Digital_Computer_Newsletter_V05N04_Oct53 Digital Computer Newsletter V05N04 Oct53

DIGITAL

COMPUTER

NEWSLETTER

OFfiCE

OF

NAVAL

RESEARCH

•

MATHEMATICAL

SCIENCES

DIV.'S.ON

Vol.

5,

No.4

TABLE

OF

CONTENTS

COMPUTERS

1.

The

Rand

Junior

Johnniac

2.

University

of

Illinois

Computer

(ILLIAC)

3.

Project

Hurricane

Computer

(RA

YDAC)

4.

Whirlwind

I

5.

Aberdeen

Proving

Ground

Computers

The

ORDVAC

The

EDVAC

The

ENIAC

6.

University

of

Michigan

Computer

(MIDAC)

7.

The

FLAC

8.

The

SWAC

9.

The

Oak

Ridge

Automatic

Computer

(ORACLE)

10.

The

Institute

for

Advanced

Study

Computer

(IAS)

11.

Computer

Research

Corporation

Computers

CRC

102-A

CRC

105

GRC

107

12.

IBM

Type

701

Electronic

Data

Processing

Machine

13.

IBM

Type

650

Magnetic

Drum

Calculator

14.

The

SEAC

15.

Consolidated

Model

30-201

Computer

16.

Burroughs

Laboratory

and

Wayne

University

Computers

17.

The

JAINCOMP-D

18.

Aeronautical

Research

Laboratory

Computer

(OARAC)

19.

The

ALWAC

-

20.

The

MONROBOT

MU

DATA

PROCESSING

AND

CONVERSION

EQUIPMENT

1.

Kearfott

SADAC

(Servo-Analog-Digital..;Analog-Converter)

2.

CCP

701

Digital

Point

Plotter

3.

Solid

Acoustic

I/elay

Line

Memory

Unit

4.

MacDonald

Magnetic

Storage

Drums

5.

Potter

Magnetic

Tape

Handler

LIST

OF

COMPUTING

SERVICES

COMPUTER

COURSES

October

1953

1.

Wayne

University

Computation

Lab.

(Machine

Computation)

2.

Computer

Research

Corp.

(l02-A

Operation

&

Maintenance

Course)

NOTICES

1.

Newsletter

to

be

Reprinted

in

Journal

of

ACM

2.

Joint

Computer

Conference

3.

Joint

Computer

Conference

Publications

Available

Approved

by

The

Under

Secretary

of

The

Navy

27

August

1951

COMPUTERS

THE

RAND JUNIOR JOHNNlAC

A

10-digit

Junior

Johnniac

machine

has

been

completed

and

is

in

operation

at

the

RAND

Corporation.

This

machine

is

built

mechanically

and

electrically

like

the

larger

machine

and

uses

components

which

are

interchangeable

with

it.

It

contains

a

complete

arithmetic

unit,

a

5-selectron

128-word

electrostatic

memory,

but

only

sufficient

control

to

do

fixed

program

memory

evaluation

tests

of

the

leapfrog

variety.

To

date

it

has

been

used

to

dynamically

test

selectron

tubes,

and

to

accumulate

life

data

on

these

tubes.

The

system

has

performed

ex-

ceedingly

well,

and

usually

runs

test

routines

unattended

and

over

night.

Two

endurance

runs

have

been

attempted.

The

first

was

terminated

at

80

hours

by

a

systematic

memory

error;

the

second

was

deliberately

terminated

at

90

hours

with

no

errors.

The

first

run

was

interrupted

twice

by

tube

failures

in

a

power

supply

and

in

a

register;

the

second

was

deliberately'inter-

rupted

a few

times

to

accomodate

engineering

measurements.

No

adjustments

were

ever

made,

however,

and

after

every

interruption

the

system

resumed

operation

promptly

and

without

difficulty.

In

each

case

the

system

was

executing

a

self-checking

error-detecting

memory

test

routine

which

continually

altered

the

information

stored

at

each

address,

however

verify-

ing

the

correctness

of

the

information

at

each

address

before

alteration.

The

nature

of

the

test

routine

and

of

the

checking

feature

is

such

that

any

random

or.

systematic

error

will

be

detected

and

stop

the

test.

During

selectron

tube

checking,

there

also

has

been

accumulated

a

large

number

of

error-free

-runs

of

8-

20

hours

extent.

One

particular

selectron

has

been

in

the

memory

through

all

testing

and

endurance

runs.

Its

life

now

exceeds

600

hours

and

there

is

no

sign

of

deterioration

or

change.

Sufficient

good

tubes

are

on

hand

to

fully

equip

the

full

size

memory.

It

is

expected

that

the

arithmetic

unit

and

parts

of

the

control

of

the

large

machine

will

be

operative

in

the

middle

of

October,

and

that

the

complete

machine

will

be

operative

by

1954. .

THEILUAC

The

Illiac

has

been

in

general

use

by

the

University

of

Illinois

since

September

1, 1952.

It

was

shut

down on

August

10, 1953,

to

allow

the

installation

of a new

set

of

covers

and

some

control

changes

which

will

increase

the

addition

speed

of

the

machine.

The

machine

has

been

used

by

fifteen

different

departments

within

the

University

for

many

different

types

of

research

work.

A

library

of

about

one

hundred

routines

has

greatly

extended

the

usefulness

of

the

machine

to

all

of

these

groups.

PROJECT

HURRICANE COMPUTER (RAYDAC)

The

RAYDAC

Computer

is

now

installed

and

in

operation

at

the

Naval

Air

Missile

Test

Center,

Point

Mugu,

California.

The

machine

compl¢{ed

its

engineering

acceptance

tests

early

in

July

and

has

been

operated

by

the

NAMISTESTCEN

staff

since

that

time.

It

is

expected

that

a

contractor

will

take

over

the

computer

in

ear

ly

autumn

under

an

operation

and

evalua-

tion

program.

WIDRLWIND I

Applications

Since

June

1

the

following

problems

have

been

initiated

by

the

Scientific

and

Engineering

Computation

(S&EC)

Group

for

solution

on

the

Whirlwind

I

Computer:

No. 137.

Investigation

of

Atmospheric

Turbulence

No. 138.

Spheroidal

Wave

Functions

- 2 -

No. 139.

Calculations

of

the

Shape of

Nuclear-Magnetic-Resonance

Absorption

Lines

No. 142. Study

of

Shock

Waves

(a

two-dimensional

grid

of

concentrated

masses

sub-

jected

to

impulsive

loads)

No. 143.

Vibrational

Frequency

Spectrum

of a

Copper

Crystal

These

problems

were

in

addition

to

the

long-range

problems

reported

in

the

Computer

Newsletter.

Summer

Session

During

July

the

S&EC

Group

developed

an

experimental

computer

logic

which

was

used

in

a

two-week

Summer

Session

course

·at

MIT

(August 24 -

September

4)

entitled

"Digital

Com-

puters

and

their

Applications."

This

logic

involved

the

physical

equipment

of

Whirlwind

I

and

made

use

'ofinterpretive

routines

for

programmed

extra

precision

and

floating-point

arith-

metic,

cycle

counting,

input

and

output,

together

with

facilities

for

program

conversion,

mis-

take

recognition,

and

post-mortem

diagnosis.

The

course

was

attended

by

106

persons

repre-

senting

67

organizations.

ACM

Meeting

The

summer

conference

of

the

Association

for

Computing

Machinery

was

held

at

MIT

on

September

9, 10,

and

11.

During

the

meeting,

the

Digital

Computer

Laboratory

was

open

for

inspection

and

239

visitors

were

recorded.

Magnetic-Core

Memory

A

new

internal

high-speed

memory

utilizing

magnetic

cores

has

replaced

electrostatic

storage

in

Whirlwind

I.

The

storage

capacity

of

the

new

memory

is

the

same

as

the

old

(2048

registers),

but

performance

tests

have

indicated

that

magnetic

cores

will

greatly

reduce

maintenance

time

as

well

as

increase

the

computer's

operating

speed.

The

of

the

Newsletter

will

contain

detailed

information

on

the

operation

of

this

system.

ABERDEEN

PROVING GROUND

COMPUTERS

The

ORDVAC

The

Ordvac

underwent

a

thorough

overhaul

in

July.

Available

machine

time

for

the

past

five

weeks

following

the

overhaul

has

averaged

126

hours

per

week.

The

last

week

in

August,

40 RCA

TYP'e

C73376B

developmental-type

cathode~ray

tubes

were

installed

in

the

memory.

On

the

basis

of

early

experience

with

this

installation,

it.appears

that

minimum

read

around

ratios

of 100

can

be

maintained.

This

is

about

twice

the

read

around

ratio

obtained

previously.

The

EDVAC

During

the

week

ending

26

June

1953,

the

Edvac

broke

all

of

availab1e

weekly

machine

time

for

BRL

machines,

with

an

available

time

of 159.9

hours.

For

the

past

three

months

the

Edvac

has

averaged

92

hours

per

week

of

available

machine

time,

reflecting

the

effect

of

improvements

which

have

been

incorporated

into

the

basic

machine

during

the

past

year.

The

ENIAC

Installation

of

the

new

100-word

static

magnetic

memory

was

satisfactorily

completed.

The

unit,

designed

and

constructed

by

the

Burroughs

Corporation,

increases

the

internal

high-

speed

memory

to

120

words

and

is

one of

the

most

significant

improvements

to

the

ENIAC

since

its

completion

in

February

1946.

It

is

interesting

to

note

that

the

memory

was

delivered,

installed,

successfully

tested

with

the

ENIAC,

and

placed

in

routine

operation

in

a

four-day

period.

Operating

experience

with

the

memory

to

date

has

been

highly

satisfactory.

- 3 -

THE MIDAC (University of Michigan

Digital

Automatic

Computer)

Regular

operation

of

the

MIDAC, begun

June

1, 1953,

has

increased

over

the

summer

period

to

approximately

40

hours

of

scheduled

operational

time

per

week.

The

MIDAC, a

gen-

eral

purpose

digital

computer

patterned

after

theSEAC,

was

constructed

by

the

Willow Run

Research

Center

of

the

University

of

Michigan

under

the

auspices

of

the

Air

Forces.

A

ma-

jority

of

the

internal

operations,

about

equivalent

to

those

on

the

SEAC

,are

now aVailable.

Additional

"relative

addressing"

operations,

designed

specifically

for

use

with

subroutines

stored

on a

magnetic

drum,

are

now being

checked

out.

Construction

has

been

under

the

supervision

of

John

DeTurk

and,

later,

Roy Hock.

The

machine,

which

was

begun

in

1951,

is

a

serial

machine

using

a

basic

"clock"

frequency

of one

megacycle.

The

principal

engineering

characteristics

of

the

machine

are:

Word length

Arithmetic

Unit Type

Type of Code

Average

number

of

additions,

subtractions,

etc./sec.

Average

number

of

multiplications

or

diviSions/sec.

Memory

Type

Memory

Capacity

Number

of vacuum

tubes

Number

of

germanium

diodes

Physical

Layout

Input

Output

44

bits

plus

sign

bit

(45

tptal)

Serial

Three

-address

1,000 (including

four

accesses

to

memory)

300 (including

four

accesses

to

memory)

Acou,stic delay line;

Drum

512

words

(Acoustic)

6,144

words

(Drum)

1500

20,000

Packaged

units

Photo-electric

reader

Flexowriter

(at

present)

During

the

three

months

of

operation

an

interim

"Input

Translation

Program"

has

been

checked out

to

provide

complete

translation

of

instructions

and

numbers

from

an

external

decimal-algebraic

language into

the

internal

machine

binary

language. Upon completion of

the

drum

and

"relative-addressing"

features,

this

program

will

be

extended

to

call

in

subroutines

automatically

and

to

provide

automatic

code-checking

and

utility

program

features.

Among the

problems

coded, checked out,

or

solved

on

the

MIDAC

are:

solution of

simul-

taneous

equations

for

general

order

n

<:

17,

solution

of a

parabolic

differential

equation,

solu-

tion

of a

problem

in

the

dynamics

of a

large-scale

economic

system,

several

data-reduction

problems,

and

simulation

of a

number

of

large-scale

dynamic

systems.

In addition, a floating

point

program

is

available

for

short

problems

where

elimination

of

scaling

procedure

can

save

programming

time.

,

The

machine

has

been

so

constructed

that

it

can be expanded, without

changes

in

the

logical

structure,

to

twice the

acoustic

memory

storage

capacity

and

four

times

the

drum

storage

capacity.

A

special

two-week

Summer

Program

on

"Digital

Computers

-

Their

Application

and

Evaluation"

was

held

at

the

University

of Michigan, August 10

through

August 21.

The

MIDAC

was

used

as

the

laboratory

machine

for

course

members.

The

course

itself

stressed

program-

ming and

formulation,

numerical

analysis,

applications,

and

evaluation

of

existing

commercial

computers.

- 4 -

A

graduate

course

in

"Methods

in

High-Speed Computation" (M174)

was

given

at

the

Uni-

versity

for

the

first

time

last

spring.

This

course

will

be

repeated

in 1953-1954

as

a

two-

semester

course

aimed

at

training

for

use

of

the

MIDAC.

In

addition, a

two-semester

course

in

"Digital

Technology" (EE258)

will

be

concerned

with

the

design,

construction,

and

simula-

tion

uses

of

digital

computers.

THE FLAC

During

the

past

two

months

a

limited

computational

work

load

has

been

assumed

by

FLAC.

Lack

of both coding

personnel

and

multiple input

units

has

delayed

transfer

of

all

Air

Force

Missile

Test

Center

computations

from

SEAC

to

FLAC.

Several

problems

have

been

solved,

however, including one

for

F.J.

Murray

of·Columbia

pertaining

to

crystal

growths.

The

final

control

console

has

been

attached

to

the

computer,

and

the

addition of

four

Raytheon

multichannel

magnetic

tape

handling

units

is

in

progress.

With

all

auxiliaries

oper-

ating,

the

total

power

furnished

by

the

computer's

power

supplies

is

less

than

six

kilowatts.

Since

little

information

has

been

made

available

on

the

coding

for

FLAC,

the

operation

codes

and

operating

times

are

given

in

Figure

1.

It

should

be

noted

that

the

addresses

speci-

fied

in

FLAC

instruction

words

may

be

either

absolute

or

relative,

hence

the

machine

is

called

a floating

three-address

machine.

Further,

when

relative

addresses

are

employed,

they

may

be

relative

to

either

the

control

counter

(Cc) which

sequences

the

machine

through

its

instructions,

or

relative

to

a

number

stored

in

the

base

counter

(Cb).

The

contents

of Cb

can

be modified only by a

tally

instruction.

The

terminology

used

in

Figure

1

is

explained

as

follows: 0 and

fJ

designate

the

loca-

tions

of

the

two

operands,

"

the

result.

(0),

(/J),

and

(1)

designate

the

quantities

stored

in

.

0,

p,

and".

The

binary

control

digits

a,b,c,

and d

are

used

to

indicate

whether

0,

p,

"

are

relative

(I.e.

presence

of

an

a,

b,

or

c digit

indicates

a

relative

address)

and

the

presence

of a

d

digit

indicates

that

the

relative

addresses

are

with

respect

to

the

base

counter

(Cb).

These

relative-address

features

greatly

simplify

and

accelerate

handling of

iterative

processes.

THE

SWAC

During

the

last

quarter

the

SWAC

worked

on 29

different

problems

for

a computing

time

of 623

hours

out of a

scheduled

time

of 845

hours.

A full

set

of

eigenvalues

and

eigenvectors

for

a 32nd

order

matrix

was

computed,

to

10 Significant

decimal

digits.

With

the

aid

of

the

magnetic

drum

memory,

the

complete

solution

was

obtained

in

18

hours

of computing

time.

Methods

were

developed

for

the solution of

assignment

problems,

by

permutation

of

matrix

elements.

In

particular,

solutions

for

8 x

8,

10 x 10,

and

12

x 12

matrices

were

obtained.

The

solution

of

the

12 x 12

was

obtained

in

3

hours

running

time.

THE ORACLE (Oak Ridge

Automatic

Computer)

The Oak Ridge

National

Laboratory's

high-speed,

electronic,

digital

computer

(ORACLE)

has

passed

the

final

acceptance

tests

at

the

Argonne National

Laboratory

and

is

at

present

being

installed

in

its

permanent

location (ORNL)

at

Oak Ridge,

Tennessee.

The

ORACLE

ran

successfully

at

ANL

for

approximately

250

hours,

solving

problems

with

an

efficiency of

92%;

i.e.,

23

hours

of

the

total

available

problem

time

were

used

for

trouble-shooting

machine

failures.

During

this

time,

the

204B-word

electrostatic

memory

feature

of the ORACLE

was

utilized

in solving a Monte

Carlo

type

problem.

The

installation

at

ORNL

will

incorporate

a

Ferranti

photoelectric

reader

and a

teletype

fast

punch

in

the input-output

system.

- 5 -

CODE

0)

A

B

C

0

OPERATION

INPUT

LOGICAL TRANSFER

SHIFT

I.

DECIMAL.

BINARY CONVERSION

II.

BINARY.

DECIMAL CONVERSION

SUBTRACTION

ADDITION

I.

POWER

EXTRACT

II.

FILE

I.

TAPE ADVANCE

II.

TAPE REVERSE

III.

TAPE HUNT

MUL TIPLICATION (Complete Produc:t)

MUL

TIPLICATION

(Rounded)

FLAC

OPERATING

CHARACTERlSTJCS

DESCRIPT.ION

STORED

IN

FFFI

~~~R;

~EN~~:yE~EO:L~ORDS

FROM

p

INPUT·

UNIT

INTO

MEMORY

COMMENCING }

--------

:~~~~1~NO:

OPERATION

a.) TRANSFER DIGITS IN

G:t)

CORRESPONDING TO

ONES

IN

(,8)

TO

(-y)

} LOGICAL

PRODUCT"

b.) LOGICAL PRODUCT (I.e. PRODUCT

G:t)

x

(,8)

DIGIT

BY

DIGIT)

IS

AVAILABLE

FROM

(FFF)I

------

(a) x

(,8)

(-y).

G:t)

SHIFTED BY

"71"

IN

(,8)/,

WHERE

(,6)

=

71

x

2-

44

AND

+71

IS

SHIFT

LEFT

(-71,

RIGHT) SHIFTED NUMBER

/3

EVEN,

G:t).

DECIMAL NUMBER,

(-y).

CONVERTED NUMBER (BINARY) } CONVERTED NUMBER

/3

ODD,

G:t)

= BINARY NUMBER,

(-y).

CONVERTED NUMBER (DECIMALl

-----------

(-y)"

G:t)-

(,8)

_______________________

G:t)-

(,8)

~=W+~

W+~

a.)

Jj EVEN, THE

NUMBER

"ir

IN

(-y)

= NUMBER OF PLACES

G:t)

MUST

BE

SHIFTED

TO

BRING }

_______

SHIFTED

NUMBER"

MOST

SIGNIFICANT DIGIT

TO

THE BINARY POINT.

(-y)

= _

71x

2-

44

b.) THE

SHIFT~D

NUMBER

IS

AVAILABLE

FROM

(FFF)I

}

a.)

!3

ODD, d =

0,

FILE

CONTROL COUNTER PLUS

ONE

IN -yPOSITION OF

G:t),

RESET

CONTROL'

FILED

COUNTER

COUNTER TO

c.:

+-YOR

-y

-----.--

PLUS

ONE

b.) P

ODD,

d = 1,

FILE

BASE COUNTER PLUS

ONE

IN a POSITION OF

G:t),

RESET CONTROL

0.)

b.)

COUNTER

TO

Cc:

+-y

OR-y

!3

EVEN, ADVANCE

-y

UNIT, a NUMBER

OF

WORDS

Jj

ODD,

REVERSE

-y

UNIT, aNUMBER

OF

WORDS

ON

HIGH

SPEE-D

TAPE UNITS, HUNT

FOR

BLOCK a

ON

TAPE

UNIT-y

}

------------

:~~~~1~NO:

OPERATION

(-y)

..

(a,)x

(,b),

HIGH ORDER PRODUCT }

(a)'x

(,6)

LOW

ORDER"

(FFF)I

= fa) x (P),

LOW

ORDER PRODUCT

---------------------

(-y)"

fa)x

(,b)

ROUNDED

TO

44 BINARY DIGITS

_____________________

fa)

x

(P)

ROUNDED

OPERAT.IOHS

PERISEC

1100

330.1100

28S

800

1100

1100'

330.1101.

2000

330

TALLY

a.)

b.)

a =

0,

RESETS

BASE

COUNTER (CB) TO a AND COMPARES a

AND.4

JF a < p

RESUL

TS

OF 28S0

TAKEN FROM-yORCc: +-y,

IF

a~

PNEXT

INSTRUCTION TAKEN

FROM

Cc:

+ I

----PRECEDING

OPERATION

a = 1

ADDS

a

TO

BASE

COUNTER AND COMPARES

SUM

WITH

!3AS INDICATED ABOVE-

DIVISION (Unrounded)

0.)

b,)

~=~/W

}

W·~

(FFF)

I = TRUE REMAINDER FOLLOWING DIVISION

!,By

fa) REMAINDER W 330

ALGEBRAIC COMPARISON

ABSOLUTE COMPARISON

EQUALITY COMPARISON

READ OUT

IF

fa)<

ftj)

FROM

-y

OR

Cc:

+-y

}

________________

(a)_

(,b)

IF

(a,)~

(,b)

FROM

Cc:

+

1.

IF

1 fa) 1 < 1

(P)

1

FROM

-yOR

Cc:

+-y

J

______________

1 fa) 1 - 1

(,6)

1~

IF

1 fa)

111

!til

1

FROM

Cc:

+ 1

IF

fa),

(j,)NEXT

INSTRUCTION TAKEN FROM-yORCc:

+-y}

(a,)-

(P)

IF

fa) = (,b)NEXT INSTRUCTION TAKEN

FROM

Cc:

+ 1 •

-----------------.-:.-

READ a NUMBER

OF

WORDS

COMMENCING

WITH

(p)

INTO OUTPUT

UNIT

-y

____________

RESULTS

OF

PRECEDING OPERATION

Cc

IS

THE

CONTROL

COUNTER

USED

FOR

SEQUENCING

INSTRUCTIONS.

CB

IS

THE

BASE

COUNTER

USED

AS

AN

ADJUSTABLE REFERENCE POINT

FOR

RELATIVE

ADDRESSES,

AS

WELL

AS

FOR

A TALLY REGISTER

a,

b,

c,

d,

ARE

CONTROL

DIGITS

TO

INDICATE

ABSOLUTE

OR

RELATIVE

ADDRESSES

FOR

a.

fJ,

-y,

ETC.

I

FFF

IS

A SPECIAL

MINIMUM

ACCESS

STORAGE

REGISTER,

THE

CONTENTS

OF

WHICH

ARE

CHANGED

BY

ALL OPERATIONS EXCEPT THE TALLY (A),INPUT

(0),

OUTPUT (F),

OR

TAPE (7) INSTRUCTIONS.

OPERATION

TIMES

ARE

BASED

ON

RANDOM

ACCESS

TO

MERCURY

ACCOUSTIC

MEMORY.

-i-

QUANTITIES AVAILABLE

ONLY

AS

SECONDARY

RESULTS

OF

NORMAL

OPERATIONS.

• INPUT'. OUTPUT OPERATING SPEEDS (a)

PUNCHED

TAPE

~IO

DEC

DIGITS

/ SEC. (b)

MAGNETIC

WIRE

= 50

WORDS

/ SEC.

(el

MAGNETIC

TAPE = 250

WJ)RDS

/

SEC

••

THE

~N

OF

THE

REMAINDER

IS

ALWAYS

THE

SAME

AS

THE

SIGN

OF

(P)

Figure

1

1100

THE

lAS

COMPUTER

(Institute

for

Advanced

Study

Computer)

For

the

period

1

June

through

29

July

1953

the

Institute

for

Advanced

Study

machine

was

in

operation

for

1176 of

the

1416

hours

in

that

period.

Of

this

total

number

of

hours

the

machine

was

available

for

computation

1017

hours

and

was

used

for

computing

920

hours,

i.e.

about

90.5%

of

the

available

time.

Since

that

date

the

machine

has

been

in

the

process

of

being

moved

from

its

temporary

to

its

permanent

location

in

the

computer

building

at

the

Institute.

At

the

time

of

this

move

minor

wiring

changes

and

rearrangements

have

been

made.

The

new

location

has

been

planned

and

arranged

so

that

it

should

be

considerably

more

advantageous

from

the

point

of

view

of

con-

venience

of

operation.

The

machine

proper

is

to

be

housed

in

a

room

by

itse

If

with

the

machine

operators

in

a

separate

and

adjoining

room.

The

manual

control

of

the

machine

is

to

be

in

the

latter

room

and

has

been

simplified.

COMPUTER

RESEARCH CORPORATION COMPUTERS

CRC

102-A

The

twenty-ninth

102-A

is

now

in

production,

and

the

first

training

class

for

maintenance

and

programming

personnel

has

been

held

for

customers.

These

classes

will

be

held

bimonthly,

and

are

four

weeks

in

length.

The

will

begin

October

12.

A

special

address,

2100,

has

been

made

available

in

the

102-A,

providing

a

zero

as

an

operand

with

no

access

time.

This

programming

feature

makes

possible

unconditional

transfer,

easy

transfer

of

information

from

one

cell

to

another,

and

a new

mode

of

extracting;

provides

zero

test;

and

facilitates

certain

logical

products.

The

Magnetic'Tape-Handling

Unit,

an

auxiliary

piece

of

equipment

for

use

with

the

102-A,

is

now

in

production,and

it

is

expected

that

it

will

be

purchased

by

the

majority

of

102-A

cus-

tomers.

The

Tape

Editing

and

Printing

Unit

is

in

final

test

and

will

be

available

as

auxiliary

equipment

shortly.

CRC 105

Three

105

Decimal

Digital

Differential

Analyzers

are

now

in

use.

Acceptance

was

made

of a 105 on

September

10

at

the

U.

S.

Naval

Ordnance.Test

Station

at

Pasadena.

The

105

which

has

been

operating

at

Lockheed

Aircraft

has,

according

to

the

Mathematical

Analysis

Depart-

ment

there,

"

...

been

in

fault-free

operation

for

21

days

(9-hour

shift),

with

an

over-all

avail-

ability

time

since

the

date

of

installation

of 91%." One

more

105

is

in

the

test

stage

for

another

government

installation

and

four

more

are

under

construction.

CRC 107

The

first

107, along

with

the

High

Speed

Printer,

was

deliver~d

in

August

to

the

Bureau

of

Aeronautics,

Washington.

Final

tests

are

being

made

on a

similar

installation

to

be

delivered

in

November

to

the

White

Sands

Proving

Grounds.

The

High

Speed

Printer,

part

of

the

BuAer

installation,

consists

of a

mechanical

printer

and

paper

feed,

and

a

separate

cabinet

containing

the

logical

circuitry.

It

is

designed

to

print

120

characters

per

line

at

the

rate

of

ten

lines

per

second.

It

can

prepare

forms,

paper

copies

and

carbons,

or

duplicating

masters.

The

printer

can

print

55

characters,

which

include

all

the

characters

on a

Flexowriter,

exceptil)g

the

lower

case

alphabet

but

including

"1",

"=",

and

"+".

The

printer

is

capable

of

handling

information

at

an

average

rate

of 1300

decimal

digits

per

~econd,

with

a peak. of 2000

decimal

digits

per

second.

IBM

TYPE

701 ELECTRONIC

DATA

PROCESSING MACHINE

The

701

is

a

large-scale

electronic

digital

computer

controlled

bya

stored

program

of

the

one-address

type,

and

utilizing

cathode

ray

and

magnetic

drum

types

of

internal

storage.

- 7 -

The

machine

operates

in

the

parallel

mode,

working

internally

in

the

binary

system.

The

input

and

output,

however,

may

be

accomplished

on

standard

IBM

cards

in

the

decimal

system.

Conversion

between

the

decimal

and

binary

systems

is

accomplished

by a

subroutine,.

which

does

not

decrease

reading,

punching,

and

printing

speeds.

The

701

has

a

maximum

multiplica-

tion

time

of 456

microseconds

and

will

execute

instructions

at

a

rate

of

about

14,000

per

second

on

typical

problems.

Results

of a

computation

are

printed

on a

modified

IBM

Type

407

account-

ing

machine

operating

at

a

speed

of

over

10,000

characters

per

minute.

Output

can

also

be

taken

in

the

form

of

cards

punched

in

either

the

binary

or

the

decimal

system.

One

electrostatic

storage

unit

in

the

701

can

accommodate'

2048

full

words

or

4096

half

words.

Each

full

word

consists

of 35

bits

(binary

digits)

and

a

sign

'or

36

bits

in

all.

This

is

equivalent

to

about

ten

decimal

digits

and

a

sign.

Any of

the

full

words

can

be

split

into

two

"half

words",

each

having

17

bits

and

a

sign,

or

18

bits

in

all.

Two

electrostatic

storage

sys-

tems

may

be

used

to

provide

a

maximum

storage

of 4096 full

words.

Additional

storage

capacity

is

provided

by

two

magnetic

drums,

each

having

a

storage

capacity

of

4096

full

words.

Average

access

time

to

the

drum

is

40

milliseconds.

It

is

con-

templated

that

the

drums

will

be

used

for

storing

large

blocks

of

information.

After

the

first

word

of

such

a

block

has

been

located,

the

remaining

words

are

read

at

a

rate

of 800

per

sec-

ond.

The

magnetic

drums

will

retain

stored

information

after

the

power

is

off.

The

701

also

has

a

tape-storage

section

which

includes

four

magnetic

tape

units.

Each

tape,

which

may

be

up

to

1200

feet

long,

is

wound on a

reel.

The

tape

itself

is

a

nonmetallic,

oxide-coated

band

one-half

inch

wide.

It

is

possible

to

store

upwards

of

200,000

words

on

each

tape.

It

takes,

on

the

average,

about

10

milliseconds

for

the

tape

to

accelerate

to

its

reading

or

writing

speed,

after

which

the

reading

or

writing

takes

place

at

a

rate

of 1250

words

per

second.

Since

the

tapes

are

removable,

a

library

of

standard

programming

and

mathematical

tables

may

be

kept

on

tapes.

As

of

September

1, 1953,

installations

of

the

IBM 701

which

have

been

in

operation

include

the

following:

Consolidated

Vultee

Aircraft,

Fort

Worth,

Texas

Douglas

Aircraft,

Santa

Monica,

California

General

Electric,

Cincinnati,

Ohio

IDM, New

York

City,

N.

Y.

Lockheed

Aircraft,

Glendale,

California

Los

Alamos

Scientific

Laboratory,

Albuquerque,

New

Mexico

IBM

TYPE

650 MAGNETIC DRUM CALCULATOR

The

Magnetic

Drum

Computer

was

designed

to

meet

the

accounting

and

computing

require-

ments

in

areas

between

those

now

served

by

the

IBM 701

and

the

604

Electronic

Calculating

Punch.

A

numeric

decimal

machine

using

a

self

checking

bi-quinary

code,

it

has

a

punched-

card

input-output

unit

and

a

magnetic

drum

memory

with

a

capacity

of

either

1000

or

2000

words,

as

specified

by

the

user.

A

word

is

10

decimal

digits

plus

algebraic

sign.

All

of

the

calculator'S

arithmetic

operations

are

controlled

through

a

stored

program.

which

may

be

entered

either

automatically

from

punched

cards

or

manually

from

the

operator's

console

and

stored

in

the

form

of

magnetized

spots

on

the

surface

of a

drum

4

inches

in

diam-

eter

and

12

inches

long,

spinning

at

12,500

revolutions

a

minute~

The

calculator's

arithmetic

unit

operates

at

electronic

speeds.

It

can:

accumUlate

10-digit

numbers

to

form

a

20-digit

total

at

the

rate

of 200 a

second;

multiply

a

10-digit

number

by a

10-digit

number

to

develop

a

20-digit

product

at

the

rate

of

100 a

second;

and

divide

a

19-digit

number

by a

10-digit

divisor

to

develop

a

10-digit

quotient

and

a

10-digit

remainder

at

the

rate

of 80

per

second.

It

has

an

input

rate

of

200

punched

cards

a

minute

and

a

separate

output of 100

cards

a

minute.

In

addition

to

its

large

numerical

capacity,

the

calculator

also

features

a

"Table

Look-Up"

operation

which

facilitates

the

automatic

searching

of

rate

tables

such

as

occur

in

the

utilities,

life

and

casualty

insurance,

transportation,

and

other

commercial

fields.

- 8 -

By

means

of

the

console, the

operator

has

control

over

all

stages

of

the

calculations

and

.may

manually

insert

instructions

or

data

into any

desired

storage

location,

examine

the

con-

tents

of

these

locations,

stop

the

calculation

at

any

required

point,

and

begin

calculation

with

any

desired

instruction

located

in

the

memory

unit.

THE SEAC

The

electrostatic

(Williams)

memory

is

now

available

for

problems

which

require

512

words

in

addition

to

the 512

words

of

acoustic

memory

capacity.

Since

the

beginning of

June,

it

has

been

used

on 45

different

occasions

with productive

results.

These

error-free

runs

ranged

from

about 10

minutes

to

9

hours

in

duration.

Its

use

is

now

limited

mainly

by

the

fact

that

most

problems

are

coded

for

only 512

words

of

memory.

The

acoustic

memory

has

been

provided

with

an

odd-even

(parity)

check

for

all

words

read

from

memory.

This

equipment

has

added

to

the

efficiency

of

machine

operation.

The

computer

is

now

powered

by

a

set

of

regulated

dc

power

supplies,

the

output

voltages

of which

are

variable

from

the

computer

power

panel

for

purposes

of

marginal

checking.

ill

addition,

controllable

ac

stabilizers

are

now being

used.

A

closed-cycle

air-conditioning

sys-

tem,

which

is

independent of

the

building

air

conditioning,

is

provided

for

the

computer.

An

additional

magnetic

wire

input-output

dumper

has

been added

to

the

installation.

Using

this

dumper,

a code

has

been

devised

which

will

check-sum

all

but

eight

words

of the

1024-word

memory,

transfer

the

entire

contents

of

the

memory

to

a

removable

wire

cartridge,

check

the

complete

recording

for

accuracy,

and

enable

the

machine

automatically

to

resume

computation,

all

within 90

seconds.

During

July

and

August 1953,

average

"good"

operating

time

was

83

percent

of

total

assigned

time,

good

time

being defined

as

time

during

which

the

computer

was

used

without

error

for

problem

solution

or

code checking,·

or

in which

it

was

idle

but in

order.

The

average

computational

time

per

week

during

the

June-September

quarter

has

been

74

hours.

CONSOLIDATED MODEL 30-201 COMPUTER

The

breadboard

of

the

Consolidated

Model 30-201

Computer

has

been

in

continuous

opera-

tion

for

three

months,

as

of

September

8, 1953,

except

for

scheduled

tests

and

preparation

for

transferring

the

breadboard

assemblies

to

the

prototype packaging.

This

prototype, which

is

near

completion,

will

remain

at

the

Consolidated

plant

for

engineering

and

application

studies.

The

first

two

production

models

of

the

computer

will

be

delivered

to

customers

early

in

1954,

and

computing

systems

incorporating

the

30-201

as

a

central

unit

will

be

available

for

delivery

in

the

latter

half

of 1954.

Print-out

and

control

commands

have

been

expanded by

the

addition of

several

variants

for

further

flexibility

in

programming,

and

the

use

of

interpretive

subroutines

has

been

facili-

tated

by making

the

contents

of

the

order

counter

available

in

the R

register

as

an

automatic

exit

point and

entrance

point.

Diagnostic

routines

and

operational

test

programs

have

been

edited

and

thoroughly

checked.

The

library

of

subroutines

has

been

expanded,

and

in

addition

to

the

problems

men-

tioned

in

the

July

1953

Newsletter,

matrix

inversion

is

being

programmed

and

floating-point

arithmetic

is

available

in two

forms,

one

economical

of

time

and

the

other

of

space.

Development of mM

card

input-output

is

continuing.

BURROUGHS LABORATORY

AND

WAYNE

UNIVERSITY COMPUTERS

The

installation

of a new

Burroughs

Unitized

Computer

was

scheduled

for

completion

in

late

September

at

Wayne

University,

Detroit.

- 9 -

The Wayne

Computer,

designed

and

engineered

by

Burroughs

Corporation's

engineers

in

the

Philadelphia

Research

Center,

has

been

named

"UDEC"-Unitized

Digital

Electronic

Com-

puter.

This

digital

computer

will

have

been

installed

and

in

operation

at

Wayne

University

in

only

four

months

after

the

job

w~

begun.

The

primary

differences

between UDEC

and

the

original

Burroughs

Laboratory

Computer

are:

(a)

use

of new

model

magnetic

shift

registers,

and

(b)

incorporation

of a

magnetic

drum

memory

of

5,300-word

capacity,

using

low-level

head

switching

techniques.

The

new

model

magnetic

shift

register

has

also

been

installed

in

the

Laboratory

Computer

in

Philadelphia

and

has

given

excellent

performance.

The

,magnetic

drum

in

UDEC

was

tried

out

over

a

two-week

period

in

the

P.hiladelphia

Computer.

Taking

advantage of

the

fl~xibility

of

the

Pulse

Control

Unlts

in

the

Philadelphia

computer,

it

was

possible

to

install

the

new

magnetic

drum

in

only a

few

hours

and

later

remove

it

in

an

equally

short

time

without

serious

interruption

to

Computa-

tion

Services.

The

Philadelphia

Laboratory

Computer

is

now

largely

engaged

in

Computation

Services

to

industry

on

engineering

problems.

Among

the

recent

computations

and

programming

develop-

ments

are

included: pipe

stress

analysis;

rotating

disk

stress

analysis;

servo-mechanical

cal-

cUlations;and,

turbojet

performance.

During

a

two-week

special

session

on

digital

comp':1ters

at

Wayne

University

in

August,

problems

were

transmitted

from

Detroit

by

teletype

for

solving on

the

Computer

in

the

Phila-

delphia

Research

Center,

and

solutions

were

sent

back

to

Wayne

University

by

teletype.

THE JAINCOMP-D

Preliminary

design

work

has

been

completed

on JAINCOMP-D,

an

unusually

small,

extremely

fleXible,

high-speed

general

purpose

digital

computer.

This

machine

will

occupy

three

cabinets,

each

24-1/4

x

21-7/8

x

27-5/8

inches

in

size,

exclusive

of

power

supply~

The

machine

will

contain

a 36,864-digit (1,024

36-bit

numbers)

rapid

access

,(3

ILsec/36-bit word)

magnetic

storage

of the JAINCOMP type,

plus

a

4,608-digit

(128

36-bit

numbers)

static

punched

card

random

access

(1,..,.

sec/36-bit

word)

storage

for

constants,

plus

a high

capacity

magnetic

tape

storage

of long

access

time.

This

very

small

computer

can

be

programmed

externally

from

magnetic

tape

or

a

static

punched

card,

or

can

be

programmed

from

storage.

Orders

can

be

manipulated

in

the

arithmetic

unit.

Special

operations

such

as

extraction

are

possible.

The

machine

is

basically

of

the

three-address

type,

although

it

can

be

programmed

to

be

used

as

a

four-address

computer.

THE OARAC

(Aeronautical

Research

Laboratory

Computer)

The

Aeronautical

Research

Laboratory

(formerly

Office of

Air

Research)

Automatic

Com-

puter

was

delivered

to

Wright-Patterson

Air

Force

Base

in

February

1953. Six

weeks

were

required

for

the

physical

installation,

including

air

conditioning. Two

more

weeks

were

re-

quired

for

electrical

installation

and

checking.

The

addition of a

motor-generator

set

was

found

necessary

to

eliminate

line

transients.

Full-scale

computing

was

under

way

the

latter

part

of

April.

The OARAC

is

a coded

decimal,

single-address,.

serial

machine

with

magnetic

drum

storage

of 10,000

eleven-digit

words.

The

input-output

medium

is

magnetic

tape

with

Flexo-

writer

tape

preparation

and

reading

units.

The

operating

speed

is

about 100

operations

per

second

at

present.

The

design

has

been

completed

for

conversion

to

a

two-address

system

and the addition of a

high-speed'

printer.

The

machine

is

presently

operating

five

days

a week,

twenty-four

hours

a day, with one

shift

of

engineering

service.

Since

operations

began,

the

machine

has

been

available

for

use

1157

hours

out of 1672

hours

of "on"

time.

During

the

month of August

the

machine

was

oper-

ated

two

shifts

a day.

In

that

period

the

available

time

was

270

hours

out of 327

hours

of

"on"

time.

-10 -

THE ALWAC

The

ALWAC

is

a

general

purpose

digital

computer

of

the

internally

programmed

magnetic

drum

type.

It

is

a

serial,

binary

computer

with

automatic

conversion

from

decimal-to-binary

and

binary-to-decimal

during

input

and

output,

accomplished

by

an

internally

programmed

routine.

Recirculating

working

channels

and

arithmetic

registers

permit

high

computational

rates

as

a

result

of

the

low

access

times

in

these

stores.

Electric

typewriters

with

associated

paper

tape

perforating

and

tape

read~

equipment

are

used

as

the

basic

input-output

devices.

Master

programs

containing

numerical

data

to

be

operated

on by

these

standard

routines

can

be

entered

into

the

computer

from

the

punched

tape

or

manually

via

the

keyboard.

The

final

results

can

be

printed

out with

form

control,

signs,

decimal

points,

and

alphabetical

headings

completely

under

the

control

of a

permanently

stored

sequence

of

instructions.

As

many

as

ten

electric

typewriters

can

be

attached

to

this

machine

at

various

remote

locations.

The

magnetic

drum

memory

consists

of

a

2048-word

main

storage,

a

64-word

working

storage,

4

arithmetical

registers,

and

the

clock

and

timing

channels.

The

words

in

the

main

storage

are

arranged

into

64

channels

containing

32

words

each.

Each

word

consists

of a 32-

binary

bit

number

(equivalent

to

about 9.5

decimal

digits)

with

a

sign

digit

and

two

check

digits.

Additional 204B-word

drums

can

be

attached

when

greater

storage

capacity

is

required.

Each

word

space

in

the

memory

is

divided into four

order

spaces,

called

syllables,

and

each

syllable

is

capable

of

storing

a

command

or

order,

which

the

computer

will

carry

out.

This

compact

method

of

storage

for

instructions

is

made

possible

by

the

system

for

specifying

addresses

for

the

computer.

Most

of

the

commands

that

the

machine

will

carry

out do not

require

addresses;

therefore,

a

great

deal

of

storage

space

is

saved

by having

addresses

only

when

they

are

needed.

The

machine

proceeds

from

one

syllable

to

the

a

standard

sequence

in

looking

for

its

orders.

When

it

finds

an

order

which

requires

an

address,

it

looks

at

the

in

the

normal

sequence

and

interprets

the

number

located

there

as

the

address.

Then

it

will

look

in

the

riext

space

after

that

for

its

The

first

ALWAC

has

been

in

successful

operation

for

six

months

at

Redondo,

California.

The

second

ALWAC

installation

will

be

at

the

Navy's

David

Taylor

Model

Basin

in

December

1953.

The

development

of

the

computer

was

Digital_Computer_Newsletter_V05N04_Oct53 Digital Computer Newsletter V05N04 Oct53

Digital_Computer_Newsletter_V05N04_Oct53 Digital_Computer_Newsletter_V05N04_Oct53

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