Having packaged up its single board A-series micromainframe into one of its MS-DOS workstations, Unisys Corp has now pulled the same trick with the Sperry-derived DCP family of communications processors, coming up with a DCP-5 model that is built into the Personal Workstation2 Model 500 personal computer, for shipment this month. It supports up to 14 transactions per second and, in maximum configuration, up to seven communications lines or five separate protocols including Uniscope, IBM SLDC and bisync, HDLC, UDLC, Asynchronous, X25, and X21. DCP users can also implement two OS 1100 host-based Open Systems Interconnect protocols, X400 Message Handling System and File Transfer, Access, and Management, OSI-FTAM. The DCP/5 runs the Telcon networking software which implements Unisys Distributed Communications Architecture. The DCP/OS controls the hardware and manages program and data files, freeing the separately loaded Telcon software to support network applications programs such as IBM bisync terminals, IBM-to-Unisys terminal crossover to DCA and SNA, IBM remote batch and job entry terminals for either binary synchronous or SNA environments, and programs that access packet switched, circuit-switched, and other standard public and private networks. The processor and memory of the PW2 500 are used only for mass storage access and control during DCP/5 operation; monitor and keyboard serve as input-output devices for system maintenance and control, and the 20Mb disk stores operating system and networking software. Primary processing and communications are implemented via the independent DCP/5 system bus. A five-line, two-protocol DCP5-5×2 is $9,800; a DCP5-5×5 $11,500; a DCP5-7×4 $14,300; DCP/OS and Telcon software are an additional $2,000.
