The K 1840, full name RVS K 1840 (Rechnersystem mit virtuellem Speicher, "computer system with virtual memory") was 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.
The K 1840 minicomputer was a clone of VAX-11/780 from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). The export of western 32-bit minicomputers to Comecon countries was forbidden by the CoCom technology embargo. Therefore one had to be developed locally, using computer aided design (CAD) technology based on a 32-bit computer architecture.
The K 1840 was the first 32-bit computer of the M 32 VAX-compatible minicomputer line. Copies of VAX-11/7xx computers are known also from Czechoslovakia (CM 5152 [1] ), Hungary (TPA-11/540, 560 and 580 [2] ), Romania (CORAL 8730) and the Soviet Union (CM 1700 [3] ).
K 1840 had a maximum computing speed of 1.1 MIPS; it could access up to 16 MB of main memory and up to 4 GB of virtual memory.
The first prototype with the essential core components was introduced in April 1987, and five more were built from then until September 1987. The new computer was presented to the public in October 1987. In 1988 it was awarded the National Prize of the GDR, 1st class, and a gold medal at the Leipzig spring fair. Production started in June 1988 and 217 machines were delivered at a price of 1.9 million Mark up to 1990.
While the K 1840 was under development, its successor (the K 1845, based on the VAX-11/785) had already been conceived. The K 1845 was presented to the public at the Leipzig spring fair in 1990. It had a bigger main storage capacity (up to 64 MB) and could handle a bigger number of bus adaptors and controllers than its predecessor. Twenty prototypes were built.
A further successor was contemplated: the K 1850, with a performance of 6 MIPS, using emitter-coupled logic (ECL) gate arrays.
Robotron developed a copy of the MicroVAX II called the K 1820, which reached approximately 90% of the performance of the K 1840. The K 1820 was fully compatible with the software of the K 1840, so that already-developed system and application software could be used.
In mid-1990, production of the K 1840 and K 1845 and all development work stopped, because economical production was not feasible under free-market conditions resulting from the currency, economic and social union of East and West Germany on 1 July 1990, causing the collapse of Robotron's traditional markets in the Soviet Union and East Europe.
There are K 1840s in the Technische Sammlungen Museum in Dresden, in the Konrad-Zuse-Computermuseum in Hoyerswerda and in the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, US. [4]
Konrad Zuse was a German civil engineer, pioneering computer scientist, inventor and businessman. His greatest achievement was the world's first programmable computer; the functional program-controlled Turing-complete Z3 became operational in May 1941. Thanks to this machine and its predecessors, Zuse has often been regarded as the inventor of the modern computer.
A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a class of smaller computers that was developed in the mid-1960s and sold for much less 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.
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VAX is a CISC instruction set architecture (ISA) and line of superminicomputers and workstations developed by the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in the mid-1970s. The VAX-11/780, introduced October 25, 1977, was the first of a range of popular and influential computers implementing the VAX ISA. 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.
The Z3 was a German electromechanical computer designed by Konrad Zuse in 1935, and completed in 1941. It was the world's first working programmable, fully automatic digital computer. The Z3 was built with 2,600 relays, implementing a 22-bit word length that operated at a clock frequency of about 5–10 Hz. Program code was stored on punched film. Initial values were entered manually.
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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.
The history of computing hardware in the Soviet 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.
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Hoyerswerda is a major district town in the district of Bautzen in the German state of Saxony. It is located in the Sorbian settlement area of Upper Lusatia, a region where some people speak the Sorbian language in addition to German.
The Z1 was a motor-driven mechanical computer designed by Konrad Zuse from 1936 to 1937, which he built in his parents' home from 1936 to 1938. It was a binary electrically driven mechanical calculator with limited programmability, reading instructions from punched celluloid film.
Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden (ZMD) was regarded as the heart of East Germany's microelectronics research in the 1980s as well as its most advanced integrated circuit manufacturer. Together with TU Dresden and VEB Spurenmetalle Freiberg, ZMD formed the foundation for Silicon Saxony, a cluster of microelectronics companies that came to include new fabs by Siemens and AMD.
The U880 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was manufactured by VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" Erfurt in the German Democratic Republic. Production of the U880 started in 1980 at VEB Funkwerk Erfurt. The U880 is an unlicensed clone of the Zilog Z80 microprocessor. It is not, however, a direct copy of the Zilog's Z80. Differences include not setting the CY flag for the OUTI command.
Werner Hartmann was a German physicist who introduced microelectronics into East Germany. He studied physics at the Technische Hochschule Berlin and worked at Siemens before joining Fernseh GmbH. At the end of World War II, he and his research staff were flown to the Soviet Union to work on their atomic bomb project; he was assigned to Institute G. In 1955, he arrived in the German Democratic Republic (GDR); in the same year, he founded and became the director of the VEB Vakutronik Dresden, later VEB RFT Meßelektronik Dresden. In 1956, he completed his Habilitation at the Technische Hochschule Dresden and also became a professor for Kernphysikalische Elektronik there. In 1961, he founded the Arbeitsstelle für Molekularelektronik Dresden (AME). He was awarded the National Prize of GDR in 1958. In 1974, he was removed from his positions, significantly demoted, and sent to work as a staff scientist at the VEB Spurenmetalle Freiberg. Hartmann had been the object of security investigations by the Stasi for some time; while he was investigated at length and repeatedly interrogated, the alleged charges were politically motivated and no trial ever took place. The Werner-Hartmann-Preis für Chipdesign is an industrial award given in Hartmann's honor for achievement in the field of semiconductors.
The MRB Z1013 was an East German Single-board computer produced by VEB Robotron Riesa which was primarily intended for private use and educational institutions. It was powered by a U880 processor and sold together with a membrane keyboard. Initially, the kit was equipped with 16-KByte DRAM, which was later replaced by a 64-KByte version.
The U80701 was a 32-bit microprocessor developed from 1986-1990 in the German Democratic Republic. It was manufactured by VEB Mikroelektronik "Karl Marx" Erfurt (MME) in NMOS technology and encased in a ceramic quad flat package.
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VEB Kombinat Mikroelektronik Erfurt was an important manufacturer of active electronic components in East Germany. It should not be confused with the more well-known VEB Kombinat Robotron Dresden which used integrated circuits from Kombinat Mikroelektronik in its computers. The trademark RFT was used for components from Kombinat Mikroelektronik, as well as for most electronic products from East Germany.
East Germany was one of the leading computer producers in the Eastern Bloc as purchases of higher technologies from the West were under various embargoes. A program of illegal purchases, copying and reverse engineering of Western examples was established, after which GDR sold these computers to COMECON countries. Under the rule of Erich Honecker electronics, microelectronics and data processing industries grew at average 11.4% in the 1970s and 12.9% during the 1980s.
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