The word length it supported was 32 bits. The architecture of the SAGE included a duplex CPU, one of which would be running no interrupts, 4 index registers, and a real-time clock. The whole system space was around 2000 square meters, with the CPU taking up 15 x 45 meters and the consoles taking up 8 x 15 meters. This machine has 60000 vacuum tubes, 1750000 diodes, and 13000 transistors. The SAGE weighed more than 250 tons in total. Jay Forrester created the SAGE system to detect Soviet aircraft carrying nuclear weapons and direct American missiles to intercept and destroy them. SAGE was made up of 23 direction centers (concrete-hardened bunkers scattered across the United States and one in Canada), each equipped with a SAGE computer capable of tracking up to 400 planes. IBM, the main contractor, designed the SAGE computer based on the stillborn Whirlwind II design rather than the original Whirlwind. The Whirlwind II concept was shelved without being built to focus MIT’s resources on the Whirlwind I. However, the design quickly went beyond MIT’s capabilities. Jay Forrester: Inventor of SAGE Computer Systemįollowing the successful completion and operation of the sophisticated Whirlwind computer, work on a more extensive and faster machine (dubbed Whirlwind II) began. Quick Facts Created 1950s Creator Jay Forrester and George Valley Original Use Jay Forrester created the SAGE system to detect Soviet aircraft carrying nuclear weapons and direct American missiles to intercept and destroy them. The introduction of magnetic core memory, which considerably enhanced the machine’s dependability, running speed (x2), and input speed (x4) over the Whirlwind’s original Williams tube memory, was a significant accomplishment. The idea was initially tested on his Whirlwind computer, hooked up to a long-range and numerous short-range radars on Cape Cod. Jay Forrester prepared a lengthy article in 1948 outlining his proposal for improving America’s air defense utilizing advances learned during World War II radar research. Jay Forrester (designer of the Whirlwind computer) and George Valley, two academics at MIT’s Lincoln Lab, came up with the idea for SAGE Computer System. It was massive – deep underground tunnels, huge computers monitored every movement in the sky and defended the United States from a surprise nuclear assault.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |