REPRODUCED FROM BEST AVAILABLE COPY DIGITAL CuOM rPUTER ' The purpose of this newsletter to provide a medium for the interchange among Interested persons of Information concerning recent developments I In various dlqttal computer projects DistrIbut Ion Is lIm- Ited to government agencies contr vcors and contributors L OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH • MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES DIVISION Vol 11 No I Gordon D Goldstein Editor Jean S Campbell Asst Editor •TABLE to January 1959 OF CONTENTS Page No COMPUTERS AND DATA PROCESSORS NORTH AMERICA 1 Computer Control Company Inc SPEC Wellesley Massachusetts 2 Eastman Kodak Co Minicard System Rochester N Y 3 Remington Rand New Univac Computer New York N Y 1 I 3 COMPUTING CENTERS 1 Air Force Cambridge Research Center AFCRC Magnetic Computer L G Hanscom Field Bedford Massachusetts 2 National Bureau of Standards Computation Laboratory Washington D C 3 Ogden Air Materiel Area 355 RAMAC Application Hill Air Force Base Utah 4 4 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 Oklahoma City Air Material Area Headquarters Data Processing Center Tinker Air Force Base Oklahoma The Pennsylvania State University PENNSTAC University Park Penna RCA Service Company FLAC and 709 Patrick Air Force Base Florida U S Army Electronic Proving Ground Automatic Data Processing Division Fort Huachuca Arizona U S Naval Proving Ground Naval Ordnance Computation Center Dahlgren Virginia 5 5 6 6 7 U S Navy Bureau of Ships Electron Computer Branch Code 280 Washington D C COMPUTERS AND CENTERS OVERSEAS 1 Elliott Brothers Ltd Elliott 802 London England 2 Mathematiecher Beratungs-Und Programmierungsdienst G M B H 8 Computing Center Dortmund Germany 8 COMPONENTS 1 2 3 4 5 Digitronics Corp Metallic Tape Cleaner Albertson N Y ElectroData Div Burroughs Corp High Speed Printer Pasadena Calif Ferranti-Packard Electric Ltd High Speed Tape Readers Toronto Ontario International Business Machines Corporation 305 RAMAC Equipment New York New York Stromberg-Carlson Computer Readout Display San Diego California MISCELLANEOUS 1 The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company Cleveland Ohio 2 Navy Management Office MSTS Data Processing Washington D 3 14 T 1 3D % •Trhis d cun- ln publijc rolCGec -5 3onunrlirttod 1I 12 13 13 C Contributions for Digital Computer Newsletter lm 9 9 10 A' I distr bUihul Approved by The Under Secretary of the Navy 20 August 1957 q t I i Li C NAVEXOS P-645 COMPUTERS AND DATA PROCESSORS NORTH AMERICA HPIC - i'OMPIITNII CONTIII t I'CMPANY M INt' WKIXIKUILKY MAMNAVIIUNKTT1'1 A hotir'd pI'oij i1 educnihi1nsl reiinputor has woen designed and it being mnrketod by 'om11liukltr '111tro1 C'mu ipany lf W#ilirly Monasahuiutts and l os An•ele Calitfornia It is Intended ot usp lby e•tutiii 11 1sltuti'ivis i It ald in the 11mtru ilon tf digital lechniquel The IPXC is a siltlod proVs11'111 1a1hine11o utilling a is 1it word length with a rapaintly tit III woirds of internal high stesit stwroge It has lia'i operations ' cdis and pertor11s at a speed tf about 1500 opertkihnl pter eollnd 'hi Vn11 IN constructed entirely ti standard one megacyele dtynamIcun loll phull in paskiagoo ' he menmory vonsists tif fuur plugt-in magnelosiritive delay ilnts each storing 314 hlts 3911 words with an%average accoss lime of ahbul 300 niturosicondts The first 01 has eit llvompleted and is operallotial The building blocks which aro wired to form the tot1mputer vuonflglration are caiable tif being readily rewired to form nmany other desired logical vulsiguraitiol that falls witihin the also restriction td the three 3C-0LO's of logical packages A n•rk it version Is being doesiiged in which the logical wiring of the building blocks will be implenientud by moano Uoa program patchba rd This will make V naible a rapid transition froe a general purpose computer ti a digital differeonlal snalyaer or to a universal logical bilding block for student laboratory experiments and projects The initial design of the D D A logic Indicates that this configuration will onsiut of about 20 integrators with an Integrator bit capacity tf about 30 bils The proeassing rate will be about 1500 integrator per second This will be a device that will nut only be useful as an educational tool but will also be practi•al for complex problem solutions MINICARD SYBTEM - 1A TMAN KODAK CO - ROCHEBTER NY Ite Minicard System is an electronic-microfilm medium for the uMit record storage and single search retrieval of documentary Information The heart of the system ti the Minicard film record the permankent photographic memory A tiny piece of film measuring 16 by 32 millimeters it combines the nmobility of the tabulating card and the space-saving compactness of m1icrofilming Where a tabulating card uses pwiched holes for indexing and searching purisiess the Minicard film record uses black and white dots directly exposed in the film emulsion The film record thirty times smaller than a standard tabulating card has a code capacity that is five times greater The film record has both the indexing code and the g 'aphic information as a unit producing a real complete unified record This is the single-search feature of the system The full information can be viewed on a film reader the minute it is located Mlnicard film records can be searched at a speed of 1000 a minute Squally important is the refiling job These film records are simply deposited back into their respective magazines in a file block No need to sort them in proper alphabetical or numerical sequence Almost any kind of indexing system in use today - alphabetical or numerical - may be converted into the Minicard system The space savings feature is even greater than in present-microfilming systems because a ratio of reduction of 60 to 1 is used in the Minicard system This is about fifty percent more than now available in commercial microfilming The first complete Minicard system now in use by the U S Air Force in the Pentagon was produced under a contract placed with Kodak by Rome Air Development Center Rome N Y The Minicard system is a continuing development of Eaptman Kodak Company and will not be generally available until other government commitments are fulfilled It will be marketed through Recordak Corporation the Kodak microfilming subsidiary - 1- Various pel'ialloed photographlo pleotronlo mechanical and optical pleces of equipment are required to retord r'ode store arrange find and correlate Information itn the system The Magtnavox Company cooperated with Kodak in lte development and onstructiow nents li the mysetm lions are of some compn - Some of the major units and pieces of equipinent and their specifi func- i'lrot io the film rerord the tiny piece tf film which is the heart of the system Up to twelve pages ti legal-eisc dcwuniotst can be smqiused on a single flmi record--much as charts printed pages maps drawings and evea photogropho When the film revord contains twelve pages there is still space remaining for 40 characters of alpha-nunieric indoxing rutde The fewer the number of document istages on the filto ro'ecrd the more spate there is for Indexing odes Uometimes the full area may be used ior indexing with the document Images to follow on other film records in sequence The breakdown tf classifications for file information in unlimited As many duplicates a needed can be produced and deposited In the same number of classifications in the file The black bar area at the left end of the film record $a used for secondary classification of documentary Information oy adding the required code pattern on the first generation duplicate film record Al the classifications given for filing information are first transferred to punched tape on a Flexowriter The same machine is used to read thi s ode information Into the Minicard Camera It Is also used to read additional code into the duplicating machine for making the working file film records In combination with a plugboard it is also used to read input Inquiries into the selector when searching the files for rapid retrieval At the camera the punched tape is converted electronically into the code pattern on the film record A small area of the pattern is masked out at this stage to allow space for adding additional classifying code on the first generation duplicates Next the documents are microfilmed one at a time recording up to 12 pages on a single film record If i document contains more than twelve pages extra film records are microfilmed in sequence The 16ms film comes In 200-foot rolls After a full roll of film is exposed it is developed and dried in the continuous Processor It operates at a speed of 50 frames a minute One 200-foot roll of film is processed In 40 minutes Next it is inspected for image quality Minicard roll film containing basic code classification and images of graphic material are cut into the individual frames on the Cutter at a speed of 600 a minute These are the let generation or original negatives By means of slots in the end of each film record they are stacked onto steel sticks for handling convenience One of tiwse handling sticks holds a total of 2000 film records the capacity of a magazine in the file blockM where the master file of duplicate film rrcords is stored for future reference If each film record contains 12 pages of documentary information then one stick of 2000 film records in the equivalent of 24 000 legal-size pages of information A smaller handling ctlick with the capacity of about 800 film records is used to handle expendable duplicate film records when providing the information to answer specific questions These may be destroyed or retained by the person inquiring after they have served their purpose From the film cutter the film records are inserted in the electronic duplicator to produce 2nd generation positive duplicates At this stage the cross indexing code is added to each f'lm record by means of punched tape input passed through a reader typewriter ThIs is the unprecedented feature of the system which permits expanding the files to whatever extent a 9iece of information lends itself The positive film records are now ready for sorting into the working file the storage of information used for searching purposes The original negative film records becon 9 the master file for security protection never to be used except in a case of emergency to replace lost positive film records In the working file Using a plugboard for programming the film records are sorted into their various classifications in the working file -2- The working file of film records consists tf aluminum file blocks of lift mlagazines each The capacity of each maitgaino is 3000 film reoords ame its the vcontents of a large handling otick One file block thoe ham the capacity of 100 000 film records or the equivalent of 1 300 000 document pages A Miniard hie cabinet of nine of Uiole file blocks therefore ham the capacity tii 900 000 filint records ot a total of 10 800 000 document pages Over I00 standard letter-aibe file cabinets o•ccupying 3000 square feet tof floor space would be required to store the same aniount of information on paper The svarching or output operation of the system starts first with an inquiry This is coded by all the terms of subjects locations And other qualifying phrases and punched into tape to form the Inquiry A control panel plugboard is wired to establish logic conditions for an output selection and it used in conjunction with the tape From the working file a magazine of film records covering one of the terms of the inquiry is rcmoved with a handling stick and Inserted In the selector At a speed of 1000 film records a minute the selector electronically scans the film records and separates out those containing the necessary information These are then duplicated to provide the expendable third generation negatives for delivery to the individual seeking information The expendable film records may now be viewed in the Analysis Viewer for review purposes If hard paper copies of any of the documents are required for closer study or for the purpose of dissemination notches are punched along the edges of the film record to indicate the desired images A small table top viewer is also available for reading film images in an Individual's own office After the film records have served their purpose they may be retained on sticks for future reference or destroyed The Enlarger-Processor is used to produce the hard copies of any or all images on the individual film records The same stick of expendable third generation negatives is simply inserted in the front of the enlarger The machine automatically reproduces and processes hard paper copies bak k to original size They come out dry at a speed of about 300 prints an hour NEW UNIVAC COMPUTER - REMINGTON RAND - NEW YORK N Y Remington Rand has announced a new magnetic amplifier solid-state commercial dataprocessing system This computer is the first in a now line of low-cost systems utilizing the latest developments in solid-state devices The equipment will rent at $6 950 a month with a purchase price of $347 500 in the United States will begin in June 1959 Deliveries The initial installation of the new solid-state computer ts at the Dresdner Bank Hamburg Germany where it is handling a large range of bank functions Among the first applications are general commercial accounting daily statements checking account statements are issued daily in Europe and savings accounts The new computer will also soon be used to speed billing in the offices of the central purchasing agency for a group of German cooperatives A German manufacturer in heavy industry will use it for general office functions beginning with payroll and another will put it to use on a complicated inventory control and production scheduling application using operations research techniques Orders for the system have also been placed by an Austrian insurance firm which will begin with premium billing and by a public utility in Italy As an operational feature card reading on both the card reader and the read-punch unit proceeds simultaneously as well as simultaneously with punching on the read-punch unit and processing within the central processor This adds significant speed to the entire dataprocessing function There is also an or-line high speed printer which operates at a rate of 600 lines a minute The principles of the new Univac have been proved by the Athena designed by Remington Rand as the ground-based guidance system for the Titan Intercontinental Ballistic Missile -3 - COMPUTING CENTERS AFCRC MAGNETIC COMPUTER - AIR FORCE CAMBRIDGE RESEARCH CENTER L G HANSCOM FIELD BEDFORD MASSACHUSETTS - The AFCRC Magnetic Computer developed by the Remington Rand Univac Division of the Sperry Rand Corporation has been in use for approximately 2-1 2 years The uptime for the first 44 weeks of 19G8 was 90% for a nine hour shift scheduled five days a week The computer is left running unattended overnight and during wekonds and an uptim of 75% was obtained for this time over the same period giving a total of 3626 hours of production Scheduled w aintenalcc Is U hoursit wto The computer is used primarily for general scientific computation but has several rather specialized uses involving real-time data sources Most of the computat'ional problems require floating point arithmetic which does not exist as a basic computer instruction In fact a large portion of the problems computed have required multiple precision arithmetic Consequently single double and quadruple precision floating point arithmetic has been programmed These routines have been incorporated into three interpretive routines utilizing essenUally the same pseudo instruction code One of the special problems encountered involves the use of the computer with a radar simulator to create and develop improved radar simulatU • techniques for use in the design and evaluation of radar data processing systems operatini in the presence of various types of system interference An essential characteristics of thi type of data is that it Is statistical in nature Statistically accurate samples require that 5G to 10 000 sweeps of a radar across a simulated target be recorded with all parameoers The information is converted from analog to digital form and sent in real-time to the Target register a 10 bit fnput register in the comp -er The information is converted from binary to decinal packed and punched out on paper tape for future reference and analysis while computing the pulse-pair covariance and correlation matrices characterizing the simulated target The computer was recently modified to include alphabetic input-output The computer has paper tape and typewriter iaaput-output and originally was capable of handling 10 numberi o punctuation characters in four-bit biquinary code The original input-output register wa- magnetic shift register ten bits long and four bits wide The modification consisted of paralleling this with another register ten bits long and two bits wide which existed in the computer to give a register capable of handling one word 6 bits wide on certain input-output instructions The tape-handling equipment was capable of expansion without modification however it was necessary to order a new typewriter with alphabetics included It is expected that the addition of alphabetics will enhance communication between the operattor and the compater The development of a compiler utilizing the alphanumeric input is now under consideration COMPUTATION LABORATORY - NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS WASHINGTON D C - The memory capacity of the IBM 704 at the National Bureau of Standards has been increased to 8192 words by the addition of another section of core memory an 8192-word drum has also been added Six tape units are still in use The increased memory capacity enables the Computation Laboratory to make considerable use of FORTRAN Computing time is available to Government agencies and their contractors at $200 per hour 355 RAMAC APPLICATION - OGDEN AIR MATERIEL AREA HILL AIR FORCE BASE UTAH - Since the addition In July 1958 of the IBM 355 RAMAC disk storage to the 650 tape system the Statistical Services and Systems Development Division at Ogden Air Materiel Area -4- Headquarters has been in a better position to support the Maintenance Engineering Management System in forecasting workload and material requirements data for the repair of aircraft and other items of equipment The new storage has been used aa an additional memory device for random access data as well as a limited amount of program storage In utilizing this versatile piece of equipment in this manner it has been possible to reduce the amount of main frame computer time and provide better products to the customer on a more timely basis The new equipment has been the primary factor in reducing the number of machine passes from 6 to 1 in a specific application It has been the means of eliminating tape sorting by the resequencing of number changes within the 355 itself and subsequently writing the changes in the proper sequence The reduction of main frame processing time and repetitive handling of data has had a very beneficial effect toward the elimination of processing errors and the w -nt'r tncc of HMh productivc oFcrattn- efficiency DATA PROCESSING CENTER - OKLAHOMA CITY AIR MATERIAL AREA HEADQUARTERS - TINKER AIR FORCE BASE OKLAHOMA The OCAMA Data Processing Center was established in 1955 It is equipped with two IBM 705's two Tape 650's and one 650 Basic and has on order for mid 1959 delivery 2 IBM Disk Control Units sixteen 355 Disk Files and a 305 all for use with a 705 The center's function is to apply autoimatic data processing techniques to Air Force logistic problems At present the primary applications are as follows 1 Air Force world-wide inventory of aircraft engines A tape record for each engine by serial number with daily reporting of changes of engine status on an as happens basis Management reports are produced showing inventory position pipeline status financial data engine failure analysis etc 2 Inventory accounting and distribution of spare parts for B-52 KC-135 aircraft as well as for various commodity classes 3 Status of engineering changes on several types of aircraft 4 Computation of requirements for spare parts for various aircraft and commodity classes PENNSTAC - THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY - UNIVERSITY PARK PENNA The PENNSTAC power supplies were replaced in September 1958 and have decreased the down-time considerably The supplies that were replaced used thyratrons and the Thevinin impedance was high enough to affect the high frequency regulation The new units are magnetic and have far fewer tubes to fail An additional factor contributing to the reliability is that the new supplies permit marginal checking of many parts of the computer that could not be checked previously The computer is now scheduled for preventive maintenance from 8 00 to 12 00 Monday morning and from 8 00 to 9 00 Tuesday through Friday After the maintenance period the computer is operated until approximately 10 00 each evening The problems originate on the campus and from outside the university Work in progress includes coded diagnostic routines for locating malfunctions that are not solid and a new means of output The latter will include the incorporation of a high-speed punch as an alternative output device to the electric typewriter used at present The format will be controlled by the program instead of by the external format tape as presently used The PENNSTAC completed in 1956 is approximately equivalent to an IBM 650 without peripheral equipment and has a 2500 eleven decimal digit IBM 650 magnetic drum for storage During the past year the computer has been used by twenty different dcpartments of the university for the solution of research problems Recently programming effort has been concentrated on the development of programs in statistics and factor analysis About 70% of the available computing time is used for educational and unsponsored research projects at no cost to the user The remaining 30% is devoted to sponsored research -5 L FLAC AND 709 - RCA SERVICE COMPANY - PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE FLORIDA Two Florida Automatic Computer FLAC systems are now in use for the processing of range data Theme computers are operated on a 24 hour day five days per week schedule Operating statistics fur the period July through September 1958 FLAC I FLAC II Data Processing Time 640 40 Hours 973 90 Hours Code Check Time 186 46 224 30 Reruns a Computer Error b Problem Error Preventative Maintenance Corrective Mairtnance 17 40 56 32 119 72 60 97 35 78 85 62 236 73 66 92 1 081 27 1 ' 1 623 25 v Installation of an IBM 709 system is scheduled for 1 July 1959 This system will replace one of the FLAC systems at that time As soon as the 709 can assume the total data processing workload the second FLAC system will be shut down It is estimated that the 709 will assume the total workload by 1 January 1960 This new system will be composed of the following units Quantit Model No Name 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 9 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 709 737 711- 716 721 714-759 717-757 726 755 766 776 9200 727 modified 736 741 746 Main Frame Magnetic Core Storage Card Reader On-line Printer On-line Card Punch On-line Card Reader and Control Unit Off-line Printer and Control Unit Off-line Magnetic Tape Units Tape Control Units Data Synchronizer Unit Tape Switching Unit Paper Tape-to-Magnetic Tape Converter FLAC Format Magnetic Tape Unit Power Supply Unit Power Supply Unit Power Distribution Unit In addition to the above there will be various verifiers interpreters sorters etc AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING DIVI3ION - U S ARMY ELECTRONIC PROVING GROUND - FORT HUACHUCA ARIZONA Heading one of the major efforts in the Army's project to develop a tactical Automatic Data Processing System ADPS for the Army in the Field is a new organization at the U S Army Electronic Proving Ground USAEPG For Huachuca Arizona This project is under the control of the Automatic Data Processing Division which was activated in December 1957 The tactical ADPS visualized for the Army in the Field will be designed to handle largely on a common-user or service center basis much of the information processed by manual methods at the present time The system will consimt mostly of general purpose type digital computers interconnected by a communications network A wide variety of input-output devices will be required to provide access to the system by its user Machine programs for all functions to be handled by ADPS are also required -6- A high-priority program has been under way for over a year now under the USCONARC and a joint DA-USCONARC ADPS Committee The Signal Corps has 1 4 n ated as the prime cognizant agency for the Department of the Army in the fields WA and cleveloprnmant and logistical support of Automatic Data Processing The U S Army Lec tronic Proving Ground in turn has been delegated the important role of assembling the tactical AD'PS hardware to provide the interconnected computer system testing this system's performaunt e and preparing recommendations for improvement of hardware translation of functional area studies into machine programs refining and combining individual functional programs and formulating proposed TOE organizations and proposed doctrine for the system's operation The fully militarized prototype ADP System Is scheduled to be operational by 1963 To accomplish the staggering task the ADP Division has been organized into three major units-Systems Operations Programming and Field Test-each being self-explanatory as to the type of work done Contractual assistance has been secured to launch all phases of the effort The contract will cover a five-year period and has as one of its primary objectives the training of USAEPG military and civil service personnel to the point where all operations can be handled internally The general approach taken involves a maximum use of simulation methods Interpretive techniques will be employed to simulate the militazized data processors so that working programs can be prepared and checked out prior to the delivery of the actual machines Simulation of the statistical or Monte Carlo type will be utilized to predict the performance of the overall systems operation Finally simulation will be used throughout the field test phases to automatize the data collection and reduction as much as possible As intimated above this activity at the Proving Ground is organizing two separate but very related test facilities a Fixed Plant and a Field Test Facility First the Fixed Plant Test Facility will provide the controlled environment to test hardware components and concepts The Computer Center will be within the Fixed Plant Test Facility and will furnish high-speed digital computer services to the entire project The following is the initial equipment complement IBM 709 with 32 000 Word C a Storage 1 Real-Time Package 1 Data Synchronizer Unit 1 High-Speed Paper Tape Reader Punch 2 Tape Control Units 1 On-line Card Reader Punch 16 Magnetic Tape Units 1 On-line Printer 1 C R T and Recorder 1 Off-line Card-to-tape 1 Off-line Tape-to-printer The target date for the Computer Center to become operational is the first of January 1959 The Field Test Facility will be used to operationally test and evaluate under field conditions the military tactical equipment and systems developed It is planned that the field facility will be ready for use in 1960 NAVAL ORDNANCE COMPUTATION CENTER U S NAVAL PROVING GROUND - DAHLGREN VIRGINIA Construction of the Universal Data Transcriber UDT is proceeding on a schedule leading to completion early in 1959 Simulation on NORC of the logic for all standard instructions has been completed and the wiree connecting the logic modules are being installed The 8192 character core memory and other remaining major components were due for delivery in November 1958 The NORC continues operating on a three-shift schedule often including weekends the year 1958 through October statistics are as follows k Availability - 95% of scheduled operating time 78% of total working hours Production - 253 9 hours per month 7 For Problem checkout - 133 0 hours per month Scheduled Maintenance - 79 4 hours per month ELECTRON COMPUTER BRANCH CODE 280 -U S WASHING TON D C NAVY BUREAU OF SHIPS - On 9 October 1958 an IBM 704 high speed digital computer with a 32 000 word memory capacity was placed in operation at the Applied Mathematics Laboratory David Taylor Model Basin In addition to the magnetic core storage the system has the fo lowing components one 8 000 word magnetic drum ten magnetic tape units a card rear'er a card punch and a printer Auxiliary equilpments include an off-line printer and a transceiver A recent change In the organization of the Applied Mathematics Laboratory David Taylor Model Basin reflects thic nddition of a new division This division the Operations Research Division will conduct a research program dealing with the application of high speed digital computer techniques to the solution of problems relating to strategic and tactical operations of the Navy A Univac II computer was turned over for operation to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 15 October 1958 Initial applications are in the area of payroll and supply management COMPUTERS AND -8 CENTERS OVERSEAS ELLIOTT 802 - ELLIOTT BROTHERS LTD - LONDON ENGLAND The Elliott 802 is a small desk size general purpose stored program computer designed for both mathematical and research calculations and also for process control systems The computer contains a 1024-word 33 digit magnetic core store Magnetic cores together with junction transistors are also used for the logical system By using these solid state devices and eliminating all moving parts a high degree of reliability required for on-line applications has been achieved Provision has been made for the inclusion of a large range of special purpose input and output devices Each 33 digit order can represent two 18-digit instructions the extra digit being iLeed as a B line If this digit is present the second order of the pair is B-modified by the store address of the first order-in this way any of the 1024 words can be used as a B-line The 64 functions in the order code include all commonly required fixed point arithmetic and logical orders and there is an overflow register which automatically registers if any result exceeds capacity The order code is easily learned and since there are no exceptions It to easy to program directly in machine code although simplified programming methods are being developed The basic operating speed is 612 microseconds for all orders except multiplication division and shift Multiplication and division each require 21 milliseconds COMPUTING CENTER - MATHEMATJSCHER BERATUNGS-UND PROGRAMMIERUNGSDIENST G M B H - DORTMUND GERMANY This Mathematical Consulting and Programming Service Company is going to open a computing center the middle of 1959 Initially this center will be equipped with the Dutch electronic computer X 1 This Is a computer which has a magnetic core memory with a storage capacity of 4 096 words Also the computer has an additional storage of 1 536 words to store frequently used subroutines floating point solution of linear equations double precision arithmetic etc The input-output is handled by means of punched tape or a typewriter directly connected with the machine Punched-card input-output is being planned The center will work problems coming from the various technical fields They have special experience in the fields of statics steel and reinforced concrete buildings as well as problems arising in the chemical and electrical industry and in machine factories In the future they expect to add additional computer types and auxiliaries Their services are available to any firm The company was founded almost 2 years ago to handle all problems of office •iutomation Their services include 1 Objective and independent advice for prospective users of an electronic computer 2 Organization and programming in the commercial field with regard to the use of electronic computers and punched card machines 3 Programming and solution of technical-scientific problems 4 Programming courses COMPONENTS METALLIC TAPE CLEANER - DIGITRONICS CORP - ALBERTSON N Y A Digitronics Metallic Tape Cleaning Machine see Digital Computer Newsletter October 1958 was installed at Franklin Life Insurance Co Springfield Illinois during October TaLe insurance company reports that the equipment has proven to be very effective A large number of tapes had accumulated in the for tape-test category These tapes had been tested and were unusable for some reason or another During the cleaning procep any obvious defects in the tapes were corrected by the technician operating the machine While the project is far from being completed enough tapes have been processed to determine that 9 out of every 10 such tapes can be placed in operation without any difficulty HIGH SPEED PRINTER - ELECTRODATA DIV BURROUGHS CORP PASADENA CALIF Burroughs Corporation's solution to high speed printing is a new solid-state system which will select edit and print out data from either a computer or magnetic tape at rAtes up to 1500 lines per minute The System consists of two units a printing unit and a control box housing both a magnetic-core buffer plugboard editing controls and power supplies All logical and control circuitry is transistorized Within the printing unit is a high speed drum which features random access to the print cycle The drum comprises 120 print positions with a total of 51 solid-face chluracters per position Fifteen of these characters are special symbols such as CR OD and DB System flow is in three stages loading scanning and printing Loading of the buffer involves the transfer of a predetermined number of words-up to 100-from either magnetic tape or the central processor Plugboard wiring determines the destination with the buffer of each output word All editing and marshalling of information is accomplished during the scanning operation Digits from the 1100 bit memory may be deleted augmented rearranged and variously edited under complete plugboard control The result is then sent to a special 120-position print register in preparation for printing The last operation is the transfer of print register Information to the printed page occurs at one of fcur speeds and for the most part simultaneously with buffer loading - 9- This MI OMtIiYO oIlokil u0110040 ASo 410101'i 1inait hy dibun ollooda and formiat gentii egiteits 114V ihai hnuinor i rates tit ono tit ouriti'duini mspeed Norio oa utiattal owitech 11h0 olW1citi U' vhoiesti 1164 and ill lIinoo lcist intunic IlUtput cc ie4ioiin tith lor druni ugpeeda it' 1114t7 It only IlumPio tiit apovioa eha roetor tutoriut ion topisjtit'- outpulrteisle vo rUNpitndino III dcate Ail I nc pcI' 11inute tDtfIM1ul 111ri11a4 req4uireonloe druin rotes garo 7tBt Pill1 and 150 1101 14lowor ouiput r Alp Trhin ityatoni when linked with tho 11uri'oughs 130 tMia l'riovooilng 10yiieia Iv'ivoi%6W a iolletit' tape pUWdI'fui voecsi ndiitn ilmbiinatiolln It von 1W foil off line1 bIy a 111 iingle Wtrape unit or ill a m ore vultipiex printing apislicatlon two magneotic htop tinits may Iw used alterntettly This iillowo%the mtasking tif tape handtling timeo anid merging tif various recordit with oapo tuift' tanat ionl handling Ill th10 Psytin to hold tit an absoluto minimium The buffer for rxnAmpie in ablo to transfeor fixed Information repeatodly without reo loading Also aso ech digit in tranisfer red humi the buffor it the print regitetr its decimal viAlue to mnade availa ble alt he tontroi paneol lit addition to character recognition the operator may very simply Inillate file inquiry with rotary switch settings Independent of the computer 10 interrogation switche may be met as an Identifkation key In off-line category select Re-wiring of the piugboard is not necessary to print out information selected under the new category Anufther feat-u'e-a form of index accumulator -allows pluilboard control of side-by-aide and multiple line printing operations This facilitatues the printing of different information on the same format the name information on a different format and simplifies control pael wiring It also allows varIable addresoing anid the floating In of information Into the buffer The entire system of data transfur and control func tions Is machine checked Detection of non-permissable characters is checked during translation and R parity bit Is carried aid monitored on transfer operations Control functions are checked as information moves from the bit register to the printer Unless every character to be printed clocks in at a designated time a synchronization mechanism sounds an alarm All alarm conditions mallow the operator to choose between exception printing and machine halt The printer turns out solid-face copy on multiple forms used in billing management reporting customer statement transfer inventory and other high volume printing applications HIGH SPEED TAPE READERS - FERRANTI- PACKARD ELECTRIC LTD - TORONTO ONTARIO A new series of bi-directional high speed tape readers and spoolers has been announced by Ferrant i- Packard to complement the Ferranti Ltd high speed readers types TR2 and TR3 which have been widely adopted on the No rth American continent The new series Is available for 5 7 and 8 hole tape in desk top and rack mounted models Some models are transistorized and employ silicon solar battery photosensitive elements All models can recognize and stop on a selected character at a nominal speed of 200 characters per second 3je 206 Bi-alrectional Desk Model Designed to meet MIL T-945 specification and 2000 hour minimum life Employs 10-1 2 ' feed and take-up spools for bi -directlonal operation and silicon transistor amplifiers for -23 0C to 70 0 C operation Type 196 Bi-Directional Reader Rack Mounting Standard rack or cabinet mounted bidirectional transistorized reader with 10-1 2 ' feed and rewind spools Nominal speed 200 characters per second starting and stopping on each character 270 ±5% characters per second when free running Dual silicon solar cell sensing elements provide 100% standby operation with a self -checking feature optional Plug-in transistor amplifiers and power supplies built-in -10 - 11'1110 1'r0I'Mmrisorid gTop hieader lPhk Wdol A Oank top verl on Wf Typo I but wIth0% ollol l lhl Tylpe 108 Internil Katernal reod ' 'o Opiorle lsetk Moutllil A versatile wIiller deiillaiel III feeood 114M elN relqilred lrml uho otillre lor tllutldo ot a k000 lool reel and Itorwlind lots1 a 1u'oond ol iul at l'ato too Ioi l optional I'u'ntro unwinld'' typy lood reels tllwn harN hlles plr Neunuldý %tid Ktnoloowd 'onttruu'thon 01%%tilers atlke i11b twlo A14as0ls ae1ut eondl eild • nalruthli roqvetllvoly Tap VlI ppoer KqUlpo4ud with talanird to10 11' aond A and 10- I A reel Awxslero Are avall hlir 4 antd 7 Inuh per aeu'uund winding apeeds 'ipavlty lot0 feel of tape Fer'rsnti leCltril' In' advisoe that Ftr'rantl Lid Model TIt 1000 ehr'utwtorm per second 3000 eharaoters per oevound rewind solid state bi-directional reacdtr will be available 1in the very ioar tuturl Tho unit elbodioes atllnal auuplifles lireke vontrols and power supplies Tape widths are 5 7 and I hotle on 1000o t reels All units are avallable In the U A througih rrantl Electrlc lie Htenstead LL N Y 305 RAMAC EQUIPMENT - INTIRNATKONAL BUIINEII MACHINES COIRPORATION NEW YORK NEW YORK - Addlitional features for the 305 R• AAC data processing system have been introduced by IBM's Data Processing Division The new denvices are available as auxiliary units for adding to the regular punched card Input-output printer output and console typewriter facilities of the 305 381 Remote PrintinI Station Up to four 381 stations may be attached to 305 to provide remoTe typingF output forinfoermation developed during processing and from records stored In the disk memory file The 381 may be located as far as 40 feet from the 380 operator's console or through the use of additional cable Installed by the customer may be operated at distances up to 3500 feet from the console By program control output data may be typed on one or any combination of the remote printing stations as well as on the typewrites at the 380 console An inquiry keyboard may be added to each Remote Printing Station for quick access to stored information Inquiries are entered direct from the keyboard and the replies are transmitted back and typed out on the station typewriter In general a 301 station with both typewriter and keyboard duplicates at a remote distance the typing and inquiry operations regularly associated with the console typewriter 382 Paper Tape Reader This new input unit can read punched paper tape directly into the 305 system Tape input from the 382 can be used either separately or in conjunction with punched card input to the 305 As with card input it is not necessary for the tape record to contain all of the necessary information required for processing Designed to read 5-channel telegraphic tape and 8-channel binary coded decimal tape the unit also incorporates an all-channel decoding principle which provides for reading virtually all types of 5 through 7 channel tapes The reading mechanism handles tapes up to one inch wide The reader operates at the rate of 20 characters per second When tape Is processed Input data is checked as it enters the system and also as it is transferred during processing Information from the tape is recorded on a tape input track in the disk memory file in the same order in which it is read but this sequence can be rearranged If desired by the use of a special skip control feature With special tape codes for the 382 writing on the input track can be turned on and off automatically so that only significant data is selected for recording on the tape input track i - 11 - 41' A tiutnlingMachine The 407 Accountintg Maihine can now be operated with the IAMAC 1e 407 may •e used either on-litne as a printeraccootit machine or 'tiff- line as a normal ti Attachment of the 407 dos niotluitprludo the use of the reglular 370 Priltt'o' for the 305 system if desired aesoold Dilk ltorap• Unit N r splilrationt requirino itore than the t ntillilon iaractelr of storage apally proviAd by the 350 Disk storage Unit a second disk memory file may tw minnocted to the system t-ir a total storage apaIqolty tf tO million alphan-iumerie characters al A999o Arn Kich Disk Iltorag Unit can be provided with two acceos arms on the disk %li'to lncreoasetproductive oarlty of the system The dual Arm makes it possible for one aevess unit to be In position for reading or writing while the other arm isI moving iti the next record lintce beth armes may be in nmotion simultaneously processing tine is reduced Dual System Control Formting a new and more poiwerful mystem a 308 with Dual System Contro l ls eas'ellaly two complets systems except that both share the same disk file Each system is independently controlled and except for the shared disk memury is vquipped with the required complement of input processing and output units In a system with Dual System Control the same program can operate In each of the two processing wnits with input data and processing divided between the two systems to reduce record-keeping time This form of Dual System Control will be advantageous to anyone having a high volume of Input data to be processed rapidly With Dual System Control a differont program can also be set up In each of the processing units so that two completely different jobs can be processed simultaneously using the same disk storape COMPUTER READOUT DISPLAY - 8TROMBERO-CARLSON - SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA Stromberg-C arloon - Ban Diego has announced four series of computer readout and display systems complementing their S-C 5000 High-Speed Electronic Printer These various systems are presently being used in commercial data processing installations with scientific computers and with special purpose computers such as those required for air traffic control and military area surveillance systems The S-C 1000 series including the S-C 1010 S-C 1000 Series-Direct View Displays g System now being used with the Remington Rand Computer Display Interven ion an Univac 1103 Scientific Computer for flight data reduction at Eglin Air Force Base permits monitoring of computer programs during the course of the computations and provides for operator instructions to the computer during the course of the program This series also include the S-C 1030 Situation Display Console a quantity of which are presently being installed In a classified military area surveillance system The Direct-View Display known as the S-C 1000 is a computer monitoring device providing the display of programmed data on the face of a 19 CHARACTRON Shaped Beam Tube The S-C 1000 can also be adapted to provide a manual intervention console to assist in experimental computer programming The entire series requires a parallel input register of 26 bits S-C 2000 Series-Bright Displays The S-C 2000 series of Bright Displays provide for console or large screen projection of combined radar and digital intelligence This series of computer readout systems has its major application in air traffic control and military area surveillance systems Multi-colored target information displayed on theater screens or small consoles provides position direction speed altitude and other pertinent data on map overlays or provides similar data in tabular form This system employs the CHARACTRON Shaped Beam Tube and a Haloid xerogrsphic system They provide flicker-free displays with high light output 100 foot lamberts u 21 diameter screen and high resolution up to 80 lines millimeter These displays are fail-safe the last frame is permanently retained-even in the event of complete power failure Separate channels are provided for radar and symbolic data - 12 - SC 3000 forieu- High- peed Communicktiin Printers Theo-C 3000 series are very falt irlle r•eare t' b 00v words per minute Primary oonintunle qtons prntorve comnponents are the field-proven CHARACTRON Shaped Deam Tube and a XeroX Printer Reliability is abteined by using solid state circuitry with modular construction and simplified plug- lit boards Economy of operation results from the use of untreated paper This nonimpaet printer also prints on standard off-set and vellum masters It Is designed to print digital knd favsimile data from high-speed communinations links It can be used in the manner similar to the I-C 5000 aee below for ' igh-speed readout from medium mime digital computers such as the IBM '1070 Acceptable inputs include teletype Collins Kineplex punched tap magneti' tsp computer output or any source which provides a mortal character output 8 vide it 4000 6eries-Higf-51peed Microfilm Printers The S-C 4000 series of printers proniiii flidi1 coinp--u'Fi'opiU'-t ln -'idi-of tabular data graph plotting and design drawin These printers print up to 20 000 characters or 10 000 graph plotting points per second The first printer in the series installed at a major missile facility has been in operation for over three years Other printers in this aeries have been delivered for use at Convair University of California Radiation Laboratory Naval Ordnante Proving Ground Johns Hopkins University ORO and Eglin Air Force Base When used for graph plotting these printers provide for grid projections and drawing of axes and vectors An automatic processing camera provides for console screen viewing of computer output within 8 seconds after exposure of each film frame On-line input to the S-C 4000 series is a 36-bit parallel word Off-line input is a 0-bit parallel word which is used as is for tabular recording and assembled into 36-bit words for random recording This series of printers provides automatic forms projection thus eliminating the need for preprinted forms Microfilm permanent storage and inexpensive shipping costs for computer output data are also provided users of these printers S-C 5000 3ertan-High-Speed Electronic Printers This non-impact printer prints 5 000 l20-_Kc--r -acter lines per minute on untreatedpaper When used with the auxiliary M-10 Registration Buffer the S-C 5000 provides accurate registration of tabular data on preprinted forms The unit utilizes the CHARACTRON Shaped Beam Tube and the XeroX Printer Any binary coded decimal tape code may be used as input These printers are now being manufactured in production quantities MISCELLANEOUS THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY COMPANY - CLEVELAND OHIO It is reported that Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company which installed a Univac I in its Cleveland offices in November 1955 has been seeking proposals from interested manufacturers for the delivery of a large-scale high-speed data-processing system in late 1961 Several computer manufacturers have already discussed their future plans with Dr H N Laden Chief New Systems Development The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company Terminal Tower Cleveland 13 Ohio Since the C O seems to be seeking insurance against early technological obsolescence for a considerable period beyond 1961 interest appears to be in the next generation of computers rather than those being delivered today it is reported that the C O whose Univac I is presently on a three-shift basis will probably triple or quadruple its computing requirements in the next four or five years MSTS DATA PROCESSING - NAVY MANAGEMENT OFFICE - WASHINGTON D C The Commander Military Sea Transportation Service has approved the MSTS Comptroller's report on The Feasibility of Automatic Data Processing at Headquarters MS'IS The report recommended that detailed systems studies be undertaken to develop an integrated management information system which would involve among other things agreement on compatible codes for all services which would facilitate interchange of data on the loads being carried aboard ships and improvements in data transmission among MSTS elements as well as with MSTS customers The Service plans for the time being to obtain electronic data pr6cessing time from other government agencies rather than install equipment of their own - 13 - A survey is now under way at the MST8 Atlantic Area Command to determine the best data processing methods for Civilian Marine Personnel Records Integration of personnel and payroll records is one of the aims of this study It is anticipated that changes to payroll records can be made automatically as a by-product of changos to personnel records CONTRIBUTIONS FOR DIGITAL COMPUTER NEWSLETTER The Office of Naval Research welcomes contributions to the NEWSLETTER Your contributions will assist in Improving the contents of this newsletter and in making it an even better medium of exchange of information between government laboratories academic Institutions and industry It is hoped that the readers will participate to an even greater extent than in the past in transmitting technical material and suggestions to this Office for future issues Because of limited time and personnel it is often impossible for the editor to acknowledge individuatly all material which has been sent to this Office for publAcation The NEWSLETTER is published four times a year on the first of January April July and October and material should be in the hands of the editor at least one month before the publication date in order to be Included in that issue The NWLETTER is circulated to all interested military and government agencies and the contractors of the Federal Government In addition it is being reprinted in the Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery Communications should be addressed to GORDON D GOLDSTEIN Editor Digital Computer Newsletter Information Systems Branch Office of Naval Research Washington 25 D C - 14- regulations require Government distribution 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