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Module 3 LESSON 2 Generations of Computer

This document discusses the five generations of computers. The first generation used vacuum tubes and were large, slow, and consumed significant power. The second generation used transistors, which made computers smaller and more efficient. The third generation used integrated circuits, improving reliability, size, speed and power usage. The fourth generation used microprocessors and personal computers became common. The fifth generation added voice recognition, optical fiber networks, artificial intelligence, and very large-scale integrated circuits.

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36 views3 pages

Module 3 LESSON 2 Generations of Computer

This document discusses the five generations of computers. The first generation used vacuum tubes and were large, slow, and consumed significant power. The second generation used transistors, which made computers smaller and more efficient. The third generation used integrated circuits, improving reliability, size, speed and power usage. The fourth generation used microprocessors and personal computers became common. The fifth generation added voice recognition, optical fiber networks, artificial intelligence, and very large-scale integrated circuits.

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LESSON 2

GENERATIONS OF COMPUTER

As years goes by, several changes were made in computer technology by adding
features to improve the functionality of computers to meet the challenges of times.

Objective:

Distinguish different generations of computer

First Generation (1945-1955)

 Used vacuum tubes technology.


 These computers are large size, comprising of a large room
 About 1000 circuit per cubic foot
 They required a lot amount of power and generated a large of heat.
 In this generations, it also used punched card and magnetic tape as an input device
 Magnetic tape was able to access large data and process it sequentially.

Some of the computers of this generation were:

 Harvard Mark 1 (electromechanical)


 Whirlwind
 ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) – the first operational
electronic general-purpose computer
 EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator)
 UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) I, UNIVAC II, UNIVAC 1101
 RCA BIZMAC
 NCR CRC 102A, NCR CRC 102D
 Honeywell Datamic 1000
 Burroughs E101, Burroughs 220
 IBM models 604, 650 (drum memory), 701, 702, 704, 705, 709

Limitations of First Generation Computer:

 The operating speed was quite slow.


 Power consumption was very high.
 It required large space for installation.
 The programming capability was quite low.

Second Generation (1959-1965)

 In the second generation, transistors replaced vacuum tubes.


 About 100, 000 circuits per foot
 They have no filament and require no heating. Manufacturing cost was also very
low. Thus, the size of the computer got reduced considerably.
 It is in the second generation that the concept of Central Processing Unit (CPU),
memory, programming language and input and output units were developed.
 Some high-level languages such as FORTRAN (Formula Translator) and COBOL
(Common Business Oriented Language) were also used.
Examples of the computers of the Second Generation were:

 UNIVAC 1107, UNIVAC III


 RCA 501
 Philco Transact S-2000
 NCR 300 series
 IBM 7030 Stretch
 IBM 7070, 7080, 7090, 1400 series, 1600 series
 Honeywell 800, 400 series
 General Electric GE 635, 645, GE 200
 Control data Corp. CDC 1604, 3600, 160A
 LARC
 Burroughs B5000, 200 series

Third Generation (1965-1975)

 Integrated circuits (IC) replaced transistors.


 Integrated circuits consist of thousands of transistors fabricated in a single silicon
chip.
 These computers are more reliable, smaller in size, large memory and processing
speed is very high. It generated less heat and required less power and energy.
 Keyboard used as input and monitor used as output devices.
 PASCAL and BASIC were used as high-level language.

Some of the computers developed in this generation were:

 Burroughs 6700
 Control Data 3300, 6600, 7600
 Honeywell 200
 IBM System/360, System 3, System 7
 NCR Century Series
 RCA Spectra 70 series
 General Electric GE 600 series, GE 235

Fourth Generation (1975-1995)

 It was based in two technologies namely Large Scale Integrated (LSI) Circuit and
Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) Circuit Technologies.
 In LSI Technology about 30,000 electronic components were fabricated in a single
chip while in VLSI technology, about 1 million electronic components were fabricated
in a single silicon chip.
 IBM made personal computers using microprocessors.
 Keyboard and monitor were used as primary input and output devices.
Examples:

 IBM System 3090, IBM RISC 6000, IBM RT


 ILLIAC IV
 Cray 2 XMP
 HP 9000

Fifth Generation (1995 onwards)

 In fifth generation computers, voice recognition was used as an additional special


feature.
 Voice Recognition is also called speech recognition. It is the ability of a device to
receive and interpret dictation.
 Optical Fiber technology was introduced for communication. Optical fiber is normally
made of glass wire through large data which transfer in the form of light.
 Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology was also introduced to allow the computer to
take its own decision. AI acts like a human being. For example, robot artificial
intelligence made the computers to have thinking power and reasoning.
 Some of the characteristics in the fifth-generation computer are extremely large-
scale integration, parallel processing, high speed logic and memory chips, high
performance, micro-miniaturization, virtual reality generation and satellite links.

References:

1. Mishra, Amir Kumar (2019), Fundamentals of Computer and Programming


2. Computer Education for All (August 29, 2017). What is Information and
Communication Technology/ What is ICT/ Information Technology Management
[Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkAr7P1S-c8&t=4191s
3. https://slideplayer.com

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