List of transistorized computers

Last updated

TRADIC TRADIC computer.jpg
TRADIC

This is a list of transistorized computers , which were digital computers that used discrete transistors as their primary logic elements. Discrete transistors were a feature of logic design for computers from about 1960, when reliable transistors became economically available, until monolithic integrated circuits displaced them in the 1970s. The list is organized by operational date or delivery year to customers. Computers announced, but never completed, are not included. Some very early "transistor" computers may still have included vacuum tubes in the power supply or for auxiliary functions.

Contents

1950s

Harwell CADET HarwellCadetComputer.jpg
Harwell CADET

1953

1954

1955

1956

1957

1958

Philco 2000 Philco 2000 computer.jpg
Philco 2000
NCR 304 BRL61-NCR 304.jpg
NCR 304

1959

IBM 1401 BRL61-IBM 1401.jpg
IBM 1401

1960s

UNIVAC LARC UNIVAC LARC-BRL61-0959.jpg
UNIVAC LARC

1960

1961

IBM 7030 IBM 7030-CNAM 22480-IMG 5115-gradient.jpg
IBM 7030

1962

ICT 1301 ICT-Model-1301.jpg
ICT 1301

1963

CDC 3800 CDC 3800 - Udvar-Hazy Center.JPG
CDC 3800
PDP-6 Dec pdp-6.lg.jpg
PDP-6

1964

SDS 930 SDS 930.jpg
SDS 930

1965

NCR 315 NCR-315, pt. 1 (2231627349).jpg
NCR 315

1966

CDC 6400 Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F031433-0011, Aachen, Technische Hochschule, Rechenzentrum.jpg
CDC 6400

1967

1968

1969

See also

Notes

  1. Used for training and research purposes.
  2. Revised in 1969 as Cellatron 8205.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minicomputer</span> Mid-1960s–late-1980s class of smaller computers

A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a type of smaller general-purpose computer developed in the mid-1960s and sold at a much lower price than mainframe and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct competitors. In a 1970 survey, The New York Times suggested a consensus definition of a minicomputer as a machine costing less than US$25,000, with an input-output device such as a teleprinter and at least four thousand words of memory, that is capable of running programs in a higher level language, such as Fortran or BASIC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time-sharing</span> Computing resource shared by concurrent users

In computing, time-sharing is the concurrent sharing of a computing resource among many tasks or users by giving each task or user a small slice of processing time. This quick switch between tasks or users gives the illusion of simultaneous execution. It enables multi-tasking by a single user or enables multiple-user sessions.

Control Data Corporation (CDC) was a mainframe and supercomputer company that in the 1960s was one of the nine major U.S. computer companies, which group included IBM, the Burroughs Corporation, and the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), the NCR Corporation (NCR), General Electric, and Honeywell, RCA and UNIVAC. For most of the 1960s, the strength of CDC was the work of the electrical engineer Seymour Cray who developed a series of fast computers, then considered the fastest computing machines in the world; in the 1970s, Cray left the Control Data Corporation and founded Cray Research (CRI) to design and make supercomputers. In 1988, after much financial loss, the Control Data Corporation began withdrawing from making computers and sold the affiliated companies of CDC; in 1992, Cray established Control Data Systems, Inc. The remaining affiliate companies of CDC currently do business as the software company Dayforce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UNIVAC</span> Series of mainframe computer models

UNIVAC was a line of electronic digital stored-program computers starting with the products of the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation. Later the name was applied to a division of the Remington Rand company and successor organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM 7090</span> Mainframe computer

The IBM 7090 is a second-generation transistorized version of the earlier IBM 709 vacuum tube mainframe computer that was designed for "large-scale scientific and technological applications". The 7090 is the fourth member of the IBM 700/7000 series scientific computers. The first 7090 installation was in December 1959. In 1960, a typical system sold for $2.9 million or could be rented for $63,500 a month.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM 7030 Stretch</span> First IBM supercomputer using dedicated transistors

The IBM 7030, also known as Stretch, was IBM's first transistorized supercomputer. It was the fastest computer in the world from 1961 until the first CDC 6600 became operational in 1964.

The AN/USQ-17 or Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) computer referred to in Sperry Rand documents as the Univac M-460, was Seymour Cray's last design for UNIVAC. UNIVAC later released a commercial version, the UNIVAC 490. That system was later upgraded to a multiprocessor configuration as the 494.

This article presents a timeline of events in the history of computer operating systems from 1951 to the current day. For a narrative explaining the overall developments, see the History of operating systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of computing hardware (1960s–present)</span>

The history of computing hardware starting at 1960 is marked by the conversion from vacuum tube to solid-state devices such as transistors and then integrated circuit (IC) chips. Around 1953 to 1959, discrete transistors started being considered sufficiently reliable and economical that they made further vacuum tube computers uncompetitive. Metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) large-scale integration (LSI) technology subsequently led to the development of semiconductor memory in the mid-to-late 1960s and then the microprocessor in the early 1970s. This led to primary computer memory moving away from magnetic-core memory devices to solid-state static and dynamic semiconductor memory, which greatly reduced the cost, size, and power consumption of computers. These advances led to the miniaturized personal computer (PC) in the 1970s, starting with home computers and desktop computers, followed by laptops and then mobile computers over the next several decades.

The BUNCH was the nickname for the group of mainframe computer competitors of IBM in the 1970s. The name is derived from the names of the five companies: Burroughs, UNIVAC, NCR, Control Data Corporation (CDC), and Honeywell. These companies were grouped together because the market share of IBM was much higher than all of its competitors put together.

In computer architecture, 48-bit integers can represent 281,474,976,710,656 (248 or 2.814749767×1014) discrete values. This allows an unsigned binary integer range of 0 through 281,474,976,710,655 (248 − 1) or a signed two's complement range of −140,737,488,355,328 (−247) through 140,737,488,355,327 (247 − 1). A 48-bit memory address can directly address every byte of 256 terabytes of storage. 48-bit can refer to any other data unit that consumes 48 bits (6 octets) in width. Examples include 48-bit CPU and ALU architectures that are based on registers, address buses, or data buses of that size.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surface-barrier transistor</span> Type of transistor developed by Philco in 1953

The surface-barrier transistor is a type of transistor developed by Philco in 1953 as an improvement to the alloy-junction transistor and the earlier point-contact transistor. Like the modern Schottky transistor, it offered much higher speed than earlier transistors and used metal–semiconductor junctions, but unlike the schottky transistor, both junctions were metal–semiconductor junctions.

In computer architecture, 12-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 12 bits wide. Also, 12-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers, address buses, or data buses of that size.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transistor computer</span> Computer built using discrete transistors

A transistor computer, now often called a second-generation computer, is a computer which uses discrete transistors instead of vacuum tubes. The first generation of electronic computers used vacuum tubes, which generated large amounts of heat, were bulky and unreliable. A second-generation computer, through the late 1950s and 1960s featured circuit boards filled with individual transistors and magnetic-core memory. These machines remained the mainstream design into the late 1960s, when integrated circuits started appearing and led to the third-generation computer.

This list compares various amounts of computing power in instructions per second organized by order of magnitude in FLOPS.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to computing:

Philco was one of the pioneers of transistorized computers, also known as second generation computers. After the company developed the surface barrier transistor, which was much faster than previous point-contact types, it was awarded contracts for military and government computers. Commercialized derivatives of some of these designs became successful business and scientific computers. The TRANSAC Model S-1000 was released as a scientific computer. The TRANSAC S-2000 mainframe computer system was first produced in 1958, and a family of compatible machines, with increasing performance, was released over the next several years.

In a computer instruction set architecture (ISA), an execute instruction is a machine language instruction which treats data as a machine instruction and executes it.

References

  1. Fransman, Martin (1993-02-25). The Market and Beyond: Cooperation and Competition in Information Technology. Cambridge University Press. pp. 19–20. ISBN   9780521435253.
  2. Early Computers, Information Processing Society of Japan
  3. 【Electrotechnical Laboratory】 ETL Mark III Transistor-Based Computer, Information Processing Society of Japan
  4. Early Computers: Brief History, Information Processing Society of Japan
  5. Grabbe, E. M. (February 7, 1957), "The Ramo- Wooldridge Corporation" (PDF), SOME RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN DIGITAL CONTROL SYSTEMS, Instrumentation and Control in the Process Industries Conference, Chicago, p. 5{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. "RW-30 advertisement". The Michigan Technic. LXXVI (4). UM Libraries: 61. January 1958.
  7. Boslaugh, David L. (2003). When Computers Went to Sea: The Digitization of the United States Navy. John Wiley & Sons. p. 113. ISBN   9780471472209.
  8. "The DRTE Computer". friendsofcrc.ca. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  9. Sigeru Takahashi (April–June 1986). "Early Transistor Computers in Japan". Annals of the History of Computing. 8 (2): 144–154. doi:10.1109/MAHC.1986.10039.
  10. Katsuhiko Noda (June 27, 1966). "Success story: Japanese originals" (PDF). Electronics. 39 (13): 93.
  11. "ETL Mark IV"
  12. "ETL Mark IV A".
  13. Saul Rosen (June 1991). PHILCO: Some Recollections of the PHILCO TRANSAC S-2000 (Computer Science Technical Reports / Purdue e-Pubs). Purdue University. Here: page 2
  14. "READERS' AND EDITOR'S FORUM: The Siemens 2002, MAJER-TRENDEL" (PDF). Computers and Automation. 10 (3): 21. March 1961.
  15. "COMPUTERS AND CENTERS, OVERSEAS: 10. Siemens & Halske AG, Siemens 2002, Munich, Germany". Digital Computer Newsletter. 11 (2): 19–23. April 1959.
  16. "COMPUTERS AND CENTERS, OVERSEAS: 10. Siemens & Halske AG, Siemens 2002, Munich, Germany". Digital Computer Newsletter. 12 (1): 19–20. January 1960.
  17. Computer Characteristics Quarterly (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  44.
  18. Weik, Martin H. (March 1961). "RW-300". A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems. Ballistic Research Laboratories Report No. 1115.
  19. 1 2 Isaac L. Auerbach (January 1961). "European Information Technology - A Report on the Industry and the State-of-the-Art" (PDF). Proceedings of the IRE. 49 (1): 347.
  20. "REFERENCE INFORMATION: A Survey of European Digital Computers, Part 2" (PDF). Computers and Automation. 9 (3): 28–29. March 1960.
  21. "COMPUTERS AND CENTERS, OVERSEAS: 1. Standard Elektrik Lorenz AG, ER 56, Stuttgart, Germany". Digital Computer Newsletter. 12 (2): 13–14. April 1960.
  22. Foulkes, Ron (Summer 2008). "Computers at Metrovick : the MV 950 & AEI 1010". Resurrection - the Bulletin of the Computer Conservation Society (43). ISSN   0958-7403.
  23. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  12.
  24. "Control Data Corporation". Computing History. The Minnesota Computing History Project. 15 July 2018.
  25. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  44.
  26. Beck, Robert Mark (30 December 1960). PB-250 - A High Speed Serial General Purpose Computer Using Magnetostrictive Delay Line Storage. 1960 Fall Joint Computer Conference. p. 284. doi:10.1109/afips.1960.58. The first production computer was delivered in October 1960.
  27. "PB-250". The Retro-Computing Society of RI, Inc.
  28. Weik, Martin H. (March 1961). "PACKARD BELL 250". A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems. Ballistic Research Laboratories Report No. 1115.
  29. Programming manual for TRICE and other material on DDA's 2nd edition | 102664334 | Computer History Museum. Packard Bell Electronics. Packard Bell Computer. 3 May 1960.
  30. Weik, Martin H. (March 1961). "TRICE". A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems. Ballistic Research Laboratories Report No. 1115.
  31. "Packard Bell Computer | Selling the Computer Revolution | Computer History Museum". www.computerhistory.org.
  32. "ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK: New Firms, Divisions, and Mergers - ON-CALL DATA VANS FOR HIRE" (PDF). Computers and Automation. XI (7): 28. July 1962.
  33. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  12.
  34. "Control Data Corporation Collection - Historical Timeline". Charles Babbage Institute .
  35. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  12.
  36. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  32.
  37. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  44.
  38. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  44.
  39. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  54.
  40. "AN/UYK-1 - A "Stored Logic" Multiple Purpose Computer" (PDF). Ramo-Woolridge. 1961-04-21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
  41. James P. Anderson; Samuel A. Hoffman; Joseph Shifman; Robert J. Williams (1962), D825 - a multiple-computer system for command & control, Proceedings of the Fall Joint Computer Conference, Spartan, pp. 86–96, doi:10.1109/AFIPS.1962.41
  42. "advertisement" (PDF). Datamation. Vol. 8, no. 11. FRANK D. THOMPSON. Nov 1962. pp. 12–14.
  43. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  26.
  44. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  44.
  45. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  44.
  46. Weik, Martin H. (March 1961). "RW 400". A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems. Ballistic Research Laboratories Report No. 1115.
  47. Helfinstein, Bert (1961-02-01). "Programming Manual AN/FSQ-27 (RW-400)" (PDF) (second ed.). Ramo-Woolridge.
  48. "RW-400 Notes" (PDF).
  49. Culler, Glen; Huff, Robert (1962), "Managing Requirements Knowledge, International Workshop on", Solution of Non-Linear Integral Equations Using on-Line Computer Control, Proceedings of the Spring Joint Computer Conference, San Francisco, pp. 129–138, doi:10.1109/AFIPS.1962.26 {{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  50. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  32.
  51. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  32.
  52. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  32.
  53. "News Briefs in Datamation 1st 601 is on the air at NJ Bell" (PDF), Datamation, vol. 9, no. 6, GARDNER F. LANDON, p. 52
  54. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  62.
  55. "COMPUTERS AND CENTERS, OVERSEAS: 2. Siemens and Halske A.G., 2002 and 3003 Computing Systems, Munich, Germany". Digital Computer Newsletter. 16 (2): 10–14. Apr 1964.
  56. "The Air Force comptroller". October 1967. Retrieved September 6, 2020. the 1604B was a three year old second generation computer [in 1967]
  57. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  46.
  58. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  26.
  59. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  26.
  60. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  26.
  61. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  30.
  62. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  30.
  63. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  62.
  64. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  12.
  65. trw :: BR-133 Brochure May64. May 1964.
  66. "AN/UYK-3 General Purpose Computer".
  67. "Record of Revisions". Reference Manual Control Data 1604-Computer (PDF). CDC.
  68. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  26.
  69. Jones, Douglas W. "The PDP-8". THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA Department of Computer Science. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  70. 1 2 Davis, E.M.; et al. (April 1964). "Solid Logic Technology: Versatile, High-Performance Microelectronics". IBM Journal of Research and Development. 8 (2): 102–114. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.87.4832 . doi:10.1147/rd.82.0102. A new microelectronics technique called Solid Logic Technology, or SLT, is utilized in the new family of IBM/360 computers. This new technology provides a hybrid, integrated circuit module which combines discrete, glass-encapsulated silicon transistors and diodes with stencil-screened land patterns and precision passive components.
  71. "Electronic Digital Computer Ural-11 (Урал-11)".
  72. "Electronic Digital Computer Ural-14 (Урал-14)".
  73. "Electronic Digital Computer Ural-16 (Урал-16)".
  74. "BI-TRAN SIX ad". Computers and Automation. March 1965.
  75. "COMPUTER SCHEMATICS: 4. Bi-Tran Six". Amateur Computer Society Newsletter (1): 4. Aug 1966.
  76. "AnyCPU - View topic - Early trainer computers from 1965 and 1972". www.anycpu.org.
  77. "FABRI-TEK INTRODUCES NEW CONTROL KEYBOARD CONSOLE FOR BI-TRAN SIX COMPUTER". Computers and Automation: 61. October 1968.
  78. "Imgur BI-TRAN SIX image galleries". Imgur.
  79. Georghiou, Luke; Evans, Janet; Ray, Tim; Metcalfe, J. Stanley; Gibbons, Michael (1986-03-10). "PART II CASE-STUDIES: 9. Ferranti: Monolithic Microcircuits". Post-Innovation Performance: Technological Development and Competition. Springer. pp. 146–156. ISBN   9781349074556.
  80. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  62.
  81. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  24.
  82. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  30.
  83. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  30.
  84. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  30.
  85. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  62.
  86. "Computer D4A". www.robotrontechnik.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-11-05.
  87. "Rechenautomaten mit Trommelspeicher" [Calculating machines with drum memory]. www.fv-tsd.de (in German).
  88. Robotron Erzeugnislisten (in German). p. 5.
  89. "Mercedes Büromaschinen-Werke in Zella-Mehlis – Rechenschieber.org" [Mercedes office machines in Zella-Mehlis – Rechenschieber.org]. www.rechenschieber.org (in German). 2009. pp. 22–28.
  90. "Das Leben und Wirken von Prof. N. J. Lehmann" [The life and work of prof. N. J. Lehmann]. www.math.tu-dresden.de (in German). pp. 15–19.
  91. "Computer Characteristics Quarterly" (PDF). Adams Associates. 1967. p.  32.
  92. U.S. Government Research & Development Reports. National Technical Information Service. 1971. p. 102.