full image - Repost: [R&D] Proposal for an MIT Ternary Computer (from Reddit.com, [R&D] Proposal for an MIT Ternary Computer)
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1950Herbert R. J. Grosch has come forward with a proposal to begin a new ternary computer project based upon the current Whirlwind computer project at MIT. The computer would use balanced ternary logic, with +1, 0, and -1, represented by a positivepulse, the absence of a pulse, and a negative pulse, respectively, with each digit referred to as a trit, with 6 trits in a tryte. A kilotryte would be 59,049trytes. Now, this may seem huge, as a kilobyte only has 1,024 bytes, but if we consider that a bit and a trit take up the same space on a storage device, and we break maths down into their individual bits and trits, we’re looking at 354,294 trits in a kilotryte, representing the numerical value of 59,049. storing this numerical value in binary would require 472,392bits, or 59.049kilobytes. Lets not get ahead of ourselves tho, and consider a real life example. The UNIVAC UNISERVO, developed for release next year, has an expected capability of 224kilobytes, which it breaks data into blocks of 60 12-bit words. This is equal to 90bytes of binary data, or 120trytes of ternary data, per block. Note that we’d see a real world improvement of 25% on the same storage medium. We can take this further, scale it up. Lets forget kilobytes, and skip over megabytes. The amount of data that would one day require 3.48gigabytes under a binary system would take up only 2.61gigabytes under a ternary system. The cost savings could be astronomical. And this doesn't just affect storage, this also translates to data throughput. Going back to UNISERVO, the nominal transfer rate would increase from 12,800 characters per second to 16,000. Early this year, the study “High-speed Computing Devices” was released by Engineering Research Associates. The information within this book was compiled on behalf of the U.S. Navy, on the hypothesis that a computer's component count would be roughly proportional both to the width and to the depth of the numbers being processed, suggesting that rw might be a good predictor of hardware cost, and so ternary notation would make the most efficient use of hardware resources.[m]After careful analysis, key notes of this book:Regarding the point-contact transistor, page 422.The advantages of this element are its small size, low power drain, sturdy construction, long life, and cool operation. It will probably be competitive with the electron tube in total cost per stage.Regarding ternary data saving, page 423.Since a given number can be represented by a smaller number of digits in a larger radix system, there is a resulting saving in time when the higher radix number is stored in serial storage, and a resulting saving in number of channels when the number is stored in parallel channels. A saving of 58 percent can be gained in going from a binary to a ternary system.Right now we can achieve a 25% increase in data density in a serial computing situation. If we switch to bit-parallel computing, as we’re developing with Whirlwind, this improvement could double, and then some, as much as 58%. This is the future of computational power, and if we can pull it off first, it will keep us ahead of the world for decades to come. More powerful computers would mean faster research and development of fighter jets, more accurate radar networking than Whirlwind could ever dream to provide, more precise artillery calculations, the military applications of this experiment would be truly incredible. Much of the underlying hardware workings required are already being or have been developed for the Whirlwind program, we simply need the additional time and funding to improve upon it to suit the needs of this new project, and to construct the new machine.This is why we are requesting $2.5mn spread over 2 years to conduct this project, which we propose be named Hurricane, at MIT. Hurricane would be a 12-bit machine running at 1MHz. It would initially operate with 9840tryte internal memory, or 820 12-bit words, with the goal of connecting it to an adapted tape drive unit for additional storage, operating alongside the magnetic core memory developed as part of whirlwind. It would require no less than 4,200 vacuum tubes.Where will this lead? Well, coming back to page 423 of the previously mentioned study, should this project bear fruit, we can proceed with the creation of a proposal for a followup project, this time utilising transistors, either in part or in whole, to reduce the cost and increase the speed of a production machine based upon this and other advancements sometime around 1954.
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