BESM

{{short description|Series of Soviet mainframe computers built in 1950–60s}}

BESM (БЭСМ) is the series of Soviet mainframe computers built in 1950–60s. The name is an acronym for "Bolshaya{{cite book

|author=Н. П. Бусленко |author2=В. Н. Бусленко

|script-title=ru:Беседы о поколениях ЭВМ

|year=1977

|publisher=Молодая гвардия

|page=240

|series=Эврика

}} (or Bystrodeystvuyushchaya) {{Cite book |last=Metropolis |first=Nicholas |title=A History of Computing in the Twentieth Century |publisher=Elsevier Inc, Academic Press |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-12-491650-0 |page=152}} Elektronno-schotnaya Mashina" ("Большая электронно-счётная машина" or "Быстродействующая электронно-счётная машина"), meaning "Big Electronic Computing Machine" or "High-Speed Electronic Computing Machine". It was designed at the Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering

Models

The BESM series included six models.

=BESM-1=

BESM-1, originally referred to as simply the BESM or BESM AN ("BESM Akademii Nauk", BESM of the Academy of Sciences), was completed in 1952.{{cite book|last1=Metropolis|first1=Nicholas|title=History of Computing in the Twentieth Century|date=2014|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-1-4832-9668-5|page=149|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AsvSBQAAQBAJ&q=%22BESM%22+1952&pg=PA149|language=en}}{{cite book|last1=Impagliazzo|first1=John|last2=Proydakov|first2=Eduard|title=Perspectives on Soviet and Russian Computing: First IFIP WG 9.7 Conference, SoRuCom 2006, Petrozavodsk, Russia, July 3-7, 2006, Revised Selected Papers|date=2011|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-642-22816-2|page=14|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-jSqCAAAQBAJ&q=BESM+1952&pg=PA14|language=en}} Only one BESM-1 machine was built. The machine used approximately 5,000 vacuum tubes. At the time of completion, it was the fastest computer in Europe. The floating-point numbers were represented as 39-bit words: 32 bits for the mantissa, one bit for sign, and 1 + 5 bits for the exponent. It was capable of representing numbers in the range 10⁻⁹ – 10¹⁰. BESM-1 had 1024 words of read–write memory using ferrite cores, and 1024 words of read-only memory based on semiconducting diodes. It also had external storage: four magnetic tape units of 30,000 words each, and fast magnetic drum storage with a capacity of 5120 words and an access rate of 800 words/second. The computer was capable of performing 8–10 K Flops. The energy consumption was approximately 30 kW, not accounting for the cooling systems.

=BESM-2=

BESM-2 also used vacuum tubes.

=BESM-3M and BESM-4=

BESM-3M and BESM-4 were built using transistors. Their architecture was similar to that of the M-20 and M-220 series.{{cn|date=April 2024}} The word size was 45 bits.{{cn|date=April 2024}} Thirty BESM-4 machines were built. BESM-4 was used to create the first ever computer animation.{{cite web|url=http://www.etudes.ru/ru/mov/kittie/|script-title=ru:Кошечка - Математические этюды|language=ru|trans-title=Cat - Mathematical Etudes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510203746/http://www.etudes.ru/ru/mov/kittie/|archive-date=10 May 2011|url-status=live|access-date=28 May 2011}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.geekosystem.com/kitty-computer-animation-russia-1968-video/|title="Kitty": One of the First-Ever Computer Animations|website=www.geekosystem.com|date=22 March 2010 |language=en|access-date=21 April 2018}} The prototypes of both models were made in 1962–63, and the beginning of the series release was in 1964.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fLCEXWkQXvQC&q=%D0%B1%D1%8D%D1%81%D0%BC-3%D0%BC&pg=PA401|title=Профессиональное программирование. Системный подход, 2 изд.|last=Олегович|first=Одинцов Игорь|date=2004|publisher=БХВ-Петербург|isbn=5-94157-457-6|page=401|language=ru|trans-title=Professional programming. A Systems Approach, 2nd ed.}}

EPSILON (a macro language with high-level features including strings and lists, developed by Andrey Ershov at Novosibirsk in 1967) was used to implement ALGOL 68 on the M-220.{{cite web|title=EPSILON macro language| url=http://foldoc.org/index.cgi?query=EPSILON&action=Search|access-date=29 May 2007}}

=BESM-6=

File:BESM-6 (London Science Museum).jpg at London Science Museum]]

The BESM-6 was the best-known and most influential model of the series. The design was completed in 1965. Production started in 1968 and continued for the following 19 years.[http://old.osp.ru/museum/story/01_00.htm Очерки по истории советской вычислительной техники и школ программирования (Издательство "Открытые Системы")] [Essays on the history of Soviet computer technology and programming schools (Open Systems Publishing)], (in Russian), {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154907/http://old.osp.ru/museum/story/01_00.htm|date=30 September 2007}} [https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20070930154907%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fold.osp.ru%2Fmuseum%2Fstory%2F01_00.htm&edit-text= Google translation].

BESM

Models

=BESM-1=

=BESM-2=

=BESM-3M and BESM-4=

=BESM-6=

See also

References

Further reading