Difference between revisions of "IBM 7090"

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| logic type = [[Standard Modular System|SMS]] cards using alloy-junction [[transistor]]s
 
| logic type = [[Standard Modular System|SMS]] cards using alloy-junction [[transistor]]s
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| clock speed = 4.4 µsec (basic add instruction)
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| memory speed = 2.2 µsec
 
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It was designed hurriedly to meet the requirements of Sylvania, the data processing subcontractor for the [[BMEWS]] missile warning [[radar]] network, which was under a mandate to use transistor computers.
 
It was designed hurriedly to meet the requirements of Sylvania, the data processing subcontractor for the [[BMEWS]] missile warning [[radar]] network, which was under a mandate to use transistor computers.
  
For this reason, it relied heavily on engineering from the [[STRETCH]] project; units such as power supplies, back panels and the memory unit were transplanted from STRETCH.
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For this reason, it relied heavily on engineering from the [[IBM 7030 Stretch]] project; units such as power supplies, back panels and the memory unit were transplanted from Stretch.
  
 
In addition to its use for the ground-breaking [[Compatible Time-Sharing System‎‎|CTSS]] [[operating system]], a pair of 7090's were used in the equally influential American Airlines [[SABRE]] [[real-time]] airline reservation system.
 
In addition to its use for the ground-breaking [[Compatible Time-Sharing System‎‎|CTSS]] [[operating system]], a pair of 7090's were used in the equally influential American Airlines [[SABRE]] [[real-time]] airline reservation system.
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* [http://www.frobenius.com/7090.htm IBM 7090/94 Architecture]
 
* [http://www.frobenius.com/7090.htm IBM 7090/94 Architecture]
  
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[[Category:IBM Computers]]
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[[Category: IBM Mainframes]]

Latest revision as of 01:18, 9 August 2022


IBM 7090
Manufacturer: International Business Machines
Year Announced: December, 1958
Year First Shipped: November, 1959
Year Discontinued: July, 1969
Form Factor: mainframe
Word Size: 36 bits
Logic Type: SMS cards using alloy-junction transistors
Instruction Speed: 4.4 µsec (basic add)
Memory Speed: 2.2 µsec
Physical Address Size: 15 bits (32K words)
Operating System: SOS, IBSYS, IBJOB, FMS, CTSS
Predecessor(s): IBM 709
Successor(s): IBM 7094
Price: US$2.9M (and up)


The IBM 7090 was IBM's first commercial transistor scientific mainframe (built at a time when computers for scientific and business computing used separate instruction sets).

It was upwardly compatible with its vacuum tube technology predecessor, the IBM 709. It had a performance of six times that of a 709, but only cost one third more.

It was designed hurriedly to meet the requirements of Sylvania, the data processing subcontractor for the BMEWS missile warning radar network, which was under a mandate to use transistor computers.

For this reason, it relied heavily on engineering from the IBM 7030 Stretch project; units such as power supplies, back panels and the memory unit were transplanted from Stretch.

In addition to its use for the ground-breaking CTSS operating system, a pair of 7090's were used in the equally influential American Airlines SABRE real-time airline reservation system.

Further reading

  • Charles J. Bashe, Lyle R. Johnson, John H. Palmer, Emerson W. Pugh, IBM's Early Computers, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1986

External links