CIFA is the acronym for "Calculatorul Institutului de Fizică Atomică" ( en, Computer of Atomic Physics Institute). CIFA-1, the first Romanian

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

, was built in 1957 under the guidance of

Victor Toma Victor Toma (April 4, 1922 - November 26, 2008) was a Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulga ...

. The experimental first-generation model CIFA-1 was reproduced in small numbers both in the original variant with

vacuum tubes A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied. The type known as a ...

as well as in two variants using

transistors upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...

: CIFA-10X and CET 500. CIFA-1 was Romanias contribution to the development of computers in socialist countries (together with the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, the

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

and CSSR).

CIFA-1

The logic designs for CIFA-1 started in 1953, at the Academy Physics Institute in

Măgurele Măgurele is a town situated in the southwestern part of Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. It has a population of 11,000 and hosts several research institutes. Research institutes The town hosts ''Măgurele Science Park'', the largest science par ...

, with Victor Toma as the head of the project. It was presented at the International Symposium in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

in 1955, and the prototype, which used 1500 vacuum tubes, a cylindrical magnet memory and machine code programming, was finished in 1957. Its size was that of three chifforobes, it had a paper tape input and a typewriter output and was able of solving 50 operations per second. CIFA-1 was in use for two years. After it was decommissioned, it was scrapped and no part of it survived today.

Later computers

Later CIFA computers were CIFA-2 (800 vacuum tubes) in 1959, CIFA-3 (for the Bucharest University's Computer Center) in 1961 and CIFA-4 in 1962. Other Romanian computers of the era are

MECIPT The Timişoara Polytechnic Institute Electronic Computer (Romanian: Mașina Electronică de Calcul Institutul Politehnic Timişoara), known as MECIPT, is the name used for a family of computers built from 1961 to 1968 at the Polytechnic University ...

-1 (1961), MECIPT-2 (1964) at the Polytechnic Institute of Timișoara, MARICA, DACICC-1 and DACICC-200 at th
T. Popoviciu Institute of Numerical Analysis, Cluj-Napoca

VITOSHA Vitosha ( bg, Витоша ), the ancient ''Scomius'' or ''Scombrus'', is a mountain massif, on the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Vitosha is one of the symbols of Sofia and the closest site for hiking, alpinism and skiing. Conveni ...

was the first Bulgarian computer, built in 1962-1963 on the basis of a cultural agreement between the Romanian and Bulgarian Academies of Science. It was based on CIFA-3.

CIFA Computer Characteristics

References

Vacuum tube computers {{compu-stub