First Generation of Computer
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First Generation Computer (1946-1959):
- Hardware Technology The first generation of computers used vacuum tubes in figure. For circuitry and magnetic drums for memory. The input to the computer was through punched cards and paper tapes. The output was displayed as print out.
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- Software Technology The instructions were written in machine language. Machine language uses 0s and 1s for coding of the instructions. The first generation computers could solve one problem at a time.
- Computing Characteristics The computation time was in milliseconds.
- Physical Appearance These computers were enormous in size and required a large room for installation.
- Application They were used for scientific applications as they were the fastest computing device of their time.
The first
generation computers used a large number of vacuum tubes and thus generated a
lot of heat. They consumed a great deal of electricity and were expensive to
operate. The machines were prone to frequent malfunctioning and required
constant maintenance. Since first generation computers used machine language,
they were difficult to program.
The first large
electronic computer was made in 1946 by a team lead by Eckert and Mauchly at
the University of Pennsylvania in
the USA. This computer called Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC). It had a very
small memory and was designed primarily to calculate the trajectories of
missiles. ENIAC took about 200 milliseconds to add two add two digits and about
2800 milliseconds to multiply.
A major
breakthrough occurred in the logical design of computers when the concept of a
stored program was proposed by John Von Neumann in 1946. His idea was to store
instructions in the memory of the computer along with data. These instructions
could themselves be modified as required by other instructions. This allowed
easy implementation of program loops. The first computer using this principle
was designed and commissioned at Cambridge University, UK, under the leadership
of Wilkes. This computer called EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic
Calculator) was completed in 1949 and used mercury delay lines for storage.
Commercial
production of stored program electronic computers began in the early 1950s. One
of the early computers of this type was UNIVAC I built by Univac division of
Remington Rand Corporation and delivered in 1951. This computer used vacuum
tubes. As vacuum tubes used filaments as
a source of electrons, they had a limited life. Each tube consumed about half a
watt power. Computers typically used about ten thousand tubes. Power
dissipation was very high. As a large number of tubes, each with limited life,
were used in fabricating these computers, their mean time between failure was
low-of the order of an hour.
Characteristics:-
The
characteristics features of first- generation computers are as follows:
1. They
were the fastest calculating devices of their time.
2. They
were too large or bulky in size, requiring large rooms for installation.
3. Thousands
of vacuum tubes, which were used, emitted large amount of heat and burnt out
frequently. Hence, the rooms/areas in which these computers were located had to
be properly air- conditioned.
4. Each
vacuum tube consumed about half a watt of power. Since a computer typically
used more than ten thousand vacuum tubes, the power consumptions of these
computers were very high.
5. AS
vacuum tubes used filaments, they had a limited life. Since thousands of vacuum
tubes were used in making one computer, these computers were prone to frequent
hardware failures.
6. Due to
low mean time between failures, these computers required almost constant
maintenance.
7. In these
computers, thousands of individual’s components had to be assembled manually by
hand into functioning circuits. Hence, commercial production of these computers
was difficult and costly.
Advantages of First Generation Computer
1.
Vacuum tubes were
the only electronic components available during that time.
2.
Vacuum tube
technology made possible to the invention of digital computers.
3.
First generation
computers were the fastest calculating machine of their time.
4.
The computation
time of these computers were in milliseconds.
Disadvantages of First Generation Computer
1. First generation computers were huge in size.
2.
They were not
completely reliable.
3.
They need air
conditioning because thousands of vacuum tubes generate a large amount of heat.
4.
Hardware failures
were occurred frequently.
5.
They were
non-portable.
6.
Their commercial
use was limited because their production was difficult and costly.
7.
They needed
continuous maintenance.
8.
Manual assembly
of individual components was required.
Some examples of computers of this generation were −
- Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC),
- Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator (ENIAC), and
- Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC).
- IBM-701.
- IBM-650.