Difference between revisions of "Serial computer"
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For example, instead of a [[word]]-wide [[adder]], there is only a single-[[bit]] adder, and to add two numbers, they are fed into it a bit at a time, one bit on each [[clock]] tick, starting with the least significant bit. | For example, instead of a [[word]]-wide [[adder]], there is only a single-[[bit]] adder, and to add two numbers, they are fed into it a bit at a time, one bit on each [[clock]] tick, starting with the least significant bit. | ||
| − | Serial computers were more common in the early stages of computing; they are slower, and have more complex control [[logic]], but | + | Serial computers were more common in the early stages of computing; they are slower, and have more complex control [[logic]], but seemingly used fewer components - an acceptable trade-off at that stage, when the technology (e.g. [[vacuum tube]]s) was more expensive, and physically bulky. In reality, due to their complexity, they were not actually as economical in their use of components as it had been thought they would be; their greater complexity, and slower speed, turned out to be too high a price to pay for their somewhat limited component counts. |
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Revision as of 12:02, 12 May 2024
A serial computer is one which uses a serial implementation for operations on larger units of data (e.g. the addition of two numbers), rather than the more common parallel.
For example, instead of a word-wide adder, there is only a single-bit adder, and to add two numbers, they are fed into it a bit at a time, one bit on each clock tick, starting with the least significant bit.
Serial computers were more common in the early stages of computing; they are slower, and have more complex control logic, but seemingly used fewer components - an acceptable trade-off at that stage, when the technology (e.g. vacuum tubes) was more expensive, and physically bulky. In reality, due to their complexity, they were not actually as economical in their use of components as it had been thought they would be; their greater complexity, and slower speed, turned out to be too high a price to pay for their somewhat limited component counts.
