EMIDEC 1100
Encyclopedia
The EMIDEC 1100 computer (became the ICT 1101 in 1962) was produced by the Computing Services Division of EMI
Laboratories in the UK under the leadership of Professor Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield
in 1959 after one year's development. It used magnetic core memory
and transistor
technologies and it is claimed to be the first large commercial transistorised machine in the UK.
Core memory
was a matrix of laced ferrite cores. Because transistors were relatively slow at that time Godfrey Hounsfield used magnetic logic units as the core store to speed up the operation of the machine to achieve a processing power comparable with a valve/tube computer. These logic units consisted of a single ferrite ring (toroid), with up to fifteen connections to it. Main storage capacity was 1,024 words, each of 36 bits - just over 4k bytes.
Backup storage (equivalent of hard disk) was provided by magnetic drums, each of 4,096 registers - about 20k. Anything else was stored on 1 inches (25.4 mm) magnetic tape
mounted in the vertical drive, vacuum-sealed behind a glass door. Peripherals included punched tape
readers, punched card
readers, and line printer
s.
24 EMIDEC 1100 computers were sold to commercial customers including Domestic Electric Rentals, Boots, British Motor Corporation
, London Transport
, Lloyds Bank
and the Admiralty
. They were used for a range of commercial and industrial applications.
In July 1962 EMI Computing Services Division became part of International Computers and Tabulators
(ICT) which merged with other UK computer companies in 1968 to become International Computers Limited (ICL).
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Laboratories in the UK under the leadership of Professor Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield
Godfrey Hounsfield
Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield CBE, FRS, was an English electrical engineer who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Allan McLeod Cormack for his part in developing the diagnostic technique of X-ray computed tomography .His name is immortalised in the Hounsfield scale, a...
in 1959 after one year's development. It used magnetic core memory
Magnetic core memory
Magnetic-core memory was the predominant form of random-access computer memory for 20 years . It uses tiny magnetic toroids , the cores, through which wires are threaded to write and read information. Each core represents one bit of information...
and transistor
Transistor
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and power. It is composed of a semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current...
technologies and it is claimed to be the first large commercial transistorised machine in the UK.
Core memory
Magnetic core memory
Magnetic-core memory was the predominant form of random-access computer memory for 20 years . It uses tiny magnetic toroids , the cores, through which wires are threaded to write and read information. Each core represents one bit of information...
was a matrix of laced ferrite cores. Because transistors were relatively slow at that time Godfrey Hounsfield used magnetic logic units as the core store to speed up the operation of the machine to achieve a processing power comparable with a valve/tube computer. These logic units consisted of a single ferrite ring (toroid), with up to fifteen connections to it. Main storage capacity was 1,024 words, each of 36 bits - just over 4k bytes.
Backup storage (equivalent of hard disk) was provided by magnetic drums, each of 4,096 registers - about 20k. Anything else was stored on 1 inches (25.4 mm) magnetic tape
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
mounted in the vertical drive, vacuum-sealed behind a glass door. Peripherals included punched tape
Punched tape
Punched tape or paper tape is an obsolete form of data storage, consisting of a long strip of paper in which holes are punched to store data...
readers, punched card
Punched card
A punched card, punch card, IBM card, or Hollerith card is a piece of stiff paper that contains digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions...
readers, and line printer
Line printer
The line printer is a form of high speed impact printer in which one line of type is printed at a time. They are mostly associated with the early days of computing, but the technology is still in use...
s.
24 EMIDEC 1100 computers were sold to commercial customers including Domestic Electric Rentals, Boots, British Motor Corporation
British Motor Corporation
The British Motor Corporation, or commonly known as BMC was a vehicle manufacturer from United Kingdom, formed by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Organisation in 1952...
, London Transport
London Transport Executive
The London Transport Executive was the organisation responsible for public transport in the Greater London area, UK, between 1948-1962. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport.-Creation:On 1...
, Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank Plc was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1765 until its merger into Lloyds TSB in 1995; it remains a registered company but is currently dormant. It expanded during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and took over a number of smaller banking companies...
and the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
. They were used for a range of commercial and industrial applications.
In July 1962 EMI Computing Services Division became part of International Computers and Tabulators
International Computers and Tabulators
International Computers and Tabulators or ICT was formed in 1959 by a merger of the British Tabulating Machine Company and Powers-Samas. In 1963 it also added the business computer divisions of Ferranti...
(ICT) which merged with other UK computer companies in 1968 to become International Computers Limited (ICL).