The logical design of the Oak Ridge digital computer

The ORACLE (Oak Ridge Automatic Computer and Logical Engine) is a high speed general purpose automatically sequenced computer which is presently in the final stage of assembly and test. In 1950 Argonne National Laboratory, which was then building the AVIDAC agreed to build the ORACLE for Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge engineers and scientists have assisted Argonne in the design and construction of the computer. This computer project has also had the advantage of being able to use the experience gained by other groups particularly those at Los Alamos(1), University of Illinois (2), and the Institute for Advanced Studies(3). The ORACLE is a modification of the AVIDAC which in turn is a modification of the IAS (Institute for Advanced Studies) computer. Engineering modifications (4) were made to improve reliability and ease of maintenance and to increase the speed of operation of the computer. Modifications in the logical design were made to permit more efficient use of the fast memory by reducing the length of programs (by extending the number of automatic operations).