CIFA (computer)

CIFA is the acronym for Calculatorul Institutului de Fizică Atomică ('Computer of Atomic Physics Institute').

CIFA-1, the first Romanian computer

CIFA-1, the first Romanian computer, was built in 1957 under the guidance of Victor Toma.^[1] The experimental first-generation model CIFA-1 was reproduced in small numbers both in the original variant with vacuum tubes as well as in two variants using transistors: CIFA-10X and CET 500.^[2]

CIFA-1 was Romanias contribution to the development of computers in socialist countries (together with the USSR, the GDR, Polish People's Republic and CSSR).^[3][4]

CIFA-1

CIFA-3

The logic designs for CIFA-1 started in 1953, at the Academy Physics Institute in Măgurele, with Victor Toma as the head of the project.^[1][3] It was presented at the International Symposium in Dresden in 1955, and the prototype, which used 1500 vacuum tubes, a cylindrical magnet memory and machine code programming, was finished in 1957. Its size was that of three chifforobes, it had a paper tape input and a typewriter output and was able of solving 50 operations per second.^[5][6]

CIFA-1 was in use for two years. After it was decommissioned, it was scrapped and no part of it survived today.^[6][7]

Later computers

Later CIFA computers were CIFA-2 (800 vacuum tubes) in 1959, CIFA-3 (for the Bucharest University's Computer Center) in 1961 and CIFA-4 in 1962.^[1] Other Romanian computers of the era are MECIPT-1 (1961), MECIPT-2 (1964) at the Polytechnic Institute of Timișoara, MARICA, DACICC-1 and DACICC-200 at the T. Popoviciu Institute of Numerical Analysis, Cluj-Napoca.^{[2][3][5][8][9]}

VITOSHA was the first Bulgarian computer, built in 1962-1963 on the basis of a cultural agreement between the Romanian and Bulgarian Academies of Science. It was based on CIFA-3.^[3][5]

CIFA Computer Characteristics

Computer Model	CIFA-1	CIFA-4	CIFA-101	CIFA-102
Year	1957	1962	1962	1964
Number of computers produced	4	4	1	5
Semiconductive diodes	2500		3000
Vacuum tubes	800		350
Computing speed	50 op/s		50 - 2000 op/s
Internal memory type	cylinder 50 rot/s		cylinder 50 rot/s
Internal memory capacity	512 words × 4 bits		4 k words × 4 bits
Peripherals	• punch card reader 15 characters/s • writer 8 characters/s		• punch card reader 15 characters/s • writer 8 characters/s	• punch card reader 100 characters/s • writer 8 characters/s
Number of instructions	16		32
Word length	31		32
Word processing mode	parallel		serial
Power utilization	5 kW		1 kW