USE OF WESTERN TECHNOLOGY IN THE RYAD COMPUTERS OF THE USSR AND EASTERN EUROPE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T00176R000900010001-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 21
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 26, 2007
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 1, 1980
• Content Type: SNIE

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National Secret
Foreign
Assessment
Center
Use of Western Technology
in the Ryad Computers of the
USSR and Eastern Europe
Secret
SW 80-10027
June 1980
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National
Foreign
Assessment
Center
Use of Western Technology
in the Ryad Computers of the
USSR and Eastern Europe (v)
Information available as of 1 April 1980
has been used in the preparation of this report.
The authors of this report are
ffice of Scientific and
Weapons Research. The results of an inde endent
contract wit
'a so have been used in the preparation
of this report. Comments and queries are welcome
and may be directed to the Chief, Sciences and
Technology Division, OSWRI
This report was coordinated with the Directorate of
Operations and with the Offices of Economic
Research, Strategic Research, and Research and
Development. (u)
Secret
SW 80-10027
June 1980
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RI
Prrot
D
Use of Western Technology
in the Ryad Computers of the
USSR and Eastern Europe F
Overview Since 1969 the USSR and East European countries have been developing a
family of general purpose computers known as the Ryad series. These
computers essentially make up the total Soviet and East European effort in
general purpose computers, and they have been and will continue to be used
in a wide variety of civil and military applications. The architectural designs
of the Ryad computers are patterned after those of the highly successful
IBM 360 and 370 series of computers; the Ryad computers also use some
Western engineering concepts in the implementation of IBM designs. Fl
Western technology has been important to the Ryad developments because
it has provided proven design directions both at the system and component
levels. Thus, Soviet and East European computer production efforts have
been devoted to the most successful computer designs that have ever been
mass produced, computers that could be used in a wide range of applications
and could be highly serviceable in the field. With this approach the Soviets
and East Europeans eliminated many of the risks in undertaking the
development and production of a new series of gen purpose computers,
and in some cases they saved manpower and time.
The Soviets and East Europeans have had varying success in assimilating
Western developments in their Ryad systems. They have been successful in
following Western design concepts and have applied some Western concepts
within a few years after Western production models of computers used such
designs
7
The Soviets have only been partially successful in the engineering
implementation of their Ryad designs. Their success has been limited by
shortcomings in their technical logistics supply and administration as well as
in their supporting microelectronics base. In addition, the Soviets appear to
have been misled in some cases by Western engineering designs that had not
been fully proved for production process. The Soviets also have not been very
successful in providing for the effective use of their Ryad systems; they have
not yet duplicated Western successes in providing effective maintenance and
software support to usersn
Soviet and East European development of the Ryad computer systems has
been aided by virtually all available means for collecting technical know-
how. Openly available and proprietary IBM technical information was of
greater benefit to the Ryad developers, however, than were the acquisition
and study of actual IBM hardware.I I
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II
By patterning its most widely used general purpose computers after IBM
designs, the Soviet Bloc will find itself committed to maintaining compati-
bility of its future general purpose computers with the IBM architecture it
has adopted. While this may cause the Soviet systems to grow closer to IBM
products in logical design and possibly engineering implementation, the time
lag between the appearance of new IBM computer production and their
Soviet and East European counterparts will increase. Thus, while they were
approximately seven years behind the West in the mid-1970s in general
purpose computer products, they will be using general purpose computers in
the late 1980s that are comparable to Western models of the early 1970s
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Secret
Logical Architecture and Design 5
1. Control Panel of the ES- 1050 Computer
2. Control Panel of the ES-1030 Computer
3. ES-1055 Computer at Leipzig Trade Fair, 1978
4. Comparative Schematics of US Texas Instruments Company 9
(a and c) and Soviet (b and d) Integrated Circuits
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Secret
Use of Western Technology
in the Ryad Computers of the
USSR and Eastern Europ I
Introduction
For the past 10 years, the USSR and its East European
allies have had a large cooperative project aimed at
developing, producing, and using a compatible set of
computing equipment for a wide range of general
purpose needs. The status and trends in this family of
computing equipment, which is called the Unified
System (ES) or Ryad series, have been published in
several previous studies.' This study will identify and
evaluate specific uses of Western technology in the
Ryad project, and only those Ryad computers that are
known to have been patterned after and claimed to be
compatible with the IBM System 360 and 370 models
are discussed.21 I
The Ryad project was first announced in 1967 as a
Soviet project. The undertaking, however, subse-
quently became an international venture in 1969 when
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary,
and Poland joined the USSR to form the International
Commission for Cooperation of the Socialist Countries
in the Field of Computer Technology. Romania and
Cuba joined the commission in 1973, and their
contributions to the Ryad project are still minor
Development Sequence
Development of at least some of the Ryad models must
have been under way even before 1969 when the final
decision apparently was made to follow the IBM
pattern. This became apparent when prototypes of the
first Ryad computers-now called the Ryad I
models-were tested during 1971. Prior to 1969, the
The Ryad Series of Computers, SID-72-5, May 1972
OSoviet Ryad Computers: A Program in Trouble, ER
77-10491, September 19771 The Ryad II
Series of Computers, SI 78- une 19781
' Although the Hungarian ES-1010 and its derivative models are
nominally included among the Ryad machines, they use designs
licensed from France and are not compatible with the IBM 360
series. The Czechoslovak ES-1021 is not considered in detail as it
does not implement the full IBM 360 instruction set. This study also
does not focus on peripheral computer equipment, such as disk units
or printers, as our intelligence on such devices is limited. In general,
the design of such devices ranges from close physical duplication to
indigenous designs that, in many cases, do not permit the ready
interfacneoff Western peripherals to Soviet or East European
systems I
USSR and East Germany had employed IBM 360
logical architecture in their ASVT and R-21 comput-
ers, respectively, but they were unsuccessful because of
the inadequacies of the component and circuit technol-
ogy then available. Engineering differences in Ryad I
computers from various development organizations
also indicate that several local efforts to adapt IBM
designs must have been under way by 1969. To support
these efforts, the USSR and its allies used virtually all
the collection means at their command to collect
information on IBM 360 and 370 developments.' F] 2
A few interim or modified Ryad models were devel- 2
oped within three to four years after the first Ryad I
models appeared. These interim models generally
appear to have been intended to retain the same
features of the Ryad I models and to upgrade their
performance rather than to introduce features similar
to the IBM 370
The first prototypes of the Ryad II models were
completed in 1976 and were oriented toward
advancing the Ryad project to computers with features
like those of the IBM 370. Selected operational
characteristics of the Ryad I and II models are shown
in the tablet I
Maximization of the range of computing applications
that could be accommodated seems to have been a
major goal in the selection of models for inclusion in
the Ryad series. The Ryad developers largely avoided
the inclusion of deviant models that have been offered
in some Western families of computers in order to
counter competition. Comparison of the data in the
table with corresponding data on IBM 360 and 370
models reveals that no Ryad computer exactly repli-
cates any specific IBM model in arithmetic and
storage characteristics) I
' For a general discussion of both overt and covert methods used by
the USSR to acquire foreign technical information see Mechanisms
for Soviet Acquisition of US Technology, SI 76-10028, November
1976r-- I
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Selected Characteristics of Ryad Computers
Similar to the IBM 360 and 370
Modified Ryad I Ryad II Models
Models
Prototype date 1971
1972
1972
1972'
1973
1975
1974
1975'
1977'
1976
1979
1978
1975' 1980'
Production date 1972
1974
1974 '
1974
1976 '
1976
1976 '
19761
1979
1978 '
19801
1979
1979 1982 '
Microprogram 1.00
storage cycle
(microseconds)
0.30
0.50
0.45
0.16
0.50
0.32
0.30
0.38
0.20
0.12
0.40
0.09 NA
Fixed point add time 20.1
(microseconds)
Floating point add 57.3
time (microseconds)
Floating point 411.0
multiply time
(microseconds)
None
31.9
Main storage 64 to
capacity (K bytes) ' 256
16 to
64
128 to
512
128 to
512
128 to
1,024
128 to
512
128 to
1,024
256 to
512
128 to
256
256 to
512
256 to
3,072
256 to
4,096
2,048 to 2,048 to
8,192 16,384
Bus width (bytes) 2
2
4
8
8
4
4
4
2
8
8'
8
8 NA
Cycle time 1.5 to
(microseconds) 2
2
1.25
1.35
1.25
2
1.2 to
1.3
1.25
0.625
2.0
1.0 to
1.2
1.2
1.65 . NA
Estimated
' Kbytes = 1,024 bytes.
External Appearance
In the Ryad series of computing equipment, Soviet and
East European designers have tried-with mixed
success-to duplicate the appearance and esthetic
appeal, as well as the functional capabilities, of models
widely used in the West since the mid-1960s. Ryad
equipment cabinets are assembled from interchange-
able metal parts rather than from the individually
fitted parts that were used in earlier Soviet computer
cabinets. Color schemes are similar to those used by
IBM since about 1970, but, with the exception of the
East German ES-1040 and ES-1055 models, finishes
do not meet current or past Western standards. In
general, the ES-1040 and ES-1055 models look more
like IBM computers than the other Ryad models
Soviet computers developed before the Ryad series
traditionally had separate wood-topped operator con-
soles. The Ryad I models, however, have followed the
IBM 360 approach used in approximately 1964 of
having operator panels mounted directly on equipment
cabinets. These panels are used by computer engineers
responsible for maintenance and by computer opera-
tors. The arrangement of switches, keys, and lights
bears a close similarity to those on IBM 360 computers
with some of the switch settings locked out from
operators. The operator panels of the ES-1040 and
larger models have profiles similar to those adopted for
the IBM models because of human engineering consid-
erations (see figure 1). Operator panels with a vertical
profile like that on the early Soviet ES-1020 and
ES-1030 computers (see figure 2) were not used on
IBM 360 models, but they were used on some earlier
IBM computers.
The East German Ryad II computer, the ES-1055,
departs from the Ryad I computers in that it has a
separate console for the operators and the computer
engineer (see figure 3). The use of a separate console
with a cathode-ray tube display is consistent with
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25
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Control Panel of the ES-1050 Computer
582137 5-80
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Control Panel of the ES-1030 Computer
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00 00 0* 0 00 0 0000*0 0 000 00 *0000000,00,0
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ES-1055 Computer at Leipzig
Trade Fair, 1978
582139 5-80
IBM's practice in their 370/158 and other larger scale
models of the early 1970s. The use of a cathode-ray
tube display rather than registers and arrays of buttons
and switches is highly desirable from an engineering
viewpoint
]]
factor was the Soviets' desire to eliminate risks in
making the decision. In addition to its proven successes
in IBM products, the 360 architecture already had
been adapted into successful products b some other
Western computer manufacturers
IBM 360 architectural features of the Ryad I comput-
ers include: an identical instruction set and data
format, use of microprograms ^ to execute the instruc-
tions on variable length words expressed in increments
of 8-bit bytes, an interleaved memory organization
that permits overlapping of operations, look-ahead,'
and instruction stacks.6 None of these individual
architectural features was unique to the IBM 360
computers, but IBM was the first to incorporate all of
the cited features in one series of computers. For
example, instruction stacks were available in some US
computers in 1960-61, and interleaving without an
instruction stack was in some US models in 1959. Also,
microprograming was first described by the British
computer pioneer M. V. Wilkes in the early 1950s and
was employed in a Soviet experimental computer that
was described in 1961.]
The philosophy of the Ryad developers in respect to
faithfulness of duplication of IBM logical designs is
difficult to pinpoint. The philosophy seems to have
varied among the different design groups responsible
for Ryad models. A comparison of Ryad micro-
program cycle and arithmetic operational times with
those of IBM models suggests that there are significant
differences in the algorithms used for arithmetic.
Faithful duplication of IBM algorithms is believed.to
have been attempted in the first Ryad models, such as
the ES- 1020, but probably failed because of
differences in the circuit technology used. Generally,
some non-IBM developers in the West appear to have
duplicated IBM logical designs more closely than the
The Ryad computer designers also have followed the
West in abandoning the concept of having a switch and
light for every register in the computer. Maintenance
procedures used with discrete component machines
both in the West and in the USSR required such
provisions for testing purposes. About the time the
IBM 360 models were introduced, maintenance proce-
dures utilized diagnostic programs in which the results
were c jsnaved by means of printers or cathode-ray
tubes.
Logical Architecture and Design
Ryad I Models. The Ryad I computers use the same
basic logical architecture as the IBM 360 models that
were first produced in the West in 1964-65. Of all
alternative designs, the Soviets probably chose the
IBM logical architecture because it is best suited to the
Ryad goal of providing a compatible family of
computers that can serve the needs of a wide range of
general purpose applications. Obviously, an important
factor in choosing the IBM 360 and 370 architecture
was the availability of large amounts of software and
design information. But, an even more important
Ryad developers
In a microprogramed computer, execution of any instruction in the
instruction list for that computer is accomplished by using a stored
sequence of microinstructions or fundamental steps for automati-
cally organizing and controlling registers to is circuits, and data
paths to carry out the desired operation
' Look-ahead is a feature that permits automatic examination of the
programs and organization data storage to permit minimization of
the time required for execution of the programs
6 An instruction stack is a feature for automatically organizing the
storage and order of execution of the instructions in a program to
achieve optimal use of a computer's memory, logic, and data transfer
provisions
II
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. 2
The choice of microprograming for Ryads was an
enlightened decision for the Council for Mutual
Economic Assistance (CEMA) countries. Its use
removes constraints on the variety of features that can
be logically implemented by machine designers and
permits intimate control of registers, logic, data paths,
and variation in the sequence of steps and paths
between arithmetic components. The selection of the
sequence of steps and paths usually was hardwired in
Western high-speed machines because the need to get
control signals for paths and logic sequences from a
memory resulted in time delays that could not be
tolerated on such machines. Use of microprograming
in large, fast Western machines only became practical
about 1970-71 with the advent of IBMs 370/158,
370/165, and larger models.II
Although the Ryad I computers are believed to
duplicate the IBM 360 models functionally, informa-
tion is insufficient for a precise detailed comparison of
Ryad I and IBM 360 logical design. The details of the
logical designs of the Ryad computers probably are not
congruent with those of any IBM 360 machines
because of the apparent differences in algorithms.
Additionally, the differences in the kinds of electronic
components used by IBM and Ryad would negate any
benefits from direct implementation of detailed logical
designs from IBM .I
Unsuccessful Hungarian attempts to execute an IBM
360 program on an ES-1020 also indicate that the
duplication of IBM logical designs is not complete.
Neither the ES-1020 nor ES-1030 models, however,
appear to incorporate any architectural features not
available in the IBM 360/30 and 360/40 models.
71
The East German ES- 1040 appears to have the most
balanced logical design of the Ryad I computers. On
one hand, its design appears conservative in that it
duplicates the IBM 360 more closely than other Ryad I
models. An unmodified IBM operating system was
loaded into an ES-1040, and it executed applications
programs without any problems. On the other hand,
the ES-1040 displays an aggressive design approach in
that it has an instruction logic that does not appear to
have been taken from any Western machine of
comparable speed and capabilities. The ES-1040 has
memory interleaving, instruction look-ahead, and an
instruction stack for three 64-bit words that permits
queuing of up to six instructions. No IBM model had
all of these features in a single model. For example, the
IBM 360/50 in 1965 had the look-ahead feature but
not the instruction stack.
The ES-1050 is not microprogramed in the strictest
sense. Unlike the ES-1020, ES-1030, and ES-1040,
which use read-only memories to store microprograms,
the algorithms for arithmetic and control are hard-
wired in the ES-1050. In this respect, the ES-1050
follows the practice used by IBM in its large, high-
speed models such as the IBM 360/75 model in 1966-
67. It is not known if the ES-1050 copied the IBM
approach through desire or necessity. In either case,
the Soviets probably chose hardwiring to obtain speed
advanta es reflected in other component and design
feature 25X1
Interim Ryad Models. The logical architectural and
design features of the ES-1022 and ES-1032 comput-
ers appear little changed over those of their predeces-
sors, the ES-1020 and ES-1030, respectively. The ES-
1032 appears to have been produced only in Poland,
although Soviet specialists may have participated in its
development. The main thrust in the development of
the ES-1022 and ES-1032 apparently was to correct
mistakes made in the development of their predecessor
models
Another interim Ryad computer, the ES-1033, ap-
pears to have been an ambitious effort that was
influenced by Western developments of the late 1960s.
The ES-1033 design appears to be new rather than a
simple extrapolation of that of the ES-1030, which was
done at Yerevan. The ES-1033 design may have been a
result of the transfer of the ES-1030 production and
presumably follow-on design responsibilities from the
Yerevan Computer Plant to the Kazan Computer
Plant. The Kazan plant, which developed the ES-1033,
has displayed better engineering capabilities than the
Yerevan facility
The ES-1033 has the same number of instructions as
its predecessor but incorporates faster algorithms in
most of its instructions. It also is claimed to have error-
recovery aids and microdiagnostics, implying the use of
a relatively large microprogram store. Micro-
diagnostics are not mentioned as a part of any Ryad
models before the ES-103311
25X125
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The ES-1033 reportedly has multiplexer channels that
can be controlled by microprograms. This type of
channel control was not used extensively in the West
until the IBM 370s appeared in 1970-71. Previously,
multiplexer channels were used only on very large
machines and were hardwired. In recent Western
computers, multiplexer channels are managed by an
input/output director, which is a small computer
operating under microprogram control; the director
provides flexibility and enables many functions not
practical in a hardwired design. Provision of a suffi-
cient microprogram memory capacity, however, may
increase the cost. The ES-1033 microprogram store is
claimed to have a 300-nanosecond cycle time, which is
probably faster than is needed for a computer in its
The ES-1033 uses a trunk or bus organization' in its
central processor; previous Ryad models did not utilize
this design. The Soviets appeared to have used this
approach in the ES-1033 in 1974-75, only a couple of
years after Western manufacturers used it in the
design of small- to medium-scale mainframes that
were plug compatible with IBM computers. Both the
USSR in the early 1970s and the West in the mid-
1960s had used bus organizations for minicomputers.
Use of a bus design generally reduces module
interconnection requirements. This concept was devel-
oped for computers in which a single circuit board
accommodates a complete computing function; the
functions provided can be changed without changing
backpanel wiring.
Ryad II Models. It appears that the Ryad II models
will attempt to incorporate all the features of the IBM
370 models. These include: virtual memory,' block
multiplexers, an expanded instruction set, file protec-
tion, improved error handling, clocks for timing
computer functions, and clocks for posting date and
time of daylI
' Trunk or bus organization is an architecture that permits the
instruction units, arithmetic units, and memory to share the same
communications channel and communicate by time slots=
Virtual memory permits a programer to use a memory space with
greater capacity than the main internal memory with only a small
compromise in access time, that is, information in auxiliary storage
can be addressed as if it were in main storagel I
Virtual memory probably is the most important and
most distinguishing feature that the Ryad II series
adopted from IBM. Virtual memory capabilities were
included in computers that predated the 370 machines,
but IBM named and popularized the concept and
succeeded in making programers use it. As introduced
by IBM, virtual memory is a combination of some
fairly sophisticated hardware and software that pro-
vides a large amount of directly addressable memory.
The hardware includes advanced disc drives (auxiliary
storage) with high data transfer rates, new block
multiplexers, special high-speed memories for address-
ing in some models, and new operating system
software
The East German ES-1055 probably will be the first 25X1
Ryad II model to implement all the hardware and
design features needed for virtual memory. The other
Ryad II models displayed in 1979 claimed to have
these features, but it is doubtful that all of the features
will be fully implemented in any Ryad II computers
before mid-1980. The Soviets or East Germans could
have implemented virtual memory on their Ryad I or
interim Ryad models. The implementation, however,
would not have been the same as that of the IBM 370
models, and such Soviet models would not have been
able to execute IBM operating system software
The fact that the Ryad developers elected to introduce
virtual memory in the same fashion as IBM is an
indication that they intend to duplicate IBM models
more closely in the Ryad II than they have in the 25X1
Ryad I developments. There are no indications that
efforts in this direction will diminish, in fact, they
probably will increase
The Ryad computers that have been produced or
announced will dominate the Soviet general purpose
computing arena past the mid-1980s. The Soviets have
a very large investment in developing, producing, and 25X1
establishing the use of their Ryad computer hardware
and software. This investment, including specialized
training, will have to be amortized over some period of 25X1
time, probably about seven years-as is the case in the
West. Production of the Ryad II computers is just
being established, and benefits from the attendant
investments remain to be realizedi I
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Engineering and Circuit Implementation
Ryad I Models. Western technology acquired both
overtly and covertly by the Communist countries over
the past 15 to 20 years as a part of their overall
electronic industry buildup clearly has been a major
asset in their ability to build the Ryad computers.
Nevertheless, the selection of components and circuits
for the Ryad computers to date was influenced more by
local experiences and technical supplies than by
Western technology acquired specifically for Ryad
projects.
The USSR apparently is just beginning to employ
materials and practices used in the West since the
early 1960s to reduce fire and safety hazards in
computer installations. Fire reportedly has been a
problem at Soviet ES-1020 and ES-1022 installations,
and materials used for circuit boards may have
contributed to these fire problems. Although the
Soviets may be attempting to correct these problems
by importing large quantities of Western equipment
suitable for making boards of the types used in their
Ryad computers, material standards similar to those
used in the West to control fire hazards may not yet be
implemented. Also, the provisions for power cabling
and environmental control at Ryad installations are
not up to the standards of IBM 360 installations.
0
In place of the hybrid circuits used in corresponding
IBM 360 models, the Ryad computers use monolithic
integrated circuits (ICs). The ES-1020 and ES-1030
computers, for example, use two-sided printed circuit
boards that mount up to 24 transistor-transistor logic
(TTL) ICs per board. The use of TTL ICs in Ryad
computers follows the pattern of non-IBM Western
companies that developed computers on the basis of the
IBM 360 architecture during the mid-1960s. The
Soviet TTL circuits in Ryad are of the so-called
"Logika 2" or 155 series. Nominally they have the
same performance characteristics and are pin-for-pin
compatible with the 7400 series of ICs first offered by
Texas Instruments (TI) in 1961-62II
The Soviets apparently attempted to reproduce faith-
fully the TI 7400 circuit designs but encountered
production problems that resulted in design modifica-
tions. Circuit schematics for the 155 series ICs
originally included in descriptions of the ES-1020 and
ES-1030 computers were identical to the schematics
for corresponding members of the TI 7400 series
(figures 4a and 4b). Later Soviet 155 series ICs (figure
4d) used in these computers included an additional
transistor to prevent saturation 9 and to obtain com-
parable operating speeds with the basic TI circuits
(figure 4a). In contrast, modern US TTL ICs also use
a gold doping process to overcome saturation problems.
This process requires masking and diffusion techniques
that permit the gold doping to be done to the part of the
chip where it is needed and not elsewhere on the chip.
High-speed versions of the TI 7400 series (figure 4c)
also include an extra transistor, but such circuits
operate at almost twice the speed of the basic circuits.
The Soviet choice for the circuit configuration in the
TTL circuits may have resulted from the state of their
technology, which was not as advanced as that of the
United States, or from their adaptation of some past
Western TTL IC designs. As diffusion and masking
techniques were developing, there was a time when at
least one US competitor (possibly the Suhl family of
circuits from Sylvania) used a configuration similar to
that shown on the Soviet TTL schematics in figure 4d.
The configuration used in current Soviet production
155 series TTLs suggests that the available level of
masking and diffusion technology is similar to that of
the United States five to seven years ago. A tremen-
dous change has occurred in Western processin
technology over the period of TTL progress
Differences in the circuit technology used in storage
units of the ES-1020 and ES-1030 models probably are
largely attributable to the differences in experiences
and in the kinds of technology readily available to the
developers. Both ES-1020 and ES-1030 computers use
ferrite-cores for the main internal store; the ES- 1020
uses diodes in the protection key storage, and the
ES-1030 uses plated wire. Plated wire probably was
selected because of the experience gained at Yerevan
' As figure 4 illustrates, TTL 7400 series circuit is a combination of a
multiemitter transistor on the input end of the chip followed
basically by an amplifier and a push-pull output. The lower
transistor of the push-pull output is prone to saturation and, once in
saturation, turn-off is slow.
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in the development of Nairi computers. The Soviets
appear to have had trouble, however, in producing
plated-wire memories
Differences in the ES-1020 and ES-1030 circuit
technology also are reflected in the microprogram
stores. The ES-1020 uses closed-flux transformer cores
in the read-only microprogram store, but the ES-1030
uses open-flux transformer cores. Western manufac-
turers have used both types of cores since the mid-
1960s. The Soviets again appear to have incorporated
components which they were capable of manufactur-
ing and with which they were familiar. The Bulgar-
ians, on the other hand, solicited the West for some of
the components for the microprogram store in their
version of the ES-102
The ES- 1040 reflects the application of East German
engineering skills and experiences with high-quality
fabrication techniques accumulated from past com-
puter developments. Visual examination of the
ES-1040 circuit board reveals a high level of
capabilities near those of the West. The East Germans,
no doubt, have taken advantage of their access to
Western technology, particularly in West Germany.
The ES-1040 circuit board, however, does not appear
to be copied from any Western board. It is possible that
the East Germans have assisted or are assisting the
Soviets in making circuit boards for the ES-1050 and
higher-performance computersiI
The circuit boards used in the ES-1040 can accommo-
date up to 72 ICs, a density greater than that
commonly found in US computers but the same as that
used on the Soviet ES- 1050. The use of such high-
density board on the ES- 1040 is surprising because
Soviet literature on the Ryad project indicates that
boards designed for 72 integrated circuits were in-
tended for emitter-coupled logic (ECL) not TTL.
Soviet descriptions indicate that boards for TTL will
have less than 50 components. Such high densities for
the ES-1040 boards would make them expensive to
build and would cause yield problem
One particular East German ES- 1040 board that has
been examined has approximately 68 ICs mounted on
it and appears to be a multilayer type (six layers).
Etched-line widths on the board are approximately
10 mils (254 micrometers), which is considered good in
current Western practice. The ES-1040 board uses
approximately .3 of a square inch per integrated
circuit, very dense by Western standards. This density
is not required in the ES- 1040, and the decision to use
such a dense board may reflect a desire for engineering
elegance that resulted in overengineering. The board is
impressive from the standpoint of engineering design
and craftsmanship
The ES- 1040 board might be intended for use in
computers employing ECL circuits such as the
ES-1050 and ES-1060 computers. Because the board
has low impedance (on the order of 100 ohms), it might
be better suited for ECL circuit applications rather
than for the TTL circuits with which it is used.
Apparently the ES-1040 designers were willin to take
some loss of speed to overcome noise problems
The ES-1040 board uses a very good connector of
remarkably high craftsmanship that is competitive
with some of the best quality US types, but the
connector does not appear to be a direct duplication of
any US types. The connector is a high-density design
that has pick-ups mounted so that a ground is provided
as soon as the board is pressed into a connector and
before power is connected. The provision for contacting
ground before power is a feature found in some IBM
equipment and in some US military equipment. The
ES-1040 connector has two guide pins, and the ground
pins are positioned along the connector strip so that
ground contacts occur even if the board is cocked
during insertion. The connectors also use internal
slotting with a cross-shaped cross section on the pins.
IThe East German connector
cou a use on oards for ECL circuits that require
very good grounding. Many failures occurred in the
United States in moving from TTL to ECL technology
because of inadequate grounding
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In terms of overall speed, the ES- 1040 is somewhat
faster than its approximate counterpart, the IBM
360/50, which was a troublesome machine in part
because of the total number of TTL circuits used and
associated cross-talk problems. The ES-1040 seems to
have managed these problems better, possibly because
during the time interval between the IBM 360/50 and
ES-1040, TTL technology matured. Also, the ES-1040
uses monolithic ICs instead of hybrids such as those
used in the IBM 360/50. The TTL ICs on the ES-1040
circuit board appear to be of both Soviet and East
German origin. Practically all the parts of the ES-1040
are of Soviet and East German manufacture, although
a few US sense amplifiers were used in the main
memory of other ES-1040
II
The back panel wiring of the ES- 1040 uses a
multilayer board (seven layers) with manual wire
wraps, representing an aggressive approach. The early
IBM 360 models had a two-layer back panel with wire
wrap. IBM did not use multilayer back panels until the
later 360s were made
.I
The circuitry and component design features of the
ES- 1050 make it one of the most radical departures
from the IBM 360 class of machines. The Soviets did
not follow proven Western approaches and appear to
have made serious design and engineering mistakes.
One of the most striking features of the ES-1050 is that
it is based on ECL monolithic integrated circuits.
Although these circuits are capable of very fast
operation, the ES-1050 is much slower than any US
computer that has been built with ECL circuits. The
use of ECL for the ES-1050 can be considered a
conservative choice. When the ES-1050 was devel-
oped, the Soviets probably lacked sufficient control
over the manufacturing processes to make TTL
circuits that could be driven at the speeds required by
the ES-10501I
Comparison of the speed and the ES- 1050 to its closest
counterpart in the IBM 360 line, the Model 65,
illustrates this point. The Model 65 was built on
conventional TTL technology that probably resulted
from unique production capabilities of IBM which the
Soviets may not have been able to duplicate. The
selection of ECL for the ES-1050 may have been the
only practical choice for the Soviets, but the ECL
circuits ran extremely hot and created heat dissipation
problems. The severity of these problems probably is
reflected in the long development time for the ES-1050
and the fact that some ES-1050s reportedly have
remained barely operational or totally inoperative for
long periods after installation.
The design of the Soviet ES-1050 circuit boards
probably was influenced by the vast amount of
Western literature extolling the potential advantages
of multilayer printed circuit boards. The ES-1050 uses
12-layer circuit boards, which represent a very aggres-
sive design approach. US designers typically do not use 25X1
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ECL components as are on the ES-1050 boards. The
Soviets may not have recognized the decline in the US
developers' enthusiasm for multilayer boards because
of difficulties in overcoming yield problems. (Yield
problems are proportional to the number of layers in
the boards). Undoubtedly, the Soviets had consider-
able reliability problems with the multilayer boards of 25X1
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The ES-1050 is also unusual when compared with
other IBM or Ryad models because it has about three
times as many locations for circuit boards as it requires
to meet design specifications. This, coupled with the
use of ECL circuitry, may indicate that the ES-1050
was merely an intermediate step in the development of
an even more powerful computer system= 25X1
Interim Ryad Models. Little is known about the
circuit technology used in the interim Ryad models,
but the Soviets probably took advantage of their
advances in microelectronics and included monolithic
integrated circuits of increased complexity, which
made the models increasingly dissimilar to IBM 360
models. The ES-1033, for example, uses 64-bit random 25X1
access memory circuits to build the multiplexer
channel storage and protection key storage. Use of
these medium-scale integrated components more
closely resembles IBM 370-like designs rather than the
IBM 360. Use of these components cannot be consid-
ered innovative; rather, the Soviets were merely
extending the circuit base of their Ryad I designs
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Ryad II Models. Most of the information on the
Ryad II models concerns the ES-1035, ES-1055, and
ES-1060 computers. The main memory and channel
sections of these computers can provide some indica-
tion of how closely the Ryad developers are following
IBM 370 developments. The first IBM 370 models, the
155 and 165, used ferrite cores in the main memories.
Shortly afterwards, in 1971, the IBM 370s used ICs
that enabled IBM to manufacture memories more
economically than before and provided increased
system performance. The Soviets appear to be follow-
ing IBM in their first Ryad II models, the ES-1035 and
ES-1060. Both are being manufactured initially with
ferrite-core memories, and the Soviets have announced
an upgraded semiconductor main memory for the ES-
1035 and are likely to do so with the ES-1060.
The Soviets, however, probably will not have
semiconductor main memories for these machines
until late 1980
The East German ES-1055 has a main memory based
on semiconductor components rather than on ferrite
cores. The semiconductor memory components appear
to be 1,024-bit random access memory devices imple-
mented in positive channel, metal-oxide semiconductor
technology. It is not known whether East Germany is
using domestic or Western parts in the manufacture of
the ES-1055's main memory, but these parts should be
within East Germany's capability to produce. The use
of these components probably reflects the relatively
advanced position of East Germany among the CEMA
countries in microelectronics production. The particu-
lar MOS components used by the East Germans,
however, do not provide any significant improvement
in speed over ferrite-core memory. The failure of the
East Germans to push the performance limits of their
MOS technology indicates that they opted for a
conservative design approach in the ES-1055, which is
the first Ryad IIII c~ter to use a semiconductor
main memory
The conservative approach followed in the main
memory of the ES-1055 is also apparent in the logic
sections. The ES-1055 microprogram cycle time nearly
matches that of its predecessor, the ES- 1040, perhaps
indicating that the logic in the arithmetic-logic section
of the ES-1055 and ES-1040 is similar. Taken
together, the logic and memory portions of the
ES-1055 suggest that the East Germans were trying to
build on the technological base established with the
ES- 1040 rather than pushing their state of the art to
close the gap on the West. The ES-1055 development
apparently was focused on providing virtual memory,
block multiplexers, and other IBM 370-like features
rather than increasing arithmetic speeds
Software
At the time the Soviets adopted the IBM 360
architecture, they sought to use the extensive software
base that IBM and its customers had developed and
were maintaining in the field. The Soviets undoubtedly
believed that use of IBM software would enable them
to overcome many of their past software deficiencies
(especially in data-processing applications), save de-
velopment time, and put their new Ryad hardware into
immediate and effective use. On the surface, this plan
appears plausible because much of the software
information was supplied by IBM and was considered
in the public domain. The Soviets are owners of IBM
systems legally exported to the USSR and can
participate in SHARE, the major IBM user group
devoted to the exchange of programs and information.
Also, the Soviets had been studying and developing
IBM-like system software before the Ryad develop-
ment was initiated. Judging from the length of time it
ultimately took the Soviets to adapt IBM software to
their systems, however, it appears that the Soviets
underestimated the technical difficulties of such soft-
ware transfers. Nevertheless, the Soviets succeeded in
adapting a significant ortion of IBM software for
their Ryad systems
The transfer of software technology can be studied at
various levels comprising microprogram, systems, and
applications software. These levels form a hierarchy
that adapts the computer hardware to specific tasks for
an end user. In many respects, the function of the lower
level software is essentially transparent to programers
working at higher levels. As previously noted,
microprogram software is closely related to the cir-
cuitry and components and manages the fundamental
logical operations in the computer system. The system
software is related to the gross architecture and
manages the facilities of the computer. The applica-
tions software directs the computer to perform certain
tasks such as the management of airline reservations or
solving hydrodynamics problem
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The Soviets had to develop new microprograms for
each of their Ryad I systems. The microcode used on
the IBM 360 was designed to execute on a hybrid
component base and could not simply be transferred to
the Ryad I computers, which are constructed with
monolithic ICs. Differences in speeds at which the
Ryad components and circuits operate made the IBM
microcode practically useless. Some evidence suggests
that the Soviets attempted to use the IBM microcode
of the early 1960s directly in the development of the
ES- 1020, which may have resulted in the failures of
the initial systems in the early 1970s.
he first ES- 1020 computers
that had been delivered to customers required the
services o software
developer in rewriting and
correcting programs for the channel controllers. This
type of difficulty and others forced the Soviets to
develop their own microprograms for algorithms that
would duplicate the function of the IBM-360 instruc-
tion set.II
The Soviets appear to have been able to use more of the
IBM systems software than the IBM microcode. The
two major Soviet operating systems, DOS ES (Disc
Operating System) and OS ES (Operating System),
have all of the major features and capabilities found in
the IBM DOS/360 and the more powerful OS/360.
This similarity between the basic operating systems of
the IBM and ES systems was demonstrated by the fact
that an East German ES-1040 successfully ran IBM
DOS (level 26) operating system software. The close
similarity of other Ryad operating system software to
IBM software also is apparent in Soviet literature,
which preserves all of the command memonics system
messages in English. Use of systems commands written
in English may have facilitated development of the
Ryad operating systems, but the system has created
problems in the effective operation of Ryad systems at
some installations. Computer operators, who typically
are not as well trained in the English language as
software developers, have been forced to use English
dictionaries to operate their computer systems. In some
cases, the Soviets have progressed beyond using only
English in systems programing when they have used
English system commands with Russian data set
names written in Cyrillicl
Despite the close similarity of Ryad I operating
systems to IBM software, Western experts have judged
that the Soviets and their CEMA partners took
approximately the same amount of time to duplicate
the IBM operating systems software as it took IBM to
develop it originally. Undoubtedly, the Soviets ran into
innumerable small, correctable problems related to
hardware differences between Ryad and IBM. In
addition, the Soviets faced a tremendous morale
problem in motivating young programers to perform
the very tedious and seemingly uncreative work of
translating IBM software and related documentation
into the Ryad framework. Lastly, skills and techniques
in software systems integration and testing are not
easily acquired from literature evaluation. Inexperi-
ence in these areas probably hampered Soviet assimila-
tion of IBM softwarel I
The USSR revealed a thorough study and at least a
surface comprehension of IBM 360 software only a
year or two after the software was first delivered to
IBM customers. For example, the Soviet Ministry of
Instrument Building, Automation Equipment, and
Control Systems had major investments in adapting
IBM 360 software to its ASVT computer project by
1968 and before the decision was finalized to use the
IBM 360 architecture in the Ryad project under the
leadership of the Ministry of the Radio Industry.
Apparently, more development beyond this earlier
work was needed to adapt and assimilate IBM
software, particularly system software, in sufficient
depth to support the Ryad project. Citations in the
Soviet software literature indicate that the analysis of
IBM DOS/360 under the leadership of M. R. Shura-
Bura had a significant role in Soviet development of
system software for Ryad. Shura-Bura's work may
have been the result of a crash effort in response to
software problems that remained even after substan-
tial numbers of Ryad computers were delivered to
customersi I
The Soviets and their CEMA partners probably are
attempting to gain full compatibility between the
Ryad II and IBM 370 system software. The Czecho-
slovaks at the Research Institute for Mathematical
Machines, for example, are using an IBM-370/125 as
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a test bed for their new DOS-3 operating system for
the ES-1025; this system is similar to the IBM
DOS/VS. The Soviets at Minsk have developed a
DOS-2 operating system for their interim Ryad and
Ryad II models that includes an emulator for the
popular Minsk-32, which enables software for the
Minsk-32 to be executed on the Ryad Systems. Thus,
this operating system will enable the Soviets to bring
the many users into the Ryad software picture and ease
the transition from older to newer computer hardware.
0
The East Germans are perhaps the furthest along with
their development of OS ES Version 6.0, which
contains software for virtual memory and many other
IBM 370 features. The Soviets do not appear as
advanced as the East Germans; their Ryad II systems
that were being shipped in late 1979 to operate under
DOS or OS ES 4.0 do not contain virtual memory
features. The Soviets have attempted unsuccessfully to
short cut some of the software development for their
Ryad II systems by trying to acquire a blanket license
for IBM virtual system software. Evidently, they
believed that their Ryad II hardware is close enough to
the IBM 370 to permit such a deal
While the Soviets have succeeded in translating IBM
system software into Ryad system software, they have
not included any significant upgrades or modifications
to the IBM software. Furthermore, they have not been
successful in undertaking large software systems
developments, at least in the civil sector. In part this is
probably due to the limited cadre of competent systems
programers who are needed for priority developments
as well as a lack of deep appreciation of why IBM
operating systems are structured the way they are.
0
In the applications software area, the Soviets have not
been faced with problems in acquiring Western
software. A tremendous amount of Western software is
available, can be duplicated readily, and has been
aggressively acquired by the Soviets both in connection
with hardware sales and in formal and informal
Western contacts, such as during the US-USSR
bilateral agreement meetings and with US corpora-
tions. An increasing amount of applications software is
being written in higher level languages such as
FORTRAN, COBOL, and PL-1, which are more
readily transferred from system to system than assem-
bler language programs. The Soviets, however, have
been slow to make effective use of all the software that
has been available. They have been slow to provide the
adequate documentation, the proper maintenance, and
the user-developer interface at which IBM excelsE
The Soviets also have had problems in the development
of large applications packages, which have been
developed in the West. The Soviets do not appear to be
applying the expertise that they could have gained
from training and using large Western software
systems acquired for Intourist and Aeroflot. Undoubt-
edly, the Soviets have been hampered to some extent
by their lack of experience in software design, systems
integration, testing, and meeting user demands. The
large amount of rather mundane coding and program-
ing required also must be contrary to Soviet predilec-
tion towards mathematical and theoretical research.
The Soviets are beginning to recognize the importance
of such work, and the award of USSR State Prize in
1979 to systems software developers is indicative of
high-level interest in software development. This was
the first time the award was given to software
specialists0
In the future, the Soviets and East Europeans will
attempt to train increasing numbers of software
specialists and vigorously pursue Western techniques
in effective management of large software projects.
Since such knowledge must come from experience, the
Soviets will benefit from exchange agreements in
which they learn how to organize software develop-
ment, from personal contacts, and from training
provided by the West. In addition, as more and more of
the IBM operating system software vanishes into
proprietary microcode, the Soviets and East Europeans
can be expected to target clandestine acquisition
against IBM itself in order to maintain compatibility.
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