TENEX, a paged time sharing system for the PDP - 10

  • Authors:
  • Daniel G. Bobrow;Jerry D. Burchfiel;Daniel L. Murphy;Raymond S. Tomlinson

  • Affiliations:
  • Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge, MA;Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge, MA;Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge, MA;Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge, MA

  • Venue:
  • Communications of the ACM
  • Year:
  • 1972

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Abstract

TENEX is a new time sharing system implemented on a DEC PDP-10 augmented by special paging hardware developed at BBN. This report specifies a set of goals which are important for any time sharing system. It describes how the TENEX design and implementation achieve these goals. These include specifications for a powerful multiprocess large memory virtual machine, intimate terminal interaction, comprehensive uniform file and I/O capabilities, and clean flexible system structure. Although the implementation described here required some compromise to achieve a system operational within six months of hardware checkout, TENEX has met its major goals and provided reliable service at several sites and through the ARPA network.