12 Mar
2019
12 Mar
'19
2:51 p.m.
Thanks for the info on chip made by Texas Instruments. It was used in a
pocket/plug-in calculator I had while working as a payroll clerk back in
the early 70s.
The link is: http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/ti_cal-tech1.html
I?ve written in my book on the History of the Microcomputer a history of
the processing chip as the timeline follows an approximation of:
Late *1950*s ? patent on integrated circuit by Texas Instruments
*1950*s to *1960*s ? move from vacuum tubes to TTL technology
programs/functions in ROM
*1970*s ? 4004 to 8008 to 8086 -> This begins the era of electronic
computerization of society.
-> programmable by user and/or firmware
We are now in the early human era of the electronification-computerization
of society. *Classic Computing* takes us back to the very early years.
Happy computing!
12 Mar
12 Mar
5:23 p.m.
On Mar 12, 2019, at 5:51 PM, Murray McCullough via
cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
...
I?ve written in my book on the History of the Microcomputer a history of
the processing chip as the timeline follows an approximation of:
Late *1950*s ? patent on integrated circuit by Texas Instruments
*1950*s to *1960*s ? move from vacuum tubes to TTL technology
programs/functions in ROM
You turned two steps into one: vacuum tubes to discrete transistors (1958 to mid 1960s)
then transistors to TTL SSI ICs (1965-1975 or so), then CMOS and LSI. With some detours
-- some high end computers using ECL, for example.
Also, when you said ROM you probably meant semiconductor ROM (mask ROM); earlier there was
core ROM, invented (two variations, one in the USA and one in Holland, apparently
independently) around 1957 and first appearing in a commercial computer in the 1958
Electrologica X1.
paul
6:50 p.m.
On 03/12/2019 07:23 PM, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
Yes, the IBM 360 was produced using discrete transistors and
diodes on little ceramic hybrid modules until 1969 or so,
when they finally moved into ICs. The IBM 360/85 (really a
prototype of the 370/165) was built in their version of ECL,
in 1968.
Also, before TTL, there was RTL and DTL, and also MECL.
On Mar 12, 2019, at 5:51 PM, Murray McCullough
via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
...
I?ve written in my book on the History of the Microcomputer a history of
the processing chip as the timeline follows an approximation of:
Late *1950*s ? patent on integrated circuit by Texas Instruments
*1950*s to *1960*s ? move from vacuum tubes to TTL technology
programs/functions in ROM
You turned two steps into one: vacuum tubes to
discrete transistors (1958 to mid 1960s) then transistors to TTL SSI ICs (1965-1975 or
so), then CMOS and LSI. With some detours -- some high end computers using ECL, for
example. Also, when you said ROM you probably meant
semiconductor ROM (mask ROM); earlier there was core ROM, invented (two variations, one in
the USA and one in Holland, apparently independently) around 1957 and first appearing in a
commercial computer in the 1958 Electrologica X1.
IBM 360 models 30, 50 and 65 used capacitive ROM (they
called it read only Storage) for their control store
(microcode), called CROS, or CCROS for a semi-differential
version in the 50 and 65. The 360/40 used transformers, so
TROS for microcode.
Jon
9:02 p.m.
On 3/12/19 5:23 PM, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
I recall that in the late 1960s, RTL and DTL were far more common IC
families than TTL. ECL had several sub-families; the first was a bear
to work with.
I think bitsavers has a couple of old Motorola, TI and Fairchild IC
databooks from that time.
CMOS ICs, when they first came out, were glacially slow and could only
get speed by running them at 15 volts or so. Except for some
low-speed/low-power applications, they weren't really a contender for
computer logic.
This is a bit interesting in that Brattain, Bardeen and Shockley are
credited in the popular press as having invented the transistor.
However, that was a bit overstated; they had to re-word their patent
application to state that they'd developed a "junction" transistor, when
a patent search turned up the fact that a Hungarian immigrant named
Julius Lilienfeld had obtained a patent on a field-effect transistor in
1930--a full year before he obtained a patent on the electrolytic
capacitor (ever heard of those?. Dr. J applied for the patent in 1926,
which is a bit mind-boggling, when you consider that tubes like the
UV20A1 were introduced in 1924. It's those field-effect transistors
that are widely used today, not Shockley and chums' bipolar cousins.
Such is history and those who write accounts of it. Names like
Atanasoff and Zuse are consigned to the dustbin of history, while Eckert
and Mauchly get the historical mention.
Ah well, some people still believe that Thomas Edison invented the
incandescent lamp.
Also, there was capacitor ROM as well as transformer ROM.
--Chuck
On Mar 12, 2019, at 5:51 PM, Murray McCullough
via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
... I?ve written in my book on the History of the Microcomputer a
history of the processing chip as the timeline follows an
approximation of:
Late *1950*s ? patent on integrated circuit by Texas Instruments
*1950*s to *1960*s ? move from vacuum tubes to TTL technology
programs/functions in ROM
You turned two steps into one: vacuum tubes to discrete transistors
(1958 to mid 1960s) then transistors to TTL SSI ICs (1965-1975 or
so), then CMOS and LSI. With some detours -- some high end computers
using ECL, for example.
13 Mar
13 Mar
6:44 a.m.
On Mar 13, 2019, at 12:02 AM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
...
This is a bit interesting in that Brattain, Bardeen and Shockley are
credited in the popular press as having invented the transistor.
However, that was a bit overstated; they had to re-word their patent
application to state that they'd developed a "junction" transistor, when
a patent search turned up the fact that a Hungarian immigrant named
Julius Lilienfeld had obtained a patent on a field-effect transistor in
1930--a full year before he obtained a patent on the electrolytic
capacitor (ever heard of those?. Dr. J applied for the patent in 1926,
which is a bit mind-boggling, when you consider that tubes like the
UV20A1 were introduced in 1924. It's those field-effect transistors
that are widely used today, not Shockley and chums' bipolar cousins.
My father had an article about those FETs in his files somewhere, unfortunately it was
lost years ago but I remember it. I think the semiconductor used was copper oxide.
Interesting that they actually found this. There are many examples of the same thing
being patented several times, or a thing being invented long after it was first built. An
example of the former is frequency modulation (patented in 1927 by Idzerda, then in 1935
by Armstrong). An example of the latter is Abraham Lincoln's patent for what a
Dutchman would recognize as a "camel" -- a device for carrying ships over shoals
that goes back a century or two from Lincoln's patent.
Such is history and those who write accounts of it.
Names like
Atanasoff and Zuse are consigned to the dustbin of history, while Eckert
and Mauchly get the historical mention.
That's what makes it interesting to dig into the less known corners of technology
history. I've enjoyed poking into Electrologica, which did a number of things early
on, perhaps earlier than others that are well known or at least around the same time. The
core ROM I mentioned is an example (it looks vaguely like Ken Olsen's design that
became the Apollo Computer ROM, but the operation is different and somewhat more
efficient, with a shorter read latency). They also seem to have been the first to deliver
interrupts in a commercial computer as a standard feature. But because of location and
limited sales, few people even know the company's name, let alone much about it.
paul
7:10 a.m.
> This is a bit interesting in that Brattain,
Bardeen and Shockley are
> credited in the popular press as having invented the transistor.
> However, that was a bit overstated; they had to re-word their patent
> application to state that they'd developed a "junction" transistor,
when
> a patent search turned up the fact that a Hungarian immigrant named
> Julius Lilienfeld had obtained a patent on a field-effect transistor in
> 1930--a full year before he obtained a patent on the electrolytic
> capacitor (ever heard of those?. Dr. J applied for the patent in 1926,
> which is a bit mind-boggling, when you consider that tubes like the
> UV20A1 were introduced in 1924. It's those field-effect transistors
> that are widely used today, not Shockley and chums' bipolar cousins.
Be careful handing out the praise. The idea of adding a external
signals and biases to crystal detectors was an old trick from the
1920s. No one really knew what was going on, and no one really used
this technology, simply because performance was beyond horrid - even
original Audions worked better.
--
Will
8:53 a.m.
On 3/13/19 7:10 AM, William Donzelli via cctalk wrote:
Be careful handing out the praise. The idea of adding
a external
signals and biases to crystal detectors was an old trick from the
1920s. No one really knew what was going on, and no one really used
this technology, simply because performance was beyond horrid - even
original Audions worked better.
Sure--I recall reading an article from an issue of QST from the 1920s
that reported an "oscillating crystal". One has to believe that
negative resistance in solid materials had to have been discovered
several times.
There is a web site, http://www.sparkbangbuzz.com/ that demonstrates
that a strip of galvanized steel can make a quite successful
negative-resistance device, including several transmitters. The fellow
even shows how to make a memristor using some brass and sulfur.
--Chuck
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