Historical Development and Hierarchy of Computing Systems

A comprehensive vocabulary set covering the history of computing generations, hardware laws, virtual machine hierarchies, and the von Neumann model.

Generation Zero

The era of Mechanical Calculating Machines ($1642$ - $1945$) including Schickard's Calculating Clock and Pascal's Pascaline.

Difference Engine

A mechanical calculating machine designed by Charles Babbage ($1791$ - $1871$), who also designed the never-built Analytical Engine.

Hollerith cards

Punched cards used for computer input well into the $1970s$, developed by Herman Hollerith ($1860$ - $1929$).

The First Generation

Vacuum Tube Computers ($1945$ - $1953$), such as the ENIAC and the IBM 650.

Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC)

Built between $1937$ and $1938$ by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry to solve systems of linear equations.

ENIAC

The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, created by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckertat in $1946$.

The Second Generation

Transistorized Computers ($1954$ - $1965$), including the IBM 7094 and the DEC PDP-1.

The Third Generation

Integrated Circuit Computers ($1965$ - $1980$), including the IBM 360 and the Cray-1 supercomputer.

BUNCH

An acronym for the computer manufacturers Burroughs, Unisys, NCR, Control Data, and Honeywell, which competed with IBM during the Third Generation.

The Fourth Generation

VLSI Computers ($1980$ - present), characterized by Very Large Scale Integrated circuits.

VLSI

Very large scale integrated circuits that contain more than $10,000$ components per chip.

Intel 4004

The first microprocessor, which was a $4$-bit version.

Moore’s Law

A concept by Gordon Moore stating that the density of silicon chips doubles every $18$ months.

Rock’s Law

A concept by Arthur Rock stating that the cost of capital equipment to build semiconductors doubles every $4$ years.

Level 6: The User Level

The computer hierarchy level focusing on program execution and user interface.

Level 5: High-Level Language Level

The level where programmers interact using languages like C, Pascal, Lisp, and Java.

Level 4: Assembly Language Level

The level that acts upon assembly language produced by Level 5 or programmed directly.

Level 3: System Software Level

The level that controls executing processes and protects system resources.

Level 2: Machine Level

Also known as the Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) Level, consisting of instructions particular to the machine's architecture.

Level 1: Control Level

The level where a control unit decodes and executes instructions, either through a microprogram or hardwired hardware.

Microprogram

A program written in a low-level language that is implemented by the hardware at the Control Level.

Level 0: Digital Logic Level

The level consisting of digital circuits, gates, and wires that implement mathematical logic.

von Neumann Architecture

A stored-program system characterized by a CPU, main memory, an I/O system, and sequential instruction processing.

von Neumann bottleneck

The single data path between the CPU and main memory that limits processing speed.

Fetch-decode-execute cycle

The process of a von Neumann system where an instruction is retrieved from memory, decoded for the ALU, and then carried out.

Blue Gene

An IBM system announced in $1999$ that utilized over $1$ million processors for parallel processing.

Leonard Adleman

Often called the inventor of DNA computers, who used DNA to solve the traveling salesman problem in $1994$.