ACE (computer)

The ACE (Automatic Computing Engine) was the first computer designed in Britain; it was designed by Alan Turing in 1946.

Related Topics:
Computer - Britain - Alan Turing - 1946

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On February 19, 1946 Turing presented a paper to the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) Executive Committee, giving the first complete design of a stored-program computer. Unlike most other early computers, it owed nothing to EDVAC; it was a completely independent design which was contemporaneous with EDVAC.

Related Topics:
National Physical Laboratory - EDVAC

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The ACE had a 48-bit word. It used delay line main memory, and contained about 7000 vacuum tubes. Its multiplication time was about 448 microseconds.

Related Topics:
Bit - Word - Delay line - Main memory - Vacuum tube - Microseconds

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Due to various difficulties, the first version of the ACE actually built was the Pilot ACE, a smaller version of Turing's original complete design. The full-scale version was constructed later, in the late 1950s; it was working by late 1957, but was already obsolete, due to its reliance on delay-line main memory.

Related Topics:
Pilot ACE - 1950s

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