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Research on the history of microprocessors
Evolution of processor in computer
Research on the history of microprocessors
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The Integrated Circuit:
The Evolution of an Electronic Miracle
The microprocessor evolved over the course of many years of research, and people all over the world enjoy the benefits of this electronic miracle. It is difficult to think of anything that has affected modern life more than this invention. Cellular phones, wristwatches, calculators, automobiles, stereos, televisions, and computers are just a few of the thousands of electronic devices that have a microchip at the heart of its operation. Over the years, three major breakthroughs occurred to accelerate the birth of the microprocessor: the vacuum tube, the transistor, and the integrated circuit.
The Vacuum Tube
American physicist Lee De Forest invented the vacuum tube in 1906. However, one must look back to 1879 when Thomas Edison first revealed the incandescent electric light bulb to understand how De Forest developed his idea. Edison’s invention consisted of a conducting filament mounted in a glass bulb. Electricity passing through the filament caused it to heat up and created a vacuum that prevented the filament from oxidizing and burning up. In 1883, Edison detected electrons flowing through the vacuum from the lighted filament to a metal plate mounted inside the bulb. This became known as the Edison Effect, but he did not develop this particular discovery any further. However, British physicist John Fleming found that the Edison Effect also detected radio waves and converted them to electricity. In 1904, Fleming first showed off his two-element vacuum tube known as the Fleming diode that converted an alternating current (AC) signal into direct current (DC) (Kuphaldt).
The Fleming diode consisted of an incandescent light bulb with an extra electrode inside. Electrons boiled off the surface of the metal plate and into the vacuum inside the bulb as the filament became white-hot. When the extra electrode became more positive than the filament, a direct current flowed through the vacuum proving that AC signals could be converted into DC. One of the first uses of the Fleming diode was to detect weak signals produced by the new wireless telegraph. Later, the diode vacuum tube was used to convert AC into DC for power supplies in electronic equipment (Kuphaldt).
Many inventors tried to improve the Fleming diode, but the only one who succeeded was American inventor Lee De Forest. In 1906, De Forest int...
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...light bulb.
References
Bellis, M. The History of Computers. Retrieved Mar. 03, 2005, from About.com web site: http://www.inventors.about.com/library/blcoindex.htm.
Hoff, T. Fascinating Facts about the Invention of the Microprocessor. Retreived Feb 28, 2005, from Idea Finder web site: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/microprocessor.htm
IC Knowledge. History of the Integrated Circuit. Retrieved February 28, 2005, from IC Knowledge web site: http://www.icknowledge.com/history/history.html.
Kuphaldt, T. R. Early Tube History. Retrieved Feb. 24, 2005, from All About Circuits Web site: http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_3/chpt_13/2.html.
Lindberg, A. A. The History of the Integrated Circuit. Retrieved Mar. 03, 2005, from Nobelprize.org Web site: http://nobelprize.org/physics/educational/integrated_circuit/history
Maxfield, C. and Brown, A. Retrieved Feb. 24, 2005, from The History of Computers Web site: http://www.maxmon.com.
Riordan, M. and Hoddeson, L. (1997). Crystal Fire-The Birth of the Information Age.
New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company Inc.
Sullivan, J. (Ed.). (1988). The Chipmakers. Alexandrea, VA: Time-Life Books. (Understanding Computers Series)
Charles F. Brush and the Invention of the Arc Light. Charles Francis Brush is a well-known inventor from Euclid, Ohio. He lived from 1849-1929. Throughout his life he invented many electrical machines and gadgets. These inventions included the electric arc light.
In 1895, Professor Wilhelm C. Roentgen, a German physicist, was working with a cathode ray tube, much like our fluorescent light bulb. The tube consisted of positive and negative electrodes encapsulated in a glass envelope. On November 8, 1895, Roentgen was conducting experiments in his lab on the effects of cathode rays. He evacuated all the air from the tube and passed a high electric voltage through it after filling it with a special gas. When he did this, the tube began to give off a fluorescent glow. Roentgen then shielded the tube with heavy black paper and discovered a green colored fluorescent light could be seen coming from a screen located a few feet away from the tube.
Hall of Fame. National Inventors Hall of Fame, 1 Feb. 2002. Web. 11 May 2010. .
The Birth and Evolution of Transistors and Impact on the Transport Industry. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2017, from https://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/The-Birth-and-Evolution-of-Transistors-and-Impact-on-the-Transport-Industry/511754
The Electric Franklin. "Benjamin Franklin's Inventions." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, 4 July 1995. Web. 23 May 2014.
Watson, J. (2008). A history of computer operating systems (pp. 14-17). Ann Arbor, MI: Nimble Books.
Edison searched for the proper "filament" or wire, that would give good light when electricity flowed through it. He sent people to the jungles of the Amazon and forests of Japan in his search for a perfect filament material. He tested over 6,000 vegetable growths (baywood, boxwood, hickory, cedar, flax, bamboo) as filament material.
By the time the 20th century arrived, vacuum tubes were invented that could transmit weak electrical signals which led to the formation of electromagnetic waves that led to the invention of the radio broadcast system (750). These vacuum tubes were discovered to be able to transmit currents through solid material, which led to the creation of transistors in the 1960’s (750).
Experimental discoveries led to know that semiconductor devices could work much better than vacuum tubes. So with the advancement of technology fabrications of semiconducting devices were done; large numbers of tiny transistors were incorporated in a small chip. This was the birth of IC.
Newman, Jared. “The 10 Most Important Technologies of Modern World History.” Gadgetcrave.com. uCrave, 25 June 2009. Web. 9 Feb. 2011
In the early 1970’s calculators were very popular. They had recently become much easier to manufacture due to the advent of the integrated circuit and large-scale integration (technology that put the equivalent of 100 transistors on a single chip).
The twentieth century was a time of rapid technological progression, spurred by globalization, conflict, and access to information. Computing machines, like Herman Hollerith’s tabulator for the 1890 census, had been around for a while and operated with mechanical systems. These machines generally had only one purpose and could never be reprogrammed to do anything but what the original design had entailed. This was true for the Atanasoff-Berry computer, the first digital computer, as well. However, this computer ran using electronics, used binary number representation for its calculations, and separated computation and memory (O 'Regan). These three points were essential for all proceeding designs in digital computing. The first programmable digital computer was completed in 1946 by a team who developed it for use by the US Army. The machine was called the ENIAC, and its purpose was for calculating missile trajectories. The computer was very large, as it was made up of vacuum tubes, a device that simulated 1s and 0s. The ENIAC could be reprogrammed by physically rewiring the machine (O 'Regan), a task that was time consuming and arduous. Vacuum tubes were also very unreliable and prone to breaking, and produced a significant amount of heat.
From a discovery made by one of his associates, he patented the Edison effect (now called thermionic diode), which is the basis for all electron tubes. Edison will forever be remembered for his contributions to the incandescent light bulb. Even though he didn't dream up the first light bulb ever crafted, and technology continues to change every day, Edison's work with light bulbs was a spark of brilliance on the timeline of invention.
The fist computer, known as the abacus, was made of wood and parallel wires on which beads were strung. Arithmetic operations were performed when the beads were moved along the wire according to “programming” rules that had to be memorized by the user (Soma, 14). The second earliest computer, invented by Blaise Pascal in 1694, was a “digital calculating machine.” Pascal designed this first known digital computer to help his father, who was a tax collector. Pascal’s computer could only add numbers, and they had to be entered by turning dials (Soma, 32). It required a manual process like its ancestor, the abacus. Automation was introduced in the early 1800’s by a mathematics professor named Charles Babbage. He created an automatic calculation machine that was steam powered and stored up to 1000 50-digit numbers. Unlike its two earliest ancestors, Babbage’s invention was able to perform various operations. It relied on cards with holes punched in them, which are called “punch cards.” These cards carried out the programming and storing operations for the machine. Unluckily, Babbage’s creation flopped due to the lack of mechanical precision and the lack of demand for the product (Soma, 46). The machine could not operate efficiently because technology was t adequate to make the machine operate efficiently Computer interest dwindled for many years, and it wasn’t until the mid-1800’s that people became interested in them once again.
Transistors were used as the second generation computers. Smaller transistors replaced the vacuum tubes as the processing parts of a computer.