Synergy User Manual and Tutorial. - THE CORE MEMORY

Synergy User Manual and Tutorial
device called a translator, which contains a parser to translate the high-level language that
could be read by people to a binary language that can be executed on a computer. A later
version of FORTRAN is still in use today, over 40 years later. Backus also developed a
standard notation, Backus-Naur Form (BNF), to unambiguously and formally describe a
computer language. BNF uses grammatical-type rules to describe a language.
In 1947, a major event occurred in
electronics and computation. John
Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William
Shockley (pictured in order on left)
announced that they developed the
transistor for which they were
awarded the Nobel Prize in 1956.
This invention ushered in a new era in
computers. First generation
computers used vacuum tubes as their principal digital circuits. Vacuum tubes generated
heat, consumed electrical power and quickly burned out, requiring frequent maintenance.
They were also used in telecommunications to amplify long distance phone calls, which
is the reason for this team’s research. Transistors can switch and modulate electronic
current, and are composed of a semi-conductor that can both conduct and insulate, such
as germanium or silicon. The transistor can act as a transmitter by converting sound
waves into electronic waves and a resistor by controlling electrical current. In 1954,
Texas Instruments lowered the cost of production by introducing silicon transistors. The
transistor brought about the second generation in computers by replacing vacuum tubes
with solid-state components, which began the semiconductor revolution. xxviii Philco
Corporation engineers developed the surface barrier transistor in 1954, which was the
first transistor suitable for use in high-speed computers. In 1957, Philco completed the
TRANSAC S-2000—the first large-scale, fully transistorized
scientific computer to be offered as a manufactured
product. xxix
In 1957, the Burroughs Atlas computer, constructed at the
Great Valley Research Laboratory outside of Philadelphia,
was one of the first to use transistors. The machine was
developed for the America air defense system deployed
during the 1950’s and was the ground guidance computer for
the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The first
launch was in 1958. The system had two memory areas, one
for data with 256 24-bit words and one for instructions with
2048 18-bit words. There were 18 Atlas computers
constructed, costing $37 million. xxx
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