The UNIVAC 1050 was a variable word-length (one to 16 characters) decimal and binary computer.

Instructions Instruction or instructions may refer to: Computing * Instruction, one operation of a processor within a computer architecture instruction set * Computer program, a collection of instructions Music * Instruction (band), a 2002 rock band from Ne ...

were fixed length (30 bits – five characters), consisting of a five-bit "

op code In computing, an opcode (abbreviated from operation code, also known as instruction machine code, instruction code, instruction syllable, instruction parcel or opstring) is the portion of a machine language instruction that specifies the operat ...

", a three-bit

index register An index register in a computer's CPU is a processor register (or an assigned memory location) used for pointing to operand addresses during the run of a program. It is useful for stepping through strings and arrays. It can also be used for hol ...

specifier, one reserved bit, a 15-bit address, and a six-bit "detail field" whose function varies with each instruction. The memory was up to 32K of six-bit characters. Like the

IBM 1401 The IBM 1401 is a variable-wordlength decimal computer that was announced by IBM on October 5, 1959. The first member of the highly successful IBM 1400 series, it was aimed at replacing unit record equipment for processing data stored on pu ...

, the 1050 was commonly used as an off-line peripheral controller in many installations of both large "scientific computers and large "business computers". In these installations the big computer (e.g., a

UNIVAC III The UNIVAC III, designed as an improved transistorized replacement for the vacuum tube UNIVAC I and UNIVAC II computers, was introduced in June 1962, with Westinghouse agreeing to furnish system programing and marketing on June 1, 1962. It was d ...

) did all of its input-output on

magnetic tape Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark. Devices that use magne ...

s and the 1050 was used to format input data from other peripherals (e.g.,

punched card A punched card (also punch card or punched-card) is a piece of stiff paper that holds digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Punched cards were once common in data processing applications or to di ...

readers) on the tapes and transfer output data from the tapes to other peripherals (e.g., punched card punches or the

lineprinter A line printer prints one entire line of text before advancing to another line. Most early line printers were impact printers. Line printers are mostly associated with unit record equipment and the early days of digital computing, but the ...

A version used by the U.S. Air Force, the U1050-II real-time system, had some extra peripherals. The most significant of these was the

FASTRAND FASTRAND was a magnetic drum mass storage system built by Sperry Rand Corporation (later Sperry Univac) for their UNIVAC 1100 series and 418/490/494 series computers. A FASTRAND subsystem consisted of one or two Control Units and up to eight FAST ...

1 Drum Storage Unit. This physically large device had two

contra-rotating Contra-rotating, also referred to as coaxial contra-rotating, is a technique whereby parts of a mechanism rotate in opposite directions about a common axis, usually to minimise the effect of torque. Examples include some aircraft propellers, res ...

drums mounted horizontally, one above the other in a pressurized cabinet. Read-write heads were mounted on a horizontally moving beam between the drums, driven by a voice coil servo external to the pressurized cabinet. This high-speed access subsystem allowed the real-time operation. Another feature was the communications subsystem with modem links to remote sites. A Uniservo VI-C tape drive provided an audit trail for the transactions. Other peripherals were the card reader and punch, and printer. The operator's console had the 'stop and go' buttons and a

Teletype Model 33 The Teletype Model 33 is an electromechanical teleprinter designed for light-duty office use. It is less rugged and cost less than earlier Teletype machines. The Teletype Corporation introduced the Model 33 as a commercial product in 1963 after ...

teleprinter for communication and control.

External links

UNIVAC 1050 documents at bitsavers.org YouTube Video: "UNIVAC 1050-II"

1050 Year 1050 (Roman numerals, ML) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Hedeby is sacked by King Harald Hardrada, Harald III (Hardrada) of Kingdom of ...