Kronos (computer)

Kronos was the name of a secret 32-bit graphical workstation developed in Akademgorodok ( [http://www-sbras.nsc.ru/sbras/akadem/objects/index1.html] near Novosibirsk, Soviet Union) in the mid-1980s.

Instruction set design was based on Niklaus Wirth's Modula-2 workstation Lilith, which in turn was inspired by the legendary Alto (computer) developed at Xerox PARC.

Kronos Research Group (KRG) was founded in 1984 by four students of the Novosibirsk State University, two from Math Department (Dmitry Kuznetsov, Alex Nedoria), and two from Physics Department (Eugene Tarasov, Vladimir Vasekin). At that time the main objective was to build home computers for ourselves. In 1985 the group joined the START project (Russian fifth generation computer project, also known as MARS) and played a leading role in the development of the first Russian 32-bit workstation and its software.

During 7 years (1984-1991) the group has designed and implemented:
* Kronos 2.1 and Kronos 2.2 - 32-bit processor boards for DEC LSI-11
* Kronos 2.5 - 32-bit processor board for Labtam computers
* Kronos 2.6 - 32-bit workstation

Software included several versions of operating system Excelsior, Modula-2, C and Fortran compilers, several CAD systems, and several applications

The project START collapsed together with the Soviet Union. Some KRG members found jobs at high-tech companies overseas, whereas others established private companies at home.

External links

* [http://www.excelsior-usa.com/krg/krg.html The Kronos Research Group]
* [http://www.excelsior-usa.com/krg/full-kronos.zip Emulator for the Kronos workstation] running under Windows-NT. Successfully tested under Windows XP. The following logins were possible: sys guest (both password free)
* [http://www.modulaware.com/mdlt52.htm A Brief History of Modula and Lilith]
* [http://www.inc.com/magazine/19960615/1967.html Acquisition of a Kronos workstation and more by the National Museum of Science and Industry in London]
* [http://code.google.com/p/kronos/ Historical source code from Kronos 198x USSR 32-bit workstation]
* [http://kronos.iis.nsk.su History of the Kronos project (in Russian)]
* [http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel1/2/560/00014345.pdf?arnumber=14345 High-Speed Computers of the Soviet Union]