Computer module

This article is about computer hardware modules. For computer software and hardware modules, seeModule (disambiguation).

Not to be confused withComputer-on-module.

DEC's original products were individual modules, like these System Building Blocks 1103 hex-inverter cards (both sides).

Acomputer moduleis a selection of independent electronic circuits packaged onto acircuit boardto provide a basic function within acomputer.An example might be aninverterorflip-flop,which would require two or moretransistorsand a small number of additional supporting devices. Modules would be inserted into a chassis and then wired together to produce a larger logic unit, like an adder.

History

Modules were the basic building block of most early computer designs, until they started being replaced byintegrated circuitsin the 1960s, which were essentially an entire module packaged onto a singlecomputer chip.Modules with discrete components continued to be used in specialist roles into the 1970s, notably high-speedmodular designslike theCDC 8600,but advances in chip design led to the disappearance of the discrete-component module in the 1970s.

See also

• Modularity