Beschreibung:
<jats:p>The architecture of PRIM is unique in coupling a powerful microprogrammable machine (the Standard Computer Corporation MLP-900) to a modern general-purpose computing system (the DEC PDP-10). The TENEX timesharing system running in the PDP-10 is responsible for scheduling use of the MLP-900. Emulator microcode runs in the MLP-900 under the control of a small resident executive that swaps its users and mediates references to PDP-10 services and shared memory. The PRIM system in the PDP-10 (also running under control of TENEX) provides emulators with access to the TENEX file system and peripherals. PRIM also permits on-line user control of an emulation and supports interactive symbolic debugging of both emulator microcode and target code for the various emulated machines. The resulting sharable system, accessible via the ARPANET to users anywhere, supports both emulator developers and users. This architecture has allowed the development of a more powerful and convenient tool with less effort than would have been possible on a stand-alone microprogrammable host. The hardware and software components of the PRIM system are described and the operation of PRIM is outlined from the user's viewpoint. Requirements for creating PRIM-like systems are discussed, and the PRIM approach is compared with other, more conventional approaches.</jats:p>