The Construction of Digital Computers Using Register Transfer Modules.

The properties and characteristics of a recently developed set of hardwired Register Transfer Modules RTMs, which can be interconnected to perform the functions of a digital computer, are presented. To illustrate the value of this higher level of computer design, sets of simulated RTMs were combined to carry out the operations of both a general purpose digital computer, and a digital computer designed to perform specific tasks. The general purpose computer capabilities were demonstrated by interconnecting modules to perform the various functions of a FORTRAN machine. The specific task application was shown by constructing a system of modules to perform a triangulation algorithm. This application also demonstrates how the concept of modularization could be applied to a 1969 proposal by the Navy for a single, modularized airborne computer system known as the Advanced Airborne Digital Computer AADC.