One of the most notable periods in the history of Soviet computer development began in Leningrad in the late 1950s, with the work of a group directed by Philip Georgievich Staros and his closest assistant, Iosef Veniaminovich Berg. They were the first ones in the Soviet Union to achieve significant results creating computer models with microelectronic controls and were instrumental in organizing the Zelenograd Scientific Center for Microelectronics with branches in several cities in the Soviet Union.
In 1956, one of Leningrad's scientific development organizations established the special secret laboratory, SL-11. There, scientists created experimental models of film microcircuits, integral multi-hole ferrite plates for memory devices, and computer logic units with low energy consumption. After visiting SL-11 in 1959, Dmitri Ustinov – he was the chairman of the Military Industrial Commission of the USSR Cabinet of Ministers back then – organized an independent construction bureau under Staros. By 1961 it was christened Construction Bureau-2 (KB-2) of Electronic Technology.
KB-2's first major project was the record breaking two-year development of the UM1-NX control computer.
In 1962, the UM1-NX was approved by a State Commission headed by Academician Dorodnitsyn and slated for mass-production. The computer became the forerunner of a new class of technology – microelectronic control computers. Although the logic part of the UM1-NX and read-only memory (ROM) of constants and instructions used discrete elements, it was the first computer that realized the principals and technical advances of microelectronics. The essential distinguishing features of this computer were its low cost and high reliability in industrial conditions. For example, during the first 12,000 hours of operation in metallurgical production control system at the Cherepovetsk Metallurgical Factory, the machine's failure-free index registered over 1500 working hours.
The Americans recognized UM1-NX as the world's first mini-computer. In a review of Soviet computers published in Control Engineering, (no. 5, 1966) with the title "Desktop Model," the UM1-NX was described as "remarkable" for its size and low energy consumption.
According to a resolution of the Central Committee and the Soviet Cabinet of Ministers, the UM1-NX was manufactured at the Leningrad Electromechanical Plant [in Russian: Leningradskii elektromekhanicheskii zavod, or LEMZ]. Using variable units designed for the UM1-NX computer, the LEMZ filled many industrial orders for control complexes.
In November 1969, Staros and his co-workers were awarded the Soviet State Prize for their work on the UM1-NX control computer complexes and their usage in the first digital control system in various branches of the Soviet economy. Simultaneously, KB-2 was researching microelectronics, creating experimental models of micro-miniature logic and storage elements for computers, and developing ideas and methodologies for construction of microelectronic equipment.
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visited KB-2 on May 4, 1962. He was accompanied by Defense Minister Ustinov, Senior Naval Commander Sergei Gorshkov, Electronic Industry Minister A. I. Shokin, and a number of other high-level managers from the military-industrial complex. Staros presented a succinct report (Khrushchev loved reports of this style) about the significance of microelectronics for the national defense and general scientific-technical progress in the Soviet Union. During Staros' report, working models of microelectronic computing technology were demonstrated: UM1-NX microchips and integral storage devices, and prototypes of equipment for simulation of fighter aircraft maneuvers and pilot decision-making during air battles. The report concluded with Staros' proposal to build a Scientific Microelectronic Center.
Within a month after Khrushchev's visit, the Central Committee and Soviet Council of Ministers (without a doubt, setting a record for bureaucratic brevity), passed a resolution to construct the Zelenograd Scientific Center for Microelectronics with branches in Kiev, Minsk, Riga, Vilnius, and a few other cities. The project envisioned intense development of all microelectronic components for various branches of the economy, especially for science and electronic machine building.
During his first two years at Zelenograd, Staros was the Deputy General Scientific Director of the new center, while remaining the Chief Designer at the KB-2.
Under Staros, the UM-2 microcomputer was developed at the KB-2 in 1964. This computer was designated for aerospace applications. Besides an advanced structure, UM-2 had an original circuit scheme and other technological features, which greatly influenced the development of on-board computing devices in later years.
The design of the UM-2 computer, with its elegant architecture and technology, later found applications in these two areas: the Electronika K-200 control computer, which weighed about 120 kg and had an operating speed of 40,000 operations per second, and the Electronika K-201 control complex, with upgraded input-output peripheral devices. They were both manufactured in the late 1960s at the Rubin plant-complex in Pskov. During the 1970s, the Electronika K-200 and the systems based on it, were widely used in industrial control, specifically in the electronics industry.
The UM-2 computer also was used in the Uzel multi-purpose control system for small Naval submarines.[1] The Uzel system successfully passed state testing and was produced at the Pskov Rubin Complex. It was delivered to various naval installations during the 1970s and 1980s.
In the early 1970s under Staros' management, KB-2 created the first large integrated circuits for micro calculators, which were manufactured by the Svetlana Industrial Amalgamated Complex. They achieved this months before other microelectronic enterprises, due to the use of CAD-systems based on mini-computers and a powerful topological design system, which at the time was based on the BESM-6 computer.
The development of large-scale integral circuits for micro calculators became the basis of the Electronika-S5 – the first Soviet-made family of single-circuit board, multi-board and single-chip microcomputers for control of industry processes. Particularly noteworthy is the single-chip microcomputer S5-31, developed in cooperation with the Glushkov Institute of Cybernetics. Its originality was noted by American scientists.
After Staros' KB-2 complex merged with Svetlana in 1974, Staros moved to Vladivostok to work at the Far East Scientific Center, where he managed research on artificial intelligence using modern microelectronic technology. He died in 1979; almost every pioneer of Soviet microelectronics and microcomputers attended his funeral in Moscow.
[1] Translator's Note: The Russian word "uzel" means "node."