Over the years, many computing devices were invented that are usrd by humans to solve different types of problems. All these computing devices can be classified into five generations which refer to the phase of improvement made to different computing devices results in a small,cheap,fast,reliable and productive computer. The technological development in the field od computer not only refers to the improvements made to the hardware technologies, but also improvement made to software twchnologies.
(i) First Generation (1940-1956) - The first generation of compuyer used the vacuum tubes technology for calculation as well as for storage control purposes. So, these computers are also called as vacuum tubes or thermionic valves based machines. A vacuum tube is a fragile glass device device, which use filament inside it. These vacuum tube computers could perform computation in milliseconds. The memory of these computers was constructed using electromagnetic relays, and all data and instructions were fed into the system from punced cards. These instructions were written in machine and assembly languages because high-level programming languages were introduced later. These first generation computers were mainly used for scientific computations. Some examples of these type of computers are-
ENIAC,
EDVAC,
EDSAC,
UNIVAC I,
IBM 710.
(ii) Second Generation (1956-1963) - A new electronic switching device, called transistor, was invented at Bell Laboratories in 1947 by John bardeen, Willam Shochley and Walter Brattain for which they won Noble Prize. A transistor is asemiconductor device that is used to increase the power of the incoming signals by preserving the shape of the original signal. It had three connections which are emitter (E), base(B), and collector(C). The base of transistor is the gate through the base through which the signal, needed to be amplified, is sent. The signal sent through the base terminal also acts as the input gate for the transistor. The collector of transistor is used to collect the amplified signal. The emitter of a transistor act as a output gate for emitting the amplified signal to the external environment. The second generation computers were manufactured using transistors in plqce of vacuum tubes to build the basic logic circuits.
The memory of these computers was composed of magnetic cores. Another major technological development made to these computers was thereplacement of the machine language with the assembly language. In second generation computers, an increasing usage of computer was seen in business and industry for commercial data processing applications like payrol, inventory control, marketing and producing planning. Some examples of second generation computers are-
PDP-8,
IBM1401,
IBM 7090.
Third Generation (1964-1975) - In 1958, Jach St. Clair Kilby and Robert Noyce inverted the first integrated circuit. The major Characteristics features of third generation computer systems was the use of Integrated circuits like transistors, resistors and capacitors grown on a single chip of silicon, eliminating wired interconnection between componets. The IC technology was also known as "microelectronics" tecnology because it made it possible to integrate large no. Of circuits components into very small surface of silicon , known as "chip". Initially ,the ICs contained only about ten to twenty componets. This technology was named small scale integration (SSI). So.e examples of third generation computers are-
NCR 395,
B6500,
IBM 370,
PDP 11,
CDC 7600.
(iv) Fourth Generation (1975-1989) - The average number of electronic components packed on a silicon chip doubled each year after 1965. This progress soon led to the era of large scale integration (LSI) when it was possible to integrate over 30000 electronic components in a single chip. As a result, the manufactures were able to reduce the size of the computers and made them cheaper as compared to the other generation of computers. The progress in LSI and VLSI technologies led to the development of microprocessor. A microprocessor incorporates various components of a computer- such as CPU, memory and I/o control-onto a single chip. The intel P4004P mircoprocessor chip developed in 1971. Some popular later microprocessor include Intel 386, Intel 486, and pantium. The term personal computer (pc) became known to the people during this era.
During the fourth generation, magnatic core memories were replaced by semiconductor memories, resulting in larger random access memories with very fast access time. LANs became popular for connecting several dozen or even several hundred computers within an organization and WANs became popular for connection computer located at larger distances. This gave rise to network of computers and distributed system. Some examples of fourth generation computers are IBM PC, IBM PC/AT, Apple and CRAY-1.
(v) Fifth Generation (1989- present) - The different types of morden digital computers come under the catogaries of fifth generation computers. The fifth generation computers are based on ultra large scale integration (ULSI) technology rhat allows almost ten million electronic components to be fabricated one one small chip. The ULSI technology help in increasing the power and speed of miroprocessor chip and the capacity of primary and secondry to a great extent. As a result fifth generation computers are faster, cheaper and more efficient, as compared to fourt generation computers.
(i) First Generation (1940-1956) - The first generation of compuyer used the vacuum tubes technology for calculation as well as for storage control purposes. So, these computers are also called as vacuum tubes or thermionic valves based machines. A vacuum tube is a fragile glass device device, which use filament inside it. These vacuum tube computers could perform computation in milliseconds. The memory of these computers was constructed using electromagnetic relays, and all data and instructions were fed into the system from punced cards. These instructions were written in machine and assembly languages because high-level programming languages were introduced later. These first generation computers were mainly used for scientific computations. Some examples of these type of computers are-
ENIAC,
EDVAC,
EDSAC,
UNIVAC I,
IBM 710.
(ii) Second Generation (1956-1963) - A new electronic switching device, called transistor, was invented at Bell Laboratories in 1947 by John bardeen, Willam Shochley and Walter Brattain for which they won Noble Prize. A transistor is asemiconductor device that is used to increase the power of the incoming signals by preserving the shape of the original signal. It had three connections which are emitter (E), base(B), and collector(C). The base of transistor is the gate through the base through which the signal, needed to be amplified, is sent. The signal sent through the base terminal also acts as the input gate for the transistor. The collector of transistor is used to collect the amplified signal. The emitter of a transistor act as a output gate for emitting the amplified signal to the external environment. The second generation computers were manufactured using transistors in plqce of vacuum tubes to build the basic logic circuits.
The memory of these computers was composed of magnetic cores. Another major technological development made to these computers was thereplacement of the machine language with the assembly language. In second generation computers, an increasing usage of computer was seen in business and industry for commercial data processing applications like payrol, inventory control, marketing and producing planning. Some examples of second generation computers are-
PDP-8,
IBM1401,
IBM 7090.
Third Generation (1964-1975) - In 1958, Jach St. Clair Kilby and Robert Noyce inverted the first integrated circuit. The major Characteristics features of third generation computer systems was the use of Integrated circuits like transistors, resistors and capacitors grown on a single chip of silicon, eliminating wired interconnection between componets. The IC technology was also known as "microelectronics" tecnology because it made it possible to integrate large no. Of circuits components into very small surface of silicon , known as "chip". Initially ,the ICs contained only about ten to twenty componets. This technology was named small scale integration (SSI). So.e examples of third generation computers are-
NCR 395,
B6500,
IBM 370,
PDP 11,
CDC 7600.
(iv) Fourth Generation (1975-1989) - The average number of electronic components packed on a silicon chip doubled each year after 1965. This progress soon led to the era of large scale integration (LSI) when it was possible to integrate over 30000 electronic components in a single chip. As a result, the manufactures were able to reduce the size of the computers and made them cheaper as compared to the other generation of computers. The progress in LSI and VLSI technologies led to the development of microprocessor. A microprocessor incorporates various components of a computer- such as CPU, memory and I/o control-onto a single chip. The intel P4004P mircoprocessor chip developed in 1971. Some popular later microprocessor include Intel 386, Intel 486, and pantium. The term personal computer (pc) became known to the people during this era.
During the fourth generation, magnatic core memories were replaced by semiconductor memories, resulting in larger random access memories with very fast access time. LANs became popular for connecting several dozen or even several hundred computers within an organization and WANs became popular for connection computer located at larger distances. This gave rise to network of computers and distributed system. Some examples of fourth generation computers are IBM PC, IBM PC/AT, Apple and CRAY-1.
(v) Fifth Generation (1989- present) - The different types of morden digital computers come under the catogaries of fifth generation computers. The fifth generation computers are based on ultra large scale integration (ULSI) technology rhat allows almost ten million electronic components to be fabricated one one small chip. The ULSI technology help in increasing the power and speed of miroprocessor chip and the capacity of primary and secondry to a great extent. As a result fifth generation computers are faster, cheaper and more efficient, as compared to fourt generation computers.
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