The IAS Computer, 1952 (courtesy of the Smithsonian)

The IAS machine was the first electronic digital computer built by the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), Princeton, NJ, USA. The paper describing the design of the IAS machine was edited by John von Neumann, (see Von Neumann architecture). The IAS was in limited operation in the summer of 1951 and fully operational on June 10, 1952. Image File history File links Ias-comp. ... Image File history File links Ias-comp. ... The Smithsonian castle, as seen through the garden gate. ... A BlueGene supercomputer cabinet. ... Fuld Hall The Institute for Advanced Study is a private institution in Princeton Township, New Jersey, U.S.A. (although it is not part of Princeton University), designed to foster pure cutting-edge research by scientists in a variety of fields without the complications of teaching or funding, or the... See also: the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey Princeton Township highlighted in Mercer County. ... John von Neumann in the 1940s. ... Design of the Von Neumann machine The Von Neumann architecture is a computer design model that uses a single storage structure to hold both instructions and data. ... June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The machine was a binary computer with a 40 bit word, storing two 20 bit instructions in each word. The memory was 1024 words. Negative numbers were represented in "two's complement" format. It had two registers: the Accumulator (AC) and Multiplier/Quotient (MQ). The binary numeral system (base 2 numerals) represents numeric values using two symbols, typically 0 and 1. ... In computer science, the term integer is used to refer to any data type which can represent some subset of the mathematical integers. ... Twos complement is the most popular method of representing signed integers in computer science. ...

Although some claim the IAS machine was the first design to mix programs and data in a single memory, that had been implemented four years earlier by the 1948 Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine. Von Neumann showed how the combination of instructions and data in one memory could be used to implement loops, by modifying branch instructions when a loop was completed, for example. The resultant demand that instructions and data placed on the memory later came to be known as the Von Neumann Bottleneck. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Victoria University of Manchester (VUM) was a large university in Manchester in England. ... Replica of the SSEM The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), nicknamed Baby, was the first stored-program computer to run a program, on June 21, 1948. ... Design of the Von Neumann machine The Von Neumann architecture is a computer design model that uses a single storage structure to hold both instructions and data. ...

While the original design called for using a type of vacuum tubes called RCA Selectron tubes for the memory, problems with the development of these complex tubes forced the switch to Williams tubes. Nevertheless, it used about 2300 tubes in its circuitry. The addition time was 62 microseconds and the multiplication time was 713 microseconds. It was an asynchronous machine, meaning that there was no central clock regulating the timing of the instructions. One instruction started executing when the previous one finished. In electronics, a vacuum tube or (outside North America) thermionic valve or just valve, is a device generally used to amplify, switch or otherwise modify, a signal by controlling the movement of electrons in an evacuated space. ... RCAs logo as seen today on many products. ... The Selectron was an early form of computer memory developed by RCA. Development started in 1946 with a planned production of 200 by the end of the year, but production problems meant that they were still not available by the middle of 1948. ... The Williams tube or (more accurately) the Williams-Kilburn tube (after Freddie Williams and coworker Tom Kilburn), developed about 1946 or 1947, was a cathode ray tube used to store electronic data. ... A microsecond is an SI unit of time equal to one millionth (10-6) of a second. ... An asynchronous circuit is a circuit in which the parts are largely autonomous. ...

IAS machine derivatives

Plans for the IAS machine were widely distributed to any schools, businesses, or companies interested in computing machines, resulting in the construction of fifteen derivative computers referred to as "IAS machines," with varying degrees of compatibility across the platform.

Some of these "IAS machines" were:

• AVIDAC (Argonne National Laboratory)
• BESK (Stockholm)
• BESM (Moscow)
• CYCLONE (Iowa State University)
• ILLIAC I (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
• GEORGE (Argonne National Laboratory)
• JOHNNIAC (RAND)
• MANIAC I (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
• MISTIC (Michigan State University)
• ORACLE (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
• ORDVAC (Aberdeen Proving Ground)
• SILLIAC (University of Sydney)
• SMIL (Lund University)
• WEIZAC (Weizmann Institute)

The AVIDAC or Argonne Version of the Institutes Digital Automatic Computer, an early computer built by Argonne National Laboratory, was based on the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) architecture developed by John von Neumann. ... Argonne National Laboratory is one of the United States governments oldest and largest science and engineering research national laboratories and is the largest in the Midwest. ... BESK (Binär Elektronisk SekvensKalkylator, Swedish for Binary Electronic Sequence Calculator) was Swedens first computer. ... BESM BESM (БЭСМ) is the name of a series of Russian mainframe computers. ... Radar image of a tropical cyclone in the northern hemisphere. ... Fountain of Four Seasons by Christian Petersen with the Campanile in the background Iowa State University (ISU) is a public land-grant and space-grant university located in Ames, Iowa. ... The ILLIAC I (Illinois Automatic Computer), a pioneering computer built in 1952 by the University of Illinois, was the first computer built and owned entirely by an educational institution. ... The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, also known as UIUC and the U of I (the officially preferred abbreviation), is the flagship campus in the University of Illinois system. ... GEORGE was an early computer built in 1957 by Argonne National Laboratory, was based on the IAS architecture developed by John von Neumann. ... The JOHNNIAC or John (v. ... RAND Headquarters The RAND Corporation is a global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces. ... The MANIAC I (Mathematical Analyzer, Numerical Integrator, and Computer), an early computer built by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, was based on the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) architecture developed by John von Neumann. ... Los Alamos National Laboratory, aerial view from 1995. ... The MISTIC or Michigan State Integral Computer, an early computer built by Michigan State University, was based on the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) architecture developed by John von Neumann. ... Michigan State University (MSU) is a public university in East Lansing, Michigan. ... The ORACLE or Oak Ridge Automatic Computer and Logical Engine, an early computer built by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was based on the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) architecture developed by John von Neumann. ... Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a multiprogram science and technology national laboratory managed for the United States Department of Energy by UT-Battelle, LLC. ORNL is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near Knoxville. ... The ORDVAC or Ordnance Discrete Variable Automatic Computer, an early computer built by the University of Illinois for the Ballistic Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground, was based on the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) architecture developed by John von Neumann. ... Aberdeen Proving Ground is a United States Army proving ground located in Harford County, Maryland at Aberdeen, Maryland. ... The SILLIAC (Sydney version of the Illinois Automatic Computer, i. ... The University of Sydney, established in Sydney in 1850, is the oldest university in Australia. ... SMIL (a Swedish-language acronym of Siffermaskinen i Lund, The Digit Machine of Lund) was a first-generation computer built by the University of Lund, in Sweden. ... Lund University main building, from 1882 by Helgo Zettervall. ... The WEIZAC or Weizmann Automatic Computer, an early computer built in 1954 by the Weizmann Institute in Israel, was based on the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) architecture developed by John von Neumann. ... The Weizmann Institute of Science (מכון ויצמן למדע) is an institute of higher learning and research in Rehovot, Israel. ...

External links

• The IAS Computer, 1952 - From the National Museum of American History