Difference between revisions of "IBM 7090"

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(mention SABRE use, performance over 709)
(Add data, links, further reading)
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| name = IBM 7090
 
| name = IBM 7090
 
| manufacturer = [[International Business Machines]]
 
| manufacturer = [[International Business Machines]]
<!-- | year announced = -->
+
| year announced = December, 1958
 
| year first shipped = November, 1959
 
| year first shipped = November, 1959
<!-- | year discontinued = -->
+
| year discontinued = July, 1969
 
| form factor = [[mainframe]]
 
| form factor = [[mainframe]]
 
| word size = 36 bits
 
| word size = 36 bits
<!-- | physical address = x bits (K words) -->
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| physical address = 15 bits (32K words)
 
<!-- | virtual address = x bits -->
 
<!-- | virtual address = x bits -->
| logic type = [[transistor]]s
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| logic type = alloy-junction [[transistor]]s
 
<!-- | design type =  -->
 
<!-- | design type =  -->
<!-- | clock speed = µsec (basic instructions) -->
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| clock speed = 4.4 µsec (basic add instruction)
 
| memory speed = 2.2 µsec
 
| memory speed = 2.2 µsec
 
<!-- | memory mgmt = bounds register -->
 
<!-- | memory mgmt = bounds register -->
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| predecessor = [[IBM 709]]
 
| predecessor = [[IBM 709]]
 
| successor = [[IBM 7094]]
 
| successor = [[IBM 7094]]
<!-- | price = US$30K (8KW system) -->
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| price = US$2.9M (and up)
 
}}
 
}}
  
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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 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 relied heavily on engineering from the [[STRETCH]] project; units such as power supplies, back panels and the memory unit were transplanted from STRETCH.
+
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.
  
A pair of 7090's were used in the American Airlines [[SABRE]] [[real-time]] airline reservation system.
+
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.
 +
 
 +
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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 +
==Further reading==
 +
 
 +
* Charles J. Bashe, Lyle R. Johnson, John H. Palmer, Emerson W. Pugh, ''IBM's Early Computers'', MIT Press, Cambridge, 1986
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==External links==
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* [http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/mainframe/mainframe_PP7090.html 7090 Data Processing System] - IBM Archive page
 +
* [http://www.quadibloc.com/comp/cp0309.htm From the IBM 704 to the IBM 7094]
  
 
{{stub}}
 
{{stub}}
  
 
[[Category:IBM Computers]]
 
[[Category:IBM Computers]]

Revision as of 02:12, 13 November 2017


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: alloy-junction transistors
Clock Speed: 4.4 µsec (basic add instruction)
Memory Speed: 2.2 µsec
Physical Address Size: 15 bits (32K words)
Operating System: SOS, IBSYS, IBJOB, 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 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