Deuce: a high-speed general-purpose computer

Deuce is a high-speed general-purpose binary digital computer, operating throughout in the serial mode at a digit frequency of 1 Mc/s, and using mercury delay lines as its primary storage system. It is a development from the Ace Pilot Model, which was developed by the National Physical Laboratory and has had an outstandingly successful career since it was commissioned in 1952. Many features of Deuce are common to this earlier machine, but a number of operational improvements have been made, together with additional features to facilitate maintenance and also to reduce the problems of testing new programmes. Input to and output from the computer are by means of high-speed punched-card machines, and a large-capacity (8192 words) magneticdrum store augments the main mercury-delay-line storage system. The internal organization of the machine is discussed, followed by a more detailed account of some of the novel features incorporated. Other sections describe briefly the construction of the machine and refer to typical applications.