Bashir Rameyev

Who is Bashir Rameyev?

Bashir Iskandarovich Rameyev was a Soviet inventor and scientist, one of the founders of Soviet computing, author of 23 patents, including the first officially registered in the USSR patent in the field of electronic computers—a patent for the Automatic Electronic Digital Machine. Rameyev's inventions paved the way for the development of a new field in Soviet science—electronic computing—and for the formation of a new branch of industry that supported it.

The central ideas incorporated in Rameyev's invention of the electronic computer included: storing programs in computer memory, using binary code, utilizing external devices, and deploying electronic circuits and semiconductor diodes. The first publication about similar technology outside of the USSR appeared in 1949-1950. Rameyev also suggested that intermediate computation data be automatically printed on punched tape and sent into the computer's arithmetic device for subsequent processing, meaning that the processing of commands would be performed in the computer’s arithmetic device; this is usually referred to as the Von Neumann architecture.

Of particular note is Rameyev's invention of diode-matrix control circuits, which were used to build his first brainchild, the first serially manufactured Soviet mainframe "Strela". In the 1950s, the diode-matrix control circuits were not widespread due to their significant dimensions and high power consumption. However, with subsequent development of microelectronics and the emergence of large-scale integrated circuits, which made possible to deploy tens or hundreds of thousands of diodes and transistors in a single piece of silicon, the concept of control circuits became viable and commonly used.