Atlas computer

E436450

The Atlas computer was an early British supercomputer developed in the 1960s that pioneered virtual memory and other advanced features, making it one of the most powerful and influential computers of its time.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Atlas computer canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (54)

Predicate Object
instanceOf mainframe computer
supercomputer
architecture binary
clockSpeed about 1 microsecond cycle time
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom
describedAs one of the most powerful computers in the world at the time of its introduction
pioneering virtual memory computer
developer Ferranti NERFINISHED
Iain P. Sharp NERFINISHED
Jack Howlett NERFINISHED
Tom Kilburn NERFINISHED
University of Manchester NERFINISHED
fieldOfUse aeronautical research
engineering analysis
nuclear research
scientific computing
hasPart Atlas Supervisor NERFINISHED
core memory
drum memory
floating-point arithmetic unit
magnetic tape units
inception 1962
early 1960s
influenced IBM System/360 virtual memory designs
later virtual memory operating systems
locationOfFirstInstallation Manchester NERFINISHED
University of Manchester NERFINISHED
mainMemorySize 16K words of core memory
manufacturer Ferranti NERFINISHED
notableFeature automatic resource allocation
hardware support for floating-point arithmetic
hardware support for index registers
interrupt system
job scheduling
multiprogramming
one-level store
paging
protection mechanisms
virtual memory
operatedBy Atlas Computer Laboratory NERFINISHED
Atomic Energy Research Establishment NERFINISHED
British European Airways NERFINISHED
British Overseas Airways Corporation NERFINISHED
British Petroleum NERFINISHED
British Steel Corporation NERFINISHED
Chilton, Oxfordshire NERFINISHED
London University NERFINISHED
Shell Mex and BP NERFINISHED
University of Manchester NERFINISHED
operatingSystem Atlas Supervisor NERFINISHED
powerOutput about 1 million instructions per second
secondaryStorageSize 96K words of drum memory
status decommissioned
wordSize 48-bit

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ferranti notableWork Atlas computer
Ferranti developed Atlas computer