IAS machine
Encyclopedia
The IAS machine was the first electronic computer
built by the Institute for Advanced Study
(IAS), in Princeton, New Jersey
, USA
. It is sometimes called the von Neuman machine, since the paper describing its design was edited by John von Neumann
, a mathematics professor at both Princeton University and IAS. The computer was built from late 1945 until 1951 under his direction.
The general organization is called Von Neumann architecture
, even though it was both originated and implemented by others.
was hired as chief engineer in May 1946.
Hewitt Crane
, Herman Goldstine, Gerald Estrin
and Arthur Burks
also worked on the project.
The machine was in limited operation in the summer of 1951 and fully operational on June 10, 1952.
computer with a 40 bit word, storing two 20 bit instructions in each word. The memory was 1024 words (5.1 kilobytes). Negative numbers were represented in "two's complement
" format. It had two general-purpose registers
available: the Accumulator (AC) and Multiplier/Quotient (MQ).
Although some claim the IAS machine was the first design to mix programs and data in a single memory, that had been implemented four years earlier by the 1948 Manchester
Small Scale Experimental Machine
.
Von Neumann showed how the combination of instructions and data in one memory could be used to implement loops, by modifying branch instructions when a loop was completed, for example. The resultant demand that instructions and data be placed on the memory later came to be known as the Von Neumann Bottleneck
.
While the original design called for using a type of vacuum tube
s called RCA
Selectron tube
s for the memory, problems with the development of these complex tubes forced the switch to Williams tube
s. Nevertheless, it used about 2300 tubes in its circuitry. The addition time was 62 microseconds and the multiplication time was 713 microseconds. It was an asynchronous
machine, meaning that there was no central clock regulating the timing of the instructions. One instruction started executing when the previous one finished.
Some of these "IAS machines" were:
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
built by the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
(IAS), in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton Township, New Jersey
Also Princeton Borough is an independent municipality completely surrounded by the township.Princeton North is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Princeton Township....
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is sometimes called the von Neuman machine, since the paper describing its design was edited by John von Neumann
John von Neumann
John von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...
, a mathematics professor at both Princeton University and IAS. The computer was built from late 1945 until 1951 under his direction.
The general organization is called Von Neumann architecture
Von Neumann architecture
The term Von Neumann architecture, aka the Von Neumann model, derives from a computer architecture proposal by the mathematician and early computer scientist John von Neumann and others, dated June 30, 1945, entitled First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC...
, even though it was both originated and implemented by others.
History
Julian BigelowJulian Bigelow
-Life:Bigelow was born in 1913 and obtained a master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying electrical engineering and mathematics...
was hired as chief engineer in May 1946.
Hewitt Crane
Hewitt Crane
Hewitt D. Crane was an American engineer best known for his pioneering work at SRI International on ERMA , for Bank of America, magnetic digital logic, neuristor logic, the development of an eye-movement tracking device, and a pen-input device for computers.-Early life and career:Crane was born in...
, Herman Goldstine, Gerald Estrin
Gerald Estrin
Prof. Gerald Estrin, an IEEE Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a member of the Board of Governors of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. Estrin received his B.S, M.S. and Ph.D...
and Arthur Burks
Arthur Burks
Arthur Walter Burks was an American mathematician who in the 1940s as a senior engineer on the project contributed to the design of the ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic digital computer. Decades later, Burks and his wife Alice Burks outlined their case for the subject matter of the...
also worked on the project.
The machine was in limited operation in the summer of 1951 and fully operational on June 10, 1952.
Description
The IAS machine was a binaryBinary numeral system
The binary numeral system, or base-2 number system, represents numeric values using two symbols, 0 and 1. More specifically, the usual base-2 system is a positional notation with a radix of 2...
computer with a 40 bit word, storing two 20 bit instructions in each word. The memory was 1024 words (5.1 kilobytes). Negative numbers were represented in "two's complement
Two's complement
The two's complement of a binary number is defined as the value obtained by subtracting the number from a large power of two...
" format. It had two general-purpose registers
Processor register
In computer architecture, a processor register is a small amount of storage available as part of a CPU or other digital processor. Such registers are addressed by mechanisms other than main memory and can be accessed more quickly...
available: the Accumulator (AC) and Multiplier/Quotient (MQ).
Although some claim the IAS machine was the first design to mix programs and data in a single memory, that had been implemented four years earlier by the 1948 Manchester
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
Small Scale Experimental Machine
Small-Scale Experimental Machine
The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine , nicknamed Baby, was the world's first stored-program computer. It was built at the Victoria University of Manchester by Frederic C...
.
Von Neumann showed how the combination of instructions and data in one memory could be used to implement loops, by modifying branch instructions when a loop was completed, for example. The resultant demand that instructions and data be placed on the memory later came to be known as the Von Neumann Bottleneck
Von Neumann architecture
The term Von Neumann architecture, aka the Von Neumann model, derives from a computer architecture proposal by the mathematician and early computer scientist John von Neumann and others, dated June 30, 1945, entitled First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC...
.
While the original design called for using a type of vacuum tube
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
s called RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
Selectron tube
Selectron tube
The Selectron was an early form of digital computer memory developed by Jan A. Rajchman and his group at the Radio Corporation of America under the direction of Vladimir Zworykin, of television technology fame...
s for the memory, problems with the development of these complex tubes forced the switch to Williams tube
Williams tube
The Williams tube or the Williams-Kilburn tube , developed in about 1946 or 1947, was a cathode ray tube used to electronically store binary data....
s. Nevertheless, it used about 2300 tubes in its circuitry. The addition time was 62 microseconds and the multiplication time was 713 microseconds. It was an asynchronous
Asynchronous circuit
An asynchronous circuit is a circuit in which the parts are largely autonomous. They are not governed by a clock circuit or global clock signal, but instead need only wait for the signals that indicate completion of instructions and operations. These signals are specified by simple data transfer...
machine, meaning that there was no central clock regulating the timing of the instructions. One instruction started executing when the previous one finished.
IAS machine derivatives
Plans for the IAS machine were widely distributed to any schools, businesses, or companies interested in computing machines, resulting in the construction of several derivative computers referred to as "IAS machines," although they were not software compatible in the modern sense.Some of these "IAS machines" were:
- AVIDACAVIDACThe AVIDAC or Argonne Version of the Institute's Digital Automatic Computer, an early computer built by Argonne National Laboratory, was based on the IAS architecture developed by John von Neumann. It was built by the Laborarory's Physics Division for $250,000 and began operations on January 28, 1953...
(Argonne National LaboratoryArgonne National LaboratoryArgonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...
) - BESKBESKBESK was Sweden's first electronic computer, using vacuum tubes instead of relays. It was developed by Matematikmaskinnämnden and during a short time it was the fastest computer in the world. The computer was completed in 1953 and in use until 1966...
(Stockholm) - BESMBESMBESM is the name of a series of Soviet mainframe computers built in 1950-1960s. The name is an acronym for "Bolshaya Elektronno-Schetnaya Mashina" , literally "Large Electronically Computing Machine". The series began as a successor to MESM...
(Moscow) - CYCLONECYCLONEThe CYCLONE, was an early computer built in 1959 by Iowa State University, was based on the Institute for Advanced Study architecture developed by John von Neumann...
(Iowa State UniversityIowa State UniversityIowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
) - GEORGEGEORGE (computer)GEORGE was an early computer built in 1957 by Argonne National Laboratory, was based on the IAS architecture developed by John von Neumann. As with almost all computers of its era, it was a one of a kind machine that could not exchange programs with mother computers ....
(Argonne National Laboratory) - ILLIAC IILLIAC IThe ILLIAC I , a pioneering computer built in 1952 by the University of Illinois, was the first computer built and owned entirely by a US educational institution, Manchester University UK having built Manchester Mark 1 in 1948.ILLIAC I was based on the Institute for Advanced Study Von Neumann...
(University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
) - JOHNNIACJOHNNIACThe JOHNNIAC was an early computer built by RAND that was based on the von Neumann architecture that had been pioneered on the IAS machine. It was named in honor of von Neumann, short for John v. Neumann Numerical Integrator and Automatic Computer...
(RANDRANDRAND Corporation is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces by Douglas Aircraft Company. It is currently financed by the U.S. government and private endowment, corporations including the healthcare industry, universities...
) - MANIAC IMANIAC IThe MANIAC was an early computer built under the direction of Nicholas Metropolis at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory...
(Los Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
) - MISTICMISTICThe MISTIC, or Michigan State Integral Computer, was the first computer system at Michigan State University and was built by its students, faculty and staff in 1956...
(Michigan State UniversityMichigan State UniversityMichigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
) - MUSASINO-1MUSASINO-1The MUSASINO-1 was the second electronic computer built in Japan. Construction started in Musashino, Tokyo in 1952, and upon completion in July 1957, the computer was used until July 1962...
(Musashino, TokyoMusashino, Tokyois a city located in Tokyo, Japan.As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 137,222 and a population density of 12,788.63 persons per km². The total area is 10.73 km².The city was founded on November 3, 1947...
, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
) - ORACLEORACLE (computer)The ORACLE or Oak Ridge Automatic Computer and Logical Engine, an early computer built by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was based on the IAS architecture developed by John von Neumann. As with all computers of its era, it was a one of a kind machine that could not exchange programs with other...
(Oak Ridge National LaboratoryOak Ridge National LaboratoryOak Ridge National Laboratory is a multiprogram science and technology national laboratory managed for the United States Department of Energy by UT-Battelle. ORNL is the DOE's largest science and energy laboratory. ORNL is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near Knoxville...
) - ORDVACORDVACThe ORDVAC or Ordnance Discrete Variable Automatic Computer, an early computer built by the University of Illinois for the Ballistics Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground, was based on the IAS architecture developed by John von Neumann, which came to be known as the von Neumann architecture...
(Aberdeen Proving GroundAberdeen Proving GroundAberdeen Proving Ground is a United States Army facility located near Aberdeen, Maryland, . Part of the facility is a census-designated place , which had a population of 3,116 at the 2000 census.- History :...
) - SARASARA (computer)SARA was developed by SAAB when the capacity of BESK was insufficient for their needs. The project was started the fall of 1955 and became operational in 1956...
(SAABSaabSaab AB is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. From 1947 to 1990 it was the parent company of automobile manufacturer Saab Automobile, and between 1968 and 1995 the company was in a merger with commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania, known as Saab-Scania.-History:"Svenska...
) - SILLIACSILLIACThe SILLIAC , an early computer built by the University of Sydney, Australia, was based on the ILLIAC and ORDVAC computers developed at the University of Illinois, which in turn were based on the IAS architecture developed by John von Neumann.SILLIAC had its genesis in...
(University of SydneyUniversity of SydneyThe University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
) - SMIL (Lund UniversityLund UniversityLund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...
) - WEIZACWEIZACThe WEIZAC was the first computer in Israel, and one of the first large-scale, stored-program, electronic computers in the world....
(Weizmann Institute)
Further reading
- Gilchrist, BruceBruce GilchristBruce Gilchrist is considered one of the notable figures in modern computing history.- Early life and education :Gilchrist was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, England and attended King Edward VII School in Kings Lynn...
, "Remembering Some Early Computers, 1948-1960", Columbia University EPIC, 2006, pp.7-9. (archived 2006) Contains some autobiographical material on Gilchrist's use of the IAS computer beginning in 1952.
External links
- Oral history interviews concerning the IAS computer -- includes individual interviews with Willis H. Ware, Arthur BurksArthur BurksArthur Walter Burks was an American mathematician who in the 1940s as a senior engineer on the project contributed to the design of the ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic digital computer. Decades later, Burks and his wife Alice Burks outlined their case for the subject matter of the...
, Herman Goldstine, Martin SchwarzschildMartin SchwarzschildMartin Schwarzschild was a German American astronomer. He was the son of famed astrophysicist Karl Schwarzschild and the nephew of the Swiss astrophysicist Robert Emden.-Biography:...
, and others. Charles Babbage InstituteCharles Babbage InstituteThe Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....
, University of Minnesota. - First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC - Copy of the original draft by John Von NeumannJohn von NeumannJohn von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...
- The Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine "The Baby" - The first operational stored programme computer.