Royal Radar Establishment Automatic Computer
Encyclopedia
The Royal Radar Establishment Automatic Computer, or the RREAC, was Britain's first solid-state computer in 1962. It was made with transistor
s; Britain's previous experimental computers used the thermionic valve, also known as a vacuum tube
.
, during the war at Bletchley Park
in late 1943 and early 1944, and the world's first stored-program computer
, the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, on 21 June 1948. The Germans had built the electro-mechanical Z3 in 1941 in Berlin, which used relay
s. The world's first digital computing device was the Atanasoff–Berry Computer in 1942. ENIAC
was built in 1946 at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering
at the University of Pennsylvania
. ENIAC and Colossus both claim to be the world's first electronic computer. Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) ran its first programs on 6 May 1949 at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory
. In May 1952 Geoffrey Dummer
thought up the idea of the integrated circuit
at the TRE
, the former name of the RRE.
By April 1962 there were 323 computers installed in Britain, which had cost around £23 million (£ million in today's figures). At the time, the American government alone had over 900 computers, with over 10,000 in the whole country. However most of these performed simple tasks that a pocket calculator would later manage.
Computer research in the UK took place at two main sites - the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington
, and the RRE
in Worcestershire
. The University of Manchester
lead the way again in 1962 with its Atlas Computer, then said to be the most powerful computer in the world, being one of the world's first supercomputers. Two were built - for BP
, and for the Atlas Computer Laboratory
in Oxfordshire
. The main British computer manufacturer at the time was International Computers and Tabulators
(ICT), later part of Britain's International Computers Limited (ICL). The RRE College of Electronics, like the RRE itself, was run by the Ministry of Aviation
in the 1960s.
In September 1963 the government, via the Department of Industrial and Scientific Research, funded £1 million of research into electronics and computers, with half going to the RRE and NPL.
Later in its existence, the RRE provided Britain's first connection to the Internet, when opened by the Queen in 1976 at UCL
in London; it went via RRE to Norway and on to the USA. Later in 1984, the Internet's engineering task force first met at RRE's successor - the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment
The world's first solid-state computer was the Philco
S-2000 Transac, built in 1957.
as its programming language - the first computer language to use nested function
s, and the ancestor of some of today's main programming languages.
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...
s; Britain's previous experimental computers used the thermionic valve, also known as a 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...
.
Background
Britain had built the world's first electronic computer, the Colossus computerColossus computer
Not to be confused with the fictional computer of the same name in the movie Colossus: The Forbin Project.Colossus was the world's first electronic, digital, programmable computer. Colossus and its successors were used by British codebreakers to help read encrypted German messages during World War II...
, during the war at Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...
in late 1943 and early 1944, and the world's first stored-program computer
Stored-program computer
A stored-program computer is one which stores program instructions in electronic memory. Often the definition is extended with the requirement that the treatment of programs and data in memory be interchangeable or uniform....
, the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, on 21 June 1948. The Germans had built the electro-mechanical Z3 in 1941 in Berlin, which used relay
Relay
A relay is an electrically operated switch. Many relays use an electromagnet to operate a switching mechanism mechanically, but other operating principles are also used. Relays are used where it is necessary to control a circuit by a low-power signal , or where several circuits must be controlled...
s. The world's first digital computing device was the Atanasoff–Berry Computer in 1942. ENIAC
ENIAC
ENIAC was the first general-purpose electronic computer. It was a Turing-complete digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems....
was built in 1946 at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering
Moore School of Electrical Engineering
The Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania came into existence as a result of an endowment from Alfred Fitler Moore on June 4, 1923. It was granted to Penn's School of Electrical Engineering, located in the Towne Building...
at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. ENIAC and Colossus both claim to be the world's first electronic computer. Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) ran its first programs on 6 May 1949 at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory
University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
The Computer Laboratory is the computer science department of the University of Cambridge. As of 2007, it employs 35 academic staff, 25 support staff, 35 affiliated research staff, and about 155 research students...
. In May 1952 Geoffrey Dummer
Geoffrey Dummer
Geoffrey William Arnold Dummer, MBE , C.Eng., IEE Premium Award, FIEEE, MIEE, USA Medal of Freedom with Bronze Palm was a British electronics engineer and consultant who is credited as being the first person to conceptualise and build a prototype of the integrated circuit, commonly called the...
thought up the idea of the integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
at the TRE
Telecommunications Research Establishment
The Telecommunications Research Establishment was the main United Kingdom research and development organization for radio navigation, radar, infra-red detection for heat seeking missiles, and related work for the Royal Air Force during World War II and the years that followed. The name was...
, the former name of the RRE.
By April 1962 there were 323 computers installed in Britain, which had cost around £23 million (£ million in today's figures). At the time, the American government alone had over 900 computers, with over 10,000 in the whole country. However most of these performed simple tasks that a pocket calculator would later manage.
Computer research in the UK took place at two main sites - the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington
Teddington
Teddington is a suburban area in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London, on the north bank of the River Thames, between Hampton Wick and Twickenham. It stretches inland from the River Thames to Bushy Park...
, and the RRE
Royal Radar Establishment
The name Royal Radar Establishment was given to the existing Radar Research Establishment following a visit by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957. Both names were abbreviated to RRE. The establishment had been formed, under its first name, in 1953 by merging the Telecommunications Research Establishment ...
in Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
. The University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
lead the way again in 1962 with its Atlas Computer, then said to be the most powerful computer in the world, being one of the world's first supercomputers. Two were built - for BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
, and for the Atlas Computer Laboratory
Atlas Computer Laboratory
The Atlas Computer Laboratory on the Chilton, Oxfordshire campus shared by the Harwell Laboratory was one of the major computer laboratories in the world, which operated between 1961 and 1975 to provide a service to British scientists at a time when powerful computers were not usually available...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. The main British computer manufacturer at the time was 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), later part of Britain's International Computers Limited (ICL). The RRE College of Electronics, like the RRE itself, was run by the Ministry of Aviation
Ministry of Aviation
Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government, established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply....
in the 1960s.
In September 1963 the government, via the Department of Industrial and Scientific Research, funded £1 million of research into electronics and computers, with half going to the RRE and NPL.
Later in its existence, the RRE provided Britain's first connection to the Internet, when opened by the Queen in 1976 at UCL
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
in London; it went via RRE to Norway and on to the USA. Later in 1984, the Internet's engineering task force first met at RRE's successor - the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment
Royal Signals and Radar Establishment
The Royal Signals and Radar Establishment was a scientific research establishment within the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom, located primarily at Malvern in Worcestershire. It was formed in 1976 in an amalgamation of earlier research establishments including the Royal Radar Establishment...
The RRE
Work in transistor technology at RRE took place in the Physics Department under Dr R.A. Smith. The RREAC was first announced in 1962. It was earlier known as the RRE All-Transistor Computer. It was built from 1960.The world's first solid-state computer was the Philco
Philco
Philco, the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company , was a pioneer in early battery, radio, and television production as well as former employer of Philo Farnsworth, inventor of cathode ray tube television...
S-2000 Transac, built in 1957.
Implementation
RREAC used ALGOL 60ALGOL 60
ALGOL 60 is a member of the ALGOL family of computer programming languages. It gave rise to many other programming languages, including BCPL, B, Pascal, Simula, C, and many others. ALGOL 58 introduced code blocks and the begin and end pairs for delimiting them...
as its programming language - the first computer language to use nested function
Nested function
In computer programming, a nested function is a function which is lexically encapsulated within another function. It can only be called by the enclosing function or by functions directly or indirectly nested within the same enclosing function. In other words, the scope of the nested function is...
s, and the ancestor of some of today's main programming languages.