UTEC
Encyclopedia
UTEC was a computer
built at the University of Toronto
(UofT) in the early 1950s. It was one of the first working computers in the world, although only built in a prototype form while awaiting funding for expansion into a full-scale version. This funding was eventually used to purchase a surplus Manchester Mark 1
from Ferranti
in the UK instead, and UTEC quickly disappeared. The name was an acronym for University of Toronto Electronic Computer.
several members of the UofT staff met informally as the Committee on Computing Machines to discuss their computation needs over the next few years. In 1946 a small $1,000 grant was used to send one of the group's members to tour several US research labs to see their progress on computers and try to see what was possible given UofT's likely funding. Due to UofT's preeminent position in the Canadian research world, the tour was also followed by members of the Canadian Research Council.
In January 1947 the committee delivered a report suggesting the creation of a formal Computing Center, primarily as a service bureau
to provide computing services both to the university and commercial interests, as well as the nucleus of a research group into computing machinery. Specifically they recommended the immediate renting of an IBM
mechanical punched card
-based calculator, building a simple differential analyzer, and the eventual purchase or construction of an electronic computer. The report noted that funding should be expected from both the National Research Council
(NRC) and the Defense Research Board
(DRB).
The DRB soon provided a grant of $6,500 to set up the Computation Center, with the Committee eventually selecting Kelly Gotlieb to run it. Additional funding followed in February 1948 with a $20,000 a year grant from a combined pool set up by the DRB and NRC. Although this was less than was hoped for, the IBM machinery was soon in place and being used to calculate several tables for Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
(AECL). Additionally a small version of the differential analyzer was completed by September 1948, although it appears to have seen little use.
Preliminary work on an electronic computer also started about the same time with some experimental work in various circuit designs. However they also felt that in order to get a machine working quickly, a fully electronic design was simply too state of the art
and had significant risk. Instead they considered building a copy of Bell Labs
' Model 6 relay
-based machine, which they had seen earlier. However when they finally decided to go ahead with the project in August 1948, Northern Electric
(Bell's arm in Canada) informed them they would charge a $25,000 license.
At a meeting with the NRC in March 1949, the NRC turned down their request for additional funding for the license, and instead suggested that the Center invest in a fully electronic computer, upping the yearly grants to $50,000 to that end. This turned out to be a major "win" - relay based computers quickly disappeared, and electronic systems proved themselves quickly.
and Perham Stanley, two graduate students working at the Computation Center, were sent to Cambridge University
to work with Maurice Wilkes who was in the process of completing the EDSAC
. Worsley wrote the program that generated a table of squares, the first program to successfully run on EDSAC.
Another two graduate students, Alf Ratz and Josef Kates
had been studying circuitry for some time by this point, and turned their attention to computer memory
systems. Their first attempts were with a novel system based on neon tubes, but a 1949 visit by Freddie Williams
led to them abandoning this work and moving to Williams tube
s instead.
Given the current level of funding a full-scale machine was not possible, so it was decided to build a smaller machine to test out the various components. Williams tubes would store 256 12-bit
words, with instructions using 3-bits of a word leaving 9-bits for addressing (allowing up to 512 words of memory).
Parts of the machine were up and running quickly, with the math and logic units (the arithmetic logic unit
in modern terminology) running by the autumn of 1950. Memory reliability proved to be a serious problem, as it was for all systems using the Williams tube concept, but Katz introduced shielding that improved things somewhat. The machine was declared fully operational on October 1, 1951.
Over the next few months major efforts were made to increase reliability, as well as add a second bank of memory to bring it to the full 512 words. Libraries added math functions for 12-, 24-, 36- and 48-bit math. A basic 12-bit addition took about 240 microseconds, multiplication about 18 milliseconds.
With the basic system up and running, attention turned to a "full sized" version. This machine would use a 44-bit word with 1,024 words of memory backed up with a 10,000 word magnetic drum to be supplied by Ferranti Canada. A new math unit would operate on an entire word in parallel, instead of bit-serial as with most machines of the era, dramatically improving performance so that an addition would take only 20 microseconds and a multiply about 200 -- faster than the prototype at addition even on its much smaller word size.
Success of the UTEC created intense demand within the Canadian research establishment to start construction of the full scale follow-on. The funding pool was increased to $300,000 to cover development and construction.
(or "Baby"). Once it started working the university signed an agreement with Ferranti (in the UK) to build a full-scale machine eventually known as the Mark I. The new machine was delivered to the university in February 1951, making it the first commercial computer, about 1 month earlier than the UNIVAC I
that was delivered to the US Census Bureau.
Ferranti had high hopes for further sales of the machine, and were happy when an order was placed by the British Atomic Energy Authority
for delivery in autumn of 1952. However the government changed hands while the machine was being built, and all government contracts over 100,000 were cancelled outright. This left a partially completed Mark I sitting at Ferranti, who became interested in unloading it as soon as possible.
Word of the machine quickly reached the AECL, who suggested that they use the $300,000 set aside for the "new" UTEC to purchase the Mark I instead. The Computation Center considered the Mark I to be inferior to their own design and rejected it, notably because it used a serial math unit like their prototype and would thus be much slower.
The AECL was not terribly impressed but came up with a solution; if the Computation Center would buy the Mark I, another $150,000 would be made available to continue development of the UTEC, and an equal amount if they decided to actually build it. This sort of deal one does not refuse, and plans to ship the Mark I to Toronto were soon underway.
The machine arrived on April 30, 1952, at the time it was major news. Named Ferut (Ferranti, University of Toronto) by Worsley shortly before it arrived, it took the Ferranti engineers several months to set it up. Even then it became one of the first "large" machines to start operation in North America. Ferut would go on to be a major research system in Canada, being used by Ontario Hydro
to calculate changes in water levels due to the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, various development of the groundbreaking ReserVec
system with Ferranti Canada for Trans Canada Airlines, and even rental of time for commercial seismic data processing.
The arrival of the Ferut also spelled the death of the UTEC project. Even with the additional funding, most of the engineers quickly drifted to the Ferut machine.
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
built at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
(UofT) in the early 1950s. It was one of the first working computers in the world, although only built in a prototype form while awaiting funding for expansion into a full-scale version. This funding was eventually used to purchase a surplus Manchester Mark 1
Manchester Mark 1
The Manchester Mark 1 was one of the earliest stored-program computers, developed at the Victoria University of Manchester from the Small-Scale Experimental Machine or "Baby" . It was also called the Manchester Automatic Digital Machine, or MADM...
from Ferranti
Ferranti
Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. Known primarily for defence electronics, the Company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but ceased trading in 1993.The...
in the UK instead, and UTEC quickly disappeared. The name was an acronym for University of Toronto Electronic Computer.
Background
Immediately after the ending of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
several members of the UofT staff met informally as the Committee on Computing Machines to discuss their computation needs over the next few years. In 1946 a small $1,000 grant was used to send one of the group's members to tour several US research labs to see their progress on computers and try to see what was possible given UofT's likely funding. Due to UofT's preeminent position in the Canadian research world, the tour was also followed by members of the Canadian Research Council.
In January 1947 the committee delivered a report suggesting the creation of a formal Computing Center, primarily as a service bureau
Service bureau
A service bureau is a company which provides business services for a fee. The term has been extensively used to describe technology based services to financial services companies, particularly banks. Customers of service bureaus typically do not have the scale or expertise to incorporate these...
to provide computing services both to the university and commercial interests, as well as the nucleus of a research group into computing machinery. Specifically they recommended the immediate renting of an IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
mechanical punched card
Punched card
A punched card, punch card, IBM card, or Hollerith card is a piece of stiff paper that contains digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions...
-based calculator, building a simple differential analyzer, and the eventual purchase or construction of an electronic computer. The report noted that funding should be expected from both the National Research Council
National Research Council of Canada
The National Research Council is an agency of the Government of Canada which conducts scientific research and development.- History :...
(NRC) and the Defense Research Board
Defence Research and Development Canada
Defence Research and Development Canada, also Defence R&D Canada or DRDC , is an agency of the Department of National Defence , whose purpose is to respond to the scientific and technological needs of the Canadian Forces...
(DRB).
The DRB soon provided a grant of $6,500 to set up the Computation Center, with the Committee eventually selecting Kelly Gotlieb to run it. Additional funding followed in February 1948 with a $20,000 a year grant from a combined pool set up by the DRB and NRC. Although this was less than was hoped for, the IBM machinery was soon in place and being used to calculate several tables for Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited or AECL is a Canadian federal Crown corporation and Canada's largest nuclear science and technology laboratory...
(AECL). Additionally a small version of the differential analyzer was completed by September 1948, although it appears to have seen little use.
Preliminary work on an electronic computer also started about the same time with some experimental work in various circuit designs. However they also felt that in order to get a machine working quickly, a fully electronic design was simply too state of the art
State of the art
The state of the art is the highest level of development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field, achieved at a particular time. It also refers to the level of development reached at any particular time as a result of the latest methodologies employed.- Origin :The earliest use of the term...
and had significant risk. Instead they considered building a copy of Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
' Model 6 relay
Relay
A relay is an electrically operated switch. Many relays use an electromagnet to operate a switching mechanism mechanically, but other operating principles are also used. Relays are used where it is necessary to control a circuit by a low-power signal , or where several circuits must be controlled...
-based machine, which they had seen earlier. However when they finally decided to go ahead with the project in August 1948, Northern Electric
Northern Electric
Northern Electric was an electricity supply and distribution company serving north east England.-History:It had its origins as the North Eastern Electricity Board, formed as part of the nationalisation of the electricity industry by the Electricity Act 1947....
(Bell's arm in Canada) informed them they would charge a $25,000 license.
At a meeting with the NRC in March 1949, the NRC turned down their request for additional funding for the license, and instead suggested that the Center invest in a fully electronic computer, upping the yearly grants to $50,000 to that end. This turned out to be a major "win" - relay based computers quickly disappeared, and electronic systems proved themselves quickly.
UTEC
Beatrice Helen WorsleyBeatrice Helen Worsley
Beatrice "Trixie" Helen Worsley was the first female computer scientist in Canada. -Education:Beatrice Helen Worsley was born in Mexico, but graduated from Bishop Strachan School in Toronto in 1939, receiving the Governor General’s Award for the highest overall grade...
and Perham Stanley, two graduate students working at the Computation Center, were sent to Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
to work with Maurice Wilkes who was in the process of completing the EDSAC
EDSAC
Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator was an early British computer. The machine, having been inspired by John von Neumann's seminal First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, was constructed by Maurice Wilkes and his team at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory in England...
. Worsley wrote the program that generated a table of squares, the first program to successfully run on EDSAC.
Another two graduate students, Alf Ratz and Josef Kates
Josef Kates
Dr. Josef Kates is a Canadian engineer whose achievements include designing the first digital game-playing machine, and the world's first automated traffic signalling system.-Background:...
had been studying circuitry for some time by this point, and turned their attention to computer memory
Computer memory
In computing, memory refers to the physical devices used to store programs or data on a temporary or permanent basis for use in a computer or other digital electronic device. The term primary memory is used for the information in physical systems which are fast In computing, memory refers to the...
systems. Their first attempts were with a novel system based on neon tubes, but a 1949 visit by Freddie Williams
Frederic Calland Williams
Sir Frederic Calland Williams CBE, FRS , known as 'Freddie Williams', was an English engineer....
led to them abandoning this work and moving to Williams tube
Williams tube
The Williams tube or the Williams-Kilburn tube , developed in about 1946 or 1947, was a cathode ray tube used to electronically store binary data....
s instead.
Given the current level of funding a full-scale machine was not possible, so it was decided to build a smaller machine to test out the various components. Williams tubes would store 256 12-bit
12-bit
Possibly the best-known 12-bit CPU is the PDP-8 and its relatives, produced in various incarnations from August 1963 to mid-1990. Many ADCs have a 12-bit resolution. Some PIC microcontrollers use a 12-bit word size....
words, with instructions using 3-bits of a word leaving 9-bits for addressing (allowing up to 512 words of memory).
Parts of the machine were up and running quickly, with the math and logic units (the arithmetic logic unit
Arithmetic logic unit
In computing, an arithmetic logic unit is a digital circuit that performs arithmetic and logical operations.The ALU is a fundamental building block of the central processing unit of a computer, and even the simplest microprocessors contain one for purposes such as maintaining timers...
in modern terminology) running by the autumn of 1950. Memory reliability proved to be a serious problem, as it was for all systems using the Williams tube concept, but Katz introduced shielding that improved things somewhat. The machine was declared fully operational on October 1, 1951.
Over the next few months major efforts were made to increase reliability, as well as add a second bank of memory to bring it to the full 512 words. Libraries added math functions for 12-, 24-, 36- and 48-bit math. A basic 12-bit addition took about 240 microseconds, multiplication about 18 milliseconds.
With the basic system up and running, attention turned to a "full sized" version. This machine would use a 44-bit word with 1,024 words of memory backed up with a 10,000 word magnetic drum to be supplied by Ferranti Canada. A new math unit would operate on an entire word in parallel, instead of bit-serial as with most machines of the era, dramatically improving performance so that an addition would take only 20 microseconds and a multiply about 200 -- faster than the prototype at addition even on its much smaller word size.
Success of the UTEC created intense demand within the Canadian research establishment to start construction of the full scale follow-on. The funding pool was increased to $300,000 to cover development and construction.
FERUT
While UTEC was being built a similar machine was under construction at Manchester University, known as the Small-Scale Experimental MachineSmall-Scale Experimental Machine
The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine , nicknamed Baby, was the world's first stored-program computer. It was built at the Victoria University of Manchester by Frederic C...
(or "Baby"). Once it started working the university signed an agreement with Ferranti (in the UK) to build a full-scale machine eventually known as the Mark I. The new machine was delivered to the university in February 1951, making it the first commercial computer, about 1 month earlier than the UNIVAC I
UNIVAC I
The UNIVAC I was the first commercial computer produced in the United States. It was designed principally by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the inventors of the ENIAC...
that was delivered to the US Census Bureau.
Ferranti had high hopes for further sales of the machine, and were happy when an order was placed by the British Atomic Energy Authority
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of nuclear fusion power. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and was formerly chaired by Lady Barbara Judge CBE...
for delivery in autumn of 1952. However the government changed hands while the machine was being built, and all government contracts over 100,000 were cancelled outright. This left a partially completed Mark I sitting at Ferranti, who became interested in unloading it as soon as possible.
Word of the machine quickly reached the AECL, who suggested that they use the $300,000 set aside for the "new" UTEC to purchase the Mark I instead. The Computation Center considered the Mark I to be inferior to their own design and rejected it, notably because it used a serial math unit like their prototype and would thus be much slower.
The AECL was not terribly impressed but came up with a solution; if the Computation Center would buy the Mark I, another $150,000 would be made available to continue development of the UTEC, and an equal amount if they decided to actually build it. This sort of deal one does not refuse, and plans to ship the Mark I to Toronto were soon underway.
The machine arrived on April 30, 1952, at the time it was major news. Named Ferut (Ferranti, University of Toronto) by Worsley shortly before it arrived, it took the Ferranti engineers several months to set it up. Even then it became one of the first "large" machines to start operation in North America. Ferut would go on to be a major research system in Canada, being used by Ontario Hydro
Ontario Hydro
Ontario Hydro was the official name from 1974 of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario which was established in 1906 by the provincial Power Commission Act to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity generated by private companies already operating at Niagara...
to calculate changes in water levels due to the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, various development of the groundbreaking ReserVec
ReserVec
ReserVec was a computerized reservation system developed by Ferranti Canada for Trans-Canada Airlines in the late 1950s. It appears to be the first such system ever developed, predating the more famous SABRE system in the US by about two years...
system with Ferranti Canada for Trans Canada Airlines, and even rental of time for commercial seismic data processing.
The arrival of the Ferut also spelled the death of the UTEC project. Even with the additional funding, most of the engineers quickly drifted to the Ferut machine.