MUSASINO-1
Encyclopedia
The MUSASINO-1 was the second electronic computer built in Japan
. Construction started in Musashino, Tokyo
in 1952, and upon completion in July 1957, the computer was used until July 1962. Saburo Muroga, a University of Illinois visiting scholar and member of the ILLIAC I
team, returned to Japan and oversaw the construction of MUSASINO-1.
Using 519 vacuum tube
s and 5,400 parametron
s, the MUSASINIO-1 possessed a magnetic core memory
, initially of 32 (later expanded to 256) words. A word was composed of 40 bit
s, and two instructions could be stored in a single word. Addition time was clocked at 1,350 microsecond
s, multiplication at 6,800 microseconds, and division time at 26.1 millisecond
s.
The MUSASINO-1's instruction set
was a superset
of the ILLIAC I
's instruction, so it could generally use the latter's software. However, many of the programs for the ILLIAC used some of the unused bits in the instructions to store data, and these would be interpreted as a different instructions by the MUSASINO-1 control circuitry.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Construction started in Musashino, Tokyo
Musashino, Tokyo
is a city located in Tokyo, Japan.As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 137,222 and a population density of 12,788.63 persons per km². The total area is 10.73 km².The city was founded on November 3, 1947...
in 1952, and upon completion in July 1957, the computer was used until July 1962. Saburo Muroga, a University of Illinois visiting scholar and member of the ILLIAC I
ILLIAC I
The ILLIAC I , a pioneering computer built in 1952 by the University of Illinois, was the first computer built and owned entirely by a US educational institution, Manchester University UK having built Manchester Mark 1 in 1948.ILLIAC I was based on the Institute for Advanced Study Von Neumann...
team, returned to Japan and oversaw the construction of MUSASINO-1.
Using 519 vacuum tube
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
s and 5,400 parametron
Parametron
Parametron is a logic circuit element invented by Eiichi Goto in 1954. The parametron is essentially a resonant circuit with a nonlinear reactive element which oscillates at half the driving frequency...
s, the MUSASINIO-1 possessed a magnetic core memory
Magnetic core memory
Magnetic-core memory was the predominant form of random-access computer memory for 20 years . It uses tiny magnetic toroids , the cores, through which wires are threaded to write and read information. Each core represents one bit of information...
, initially of 32 (later expanded to 256) words. A word was composed of 40 bit
Bit
A bit is the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications; it is the amount of information stored by a digital device or other physical system that exists in one of two possible distinct states...
s, and two instructions could be stored in a single word. Addition time was clocked at 1,350 microsecond
Microsecond
A microsecond is an SI unit of time equal to one millionth of a second. Its symbol is µs.A microsecond is equal to 1000 nanoseconds or 1/1000 millisecond...
s, multiplication at 6,800 microseconds, and division time at 26.1 millisecond
Millisecond
A millisecond is a thousandth of a second.10 milliseconds are called a centisecond....
s.
The MUSASINO-1's instruction set
Instruction set
An instruction set, or instruction set architecture , is the part of the computer architecture related to programming, including the native data types, instructions, registers, addressing modes, memory architecture, interrupt and exception handling, and external I/O...
was a superset
SuperSet
SuperSet Software was a group founded by friends and former Eyring Research Institute co-workers Drew Major, Dale Neibaur, Kyle Powell and later joined by Mark Hurst...
of the ILLIAC I
ILLIAC I
The ILLIAC I , a pioneering computer built in 1952 by the University of Illinois, was the first computer built and owned entirely by a US educational institution, Manchester University UK having built Manchester Mark 1 in 1948.ILLIAC I was based on the Institute for Advanced Study Von Neumann...
's instruction, so it could generally use the latter's software. However, many of the programs for the ILLIAC used some of the unused bits in the instructions to store data, and these would be interpreted as a different instructions by the MUSASINO-1 control circuitry.