AEG AG’s Modular Computer Systems Inc in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is beginning to show the benefits of the investment from its giant West German parent, and this week came out with a string of announcements led by its heavily previewed Real/IX operating system, which it describes as the first pre-emptive real-time Unix, for its Classic Tri-Dimensional minicomputers. The fully pre-emptive kernel enables high priority tasks to be executed in real time, removing contention with lower priority processes and includes synchronisation mechanisms that ensure uncorrupted data without compromising real-time performance. To determine the sequence of task execution, Real/IX uses both fixed priority and time sharing scheduling, the scheduler supporting 256 real-time or time-sharing priority levels, with real-time ones getting the most favourable priorities. By supporting asynchronous input output, Real/IX can process while performing input-output operations, and enhanced memory management facilities enable a process to be locked into memory, cutting out slow disk accesses. Users can schedule events to either absolute or relative time, and Real/IX also supports a fast binary semaphore mechanism that reduces system call overhead, allowing several processes to communicate without restricting real-time performance. It is object-code-compatible with Unix System V and fully meets the System V Interface Definition and System V Verification Suite; ModComp is also committed to X/Open’s common application environment and the evolving IEEE Posix – it is a member of Unix International. Out August, Real/IX will be included into the system prices for the Tri-D 9300 and 9700 and is separately priced at $12,000 for some existing systems. Also of some note is a new General Language System that offers three industry standard compilers – C, Fortran 77 and Pascal – for flexible coding, interlanguage callability, and easy portability among its machines. Programmers can choose from a number of optimisation options, depending on their expertise and the task, writing application-specific programs in the most appropriate language and incorporating them into subprograms written in any of the three languages. The C supports the Kernighan and Ritchie C with Unix and Berkeley; the Fortran is a certified ANSI 77 with Department of Defense Military Standard 1753 and DEC VAX/VMS extensions; the Pascal supports the full ANSI ISO Level O with Berkeley extensions. The System is from $2,000, September. ModComp also announced Oracle Version 6.0 and related tools on the Classics, at from $19,000 for the base system, from December. A new DECnet Network Interface, integrates all ModComp Classics, 16- as well as 32-bit under MAX IV or MAX 32, into a DECnet Phase IV network. It starts at $10,000 from August. A new Ada Compiler System is supported under Real/IX and MAX 32 and an interface to Oracle is planned. Starting at from $22,000, it will be available in first quarter 1990.
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