Parametron: 50s Japanese computer that uses neither transistors nor vacuum tubes
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EAC-1101 In March 1958, NEC finished its first digital computer, the NEAC-1101. This machine used parametrons, invented by Eiichi Goto in 1954, and was perfected by using a single-turn transformer coupling system independently devised by NEC. This computer was designed for scientific and engineering calculations, and was Japan's first computer to…
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If I'm reading this right, it's sort of an analog computer done with transformers instead of op-amps and intentional resonance that drives everything into saturation (on-state) versus quiescence (off-state). And yes, that means it's all AC signals instead of DC. This would have never miniaturized, for several reasons. But in the moment it was a…
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Meanwhile, in the US, the Univac Solid State computer[1] used similar principles in its patented[3] "Solid State Logic"[2], and was also released in 1958.My understanding is that the magnetic amplifiers used in the V2 rocket kicked off a lot of interesting uses of magnetic cores.[1]
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The history of computing is usually described as a nice progression from vacuum tubes to transistors and then ICs. But parametrons are only one of the many forgotten technologies that popped up along the way. Magnetic core logic such as transfluxors was used in several computers. Superconducting cryotrons were going to revolutionize computers…
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> In 1954, Eiichi Goto invented the parametron, a logic device leveraging nonlinear parametric oscillation with two ferrite cores. Unlike the vacuum tube and early transistor circuits prevalent at the time, the parametron offered remarkable stability, requiring minimal maintenance compared to vacuum tubes with short lifetime and costing…
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The quantum flux parametron is a really fascinating design and I always wondered why no one talks about it. You can get to GHz range easily and computing will be adiabatic. Its based on Josephson-junctions so you need to provide very low temperatures. I always thought it was a more promising next gen compute technology than the current quantum…
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The Elliott 803 computer (a little later) also used magnetic core logic; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_803Not sure if the principal is similar or not. (There was one down at the Bletchley computing museum many years ago when I went down)
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At 8.0ms for mult/div, that would make it right on par with a Commodore 64's BASIC math routines, even though it came 24 years earlier. That's pretty freaking impressive.
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It’s stays fascinating to me how ubiquitous computation is! Seems like almost anything could “run Doom”