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Cyhist Feb 03 1997 A
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Date: Mon, 3 Feb 1997 03:31:30 -0500
Reply-To: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU>
Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU>
From: KathrynKL@aol.com
Subject: Re: CYHIST Digest - 30 Jan 1997 to 31 Jan 1997
______________________________________________________________________
Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
In a message dated 97-02-01 01:01:39 EST, you write:
<<
This, however, brings up another point. All the earlier machines (EDSAC, Manchester machines, EDVAC, SEAC etc) were serial machines (ie the bus was one bit wide and all data was transferred in serial around the machine). Von Neumann's machine (the IAS machine) was one of the first to use a parallel data transfer mechanism - others used it too, such as the UTEC at the University of Toronto and the SWAC at UCLA. >>
Actually, no. The ENIAC in its original form was a parallel processor. It could be configured by its Programmers to perform multiple functions in different parts of its 40 panels at the same time. Such functionality was used frequently in the programming of the ballistics trajectory equations -- the calculations for which the machine was created.
When WWII ended, the ENIAC was moved from the University of Pennsylvania to its final home at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, and there it was converted into a stored program machine. A side-effect of this conversion was that the ENIAC then became a serial processor.
Kathryn Kleiman
Historian of the ENIAC Programmers
______________________________________________________________________
Reply-To: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU>
Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU>
From: KathrynKL@aol.com
Subject: Re: CYHIST Digest - 30 Jan 1997 to 31 Jan 1997
______________________________________________________________________
Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
In a message dated 97-02-01 01:01:39 EST, you write:
<<
This, however, brings up another point. All the earlier machines (EDSAC, Manchester machines, EDVAC, SEAC etc) were serial machines (ie the bus was one bit wide and all data was transferred in serial around the machine). Von Neumann's machine (the IAS machine) was one of the first to use a parallel data transfer mechanism - others used it too, such as the UTEC at the University of Toronto and the SWAC at UCLA. >>
Actually, no. The ENIAC in its original form was a parallel processor. It could be configured by its Programmers to perform multiple functions in different parts of its 40 panels at the same time. Such functionality was used frequently in the programming of the ballistics trajectory equations -- the calculations for which the machine was created.
When WWII ended, the ENIAC was moved from the University of Pennsylvania to its final home at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, and there it was converted into a stored program machine. A side-effect of this conversion was that the ENIAC then became a serial processor.
Kathryn Kleiman
Historian of the ENIAC Programmers
______________________________________________________________________
