DocumentCode
901262
Title
Computers before silicon-design decisions on Edsac
Author
Wilkes, Maurice V.
Volume
36
Issue
11
fYear
1990
fDate
12/6/1990 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage
429
Lastpage
431
Abstract
Edsac (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) was designed in 1946 at Cambridge University. The author recalls design decisions on this, one of the earliest electronic computers. The decisions were on three levels: policy, architecture and implementation. The Edsac was a serial machine with an ultrasonic delay memory which used fixed point arithmetic. The clock frequency was 500 kHz to make the circuit engineering easier
Keywords
mainframes; 500 kHz; Cambridge University; Edsac; Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator; architecture; electronic computers; fixed point arithmetic; implementation; policy; serial machine; ultrasonic delay memory;
fLanguage
English
Journal_Title
IEE Review
Publisher
iet
ISSN
0953-5683
Type
jour
Filename
216191
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