The Legend of Setun
In the distant past, when the trees were lower, and the cosmos is still so far away, somewhere in the late 50s of the last century, the era of computing machines began.
Engineers in white coats made history.
Transistors, diodes, relays, ferrite cubes ... the first computers were created.
A legend has appeared in the MSU. And her name is Setun.
A few years ago, I first learned about the existence of a three-fold symmetric number system, with its interesting features. In search of information on this topic, from the site of a virtual computer museum, I learned about a computer built on its base - Setun PC. Soon the idea of ​​creating a software simulator of this machine was born.
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This is an Internet application that imitates the work of a real machine, allows the execution of programs written for Setun.
The simulator recreated the original panel "Setun", with which the progress of work is controlled.
All devices are presented in the form of standard elements of Internet applications: text fields, buttons and images.
Programs are loaded via text input fields representing virtual phototransmitters. Commands can also be entered directly from the console.
Input data is a set of symbols simulating a tape. Data can be represented as in the ternary system: the symbols -, 0, +; so in ninefold with the English or Russian alphabet. The number system is recognized automatically.
After loading, the launch of the program, as in a real machine, is performed by the “Initial start” button.
The state of the registers can be assessed by indicators on the control panel.
To output the data, the printer EUM-46 is simulated.
For example, you can run the program "Test-1", written for "Setun", which checks the main functionality, and if correctly executed, the printer displays the string "TEST1".
To analyze the progress of program execution, there is a special console mode, which, in addition to the states of the registers, reflects the state of each memory cell. Also in console mode, the progress of each operation is presented in expanded form, with a brief description of the command being executed.
The speed of the Setun-VS operations is comparable to a real machine.
Works in Gecko and WebKit.
On the website you can also find a manual on how to work with a simulator, a brief description of Setun, texts of programs.
Recently, a conference devoted to the 50th anniversary of the Setun machine and the 55th anniversary of the scientific activity of its chief designer Nikolai Petrovich Brusentsov took place at Moscow State University. I was lucky to become its member.
Nowadays, "Setun" has no analogues, but historically it has developed that the development of computer science has gone into the mainstream of binary logic. But time is changeable and possible in the future, people will return to the triple, and the ideas embodied in Setun will once again become relevant.
Engineers in white coats made history.
Transistors, diodes, relays, ferrite cubes ... the first computers were created.
A legend has appeared in the MSU. And her name is Setun.
Setun - the first and only ternary computer
- Chief Designer: N. Brusentsov; main developers: Zhogolev E. A., Maslov S. P., Verigin V. V.
- Development organization: Computing Center of Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosov.
- Manufacturer: Kazan Plant of Mathematical Machines of the USSR Ministry of Radio Industry. The manufacturer of logic elements is the Astrakhan factory of electronic equipment and electronic devices of the USSR Ministry of Radio Industry. The manufacturer of magnetic drums is the Penza Computer Plant of the USSR Ministry of Radio Industry. The manufacturer of the printing device is the Moscow Typewriter Plant of the USSR Ministry of Industrial Equipment.
- Completion year: 1959.
- Year of commencement: 1961.
- Year of discontinuation: 1965.
- The number of cars produced: 50.
- Factory price: 27.5 thousand rubles.
TTX
- 27 teams (3 reserved)
- Random access memory - 162 9-trit cells
- The main memory is a magnetic drum with a capacity of 36 or 72 pages (54 cells per page).
- Average operating speed of the machine is 2000-4500 operations per second
- Clock frequency - 200 kHz.
- Power consumption - 2.5 kVA,
- Space for accommodation - 25-30 square meters. m
- Operating temperature range - 15-30 ° C
Our days
A few years ago, I first learned about the existence of a three-fold symmetric number system, with its interesting features. In search of information on this topic, from the site of a virtual computer museum, I learned about a computer built on its base - Setun PC. Soon the idea of ​​creating a software simulator of this machine was born.
')
Setun-VS
This is an Internet application that imitates the work of a real machine, allows the execution of programs written for Setun.
The simulator recreated the original panel "Setun", with which the progress of work is controlled.
All devices are presented in the form of standard elements of Internet applications: text fields, buttons and images.
Programs are loaded via text input fields representing virtual phototransmitters. Commands can also be entered directly from the console.
Input data is a set of symbols simulating a tape. Data can be represented as in the ternary system: the symbols -, 0, +; so in ninefold with the English or Russian alphabet. The number system is recognized automatically.
After loading, the launch of the program, as in a real machine, is performed by the “Initial start” button.
The state of the registers can be assessed by indicators on the control panel.
To output the data, the printer EUM-46 is simulated.
For example, you can run the program "Test-1", written for "Setun", which checks the main functionality, and if correctly executed, the printer displays the string "TEST1".
To analyze the progress of program execution, there is a special console mode, which, in addition to the states of the registers, reflects the state of each memory cell. Also in console mode, the progress of each operation is presented in expanded form, with a brief description of the command being executed.
The speed of the Setun-VS operations is comparable to a real machine.
Works in Gecko and WebKit.
On the website you can also find a manual on how to work with a simulator, a brief description of Setun, texts of programs.
Back to the Future
Recently, a conference devoted to the 50th anniversary of the Setun machine and the 55th anniversary of the scientific activity of its chief designer Nikolai Petrovich Brusentsov took place at Moscow State University. I was lucky to become its member.
Nowadays, "Setun" has no analogues, but historically it has developed that the development of computer science has gone into the mainstream of binary logic. But time is changeable and possible in the future, people will return to the triple, and the ideas embodied in Setun will once again become relevant.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/46688/
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