No-one outside the company knows what IBM uses as the processor in the 3174 because IBM prefers not to tell people that kind of thing, but chances are that while the original 3274 would have used something proprietary, these days IBM likely uses an off the-shelf microprocessor; what sort of thing would be appropriate? Well Memorex Telex International NV tells us it is using Motorola 68010s – that’s the version of the 16-bit part on which the virtual memory works – in its ingenious 1174, which adds processors to increase the number of devices supported to a limit of 96 devices and concurrent sessions with up to four host mainframes (CI No 1,181).
