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VAX
,Created page with "'''Home * Hardware * VAX''' FILE:SPEC-1 VAX 05.jpg|border|right|thumb| | SPEC-1 VAX <ref>The SPEC-1 VAX, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX-11#VAX-11..."
'''[[Main Page|Home]] * [[Hardware]] * VAX'''
[[FILE:SPEC-1 VAX 05.jpg|border|right|thumb|
| SPEC-1 VAX <ref>The SPEC-1 VAX, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX-11#VAX-11/780 VAX 11/780] that was used as the benchmark for the speed of each of DEC's VAXes. Now on display at the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Washington University of Washington], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle Seattle], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_(state) Washington], Photo by [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jmabel Joe Mabel], August 03, 2009, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX VAX from Wikipedia], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Commons Wikimedia Commons]</ref> ]]
'''VAX''', (Virtual Address Extension)<br/>
an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instruction_set instruction set] architecture, developed by [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] (DEC) in the mid-1970s, to extend the [[PDP-11]] architecture to a 32-bit [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthogonal_instruction_set orthogonal instruction set] while adding a complete [[Memory#Virtual|virtual memory]] system to the simple paging and memory protection of the PDP-11.
The first computer to use a VAX CPU was the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX-11 VAX-11/780], which DEC referred to as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superminicomputer Superminicomputer] <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Equipment_Corporation#VAX Digital Equipment Corporation - VAX from Wikipedia]</ref>.
DEC's VAX strategy was formulated by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Bell Gordon Bell] <ref>''Beyond VAX: A Conversation with Gordon Bell''. [[Computerworld]], September 2, 1987, [http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/DEC/dec.bell.beyond_vax_a_conversation_with_gordon_bell.1987.102630347.pdf pdf] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>.
=Registers=
VAX has 16 32-bit [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Processor_register registers], R0-R15. R0-R11 general purpose, R12/AP the argument pointer, R13/FP the frame pointer, R14/SP the stack pointer, and R15/PC the program counter or instruction pointer.
=Instructions=
The general form of a VAX instruction ...
<pre>
opcode [ operand ] [ operand ] ...
</pre>
... has each component being one [[Byte|byte]], the opcode a value in the range 0 - 255, and each operand consisting of two [[Nibble|nibbles]], the upper 4 bits specifying an addressing mode, and the lower 4 bits (usually) a register number (R0 - R15).
<span id="MicroVAX"></span>
=MicroVAX=
The '''MicroVAX''' was a family of low-end minicomputers implemented the VAX instruction set architecture, first introduced in 1984.
=Chess Programs=
[[:Category:VAX]]
=See also=
* [[DEC Alpha]]
* [[PDP-11]]
* [[Memory#Virtual|Virtual Memory]]
=External Links=
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX VAX from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_VAX_computers List of VAX computers from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVAX NVAX from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX-11 VAX-11 from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX_8000 VAX 8000 from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX_7000/10000 VAX 7000/10000 from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAXstation VAXstation from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroVAX MicroVAX from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroVAX_78032 MicroVAX 78032 from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX_Macro VAX Macro from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVMS OpenVMS from Wikipedia]
=References=
<references />
'''[[Hardware|Up one Level]]'''
[[FILE:SPEC-1 VAX 05.jpg|border|right|thumb|
| SPEC-1 VAX <ref>The SPEC-1 VAX, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX-11#VAX-11/780 VAX 11/780] that was used as the benchmark for the speed of each of DEC's VAXes. Now on display at the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Washington University of Washington], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle Seattle], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_(state) Washington], Photo by [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jmabel Joe Mabel], August 03, 2009, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX VAX from Wikipedia], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Commons Wikimedia Commons]</ref> ]]
'''VAX''', (Virtual Address Extension)<br/>
an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instruction_set instruction set] architecture, developed by [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] (DEC) in the mid-1970s, to extend the [[PDP-11]] architecture to a 32-bit [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthogonal_instruction_set orthogonal instruction set] while adding a complete [[Memory#Virtual|virtual memory]] system to the simple paging and memory protection of the PDP-11.
The first computer to use a VAX CPU was the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX-11 VAX-11/780], which DEC referred to as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superminicomputer Superminicomputer] <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Equipment_Corporation#VAX Digital Equipment Corporation - VAX from Wikipedia]</ref>.
DEC's VAX strategy was formulated by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Bell Gordon Bell] <ref>''Beyond VAX: A Conversation with Gordon Bell''. [[Computerworld]], September 2, 1987, [http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/DEC/dec.bell.beyond_vax_a_conversation_with_gordon_bell.1987.102630347.pdf pdf] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>.
=Registers=
VAX has 16 32-bit [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Processor_register registers], R0-R15. R0-R11 general purpose, R12/AP the argument pointer, R13/FP the frame pointer, R14/SP the stack pointer, and R15/PC the program counter or instruction pointer.
=Instructions=
The general form of a VAX instruction ...
<pre>
opcode [ operand ] [ operand ] ...
</pre>
... has each component being one [[Byte|byte]], the opcode a value in the range 0 - 255, and each operand consisting of two [[Nibble|nibbles]], the upper 4 bits specifying an addressing mode, and the lower 4 bits (usually) a register number (R0 - R15).
<span id="MicroVAX"></span>
=MicroVAX=
The '''MicroVAX''' was a family of low-end minicomputers implemented the VAX instruction set architecture, first introduced in 1984.
=Chess Programs=
[[:Category:VAX]]
=See also=
* [[DEC Alpha]]
* [[PDP-11]]
* [[Memory#Virtual|Virtual Memory]]
=External Links=
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX VAX from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_VAX_computers List of VAX computers from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVAX NVAX from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX-11 VAX-11 from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX_8000 VAX 8000 from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX_7000/10000 VAX 7000/10000 from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAXstation VAXstation from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroVAX MicroVAX from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroVAX_78032 MicroVAX 78032 from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX_Macro VAX Macro from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVMS OpenVMS from Wikipedia]
=References=
<references />
'''[[Hardware|Up one Level]]'''
