MIR (computer)

MIR is a series of early Soviet transistorized minicomputers. It was developed from 1965, 1968 to 1969. The development team was led by Victor Glushkov.

Overview

MIR stands for «Машина для Инженерных Расчётов» and means both "world" and "peace" in Russian. It was designed as a relatively small-scale computer for use in engineering and scientific applications. Among other innovations, it contained a hardware implementation of a high-level programming language capable of symbolic manipulations with fractions, polynomials, derivatives and integrals. Another innovative feature for that time was the user interface combining a keyboard with a monitor and light pen used for correcting texts and drawing on screen.

Technical specifications for MIR-1:

memory unit: 4096 12-bit words of core memory
external storage: 8-track punched tape. Input device: paper tape reader FS-1501. Output device: tape punch PL-80
performance: 200-300 arithmetic operations per second on five-digit numbers
power consumption: 1.5 kW
weight: about 400 kg