a brief introduction to the history of computing - 2 anu faculty of engineering and it department of...
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A Brief Introduction to theHistory of Computing - 2
ANU Faculty of Engineering and ITDepartment of Computer Science
COMP1200 Perspectives on Computing
Chris Johnson April 2003
Intro to history of computing: hardware 2
Intro to history of computing – 4.2
The early years of electronic computing
Moore’s Law
The 3 or 4 Generations of computing technology - hardware
Intro to history of computing: hardware 3
1. early years: Big Ideas: the von Neumann architecture
The stored program computer
Intro to history of computing: hardware 4
1. early years: Big Ideas - the stored program computer
Why is the ability tostore the program in memory significant?
Intro to history of computing: hardware 5
1. early years: Generations of electronic computing
1. electronic valves (1943)1948(vacuum tubes)
2. individual solid-state transistors 1959
3. integrated solid-state circuits 1964
LSI, MSI, VLSI
4. VLSI & the Personal Computer 1981
Intro to history of computing: hardware 6
1. early years: small ideas...
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers”
IBM’s chairman Thomas J Watson, 1943
(133 Million PCs were sold in 2000)
Intro to history of computing: hardware 7
1. early years: the 1st generationexample: Bendix G-151956
300 built
2,160 x 29 bit words(about 8KBytes storage)
speed: 2 kHz max
180 tube packages(valves)
300 germanium diodepackages(transistor precursor)
Intro to history of computing: hardware 8
1. early years: 1st generation – valves (vacuum tubes)
Burroughs B205, ca. 1954
This module represents one decimal digit in theALU accumulator
University of Virginia museum
Intro to history of computing: hardware 9
1. early years: 1st generation hardware based on vacuum tubes: like small light bulbs,
2, 3 - 5 contacts common(diode, triode,..., pentode)
slow: computer logic needs internal switching of tube states: limited to kHz speeds
expensive, so computers had only small ALU unreliable: vacuum tubes fail frequently,
randomly - like light bulbs runs hot, required a lot of power & cooling physically big showed that electronic computing was useful
Intro to history of computing: hardware 10
1. early years: 1st generation software programs writen as numeric codes
(machine language) and in primitive assembly languages(a few words and code names: A1, M100)
system software tiny: small subroutine libraries for numeric routine (e.g.SIN, TAN) and I/O formatting (e.g. convert internal number to decimal digits)
manual operation: load next program from paper tape by physical switches at console: no “operating system”
Intro to history of computing: hardware 11
1. early years: 2nd generation from approximately 1959 transistor a general purpose electronic
amplification device:cooler, faster, smaller, much more reliable than valves
computer systems software: came with manufacturer-supplied Operating System for batch operation,still needed an operator to load paper and magnetic tapes and paper cards – no online backing store files
Intro to history of computing: hardware 12
1. 1st and 2nd
generation I/O: input/outputTYPICAL INPUT/OUTPUTUSED A SINGLETYPEWRITER-LIKE DEVICE
WITH MECHANICAL KEYBOARD,FAN-FOLD PAPER.PAPER TAPE, MAYBE PUNCH CARD READER AND PUNCH.ONE PERSON AT A TIME.EARLY INTERFACEDEVICES WERE THE SAME ASCOMMUNICATIONSTELETYPES, RUNNING ATSPEED OF 10-30 CHARACTERSPER SECOND.
NO GRAPHICS AT ALLONE FONT - OFTEN ONLY UPPERCASECHARACTERS.
Intro to history of computing: hardware 13
1. 2nd generation - transistors software: by end of generation (early
1960s) each manufacturer sold compilers for machine independent, application-oriented programming languages for their machines:FORTRAN, COBOL, Algol, LISP
no easy portability of programs,magnetic tapes for fast secondary storage
no general computer networks
Intro to history of computing: hardware 14
1. 3rd generation electronics ability to manufacture Integrated Circuit containing many
transistors on single “chip” of silicon: 1964 fewer physical components, less soldering,
cheaper, more reliable manufacturing- fit more logic on each circuit board
computers now used custom-designed integrated circuits (ICs)
allowed circuits to work faster: MHz not kHz
4 microsecond ADD (0.25 MIPS) [IBM 360/50: 1965]
0.75 microsec ADD (1.25 MIPS) [IBM 360/75: 1968]
computers more reliable, physically smaller,larger memory 360/50: 256KByte (1965) 360/75: 1 MByte (1968)
Intro to history of computing: hardware 15
1. 3rd generation computers
IBM 360
1968
Conducting a war by computerVietnam, circa 1968 Philip Jones Griffiths
Intro to history of computing: hardware 16
1. 3rd generation: von Neumann architecture plus virtual memory
Secondarystorageuse for
online filestorage
I/Ocontrollers
Virtualmemory
Onlinefile
storage
Intro to history of computing: hardware 17
1. 3rd generation storage and software
add fast online secondary storage – disks -use for scratch files, database, general user files and Virtual Memory [Atlas - UK 1961]
Operating Systems - yes!High level Languages – yes yes yes!
Intro to history of computing: hardware 18
1. Big Ideas - the stored program computer
Why is the ability tostore the program in memory significant?
(2): the 3rd generation.
Intro to history of computing: hardware 19
2. Moore’s Law
The density of transistors on a chip(i.e. the number per unit area)
doubles every 18 months
1964: Gordon Moore (Intel) observed the fact and fitted the “law” to the figures to that date
literally “exponential growth”
is it still true 40 years later?
what does doubling every 1.5 or 2 years actually imply?
Intro to history of computing: hardware 20
2. Moore’s Law
Number of transistors on onechip - Intel 80x86 family processors
0100000200000300000400000500000600000700000800000900000
1000000
1972 78 83 86 90
transistors
1972 2,500
1978 30,000
1983 100,000
1986 300,000
1990 1,000,000
data from Intel
Intro to history of computing: hardware 22
3. 3rd & 4th generation: von Neumann architecture with virtual memory and cache
Secondarystorageuse for
online filestorage
I/Ocontrollers
Virtualmemory
Onlinefile
storage
fast cache memory
Intro to history of computing: hardware 23
3. From 3rd to 4th generation
3rd generation dates from approx 1964mainframe computers first, then minis
minicomputers: e.g.DEC PDP/8, PDP/11, Birth of UNIX operating system 1975
microcomputers PET TRS-80 1979 Apple II, VisiCalc spreadsheet 1979 IBM PC, Microsoft DOS 1981
Intro to history of computing: hardware 24
3. 4th generation (my numbering)
no hardware change marks the start IBM PC personal computers 1981 personal productivity tools:
spreadsheets, word processing programs (and Powerpoint)
GUI – WIMP interface Windows–Icons–Menus-Pointer invented 1975 Xerox PARChit market 1984 (Mac) 1985 (IBM PC)