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Model V
Early electromechanical general purpose computer

The Model V was among the early electromechanical general purpose computers, designed by George Stibitz and built by Bell Telephone Laboratories, operational in 1946.

Only two machines were built: first one was installed at National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, later NASA), the second (1947) at the US Army’s Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL).

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Construction

Design was started in 1944.8 The tape-controlled (Harvard architecture)910 machine had two (design allowed for a total of six) processors ("computers")11 that could operate independently,121314 an early form of multiprocessing.1516

The Model V weighed about 10 short tons (9.1 t).1718

Significance

Model VI

Built and used internally by Bell Telephone Laboratories, operational in 1949.

Simplified version of the Model V (only one processor,33 about half the relays) but with several improvements,343536 including one of the earliest use of the microcode.373839

Bibliography

Further reading

References

  1. Williams, Samuel Byron (1959). Digital Computing Systems. McGraw-Hill. p. 89. https://books.google.com/books?id=5vRRAQAAIAAJ&q=%22early+computers%2C+such+as+the+Bell+Model+V%22 ↩

  2. Printed Series. University of Alabama Bureau of Business Research. 1954. p. 5. https://books.google.com/books?id=COomAQAAIAAJ&q=model%20v ↩

  3. Randell, B. (2012). The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 239, 352. ISBN 9783642961458. [...] IBM SSEC [...] was hardly a stored program computer [...] being basically a tape-controlled machine in the tradition of the Harvard Mark I or the Bell Laboratories Model V. 9783642961458 ↩

  4. Belzer, Jack; Holzman, Albert G.; Kent, Allen (1976). Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology: Volume 3 - Ballistics Calculations to Box-Jenkins Approach to Time Series Analysis and Forecasting. CRC Press. p. 200. ISBN 9780824722531. 9780824722531 ↩

  5. Bullynck 2015. - Bullynck, Maarten (2015). "3. Bell Model V Calculator: Tapes and Controls". Programming men and machines. Changing organisation in the artillery computations at Aberdeen Proving Ground (1916-1946). pp. 9–12. https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01541616 ↩

  6. Ceruzzi 1983, p. 95. - Ceruzzi, Paul E. (1983). "4. Number, Please - Computers at Bell Labs". Reckoners: The Prehistory of the Digital Computer, from Relays to the Stored Program Concept, 1935-1945. Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated. pp. 95–99. ISBN 9780313233821. http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/Reckoners-ch-4.html ↩

  7. Datamation 1967, p. 47. - "The relay computers at Bell Labs : those were the machines, part 2". Datamation. The relay computers at Bell Labs : those were the machines, parts 1 and 2 | 102724647 | Computer History Museum. part 2: pp. 47, 49. May 1967. http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102724647 ↩

  8. Alt & 21 1948, p. 1. - Alt, Franz L. (1948). "A Bell Telephone Laboratories' computing machine. I". Mathematics of Computation. 3 (21): 1–13. doi:10.1090/S0025-5718-1948-0023118-1. ISSN 0025-5718. https://doi.org/10.1090%2FS0025-5718-1948-0023118-1 ↩

  9. Randell, B. (2012). The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 239, 352. ISBN 9783642961458. [...] IBM SSEC [...] was hardly a stored program computer [...] being basically a tape-controlled machine in the tradition of the Harvard Mark I or the Bell Laboratories Model V. 9783642961458 ↩

  10. Tomash 2008, p. 37. - Tomash, Erwin (2008). "The Erwin Tomash Library on the History of Computing: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalog". www.cbi.umn.edu. CBI Hosted Publications. Image: Bell Labs Model V.drawing of Model V, description: A Chapter, pp. 36-37. Retrieved 2018-05-08. http://www.cbi.umn.edu/hostedpublications/Tomash/index.htm ↩

  11. Ceruzzi 1983, p. 96. - Ceruzzi, Paul E. (1983). "4. Number, Please - Computers at Bell Labs". Reckoners: The Prehistory of the Digital Computer, from Relays to the Stored Program Concept, 1935-1945. Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated. pp. 95–99. ISBN 9780313233821. http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/Reckoners-ch-4.html ↩

  12. Belzer, Jack; Holzman, Albert G.; Kent, Allen (1976). Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology: Volume 3 - Ballistics Calculations to Box-Jenkins Approach to Time Series Analysis and Forecasting. CRC Press. p. 200. ISBN 9780824722531. 9780824722531 ↩

  13. Open Library. - "Г. – Bell Labs – Model V" [G. – Bell Labs – Model V]. oplib.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved 2017-10-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20220929151216/http://oplib.ru/random/view/161936 ↩

  14. Amdahl, Gene Myron (1951). The Logical Design of an Intermediate Speed Digital Computer (PDF). University of Wisconsin--Madison. pp. 87–88. Alt & 22 1948, pp. 75–76 http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~bezenek/Stuff/amdahl_thesis.pdf ↩

  15. Randell, B. (2012). The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 239, 352. ISBN 9783642961458. [...] IBM SSEC [...] was hardly a stored program computer [...] being basically a tape-controlled machine in the tradition of the Harvard Mark I or the Bell Laboratories Model V. 9783642961458 ↩

  16. Dasgupta, Subrata (2014-01-07). It Began with Babbage: The Genesis of Computer Science. Oxford University Press. p. 63. ISBN 9780199309429. 9780199309429 ↩

  17. Alt & 21 1948, p. 1. - Alt, Franz L. (1948). "A Bell Telephone Laboratories' computing machine. I". Mathematics of Computation. 3 (21): 1–13. doi:10.1090/S0025-5718-1948-0023118-1. ISSN 0025-5718. https://doi.org/10.1090%2FS0025-5718-1948-0023118-1 ↩

  18. Irvine 2001, p. 25. - Irvine, M. M. (July 2001). "Early digital computers at Bell Telephone Laboratories". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 23 (3): 25–27. doi:10.1109/85.948904. ISSN 1058-6180. https://doi.org/10.1109%2F85.948904 ↩

  19. Ceruzzi 1983, p. 98. - Ceruzzi, Paul E. (1983). "4. Number, Please - Computers at Bell Labs". Reckoners: The Prehistory of the Digital Computer, from Relays to the Stored Program Concept, 1935-1945. Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated. pp. 95–99. ISBN 9780313233821. http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/Reckoners-ch-4.html ↩

  20. Thompson, Thomas M. (1983). From Error-Correcting Codes Through Sphere Packings to Simple Groups. Cambridge University Press. pp. 15–17. ISBN 9780883850374. 9780883850374 ↩

  21. Williams, Samuel Byron (1959). Digital Computing Systems. McGraw-Hill. p. 89. https://books.google.com/books?id=5vRRAQAAIAAJ&q=%22early+computers%2C+such+as+the+Bell+Model+V%22 ↩

  22. Printed Series. University of Alabama Bureau of Business Research. 1954. p. 5. https://books.google.com/books?id=COomAQAAIAAJ&q=model%20v ↩

  23. Randell, B. (2012). The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 239, 352. ISBN 9783642961458. [...] IBM SSEC [...] was hardly a stored program computer [...] being basically a tape-controlled machine in the tradition of the Harvard Mark I or the Bell Laboratories Model V. 9783642961458 ↩

  24. Belzer, Jack; Holzman, Albert G.; Kent, Allen (1976). Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology: Volume 3 - Ballistics Calculations to Box-Jenkins Approach to Time Series Analysis and Forecasting. CRC Press. p. 200. ISBN 9780824722531. 9780824722531 ↩

  25. Bullynck 2015. - Bullynck, Maarten (2015). "3. Bell Model V Calculator: Tapes and Controls". Programming men and machines. Changing organisation in the artillery computations at Aberdeen Proving Ground (1916-1946). pp. 9–12. https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01541616 ↩

  26. Knuth, Donald E. (2014). Art of Computer Programming, Volume 2: Seminumerical Algorithms. Addison-Wesley Professional. p. 378 (electronic edition). ISBN 9780321635761. 9780321635761 ↩

  27. Irvine 2001, pp. 25–26. - Irvine, M. M. (July 2001). "Early digital computers at Bell Telephone Laboratories". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 23 (3): 25–27. doi:10.1109/85.948904. ISSN 1058-6180. https://doi.org/10.1109%2F85.948904 ↩

  28. Datamation 1967, p. 49. - "The relay computers at Bell Labs : those were the machines, part 2". Datamation. The relay computers at Bell Labs : those were the machines, parts 1 and 2 | 102724647 | Computer History Museum. part 2: pp. 47, 49. May 1967. http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102724647 ↩

  29. Alt & 21 1948, p. 3-4. - Alt, Franz L. (1948). "A Bell Telephone Laboratories' computing machine. I". Mathematics of Computation. 3 (21): 1–13. doi:10.1090/S0025-5718-1948-0023118-1. ISSN 0025-5718. https://doi.org/10.1090%2FS0025-5718-1948-0023118-1 ↩

  30. Randell, B. (2012). The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 239, 352. ISBN 9783642961458. [...] IBM SSEC [...] was hardly a stored program computer [...] being basically a tape-controlled machine in the tradition of the Harvard Mark I or the Bell Laboratories Model V. 9783642961458 ↩

  31. Dasgupta, Subrata (2014-01-07). It Began with Babbage: The Genesis of Computer Science. Oxford University Press. p. 63. ISBN 9780199309429. 9780199309429 ↩

  32. "Relay computers of George Stibitz". history-computer. 4 January 2021. https://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Relays/Stibitz.html ↩

  33. Ceruzzi 1983, p. 95-96, 99. - Ceruzzi, Paul E. (1983). "4. Number, Please - Computers at Bell Labs". Reckoners: The Prehistory of the Digital Computer, from Relays to the Stored Program Concept, 1935-1945. Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated. pp. 95–99. ISBN 9780313233821. http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/Reckoners-ch-4.html ↩

  34. Belzer, Jack; Holzman, Albert G.; Kent, Allen (1976). Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology: Volume 3 - Ballistics Calculations to Box-Jenkins Approach to Time Series Analysis and Forecasting. CRC Press. p. 200. ISBN 9780824722531. 9780824722531 ↩

  35. Irvine 2001, pp. 26–27. - Irvine, M. M. (July 2001). "Early digital computers at Bell Telephone Laboratories". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 23 (3): 25–27. doi:10.1109/85.948904. ISSN 1058-6180. https://doi.org/10.1109%2F85.948904 ↩

  36. Kaisler 2016, pp. 36–37. - Kaisler, Stephen H. (2016). "Chapter Three: Stibitz's Relay Computers". Birthing the Computer: From Relays to Vacuum Tubes. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 35–37. ISBN 9781443896313. https://books.google.com/books?id=oyBUDgAAQBAJ&q=%22model+v%22&pg=PA35 ↩

  37. Reilly, Edwin D. (2003). Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 28. ISBN 9781573565219. Model VI macro. 9781573565219 ↩

  38. Ceruzzi, Paul E.; Ceruzzi, Curator of Aerospace Electronics and Computing Paul E. (2003). A History of Modern Computing. MIT Press. p. 149. ISBN 9780262532037. Model VI Wilkes. 9780262532037 ↩

  39. Reilly, Edwin D.; Ralston, Anthony; Hemmendinger, David (2000). Encyclopedia of Computer Science. Second part of the text: search (with quotes) for "stored program electronic computers.". Nature Publishing Group. p. 136. ISBN 9781561592487. The Model VI did have an ability to execute short sequences of arithmetic with single commands punched on the tape, a concept new at the time and one rediscovered and named later as "macro" commands. It interpreted these commands through ingenious electromagnetic circuits that, in effect, "microprogrammed" the machine. It is not historically misleading to use that term, since those features were seen and noticed by Maurice Wilkes (q.v.), who later developed that concept for stored program electronic computers. 9781561592487 ↩