Evolution of Elliott Computer Architectures

Computer design at Borehamwood was initially driven by the demands of real-time on-line control of ship-borne radar. From January 1949 Harry Carpenter and Ed Hersom became jointly responsible for defining the systems architecture of the Elliott 152 computer, as discussed in Chap. 2. They had some difficulty in meeting the speed of operation required by the MRS5 project. By 1949 the building blocks available at Borehamwood included a relatively fast random-access CRT storage system based on the anticipation-pulse method, a family of innovative printed-circuit logic modules based on miniature pentode thermionic valves (tubes), and a design for a fast serial multiplier