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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices

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To: i-node who wrote (544704)1/18/2010 4:52:49 PM
From: J_F_Shepard  Read Replies (1) of 1574199
 
"In fact, it was because of government programs like the Apollo program and the Minuteman program that ICs became commercially viable. They were the only market for $1000 ICs in the early 1960s and consumed all of the production in the early years."

The Apollo program at least through Apollo 11 (the moon lander) had onboard computers built by IBM using SLT, ie Solid Logic Technology). SLT was single transistors sealed in quartz and mounted on ceramic substrates using flip chip attachment. Apollo 11 landed in July,1969. The Apollo craft used SLT, past 1970 since the hybrid circuits had already been designed into them years earlier.. IBM, however, used SLT circuits its commercial System 360 machines in 1964. I believe IBM began building Monolithic System Technology chips, ie all on one silicon chip, around 1963 including a 16 bit bipolar SRAM. Other chip companies were building monolithic IC's about that time. Around 1970, PMOS devices were prominent...IBM, for it's own use, introduced NMOS devices about that time also.

UNIVAC computers was built with contained vacuum tubes...

"The central complex of the UNIVAC was about the size of a one-car garage: fourteen feet by eight feet by eight feet high. It held the mercury memory unit and all the C.P.U. circuitry. The exterior of the unit was composed of hinged gray metal doors that could be opened to access the circuitry racks. In the middle of one of the long sides of the unit, there was a clear Plexiglas door to allow access to the heart of the system: it was a walk-in computer. The vacuum tubes produced an enormous amount of heat, so a high capacity cooled water and blower air conditioner system was necessary to cool the unit. In addition to the central complex, there were eight UNISERVO tape drives, an operator cabinet, and a console typewriter/printing machine. In the beginning printing was done offline by the UNIPRINTER, which resembled an overgrown typewriter with an attached tape drive. A much-needed 600 line per minute printer (at 130 characters per line) was added in 1954. The full system had 5200 vacuum tubes, weighed 29,000 pounds, and exhausted 125 kilowatts of electrical power."

velocityguide.com
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