible in normal office lighting: 200 lumens/square meter
03600 from overhead.
03700
03800 Displays must be capable of showing point plots, text, or line
03900 drawings. It must be possible to change from one picture to a
04000 completely different one in less than one second.
04100
04200 In text mode, it will be possible to display at least 30 lines of 72
04300 characters each and preferably more. The character set in use must be
04400 changeable for each terminal and must include at least 128 distinct
04500 characters at a time. The loading of different character sets will
04600 be controlled by the selected external computer. One frequently used
04700 character set will consist of 96-character ACSII plus some
04800 mathematical symbols. Another will be EBCDIC.
04900
05000 Resolution of point plots and line drawings will be at least 512x512
05100 lines and more is preferred. Typical line drawings will consist of,
05200 say, 50 long vectors (1/2 screen width) or 200 short vectors (1/8
05300 screen width) or some linear combination of the two. There will
05400 usually be a small amount of text associated with the drawing.
05500
05600 It would be desirable, though not required, to be able to display
05700 static or dynamic gray scale images, such as 525 line (EIA)
05800 television.
05900
06000 In order to reduce costs, there can be a limitation on the number of
06100 terminals that can be active at once and on the number that have
06200 point plotting and line drawing services. In particular, it is
06300 permissible to assume that at most one-half of the terminals will be
06400 active and that at most one-fourth of the active terminals will need
06500 point or line drawing services.
06600
06700 4. KEYBOARDS
06800
06900 It must be possible to type at least 128 distinct characters
07000 directly, in conjunction with two extra function keys. A keyboard
07100 currently in service at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence
07200 Laboratory would be satisfactory (Microswitch part number 68SW1-2).
07300 It has 59 coded keys and 4 function keys, producing 10 bits plus
07400 strobe for each keystroke.
07500
07600 To facilitate operation with expanded character sets, it would be
07700 most convenient if labels on the keys could be changed under computer
07800 control, though there doesn't seem to be any reasonable way to do
07900 this.
08000
08100 5. AUDIO OUTPUT (not required)
08200
08300 A computer controlled audio output device such as a gong at each
08400 terminal is desirable. Better yet, speakers connected to a
08500 digital-to-analog converters would permit arbitrary audio output.
08600
08700 6. HARD COPY DEVICE
08800
08900 There will be at least one hard copy device connected to the display
09000 system in such a way that it can print material from either external
09100 computer. It should print lines of up to 120 characters at a rate of
09200 at least 2 lines per second. It should use paper that costs no more
09300 than one cent per page.
09400
09500 Preferably, this device should permit the use of arbitrary character
09600 sets in a single run and produce line drawings as well. In the
09700 latter case, it is permissible to require that the drawings be
09800 converted to raster format.