4 ms·
> The best they ever got from cyrotrons was a special-purpose device, not a whole computer. But they reportedly did get a gigahertz clock rate, decades before
by aab0 10y ago
> The best they ever got from cyrotrons was a special-purpose device, not a whole computer. But they reportedly did get a gigahertz clock rate, decades before anybody else.
What did they do with it?
- Animats 10y agoProbably a cryptanalysis key-tester, like all the WWII cryptanalysis machines, but faster. Take a look at [1] and read the description of the custom hardware they had added to HARVEST, their IBM 7030 STRETCH computer. That gives a sense of the hardware wanted for statistical cryptanalytic key testing. [1] http://www.governmentattic.org/3docs/NSA-HGPEDC_1964.pdf http://www.governmentattic.org/3docs/NSA-HGPEDC_1964.pdf