Sixty years of computation - the machines of Konrad Zuse
Abstract: "This paper provides the first detailed description of the architecture of the computing machines Z1 and Z3 designed by Konrad Zuse in Berlin between 1936 to 1941. The necessary information was obtained from a careful evaluation of the patent application filed by Zuse in 1941. Additio...
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Format: | Buch |
Sprache: | English |
Veröffentlicht: |
Berlin-Wilmersdorf
Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum für Informationstechnik
1996
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Schriftenreihe: | Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum für Informationstechnik <Berlin>: Preprint SC
1996,9 |
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Zusammenfassung: | Abstract: "This paper provides the first detailed description of the architecture of the computing machines Z1 and Z3 designed by Konrad Zuse in Berlin between 1936 to 1941. The necessary information was obtained from a careful evaluation of the patent application filed by Zuse in 1941. Additional insight was gained from a software simulation of the machine's logic. The Z1 was built using purely mechanical components, the Z3 using electromechanical relays. However, both machines shared a common logical structure and the programming model was exactly the same. We argue that both the Z1 and the Z3 possessed features akin to those of modern computers: memory and processor were separate units, the processor could handle floating-point numbers and compute the four basic arithmetical operations as well as the square root of a number. The program was stored on punched tape and was read sequentially. In the last section of this paper we bring the architecture of the Z1 and Z3 into historical perspective by offering a comparison with computing machines built in other countries." |
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Beschreibung: | 26 S. graph. Darst. |