The decision to add a front-end processor to the 1906A was made in 1972. Quite a bit of the first half of 1973 was spent by Bob Hopgood and Paul Bryant in assessing machines for the Front End Processor. The aim was to connect the intelligent 2050 RJE stations to a Front End Processor which would be connected both to the 1906A and 360/195. This would allow users to access both machines from a single RJE station. The main contenders for the project were the ICL 7905, CTL Modular One and the GEC 4080. A paper requesting permission to purchase a GEC 4080 was accepted by the Atlas Computer Committee in November 1973 and the machine was delivered in the Autumn of 1974.
The hardware interface to the 1906A was built in the Rutherford Laboratory. The design was similar to an interface built at Oxford University to connect its 1906A to a Modular One.
The system finally came into operation attached to both machines at the end of 1975. Details of the trials and tribulations can be found in the Basic Software Group Progress Reports.
