Z1 (computer) - Design

Design

The Z1 contained almost all parts of a modern computer, i.e. control unit, memory, micro sequences, floating point logic (the Boolean logic unit was not realized) and input-output devices. The Z1 was freely programmable via punched tape and a punched tape reader. There was a clear separation between the punched tape reader, the control unit for supervising the whole machine and the execution of the instructions, the arithmetic unit, and the input and output devices.

The Z1 was a 22-bit floating point value adder and subtracter, with some control logic to make it capable of more complex operations such as multiplication (by repeated additions) and division (by repeated subtractions). The Z1's instruction set had nine instructions and it took between one and twenty cycles per instruction.

The Z1 had a 64-word floating point memory, where each word of memory could be read from - and written to - by the control unit. The mechanical memory units were unique in their design and were patented by Konrad Zuse in 1936. The machine was only capable of executing instructions while reading from the punched tape reader, so the program itself was not loaded in its entirety into internal memory in advance.

The input and output were in decimal numbers, with a decimal exponent and the units had special machinery for converting these to and from binary numbers. The input and output instructions would be read or written as floating point numbers. The program tape was 35 mm film with the instructions encoded in punched holes.

Read more about this topic:  Z1 (computer)

Famous quotes containing the word design:

    I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.
    John Adams (1735–1826)

    You can make as good a design out of an American turkey as a Japanese out of his native stork.
    —For the State of Illinois, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    To nourish children and raise them against odds is in any time, any place, more valuable than to fix bolts in cars or design nuclear weapons.
    Marilyn French (20th century)