Rice Institute Computer
Encyclopedia
The Rice Institute Computer, also known as the Rice Computer or R1, was a 54-bit tagged architecture digital computer built during the years 1958-1961 (partially operational beginning in 1959) on the campus of Rice University
, Houston, Texas
, United States. Operating as Rice's sole computer until the middle 1960s, the Rice Institute Computer was decommissioned in 1971.
array, RCA
core memory was introduced in 1966, followed by Ampex
core memory in 1967. Following these two upgrade
s, the R1 had reached its full 32k word capacity; although the original electrostatic memory was soon decommissioned due to falling reliability
in its old age.
s, each 54-bits in size, in addition to a constant zero register. For memory addressing, seven 16-bit "B-Registers" were used. The program counter was also held in a writable "B-Register". See the table below for conventions and hardware enforced usage of these registers.
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, United States. Operating as Rice's sole computer until the middle 1960s, the Rice Institute Computer was decommissioned in 1971.
Memory
Memory was implemented using a variety of technologies over the lifetime of the R1. Originally a Cathode Ray TubeCathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
array, RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
core memory was introduced in 1966, followed by Ampex
Ampex
Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff. The name AMPEX is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence...
core memory in 1967. Following these two upgrade
Upgrade
The term upgrade refers to the replacement of a product with a newer version of the same product. It is most often used in computing and consumer electronics, generally meaning a replacement of hardware, software or firmware with a newer or better version, in order to bring the system up to date...
s, the R1 had reached its full 32k word capacity; although the original electrostatic memory was soon decommissioned due to falling reliability
Reliability engineering
Reliability engineering is an engineering field, that deals with the study, evaluation, and life-cycle management of reliability: the ability of a system or component to perform its required functions under stated conditions for a specified period of time. It is often measured as a probability of...
in its old age.
Architecture
The R1 had seven memory mapped general purpose processor registerProcessor register
In computer architecture, a processor register is a small amount of storage available as part of a CPU or other digital processor. Such registers are addressed by mechanisms other than main memory and can be accessed more quickly...
s, each 54-bits in size, in addition to a constant zero register. For memory addressing, seven 16-bit "B-Registers" were used. The program counter was also held in a writable "B-Register". See the table below for conventions and hardware enforced usage of these registers.
| Address | Abbreviation | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | Constant Zero Register |
| 1 | U | Universal Math Register |
| 2 | R | Remainder |
| 3 | S | Storage |
| 4-7 | T4-T7 | Fast Temporary Storage |
See also
- a cached copy at web.archive.org, of the contents [as of Feb. 24, 2008] of http://www.princeton.edu/~adam/R1/r1rpt.html ("A Brief History of the Rice Computer 1959-1971")