High-speed transistor computer circuit design

The realization of the computer described by S. W. Dunwell calls for high-frequency circuits capable of passing a signal through five sequential logical stages in 100 millimicroseconds. At the start of the project a study of available devices and techniques indicated that this goal would be difficult to reach without significant improvements either in the devices or the circuits, or both. Such an improvement came about in the device area with the availability of drift type transistors for research work. The characteristics of these transistors made necessary a new approach to circuit design which has resulted in circuits which not only meet the speed requirements, but also are relatively simple, reliable, and insensitive to noise.