IBM 7090: Difference between revisions

From Computer History Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
m Fix cat
m External links: trim URL
 
(4 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 10: Line 10:
<!-- | virtual address = x bits -->
<!-- | virtual address = x bits -->
| logic type = [[Standard Modular System|SMS]] cards using alloy-junction [[transistor]]s
| logic type = [[Standard Modular System|SMS]] cards using alloy-junction [[transistor]]s
<!-- | design type = -->
<!-- | design type = -->
| clock speed = 4.4 µsec (basic add instruction)
| instruction speed = 4.4 µsec (basic add)
| memory speed = 2.2 µsec
| memory speed = 2.2 µsec
<!-- | memory mgmt = bounds register -->
<!-- | memory mgmt = bounds register -->
Line 26: Line 26:
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.
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.
Line 39: Line 39:
* [http://www.quadibloc.com/comp/cp0309.htm From the IBM 704 to the IBM 7094]
* [http://www.quadibloc.com/comp/cp0309.htm From the IBM 704 to the IBM 7094]
* [http://www.frobenius.com/7090.htm IBM 7090/94 Architecture]
* [http://www.frobenius.com/7090.htm IBM 7090/94 Architecture]
* [https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/firsts-history-computing-paul-g-allen-collection/ibm-7090-mainframe-computer-107/230044 An IBM 7090 mainframe computer] - from Paul Allen's collection at the [[Living Computer Museum|LCM]], includes several images


{{stub}}
{{semi-stub}}


[[Category:IBM Mainframes]]
[[Category: IBM Mainframes]]

Latest revision as of 23:30, 22 April 2025


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