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XERO*--
PALO ALTO RESEARCH CENTER
Systems Science Laboratory
LSI Systems Area
December 8, 1979
For Xerox Internal Use Only
To: Distribution
From: Doug Fairbairn
::)ubject: NoteTaker2 Electronics Changes
stored: (fairbairn> NT2ElectronicsChanges.memo
We are about to start on the redesign of the electronics for NoteTaker2. T have identified a number
of areas which I feel changes are called for and those are outlined below. I want to stimulate somc
lively but short-tenn discussion. 'rVe need to settle these issues as soon as possible so the detailed
design can proceed. The ideas will be presented and discussed with the SPG personnel on Monday,
Dec. lOth. During the week of the 17th, I would like the interested parties in LRG to get together
with the SPG people and work out the details. I am targeting the end of the year as discussion cut-
off time. After that there will be a strong resistance to any substantive changes. We will publish
the results of our discussions in El Segundo and everyone should feel free to let their opinions be
known on any of these issues.
Architecture
11le major changes in this area involve the structure of the 110 system and the protocols on the
System Bus. Before I get into the details let me review the overall state of the system. The
machine has 9 board slots, all of which are wired the same. The proposed "standard configuration"
is as follows:
",.L Processor module (2) - 8086 processor, 12K bytes of EPROM or RAM. 111ese can be
~
.;