A Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems

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  4. The GLOSSARY ( pages 247 to page 272) was badly printed and is not included.
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  7. The reader is reminded that the ENIAC described in this document had evolved considerably from the original machine

PB 111996

PRICE $4.75

A Survey of Domestic Electronic
Digital Computing Systems

Distributed by OTS in the Interest of Industry
This report is a reprint of an original document resulting from Government-sponsored research. It is made available by OTS through the cooperation of the originating agency. Quotations should credit the authors and the originating agency. No responsibility is assumed for completeness or accuracy of this report. Where patent questions appear to be involved, the usual preliminary search is suggested. If Copyrighted material appears, permission for use should be requested of the copyright owners. Any security restrictions .that may have applied to this report have been removed.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
OFFICE OF TECHNICAL SERVICES






BALLISTIC RESEARCH LABORATORIES

REPORT NO. 971

DECEMBER 1955

A SURVEY OF DOMESTIC ELECTRONIC DIGITAL COMPUTING SYSTEMS

Martin H. Weik

Department of the Anny Project No. 5B0306002
Ordnance Research and. Development Project No. TB3-0007

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MARYLAND






BALLISTIC RESEARCH LABORATORIES

REPORT NO. 971




MWeik/bdb
Aberdeen Proving Ground., Md.
December 1955

A SURVEY OF DOMESTIC ELECTRONIC DIGITAL COMPUTING SYSTEMS

ABSTRACT

The engineering characteristics, logical features, operating experiences, cost factors and. personnel requirements of eightyfour different domestic digital electronic computing ,systems are described. An analysis of the computer field, a discussion of trends and a complete glossary of computer engineering and programming terminology are included.





TABLE OF CONTENTS
I FOREWORD I
II SYSTEMS DESCRIPTIONS (Questionnaire) V
ADEC 1 MANIAC-II 105
ALWAC-III 3 MDP-MSI-5014 107
BAEQS 5 MELLON INST-DIG 109
BAR-COL DEC DIG 9 MIDAC 111
BENDIX-D12 11 MINIAC 113
BENDIX-G15 13 MODAC-404 115
BUR-E101 15 MODAC-410 117
CALDIC 17 MONROBOT-III 119
CIRCLE 19 MONROBOT-V 121
DATATRON 21 MONROBOT-VI-MU 123
DYSEAC 25 NAREC 123
EDVAC 27 NCR-CRC-102A 127
ELECOM-50 29 NCR-CRC-102D 133
ELECOM-100 31 NCR-303 135
ELECOM-120A 33 NORC 137
ELECOM-125 37 OARAC 139
ELECOM-l25FP 39 OLIVETTI-GBM 111
ENIAC 41 ORACLE 143
FERRANTI MARK-I 43 ORDFIAC 145
FERRANTI MARK-II 45 ORDVAC 147
FLAC 47 PEGASUS 149
HAL RAY AND BROWN 49 PENNSTAC l5l
HUGHES AAC MOD-III 51 RAYCOM l53
IAS 53 RAYDAC 155
IBM-CPC 55 RCA BIZMAC l57
IBM-604 57 READIX l6l
IBM-607 59 SEAC 163
IBM-608 61 SWAC 165
IBM-650 63 TECHNITROL-180 167
IBM-701 67 TELEREGISTER SPEDDH 169
IBM-702 73 TIM-II 171
IBM-704 77 UDEC-I 173
IBM-705 81 UDEC-II 175
ILLIAC 85 UNIVAC 177
JOHNNIAC 87 UNIVAC-II 183
LARC 89 UNIVAC-SCI (ERA-1101) 185
LGP-30 93 UNIVAC-SCI (ERA-1102) 187
LOG 95 UNIVAC-SCI (ERA-1103)(ERA-1103A) l89
MAGNEFILE-B 97 WEDILOG 193
MAGNEFILE-D 99 WHIRLWIND-I 195
MAGNETRONIC RESERVISOR 101 WHITESAC 197
MANIAC 105 WISC 199
III ANALYSIS AND TRENDS 202
A. GENERAL 203 H. CHECKING FEATURES 230
B. NUMERICAL SYSTEM 209 I. PHYSICAL FACTORS 234
C. ARITHMETIC UNITS 214 J. PRODUCTION RECORD 236
D. STORAGE 218 K. COST 237
E.-F. INPUT-OUTPUT 225 L. PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS 238
G. CIRCUIT ELEMENTS 228 M. RELIABILITY AND OPERATING EXPERIENCE 240
IV BIBIBLIOGRAPHY 244
V GLOSSARY 246
VI DISTRIBUTION LIST 274


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This report represents the culmination of many months of part-time effort of many persons on the Engineering Staff of the Computing Laboratory of the Ballistic Research Laboratories. To mention the names of all of the persons vbo have contributed, to this report would, indeed, result in a long list and to evaluate relative contributions would, be a very difficult task. Without the cooperation and. support of Mr. Homer W. Spence, Chief of the Computer Research Branch, this publication would, not have been possible. Outstanding contributions in the form of actual processing of the data, and suggestions on form and content have been made by Messrs. Frank Schrelner, William Bramer, and Robert Wyman. Many valuable suggestions', were received from persons on the engineering and administrative staffs of the Computing Laboratory.

The collection and processing of data on domestic computing systems is, of course, impossible without the cooperation of the contributors. Industrial, governmental and educational agencies have been extremely cooperative in supplying the data necessary to make this report possible. Appreciation is gratefully extended to each and every contributor.

It has been the intent of the author to refrain from incorporating any opinion or evaluation of computing systems or components, into this report. This report does not constitute an endorsement of any of the products described herein, either on the part of the author, the Engineering Staff of the Computing Laboratory or the U.S. Government. It is desired that any discrepancies, errors, or incorrect information contained in this report be brought to the attention of the author. Additional information on the systems described herein as well as other or new systems is indeed very welcome. Comments and suggestions regarding the contents of this report are welcome. Direct communications to:


Director
Ballistic Research Laboratories
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.
Attn: Chief, Computing Laboratory


I. FORWORD

1. Purpose and. Scope

Early in -the Spring of 1954 the current and. anticipated computational work load. at the Ballistic Research Laboratories required a thorough evaluation of its computing facilities. This necessitated a complete study of the state of the electronic computer art. The results of this study could then be used to evaluate the BRL facility from the standpoint of time, material, labor and. fund. utilization.

The large demand, for rapid, scientific and. commercial computational and data processing systems during World War II gave rise to an intense interest in the development of faster and. more efficient methods of handling quantities of data.

Since the early start -with the ENIAC, tremendous strides have been made in the electronic computer field. The old question of "What can an electronic computer do?" has been changed to "Hov can an electronic computer be utilized in my business?"

For any person or organization to remain fully informed on this fast changing field is a large task. Proper surveillance of existing and. projected, computing systems for the sole purpose of evaluating a given computing system or collection of systems from the point of view of time, cost and. labor economy has become a difficult task. In order to grasp the present status of the computing field, one must look at each facet separately. The computing systems in existence, the systems available, and their comparison is but a single facet. Programming, problem analysis, and numerical analysis are but examples of the mathematical facet of the computer field. Other facets might be the manufacturing of systems, the studies of optimum systems for particular applicatioi's, and personnel problems. The study of computing hardware itself has just begun.

In this report, foreign, analogue and relay computers have not been included. Only domestic, electronic, digital computers have been consid.ered. This report constitutes a d-escription of a very dynamic field. So rapid are computer developments that technological obsolescence exists in computing systems and components that are now being installed or constructed in many computing centers.

The methods one may use to keep well informed on a large rapidly changing field will vary; one may engage in extensive travels, hold discussions with various leaders in the field, or read the literature about the subject. Attempts may be made to combine these methods. The gathering of information on computing systems becomes necessary and consequently a systematic method of collection is developed.. Once the information is collected, it must be placed in a readily usable form, particularly for internal use at one's own computing center. Reproduction, therefore, naturally follows and depending upon the interest expressed, distribution is made of the compiled, collected information. Outside distribution of the information becomes a necessity in view of common courtesy to the contributors of the information and is further based on the ethical principles of free exchange of unclassified information in order that proper use of the information may be made. In essence, it is necessary that information useful to other organizations be disseminated. These are the purposes of this publication.

The uses of this report are many. Some examples are familiarization of persons new in the field, systems designs, applications, and computer characteristic studies. Operators of the various systems may be interested in operating experience and reliability. Persons concerned with acquisition would be very interested in cost and delivery time. Users are concerned with precision (i.e. word length) and speed of computations as well as storage capacity and instruction codes. The purpose of including a glossary of computer programming and engineering terminology is to provide the definitions of terms used in this report.

In utilizing this report, one must keep in mind at all times, several factors, and these cannot be overemphasized. The field is changing rapidly. Comparison of systems Is exceedingly difficult and in view of the many ramifications that exist on each computing system feature and because of the many explanations that must rightfully accompany any type of comparative study, the tables of comparison contained in this report must be used with utmost caution. Relative advantages of one system over another can only be defined in the light of the particular application. In view of the many inadequacies of this report, it is still hoped that it will prove to be of some interest and use to those persons engaged in the computing and data processing field.

2. Acquisition and Processing of Data

The primary sources of information contained in this report are the manufacturers and operators of computing systems. Acquisition of data was made through detailed questionnaires sent to ail known manufacturers and operators, requesting not only the information specifically outlined In the questionnaires, but also the names and addresses of the users of their respective computing systems. The secondary sources of information were the technical and commercial publications by government and industry. Some information was obtained, as a resuit of visits to certain installations by Computing Laboratory personnel. Information, from these several sources, was combined, and a system description prepared.. The cooperation received, from all has been very gratifying.

Publication of this report should, not terminate the necessity for continued surveillance of computing systems. This report is being made available to persons in the computing and data processing field. It is deemed very appropriate that supplements, addenda and errata material be published periodically. In order to make the anticipated additions, a copy of the questionnaire used in gathering the data is included in order to provide a guide for the submitting of material and allow for a uniform presentation of data on each system. Organizations are requested to submit information on their new systems, systems not included herein, and operating experience on the older systems for possible subsequent publications in this field.

3. Interpretation of the Data

This report is but a cursory glance at a very large and intricate field, and a great deal of detail and pertinent explanations have not been Included because of time, space, manpower and cost factors. Although the greatest possible care was exercised, the probability that at least one error exists in each computing system described is rather high, and consequently verification from the manufacturer or operator may become necessary prior to making any major decision based on the data contained, in this report. Very often, an item of information concerning a computing system can be very misleading when it is isolated from certain other associated information.

In obtaining information from several sources, such as manufacturers, operators and published literature, discrepancies will arise. These were resolved as best as possible, and of course, perhaps with some resultant error and displeasure on the part of some person or organization. Again, the appeal is made to inform this agency of any such errors, discrepancies and remarks concerning this report. Other errors may well be due to different interpretations of the entries on the Computing System Questionnaire, which is discussed in the preceding chapter.

For example, in the matter of cost and price, an agency of government or industry would inclucLe all the research and development costs as well as the fabrication of the system in the cost figure. Some cost figures are actually the prices paid to a manufacturer for a system and other cost figures are the present prices quoted by the manufacturer. One must always keep in mind that production line machines that are produced in quantity as well as singly fabricated, machines are included in this report. Another example is the question of Personnel Requirements. Some figures are those actually used by an operator. Others are the figures quoted by the manufacturer as being necessary to service and operate his system properly. A third example is the question of Reliability and Operating Experience. There is, perhaps, a great deal of estimation and guess-work involved in arriving at the figures on Average Error Free Running Period, Good-time, Attempted to Run Time and the Operating Ratio. These figures are the most controversial in this report and are perhaps most likely subject to different interpretations. Hence, the operators remarks are quoted without any type of re-arrangement of the data, in order to minimize any misunderstanding or mis-interpretation.

In order to avoid opinionated and controversial items, as much as possible, it had been decided from the very outset, that only items that could be considered factual would be included. Debatable items such as claims, criticism of competitive organizations, indirect comparison of systems, and certain comparative or superlative adjectives used in describing features of computing systems were eliminated as a matter of fairness. There is no Intent to engage in any sales activity whatsoever. It is emphasized that the reproduction of this report in whole or in part without the consent of the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps or the Department of the Army is strictly prohibited. This restriction is not imposed to limit the free exchange of information, but primarily to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the contents.

Should it be desirable to ascertain a specific item of information concerning a known computing system, refer to the system description and the subheading under which that item is located, rather than refer to the tabulations shown in Tables I through XV. For example, to determine the capacity of the magnetic drum for OARAC, refer to OARAC and read under the heading of "Storage". To determine which machines have drum capacities of the order of 10,000-44 binary digit words, refer to Table VIII of the chapter on "Analysis and Trends," and, among others, you will find the OARAC. The information contained In Tables I through XV includes only those computing systems which are described in this report.


Computing System Questionaire - page 1, 39 K bytes

Computing System Questionaire - page 2, 29 K bytes

Computing System Questionaire - page 3, 29 K bytes


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