Strela Computer

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1. "Strela" computer
2. Chief designer: Yu. Ya. Bazilevsky, deputy chief designers: B. I. Rameev; G. M. Prokudaev, A. M. Litvinov, D. A. Zhuchkov, developers: A. P. Tsygankin, N. V. Trubnikov, B. F. Melnikov, G. D. Monakhov, I. F. Lyguin, L. A. Larionova, A. M. Larionov and others.
3. Developing organization: SKB245 (since 1958 Scientific Research Institute of Electronic Engineering, since 1986 - NII "Argon", Moscow).
4. Producer: SAM plant, Moscow, Ministry of Instrument Making and Automation Means of the USSR.
   
   
   

   Strela Computer

5. Development completed in 1953.
6. Manufacturing started in 1953.
7. Production stopped in 1956.
8. Field of application: scientific computations in research organizations and computer centers of several ministries.
9. Number of computers issued: 7.
10. Description: Operating speed - 2000 3-address commands per second. Clock time - 500 mks.

    43-bit binary floating-point notation (35 bits for mantissa; 6 bit for number exponent, 1 bit for the number sign). Addresses lines - 12 bits. RAM on electron-beam tubes with access cycle - 20 mks. ROM on crystal diodes with a capacity of 15 standard subprograms each 16 commands and 256 operands.

    Two storage devices on magnetic tape with a capacity up to 1,5 million words were used as peripheral memory.

    The information was entered from the punched card or magnetic tape. The information was output to magnetic tape, punched card or a large-format printing mechanism.

11. Element base: first generation (6200 lamps and 60 000 crystal diodes).
12. Design: double racks mounted into an inter-rack corridor. Interchangeable cells are put in from the outside of every rack row.
13. Technology: common technological processes of the SAM plant which was oriented towards instrument making.
14. Software: library of subprograms, part of which is stored in ROM.
15. Specifications: Power consumption - 150 kw (processor - 75 kw). Occupied area - 300 sq. m. (processor - 150 sq. m.)
16. Features: Strela computer featured an outstandingly flexible command system. Several types of group arithmetic and logical operations, conditional jumps and changeable standard programs, as well as control test systems and organizing programs provided for creation of application program libraries for different purposes with size up to 100 million commands.

    Original solutions in element base and matrix calculus of the multiplier unit using diodes were implemented in this computer. For the first time operational memory on 43 beam storage tubes was developed.

    Besides that, the last (third) modification had a storage device based on magnetic drum with a capacity of up to 4096 words and rotation speed of 6,000 rpm.

    Punched card reader and output unit, magnetic tape storage and large-format printing device were developed and produced for the first time.

    The first programming methods in the USSR were worked through on Strelas.

    Strela received the State prise in 1954 During several years it was the most productive computer of the country.

References:

1. Yu. Bazilevsky. Universal digital computer "Strela". Instrument Making N3, 1957.
2. Several certificates of authorship