Texas Instruments TI 960B
| Manufacturer: | Texas Instruments |
| Type: | 960B |
| Year: | 1976 |
| Serial no.: | 635 |
| Technology: | TTL (SSI, MSI) 16 kwords semiconductor memory |
| Price: | $15,500 (960A with 4k core memory) [1970] |
The firm Texas Instruments, known among other things by the TTL components of the SN7400 series, presented the TI 960 in 1970, its first model of a mini- computer. The TI 960 is a 16 bit architecture that was specially designed for process control applications, e.g. measurement and control in industrial plants. Nonetheless it is a fully featured computer, in this case with emphasis on input and output and not so much on processing power. Furthermore, the memory is battery backed-up (with two 12V lead accumulators) to make the system resistant against power outages. The TI 960B is a newer revision and has semiconductor instead of core memory. It is identical in other aspects, though.
It should be noted that the TI 960 is the precursor of the TI 990 and thus also of the TMS9900 microprocessor.