Fifth Generation Computer Systems: Difference between revisions

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The '''Fifth Generation Computer Systems ''' ('''FGCS''') was a 10-year initiative begun in 1982 by Japan's [[Ministry of International Trade and Industry]] (MITI) to create computers using [[massively parallel computing]] and [[logic programming]]. It aimed to create an "epoch-making computer" with supercomputer-like performance and to provide a platform for future developments in [[artificial intelligence]]. FGCS was ahead of its time and a commercial failure. FGCS contributed greatly to the field of [[concurrent logic programming]].

The term "fifth generation" was intended to convey the system as being advanced.: In the [[history of computing hardware]], there were 4 "generations" of computers. using1st-generation computers used [[vacuum tubetubes]]s were called the first, 2nd-generation; [[transistortransistors]]s and [[diodediodes]]s, the second;3rd-generation [[integrated circuit]]s, the third; and those4th-generation using [[microprocessor]]s, the fourth. Whereas previous computer generations had focused on increasing the number of logic elements in a single CPU, the fifth generation, it was widely believed at the time, would instead turn to massive numbers of CPUs for added performance.

== Background ==

computers using [[vacuum tube]]s were called the first generation; [[transistor]]s and [[diode]]s, the second; [[integrated circuit]]s, the third; and those using [[microprocessor]]s, the fourth. Whereas previous computer generations had focused on increasing the number of logic elements in a single CPU, the fifth generation, it was widely believed at the time, would instead turn to massive numbers of CPUs for added performance.

In the late 1965s until the early 1970s, there was much talk about "generations" of computer hardware—usually "three generations".

== Background ==

In the late 1965s until the early 1970s, there was much talk about "generations" of computer hardware—usuallyhardware — then usually organised into "three generations".

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# First generation: Thermionic vacuum tubes. Mid-1940s. IBM pioneered the arrangement of vacuum tubes in pluggable modules. The [[IBM 650]] was a first-generation computer.

# Second generation: Transistors. 1956. The era of miniaturization begins. Transistors are much smaller than vacuum tubes, draw less power, and generate less heat. Discrete transistors are soldered to circuit boards, with interconnections accomplished by stencil-screened conductive patterns on the reverse side. The [[IBM 7090]] was a second-generation computer.

# Third generation: Integrated circuits (silicon chips containing multiple transistors). 1964. A pioneering example is the ACPX module used in the IBM 360/91, which, by stacking layers of silicon over a ceramic substrate, accommodated over 20 transistors per chip; the chips could be packed together onto a circuit board to achieve unprecedented logic densities. The IBM 360/91 was a hybrid second- and third-generation computer.

Omitted from this taxonomy is the "zeroth-generation" computer based on metal gears (such as the [[IBM 407]]) or mechanical relays (such as the Mark I), and the post-third-generation computers based on Very Large Scale Integrated ([[VLSI]]) circuits.