History of computer hardware in Eastern Bloc countries

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The history of computing hardware in the Eastern Bloc is somewhat different from that of the Western world. As a result of the CoCom embargo, computers could not be imported on a large scale from Western Bloc.

Contents

Eastern Bloc manufacturers created copies of Western designs based on intelligence gathering and reverse engineering. [1] This redevelopment led to some incompatibilities with International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and IEEE standards, such as spacing integrated circuit pins at 110 of a 25 mm length (colloquially a "metric inch") instead of a standard inch of 25.4 mm. [2] This made Soviet chips unsellable on the world market outside the Comecon, and made test machinery more expensive. [3]

History

The ES-1040 mainframe in Dresden, East Germany Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S1024-016, VEB Robotron Elektronik Dresden, Computer EC 1040.jpg
The ES-1040 mainframe in Dresden, East Germany

By the end of the 1950s most COMECON countries had developed experimental computer designs, yet none of them had managed to create a stable computer industry. [4]

In October 1962 the "Commission for Scientific Problems in Computing" (Комиссия Научные Вопросы Вычислительной Техники, КНВВТ) was founded in Warsaw and modelled after the International Federation for Information Processing. [5] [6]

Computer design and production began to be coordinated between the Comecon countries in 1964, when the Edinaya Sistema mainframe (Unified System, ES, also known as RIAD) was introduced. [7] The project also included plans for the development of a joint Comecon computer network. [7]

Each COMECON country was given a role in the development of the ES: Hungary was responsible for software development, while East Germany improved the design of disk storage devices. [7] The ES-1040 was successfully exported to countries outside the Comecon, including India, Yugoslavia and China. [8] Each country specialized in a model of the ES series: R-10 in the case of Hungary, R-20 in Bulgaria, R-20A in Czechoslovakia, R-30 in Poland and R-40 in East Germany. [9]

Nairi-3, developed at the Armenian Institute for Computers, was the first third-generation computer in the Comecon area, using integrated circuits. [10] Development on the Nairi system began in 1964, and it went into serial production in 1969. [10]

In 1969 the Intergovernmental Commission for Computer Technology was founded to coordinate computer production. [10] Other cooperation initiatives included the establishment of joint Comecon development facilities in Moscow and Kiev. [11] The R-300 computer, released in 1969, demonstrated the technical and managerial skills of VEB Robotron, and established a leading role for East Germany in the joint development efforts. [4] The relative success of Robotron was attributed to its greater organizational freedom, and the profit motive of securing export orders. [4] In 1970, Cuba produced its first digital computer, the CID-201. [12]

By 1972 the Comecon countries had produced around 7,500 computers, compared to 120,000 in the rest of the world. [10] The USSR, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania had all set up computer production and research institutes. [10] Collaboration between Romania and the other countries was limited, due to the autarkic policies of Nicolae Ceaușescu. [13]

The availability of western computing hardware differed considerably between communist countries; in the early 1970s they were most common in Czechoslovakia, where a licensing agreement was signed with the French Groupe Bull. [11] Non-Soviet Eastern European countries had more access to Western technology, which allowed them to manufacture more sophisticated computer equipment. [14]

In 1983 the representatives of the national academies of sciences of the Comecon countries met in Sofia to discuss the development of a new generation of computer systems. [15] In June 1985 the “Conception of a new generation of computer systems” was approved in Prague, with the objective of creating a socialist response to the Japanese fifth generation computer initiative. [15] The document planned the development of the IT industry in socialist countries up to the year 2010. [15]

In 1985 Ukrainian researchers managed to reverse-engineer the ZX Spectrum chip and built a hardware clone using readily available parts. [16] Over 50 different versions of the Spectrum were created in Eastern Bloc countries over the next few years, including the Hobbit, Baltica, Pentagon, Scorpion, Leningrad, Didaktik (Czechoslovakia), Spectral (East Germany) and Cobra (Romania). [16]

A Bulgarian-made Pravetz computer Pn-pravez-class-4.jpg
A Bulgarian-made Pravetz computer

In 1985 the computer industry of Bulgaria exported computer hardware to over 20 countries, manufacturing personal computers, word processing terminals and memory tapes and disks. [17] At its peak, the country provided 40% of computers in the Comecon area. [18]

After the collapse of Comecon in 1989, the computer hardware sector in its former member countries could not compete with foreign manufacturers, and virtually disappeared. [19] Tens of thousands of IT scientists and engineers migrated to Western Europe for employment, not always in fields related to their expertise. [20]

Unified System project

ES 1030 at the Leipziger Messe, 1975 R-30, EC 1030, Targi Lipsk, stoisko PRL (I19750708).jpg
ES 1030 at the Leipziger Messe, 1975

ES EVM (ЕС ЭВМ, Единая система электронных вычислительных машин, meaning "Unified System of Electronic Computers") was a series of clones of IBM's System/360 and System/370 mainframes. The objective of the project, which was also known as Ryad ('series'), was to create a general purpose computer for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. [21] Initially announced as a Soviet venture in 1967, in 1969 it became an international project, involving Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary and Poland. [21] Romania and Cuba joined the project in 1973. [21]

The first models entered serial production in 1972. [10] According to CIA sources, by 1975 the Comecon countries had managed to build only 10% to 15% of the anticipated number of ES computers. [22] Production continued until 1995. [23] [ citation needed ] The total number of ES EVM mainframes produced was more than 15,000.

In the period from 1986 to 1997, a series of PC-compatible desktop computers, called ПЭВМ ЕС ЭВМ (Personal Computers of ES EVM series), was also produced; the newer versions of these computers are still produced under a different name on a very limited scale in Minsk.[ citation needed ]

Small Machines System project

SM EVM (СМ ЭВМ, Система Малых ЭВМ, meaning "System of Small Electronic Computers") was an intergovernmental program for creating minicomputers, run by the Ministry of Instrument Making. [24] The program initially included two major architectural lines based on DEC PDP-11 architecture and HP 2100 architecture. Later the program included a family of DEC VAX compatible computers and Multibus based microcomputers. Minicomputers developed within the framework of the program were intended for use as computer based control systems, measuring and computing systems and workstations for CAD systems. [25] As in the case of ES EVM, the program began as a Soviet venture and in 1974 became an international project involving Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Cuba, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania. [25]

TPA

TPA (Tárolt Programú Analizátor, [26] meaning "Stored-Program Analyser") was a Hungarian product line of computers. It could not be referred as a computer, though, as computers were meant to be produced by the Soviet Union. The project started based on the freely available manuals of DEC PDP-8 in 1966 and products made available in 1968. TPAs were 100% software compatible with their original counterparts. The project remained highly popular for about 25 years. PDP-11 compatible TPAs appeared in 1976, VAX-11 compatibles in 1983.

Due to CoCom restrictions 32 bit computers could not be exported to the Eastern Bloc. In practice 32-bit DEC computes and processors were available. Those were rebranded as TPA.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PDP-11</span> Series of 16-bit minicomputers

The PDP-11 is a series of 16-bit minicomputers sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from 1970 into the late 1990s, one of a set of products in the Programmed Data Processor (PDP) series. In total, around 600,000 PDP-11s of all models were sold, making it one of DEC's most successful product lines. The PDP-11 is considered by some experts to be the most popular minicomputer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VAX</span> Line of computers sold by Digital Equipment Corporation

VAX is a series of computers featuring a 32-bit instruction set architecture (ISA) and virtual memory that was developed and sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in the late 20th century. The VAX-11/780, introduced October 25, 1977, was the first of a range of popular and influential computers implementing the VAX ISA. The VAX family was a huge success for DEC – over 100 models were introduced over the lifetime of the design, with the last members arriving in the early 1990s. The VAX was succeeded by the DEC Alpha, which included several features from VAX machines to make porting from the VAX easier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RSX-11</span> Family of computer operating systems

RSX-11 is a discontinued family of multi-user real-time operating systems for PDP-11 computers created by Digital Equipment Corporation. In widespread use through the late 1970s and early 1980s, RSX-11 was influential in the development of later operating systems such as VMS and Windows NT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Bloc</span> Former group of communist states aligned with the Soviet Union during the Cold War

The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc, the Socialist Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed during the Cold War (1947–1991). These states followed the ideology of Marxism–Leninism, in opposition to the capitalist Western Bloc. The Eastern Bloc was often called the Second World, whereas the term "First World" referred to the Western Bloc and "Third World" referred to the non-aligned countries that were mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America but notably also included former pre-1948 Soviet ally Yugoslavia, which was located in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ESER</span>

ESER is an abbreviation for Einheitliches System Elektronischer Rechenmaschinen, a term used in the GDR for ES EVM computers produced according to a treaty between the members of Comecon signed on December 23, 1968 covering the development of a standardized computing system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comecon</span> 1949–1991 international economic union

The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc along with a number of socialist states elsewhere in the world.

The SM-1420 (CM-1420) is a 16 bit DEC PDP-11/45 minicomputer clone, and the successor to SM-4 in Soviet Bloc countries. Under the direction of Minpribor it was produced in the Soviet Union and Bulgaria from 1983 onwards, and is more than twice as fast as its predecessor. Its closest western counterpart is the DEC PDP-11/45, which means that the Soviet technology trailed 11 years behind compared to the Digital Equipment Corporation equivalent machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ES EVM</span> Series of mainframe computers built in the Soviet Bloc countries in 1960s-1990s

The ES EVM, or YeS EVM, also known in English literature as the Unified System or Ryad, is a series of mainframe computers generally compatible with IBM's System/360 and System/370 mainframes, built in the Comecon countries under the initiative of the Soviet Union between 1968 and 1998. More than 15,000 of the ES EVM mainframes were produced in total.

SM EVM are several types of Soviet and Comecon minicomputers produced from 1975 through the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ES PEVM</span>

ES PEVM was a Soviet clone of the IBM PC in 1980s. The ES PEVM models lineup also included analogues of IBM PC XT, IBM PC AT, IBM XT/370.

Pravetz computers are the Bulgarian personal computers produced from 1979 that were widely used in scientific organizations and schools until the late 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molotov Plan</span>

The Molotov Plan was the system created by the Soviet Union in 1947 in order to provide aid to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union. It was originally called the "Brother Plan" in the Soviet Union and can be seen to be the Soviet Union's version of the Marshall Plan, which, for political reasons, the Eastern European countries would not be able to join without leaving the Soviet sphere of influence. Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov rejected the Marshall Plan (1947), proposing instead the Molotov Plan—the Soviet-sponsored economic grouping which was eventually expanded to become the Comecon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersputnik</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robotron K 1820</span> East German clone of the MicroVAX II computer

The K 1820, full name RVS K 1820, cipher in the SM EVM of the former COMECON countries SM 1720, is a workstation developed in East Germany. VEB Robotron Elektronik Dresden began development of the K 1820 in 1986 and it went into serial production in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robotron K 1840</span> East German clone of the VAX-11/780 computer

The K 1840, full name RVS K 1840 is a minicomputer from the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Its development began in August 1985 at VEB Robotron Elektronik in Dresden, and it went into production in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of computing in Poland</span>

The history of Polish computing (informatics) began during the Second World War with breaking the Enigma machine code by Polish mathematicians. After World War II, work on Polish computers began. Poles made a significant contribution to both the theory and technique of world computing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of computer hardware in Bulgaria</span>

This article describes the history of computer hardware in Bulgaria. At its peak, Bulgaria supplied 40% of the computers in the socialist economic union COMECON. The electronics industry employed 300,000 workers, and it generated 8 billion rubles a year. Since the democratic changes in 1989 and the subsequent chaotic political and economic conditions, the once blooming Bulgarian computer industry almost completely disintegrated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of computing in the Soviet Union</span> Soviet technology

The history of computing in the Soviet Union began in the late 1940s, when the country began to develop its Small Electronic Calculating Machine (MESM) at the Kiev Institute of Electrotechnology in Feofaniya. Initial ideological opposition to cybernetics in the Soviet Union was overcome by a Khrushchev era policy that encouraged computer production.

Soviet computing technology smuggling, both attempted and actual, was a response to CoCom restrictions on technology transfer.

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