HP 3000 Systems

Abtech Systems offers the Hewlett-Packard HP 3000 -- a general-purpose multiprogramming machine, designed for interactive transaction processing. The HP 3000 family includes several models, each with a different series number. The newest member of the series is the e3000 family.

The e3000 is based on HP Precision Architecture (HP-PA), a highly flexible computer design that can meet current user requirements as well as future growth requirements. The e3000 uses HP's MPE/iX operating system, which can run applications written for the first 3000 systems that date back to the early 1970s as well as run POSIX-conforming (UNIX-based) applications.

The HP e3000 servers are offered in a compact, entry-level ("a-class") model and several larger ("n-class") models. The "a-class" model is also suggested as a replacement for HP's older 3000 models. MPE/iX provides "Web connectivity" (support for TCP/IP) as well as the ability to develop and run applications written in Java.

HP-PA Defined - HP Precision Architecture (HP-PA or HPPA) is based on Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) concepts with added extensions for a complete system. This increases computer performance by reducing and simplifying the computer instruction set. HP-PA eliminates system overhead associated with conventional computer microcode by directly implementing computer instructions in hardware. The uniformity of HP-PA instructions enhances pipelining, providing higher performance by overlapping execution of multiple instructions.

High performance from HP-PA architecture results from the memory hierarchy design and the use of optimizing compilers. Processor waiting time for memory accesses is minimized due to the following architectural characteristics:

• Frequently used instructions and data are stored in a large number of CPU registers.
• High-speed buffering of code and data occurs.
• Optimizing compilers generate efficient object code, allocate registers, and schedule instruction sequences to maintain efficient pipeline operation.