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{{title|Vacuum Tube Computer}} | {{title|Vacuum Tube Computer}} | ||
− | A '''vacuum tube computer''' is a computer system built primarily using [[vacuum tube]]s and [[vacuum tube logic]]. Vacuum tube switching replaced the earlier [[relay computer]]s from the 1940s. Vacuum tube computer gained traction during the 1950s through the early 1960s. By the mid 1960s [[ | + | A '''vacuum tube computer''' is a computer system built primarily using [[vacuum tube]]s and [[vacuum tube logic]]. Vacuum tube switching replaced the earlier [[relay computer]]s from the 1940s. Vacuum tube computer gained traction during the 1950s through the early 1960s. By the mid 1960s [[transistor computer]]s superseded vacuum tubes. |
==Overview== | ==Overview== | ||
− | {{ | + | {{expand section}} |
+ | Early [[relay computer]]s were rather slow - operating at just 1[[Hz]] ((or one switching operation each second). They were cheap and readily available due to their widespread use in telephone systems. Vacuum tubes prove to be a significant improvement over electromechanical relays - operating 1000 times faster. However the performance advantage came at the cost of decreased reliability and maintainance. Tube failure was frequent, running hot and burning out rapidly. | ||
== Vacuum Tube Systems== | == Vacuum Tube Systems== | ||
{{expand list}} | {{expand list}} | ||
{| class="wikitable sortable" | {| class="wikitable sortable" | ||
− | ! System !! | + | ! System !! Designer !! Company/Institution !! Tube Count !! Year !! class="unsortable" | Notes |
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[atanasoff-berry computer|ABC]] || [[John Vincent Atanasoff]] || [[Iowa State University|Iowa State University]] || 300 || 1940 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[Colossus Mark 1]] || || [[Post Office Research Station]] || 1,600 || 1943 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[Colossus Mark 2]] || || [[Post Office Research Station]] || 2,400 || 1944 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[ENIAC]] || || [[University of Pennsylvania]] || 17,468 || 1946 || [[relay]]s/[[vacuum tube]]s hybrid | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[manchester small-scale experimental machine|SSEM]] || || [[Victoria University of Manchester]] || || 1948 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[BINAC]] || || [[eckert-mauchly computer corporation|EMCC]] || 700 || 1949 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[EDSAC]] || [[Maurice Wilkes]] || [[University of Cambridge]] || 3,000 || 1949 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[Manchester Mark I]] || || [[Victoria University of Manchester]] || 1,300 || 1949 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[CSIRAC]] || [[Trevor Pearcey]] || || 2,000 || 1949 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[MADDIDA]] || || [[Northrop Aircraft]] || 53 || 1949 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[SEAC]] || || [[NIST]] || 747 || 1950 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[Pilot ACE]] || || [[National Physical Laboratory]] || 800 || 1950 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[Harvard Mark III]] || [[Howard Aiken]] || || 5,000 || 1950 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[SWAC]] || || [[NIST]] || 2,300 || 1950 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[UNIVAC 1101]] || || [[engineering research associates|ERA]] || 2,700 || 1950 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[Ferranti Mark I]] || || [[Ferranti]] || 4,050 || 1951 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[UNIVAC I]] || || [[eckert-mauchly computer corporation|EMCC]] || 5,200 || 1951 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[Whirlwind I]] || || [[MIT]] || 12,500 || 1951 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[Whirlwind II]] || || [[MIT]] || 50,000 || 1951 || Never completed, AN/FSQ-7 a direct derivative | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[EDVAC]] || || [[University of Pennsylvania]] || 6,000 || 1951 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[WITCH]] || || [[Atomic Energy Research Establishment|Harwell]] || 828 || 1951 || Made with 480 [[relay]]s, 828 [[Dekatron valves]] for math | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[ORDVAC]] || || [[University of Illinois]] || 2,178 || 1951 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[LEO I]] || || || 5,936 || 1951 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[IAS Computer]] || || [[institute for advanced study|IAS]] || || 1952 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | {{rand|Model 409}} || || [[Remington Rand]] || 800 || 1952 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[Harvard Mark IV]] || [[Howard Aiken]] || || || 1952 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[ILLIAC I]] || || [[University of Illinois]] || 2,800 || 1952 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[MANIAC I]] || || [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] || || 1952 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[BESM-1]] || || || 5,000 || 1952 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | {{ibm|701}} || || [[IBM]] || 4,000 || 1952 || | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | | [[BESM-2]] || || || 4,000 || 1957 || | ||
|} | |} | ||
Latest revision as of 03:53, 24 December 2015
A vacuum tube computer is a computer system built primarily using vacuum tubes and vacuum tube logic. Vacuum tube switching replaced the earlier relay computers from the 1940s. Vacuum tube computer gained traction during the 1950s through the early 1960s. By the mid 1960s transistor computers superseded vacuum tubes.
Overview[edit]
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This section requires expansion; you can help adding the missing info. |
Early relay computers were rather slow - operating at just 1Hz ((or one switching operation each second). They were cheap and readily available due to their widespread use in telephone systems. Vacuum tubes prove to be a significant improvement over electromechanical relays - operating 1000 times faster. However the performance advantage came at the cost of decreased reliability and maintainance. Tube failure was frequent, running hot and burning out rapidly.
Vacuum Tube Systems[edit]
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
See also[edit]
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This article is still a stub and needs your attention. You can help improve this article by editing this page and adding the missing information. |