F JI'1 1lT AI I• %w I I a %R ho p I IT I m s 1 r s a - v • - of thsnoltt t - - ieragw of intonartioncm projects Ditribut lee Is I to- Ited te govermst 8eeneim seiteYTa ters asi eentrlbuteor OFFICE OF NAVAL RISEAR C Vol 16 No 3 - MATHIEMATICAL SCIENCES VIVISION Gordon D Coldstein Editor Margo A Sass Associate Editor Judy E Ceasar Editorial Assistant Judy A Hetrick Editorial Assistant July 1964 CONTENTS Page No EDITORIAL POLICY NOTICES 1 Current Publication Plan Z Editorial 3 Contributions 4 Circulation 1 COMPUTING CENTERS 1 University of Missouri Computer for Medical Research and Diagnonis Columbia Missouri 65202 2 National Bureau of Standards SEAC Retirement Washington D C Z0234 3 National Bureau of Standards Computer Sharing Exchange and Service Center Established Washington D C 2Z0234 4 U S Navy Bureau of Supplies and Accounts Real-Time Computer System to Control Navy's World-Wide Supply Operations Wishington D C 20360 2 3 4 5 COMPUTERS AND CENTERS OVERSEAS I Compagnie des Machines Bull The Gamma 10 COMPACT Paris 20 France 2 Kommission F r Elektronisches Rechnen Der Bayerischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften Munich 2 Germany 3 Standard Elektrik Lorenz AG Document Handler for Banking Application Stuttgart G rmany MISCELLANEOUS I Advanced Research Projects Agency Program in Information Processing Washington D C 2 Auerbach Curporation Use of Technical And Scientific Information Philadelphia 3 Pennsylvania 3 U S Department of Commerce Reorganization of National Bureau of Standards and Office of Technical Services Washington D C 4 University of Illinois PLATO II and III Urbana Illinois 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Project MAC--Current Status Cambridge 39 Massachusetts 6 National Bureau of Standards Computer Predicts Living Conditions in Underground Protective Structures Washington D C 20234 7 National Bureau of Standards Computer Selects Best Airmail Routes for Faster Delivery Washington D C 20234 8 US Navy Aviation Supply Office 100 000th Automated Purchase Order Philadelphia- 11 Pennsylvania 9 U S Navy Bureau of Ships Advanced Concept Management Information System Washington D C 20360 OCT T UdApproved by -The Under Secretary of the Navy 25 September 1961 7 -for Ropruduced by thil CLEARINGHOUSE FndorI Sciontifi Ted cI j1l Infoirnition Springfield Vn 22151 7 10 10 12 13 13 14 17 21 25 27 Q 0 A 1 k 27 NAVEXOS P-645 C I Editorial Policy Notices CURRENT PUBLICATION PLAN Because of staffing problems the Digital Computer Newsletter was not published in October 1962 and during 1963 Commencing with the January 1964 issue however the normal quarterly schedule was resumed EDITORIAL The Digital Computer Newsletter although a Department of the Navy publication is nut rest-icted to the publication of Navy-originated material The Office of Naval Research welcomes contributions to the Newsletter from any source The Newsletter is subjected to certain limitations in size which prevent publishing all the material received However items which are not printed are kept on file and are made available to interested personnel within the Government DCN is published quarterly January April July and October Material for specific issues must be received by the editor at least three months in advance It is to be noted that the publication of information pertaining to commercial products does not in any way imply Navy approval of those products nor does it mean that Navy vouches for the accuracy of the statements made by the various contributors The information contained herein is to be considered only as being representative of the state-ofthe-art and not as the sole product or technique available CONTRIBUTIONS The Office of Naval Research welcomes contributions to the Newsletter from any source Your contributions will provide assistance in improving the contents of the publication thereby making it an even better medium for the ex- change of information between government laboratories academic institutions and industry It is hoped that the readers will participate to an even greater extent than in the past in transmitting technical rnaterial and suggestions to the editor for future issues Material for specific issues must bc received by the editor at least three months in advance t is often impossible for the editor because of limited time and personnel to acknowledge individually all material received CIRCULATION The Ncwslc er is distributed without charge to interested military and government agencies to contractors for the Federal Government and to contributors of material for publication For many years in addition to the ONR initial distribution the Newsletter was reprinted by the Association for Computing Machinery as a supplement to their Journal and more recently as a supplement to their Communications The Association decided that their Communications could better serve its members by concentrating on ACM editorial material Accordingly effective with the combined January-April 1961 issue the Newsletter became available only by direct distribution from the Office of Naval Research Requests to receive the Newsletter regularly should be submitted to the editor Contractors of the Federal Government should reference applicable contracts in their requests All communications pertaining to the Newsletter should be addressed to GORDON D GOLDSTEIN Editor Digital Computer Newsletter Informations Systems Branch Office of Naval Research Washington D C 20360 Computing Centers Computer for Medical Research and Diagnosis C puj dn AIeour The University of Missouri School of Medicine has initiated a broad new program designed to investigate new uses of electronic computers in medical teaching research patient diagnosis and care Dean Vernon E Wilson said the new program has been made possible through the recent installation of an IBM 1410 computing system which includes a central processing unit a 28 million character random access memory five magnetic tape drives and peripheral punch card equipment 0202 i tory data throughout the hospital The most important improvement in the communications system will be the increased speed afforded by the computer in getting laboratory reports back to patients' physicians and in increasing the value of such reports More detailed information can be included in the reports and some preliminary evaluation of the laboratory data can be done automatically by the computer Along educational lines the computer system will be used to teach students in pathology how to use the computer to obtain and evaluate existing records of patients that are cared for at the Medical Center Other immediate programs include the evaluation of X-ray diagnostic data and a study of diagnostic aspects of words and phrases used in the medical records of patients The new computer program is under the direction of Donald A B Llndberg M D assistant professor of pathology The initial objective of the new program is to investigate methods of converting significant medical data on patients at University Hospital into a form which can be stored and retrieved by the computer Once the data has been translated into a computer-accessible form it would be available to all the professional staff for teaching research and patient care The purpose of the computer project is basically to investigate the proper role of electronic data processing techniques in the teaching and practice of medicine Dr Lindberg considers modern electronic computers to have a great potential in handling information of all kinds and no one can presently predict their possible contribution to medicine In this respect the University of Missouri is in the forefront among institutions of higher education in making a commitment to adapt electronic computers to the needs of both medical education and medical practice The faculty and staff of the School of Medicine have an opportunity to help shape the future practice of medicine by their utilization of this equipment One advantage of the 141'i computer system is that with it all patient record data can be stored on magnetic tape where it is made easily accessible and can be quickly updated Such medical records become increasingly valuable also for research purposes as more and more medical information is added One of the first major phases of the computer program will be to incorporate the now computer into the Medical Center communications network which transmits hospital labora- 2 SEAC Retirement W1ashirigiop AG 20274 Over 300 scientists engineers and techniciano gathered at the National Bureau of Standards U S Department of Commerce April 23 at ceremonies marking the retirement of SEAC the National Bureau of Standards Electronic Automatic Computer 1 soon increased to 1024 with access time of 60 M seconds was incorporated to provide a hybrid memory of 2048 words The original circuitry in SEAC used a 1 MHz 1 Mc clock rate which was so effective that it was adapted for use in DYSEAC a direct descendant completed in 1954 and was further modified for a thirdgeneration processor called the PILOT which is replacing the SEAC as an NBS research tool Each of these systems had a progressively more dramatic extension of machine power through its novel logical organization When completed in 1950 SEAC was the first internally programmed digital computer to go into operation in the United States Developed originally to enable the Air Force to attack massive logistic problems SEAC was also used to perform computations required in the design of the first H-bomb The recent retirement ceremony was held almost 14 years after the ceremonies on June 20 1950 in which the fully operational interim SEAC was formally dedicated at the National Bureau of Standards Many of were those able who to hadatbeen present at the dedication SEAC has since been used in a wide variety of computer research including experimentation in automatic searching of chemical patents and the manipulation of pictorial data and in such novel tasks as moving cars on streets existing only in the computer memory SEAC demonstrated the feasibility of techniques important to further computer development which contributed to successive generations of computers tend the retirement The joint hosts at the retirement ceremonies were Dr E W Cannon Chief of the NBS Applied Mathematics Division and Samuel N Alexander who 14 years ago was chief of the section that produced SEAC He is now Chief of the NBS Information Technology Division until recently known as the Data Processing Systems Division SEAC is being retired not because of an inadequate up time record but rather because current problems and experiments call for the higher processing speeds and the much larger memories that are feasible today Although assembled only 14 years ago SEAC is exceedingly old for an electronic c omputer SEAC is nonetheless still regarded with affection by those who fashioned and cared for her as well as by numerous scientists who were first introduced to the benefits of automatic calculation through SEAC Dr Cannon introduced John Todd who was Chief of the NBS Computation Section when SEAC came into operation Mr Todd described the early exper ences of the mathematicians and scientists is they adjusted themselves to the power of this new tool Mr Alexander introduced Dr Ralph J Slutz his assistant when SEAC was being designeci and assembled Dr Slutz added anecdotes about those exciting days when SEAC was taking form and finally began to babble intelligently He was followed by Mrs Ida Rhodes an enthusiastic pioneer in the use of SEAC whose leave taking of the cornputer was spiced with humorous incidents that occurred in the early days of SEAC 's operation SEAC remained in service this long partly because as an experimental installation her capabilities were increased several times and in unusual ways during her operational life For example the original acoustic memory of 512 words of 45 bits with an access time of 168 gseconds per word was doubled and a Williams storage-tube memory of 512 words which was The Department of Commerce Award for Exceptional Service whir h the SEAC group received from Secretary Sawyer in 1951 also had a sequel in the retirement ceremonies Each of the original recipients were presented with a special memento noting their presence at the SEAC retirement ceremonies 'Another computer SWAC Standards Western Automatic Computer was developed by the Bureau's Institute for Numerical Analysis at the University of California LA SWAC differed in that it operated in parallel fashion rather than serially SWAC used Williamstube memory units obtaining an access time of 8 jisec SWAC was transferred to the University of California in 1954 where it is still James P Nigro Chief of the Engineering Applications Section which has current responsibility for SEAC and PILOT acted as master of ceremonies for the retirement program As in operation 3 I V ___ ___ I hIi1 #rýnA' a -cl -1 ing cartridge a novel input unit of SEAC to Dr Uta Merzbach of the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Science and Technology HISTORY OF SEAC In the late 1940's the Bureau which provides technical consultative and advisory servicet dto Lhve Federal agencies thd been requested by the Air Force to investigate and make recommendations for the use of computers to attack large-scale logistics problems and the associated program planning activities NBS recommended a basic computer sufficient for an initial installation for the Air Force probIctuh and contracts were let to procure this computer system When it became apparent that delivery would be delayed the Air Force asked NBS to design an interim system and to fabricate it Actual construction began in early m 0 months of accepting the task 1t49 and within the Bureauls Electronic Computers' Section finished the machine which was named 8EAC Machine operation was checked out with surprisintrmly little debuggings To perform the task for which it was first intenSed SEAC was programmed to form a rough mathematical model of Air Force operationsp This model was used by the Comptroller of the Air Force to evaluate the relation of each operation to the national milita - objectives and to determine its logistic requirex perts quickly In January 1954 the Air Force turned SEAC over to NBS SEAC also solved problems for many other groups in the Department of Defense and the Atomic Energy Commissionn The subjects rai igzd fiju Lhe aclAuun ur cuni raci aade to the dogradation of the neutron SEAC has been used la a wide raaine of nonmilitary applications such as the solution of the optical skew-ray problem in which it traced each ray through 11 optical surfaces in only 10 seconds Designers of optical systems were for the first time enabled to t'4t proposed systems thoroughly in minutes whereas before they could only sample a few rayg in howrb The iureau has been using SEAC in a continuing study sponsored by the Patent Office to investigate means of automating patent searching especially ways of exprAessing topological descriptions of chemical compounds The machine has also been valuable in studies aimed at developing computer techniques for automatic pattern recognition Recent applications include operating the computer so as t simulate drivers' dcisom ns to successive positions on a bicao and to move map of city sire ts carried In SEAC Is memory The simulation i esults in the computer memory were then displayed on an oscilloscope on which moving dotseprpiesented cars moving in rush hour traffic pattierns SEAC was operated in another program to determine the numbers sizesL and form-factors of inclusions in pictorial material making quantitative automatic metallographic and biological analyses possible Following the formal ceremonies those attending were invited to a demonstration of the SEAC facilities and to inspect DYSEAC and the PILOT data processing installation after which many continued their reminiscences at a retirement banquet TChomputer Sharing axehunge and Service NatqonalutoF•Fe Gv ma•Sinedtrd Waio D tgrot D a 202B7 1 A Computer Sharing Exchange and a Corvputer Service Center have recently been established at the National Bureau of Standards U S Department of Commerce on an experimental basis The new facilities were created in response to a request of the Bureau of the Budget which has found that great savings in both time and money can be realized through computer sharing The Sharing Exchange will coordinate requests of Federal Government agencies In the Washington D C metropolitan area for help in locating appropriate computer time and Services amenter Established for their essential work The Exchange will maintain records of the availability for sharing purposes of the electronic computer facitities of these agencies A similar experimental sharing exchange has been operating in Philadelphia Penna under Bureau of the Budget sponsorship Up to now the presence of the Philadelphia exchange has substantially increased the incidence and value of sharing among Government agencies there Because the Washington D C area has by far the largest concentration and diversification of computers in the United States the Bureau of the Center will be available either directly or as a Service Center in conjunction with tho Sharing Exchange This Center will provide its electronic equipment and porsonal service at the computer facilities of the Center will be available to the Exchange for sharing cost to participating agencies to the extent permitted by present equipment and staff provided appropriate arrangements can be made iu addition1 it will provide computer programming problem analysis and formulation and consultations in these areas Requests will be conA•tdred for tisiness scientific engineering and other types of computer services Services The Shiring Exchange and the Service Center will continue in operation for a trial period of 18 to 24 months Although these facilities are intended to serve Federal Government agencies located in the Washington metropolitan area their services will not necessarily be barred by distance Real-Time Computer Sst %tm to Control Nuvy's World-Wide Supply Operations S' Navy Ilu 'ru I Aupplieh and l lt'•I A-gin uiif D C 20f 0d A reduction in the lead time required to update a world-wide inventory of nearly 1 million items and worth 3 5 billion dollars from 2 months to 1 day will be accomplish1d by the U S Navy Bureau of Supplies and Accounts' BUSANDA new computer system inventory control management can focus on the inventory demands of a particular weapons systern Navy management therefore becomes niore responsive to the heightened demand for the various types of inventory control needed because of the increased complexity of tuday's weapons system-whether it is a Banshee jet fighter Polaris submarine or nuclear powered aircraft carrier Four UNIVAC 490 Real-Time systems located at four Inventory Control Points ICP in the United States will daily compute nearly 1 million inventory balances to determine resupply and re-order points 4 Higher Integration of System In the new system a single element of data In automatically sent to all places where it will have an impact This means that instant analysis is possible In the previous system a single element of information often had to enter the system two or more times to have its effect on accounting inventory or financial records This is the first large-scale real-time system to be used by the military for supply operations Rear Admiral J W Crumpacker Chief of BUSANDA said that the Navy will be able to reduce inventory substantially at a silgmificant saving to the nation's taxpayers 5 Increased Personnel Flexibility All components of the new system will be standard regardless of location and thus it will be easier for personnel transferring between locations to assume their duties Because they will be familiar with the standard systems break-in periods will be virtually eliminated and personnel productivity thus increased Benefits accruing to the Navy include 1 Faster Response The new system will update the inventory instantly Such rapid respon c me ý '4t critical shortahes can be pinpointed imr -' ely instead of the 2-week to 2-month delay aat was routine with the previous system Result immediate action to replenish stocks 2 Reduced Inventory Faster response means the long lead time in placing orders ib no longer necessary and smaller inventories can now be carried Inventory reductions are estimated to be many millions of dollars thus permitting the Bureau of exercise greater flexibility in the use of its budgeted funds 6 Improved Management Communication A standard system means that data reported to Navy management will have been accumulated by uniform procedures thus reducing chances for misinterpretation and resulting in increased confidence in the validity of the data Also this factor will enhance communication and impicmentation of action plans by headquarters personnel 3 Improved Weapons System Management Because the new system permits more precise System configuration for the UNIVAC 490 Real-Time System comprises four central 5 processors with a combined 131 072-word core memory 59 Uniservo iMiC compatible type units 7 high speed printers and 4 control consoles Real-time means the ability to respond instantly to inquiries from thousands of remote The 490 gives millisecond response to each of the thousands of inquiries demanding immediate inventory information in any of a number of classifications or by given topics For example if a Federal Stock Number FSN is given to the system it can tell the inquirer what weapons system or systems uses the part Also f a weapons system number is given the computer it can print out all parts used in that particular weapons system points The UNIVAC 490 Real-Time System prvides a flexible economical and efficient solution of BUSAl4DA's overall problem because a Mass storage is sufficient to contain the inventory balance and other key identifying data fur wie hundreds of thousands of items under ICP control o The system handles all the above work concurrently receiving requests and transmitting information without apparent interruption of other work being done by thu system at the same time a Inventory can update instantaneously even while transactions are taking place The four UNIVAC 490 systems will be located at these inventory control points Aviation Supply Office Philadelphia Electronic Supply Office Great Lakes and Ordnance Supply Office and Ships Parts Control Center Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania s The system has capabilities to receive a requisition over commvinication lines frqm any activity in the Navy complex treat it with its NAVSTRIP priority and process it in a matter of seconds 6 ii Computers and Centers Overseas The Gumma 10 •COMPACT Gomrpagnif dri Afnchin• Bull Pari 2 F ance INTRODUCTION DESCRIPTION OF THE GAMMA 10 The Gamma 10 Compact an viuLitows data processing machine that uses punched cards as a data medium is designed to fulfill the needs of medium-sized business organizations Central Prucebaor The Gamma 10 central processor includes the central processing store two input buffer stores and two processing stores programming arithmetic and logical processing units and the control and checking console It incorporates all the advantages f large electronic systems stored program integrated high-speed data processing plus all the conventional functions previously carried out on individual machines such as a tabulator with connected punch a calculaLtu a reproducer duplicator The Gamma 10 can also handle certain sorting and merging operations and in this way limitsthe necessity for machines specialized in this type of work The central high-speed ferrite-core store has a basic time cycle of 7 microseconds It may have a capacity of 1024 2048 or 4096 characters The input buffer core store links the central store with the card reader It has a capacity of 112 characters and can store quantitative data from all the 80 columns of the card as well as 32 characters representing qualitative data or indices card codes group change signals and the like These data arc used in directing program operitions The Gamma 10 consists of the following components a central processor with a variable capacity ferrite core central store and fully-transistorized control and programming circuits peripheral components for data input and output a card reader-punch operating at a speed of 300 cards per minute both for reading and punching operations a printer operating at 300 lines per minute The output buffer core store has a capacity of 200 characters it supplies the printer 120 print positions per line of print and the punch station of the reader-punch Specialized buffer stores act as links between these components and the central store and provide for complete simultaneity by means of which input output and processing units may all operate at the same time The program circuits for the supervision of instructions and their execution are located in the programming and processing units as ure the arithmetic and logical circuits Addition subtraction or comparison of up to six decimal digits requires 220 microseconds whereas multiplication of two six-digit numbers requires 5 6 milliseconds and division 8 4 milliieconds Physically the Gamma 10 consists of two units placed at right angles to each other The first unit includes the central processor the card reader-punch and the console the second is the printer This layout is designed to facilitate the work of the single operator The function of the console is to survey program operation and development Light Signals indicate each step in the execution of a program and the scanning of the contents of the store control buttons are provided for starting and stopping the operation of the machines and checking the peripheral components The equipment is easily instalJ°dd no apecial preparation of the site is required no special air conditioning is needed It is economical both in the space 160 to 195 square feet and personnel it requires 7 Input and Output Units The card reader punch supervises and updates card files used by the Gamma 10 It reads data punches data or results in cards into the same or blank cards inserts new cards into the file and routes cards from the file into three receiver pockets It operates at a speed of 300 cards per minute both for reading and punching and is made up of two tracks the main track contains the file to be processed and is supplied by a hopper holding up to 3000 cards the serondary track for the introoct'on of blank cards is fed from a hopper holding up to 800 cards The secondary and main tracks meet beyond the punching station so that new cards may be inserted In the file during operalion Since programs are broken down into segments standard subroutines are easily added afterwards Service routines such as the current applications routine are provided so that for example a file of punched cards may oe run to give various statements with or without punching of temporary or sumnary cards Area cards complement the program by indicating the identification number of each area and the number of characters Operating is simple for each processing operation or phase program cards are entered first then the area cards The machine transcodes them into an internal code and supervises qualitative and quantitative data The console provides an accurate and constant means of following operations The three receiver pockets have card capacities of 3000 normal pockets and 750 and 850 special pockets In this way a file may be updated by substituting cards without rearranging the entire file A complete checking system-checking by key during transfers within the central processor read check before processing between two read stations punch check by a read station following the punch station check of transfers to the printer-ensures the accuracy of the work being carried out Printer Finally the Gamma 10 provides an accurate and economical punched card system from the point of view of installation as well as operation incorporates the advanced techniques ofand large electronic all systems The printer on-line at 300 lines per minute The operates 120-position print dru3 i has 60 characters engraved on each wheel There are two versions of Gamma 10 one for reading and punching BULL codes and the other for HOLLERITH codes Character selection is carried electronically The print area covers about 15 inches and may be used for printing double width commercial statements at the request of the customer the printer may be equipped with a double paper feed to produce two statements side by side OPERATING CONDITIONS The combination of these characteristics produces operating conditions which are extremely simple because of the simplicity of writing and developing programs very handy because of the wealth of subroutines and orders of all kinds and accurate because of the many checks available to the Gamma 10 The programmer starts with the flowchart from which it is easy to define and number the various processing segments he may also take a count of the various data Each segment is written up as a separate routine Instructions are made up of three elements types of operation address A address B each of which uses a code numbered from 0 to 63 These program lines are made up of segments which define a processing function The maximum number of segments of a program is 00 and of instruction lines for each segment is 64 This layout simplifies adaption of the flowchart into program segments each of which fulfills one function-programming of variants and the carrying out of subroutines Each segment is programmed separately Sequencing and supervision of these segments is then carried out automatically by the machine The set of instructions available to programmers is very complete It includes input and output instructions internal transfer instructions calculation instructions logical instructions and branchings and miscellaneous instructions Input and output instructions are used to move data between the central store and the input-output buffer stores Transfer instructions are used to move data from one central store area to another Calculation instructions are carried out by the adder subtractor multiplication and division are cabled Execution times for these operations which may vary depending upon the length of the number being processed are as follows 220 microseconds for an addition a subtraction and a comparison 5 6 milliseconds for a multiplication 8 4 milliseconds for a division with an operand of 6 digits in all four eases Logical instructions are used for comparison of numbers and storing the results in a specialized register Jump instructions alter the program as a result of a comparison or in accordance with index values Miscellaneous instructions concern the input of constants and the supervision of indices Paper movement is controlled by stored program stoppage after movement is controlled by an 8-channel lead tape Ten different movements are possible movement by single double or triple interline spaces and seven jumps each monitored by one channel of the lead tape the eighth channel is used to indicate that a sheet is full GAMMA 10 PROGRAMMING The stored program of the GAMMA 10 insures flexible accurate and very powerful operation for a machine of this type Gamma 10 programming is designed for machine-oriented problem solution it insures automatic supervision of data to be processed Storage locations in the central store and organization for simultaneous operation are not programmed but are carried out automatically by the machine A - Data Organization Data used by the program are contained in punched card files There are several different kinds of data quantitive data alphanumeric data to be processed qualitative data codes signs and the like which orient or condition processing before programming quantitative data are classed according to their nature measured by number of characters and identifled by a number Data are arranged in areas on the cards The programmer must classify these areas according to nature and length and allocate an identifying number to each The rest of the operation is automatic the machine works with these data it enters them in the store and records the real address in its registers When these data are called by their identifying number it seeks out the data and processes them i-9 A correspondence table is stored in the area address register so that at any given moment and by mcans of Interinal circuiis the table automatically supplies the correspondence between the identifying number and the actual area location address The area address register contains 63 addresses The address Indicated M that of the first character or marker of the area This organization relieves the programmer of the problems of addressing and identifying lengths which complicate program writing and may cause errors Qualitative data are those which affect the processing operation They may be a data sign the presence of a code in a card detection of a group change and so on Practically these data bring about variants in the program depending upon whether or not the condition they stand for is fulfilled They are entered into the machine either by means of codes other than those of the machine itself or as a result of an examination of comparisons the program examines them by testing for yes fulfilled no not fulfilled conditions of the stored positions The Gamma 10 resolves this problem in its own simple manner qualitative data are catalogued before the work is undertaken and given an arbitrary identification number from 1 to 63 An index selector filters the norinal codes and the comparison results of indicative areas due to the two read stations on the card reader comparisons may be carried out in desired time and delivers the indices which are stored at addresses allocated to the identifying numbers indices 1 or 0 enable the execution of program variants The index selector paneL contains 32 index positions Program Instructions By using identifying numbers as symbolic addresses for data located in the high speed store very short i e three character program instructions may be used the first character Indicates the type of operation and the second character usually indicates the address of the second operand Thesp addresses are indicated by the identification numl-mr of the area to be processed This number may be frnm 00 to 63 and istranscoded into a binary number of one character when the program is entered Kommiksion fur Elektronischcs Rechnen der Buyu -ischen Akudemie der Wissenschaften By a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft the center is equipped with a TELEFUNKEN TR 4 computer with 32-K memory and four tape units Punched care and punched paper tape Input-output a high-speed printer and the usual peripheral equipment are available The monitor system includes an ALGOL compiler A new computing center has been established by the Kommission fUr elektronisches Rechnen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Munich Germapy Administratively the center belongs to the Bavarian Academy of Sciences but is operated jointly by the Bavarian Academy the University of Munich the Munich Institute of Technology and the MaxPlanck-Institute for Physics Other scientific institutions may use the computing center for a nominal fee D ocument tlundler for Banking Application andtkid E' Ak I hnnz G ACCOUNTING A versatile document handler has been developed by Standard Electric Lorenz AG Stuttgart a German ITT associate It combines an optical document reader a printer an enveloping machine and a letter distributer The original application was for the German Post Cheque Service but it will be useful fur many other similar purposes The coded documents pass through a NCRPitney-Bowes-Reader-Sorter at a rate of 750 per minute The sorter has been equipped with an SEL optical reader The recognized information is transferred to the data processor Accounting is accomplished until the document sorter of the pockets of 18 into one is gated holds are available from a magber balance All data required for accounting account numge fromss m e an ava in h e blc b c drum store within an average access time o 10 milliseconds Thus the wicuments can be accounted in single run without a preceding sorting process are read x 6 inches up to 4 The information may at a The rate documents of 10 per second Infmatn ray atarate documt 1 prs ond 4Txinhes be transferred to a computer which in turn deliverstelines per second In this original application the documents are cheques and transfer orders The account read is booked by the cornputer on to accounts held on magnetic tape For each account the printing station prints a record of all movements the final balance and the mailing address from a customer file tape Further data of the account mailing address previous balance are stored in the master file on magnetic tape All accounting operations are stored on magnetic tapes separately for credits and debits printing ard checking purposes This record is cut and folded to appropriletter format all documents up to 10 concerning the account movement are attached and inserted in a letter envelope The closed envelopes are distributed to four letter boxes according to the mailing region of the customer's address The overall speed gives an output of one account record letter per second SORTING OF DOCUMENTS Before printing the account statements all credit documents have to be sorted according to the credit account number That is done on another NCR-Pitney-Bowes-Reader-Sorter without using the computer Simultaneously the computer sorts the debit data stored on the debit tape according to debit account numbers DOCUMENT CODING All information for automatic handling is printed inCZ 13 characters for optical recognition 10 I I PRINTING AND ENVELOPING THE A01'-1v-1 - and two elements in the worst case This means a re-ative Hamming Distance of 0 20 which is the same value as claimed by the U S Standardization Committee X 3-1 for their proposed standard type tont M2ilt up from 5 x 9 grid elements Printing the statements requires The mastcr file tape the debit tape ajid the cretlit documents Besides feeding the printer with the appropriate information the computer checks the new balance of the account against the value which has been calculated earlier during the accounting process The credit documents and the account statement are inserted into an envelope for immediate mailing The reader has been adapted to the NCRPitney-Bowes-Sorter which handles 750 documents per minute Since this sorter transports the documents with a speed of 150 inches per second and the characters are printed with a to the holder pitch of 10 to the inch the reading speed is PRINTING THE CHECK LISTS 1500 characters per second Twice this speed is also possible Such a reading speed is relatively high for Printing of check lists is done on a separate high-speed printer The documents may be read on the same reader as used previously during the accounting process OCR equipment and is achieved by scanning each character in several horizontal traces in parallel Germanium photodiodes are used as light transducers operating in the visible and infrared spectral range with the advantage that the reader becomes insensitive to most kinds of smudge For instance stamps colour pencils and ball point and fountain pens will not affect the correct recognition of the characters Only materials containing carbon like black pencil should be avoided OPTICAL CHARACTER READER The machine reads the ten numerals and four special symbols of the stylized type font CZ 13 see Figure 1 The construction mode of the characters is of the so-called bicode type i e they are constructed into a grid of 10 vertical stroke elements arranged in two horizontal lines and five vertical columns 0123 45b 88 The reader is now in production the first set of three machines is being supplied to the German Post Office for the automatic postal cheque system The Post Office has already conducted large scale tests with results even better than those achieved with MICR systems I used in banking applications oCZ 13 Recommended printing equipment are electrical typewriters and accounting machines furnished wiah normal carbon ribbon Also normal letter press machines can be used No special inks or ink ribbons are required The differentiation between either two characters is four stroke elements in average 11 I - -A Miscellaneous Program in Information Processing Adiv vred HR¢ ewarrhProyrts A'gency• Waso hinghton AC The biggest fastest digital computers hold more than a hundred million numbers and carry out more than one million instructions per second but they do not fully satisfy the demands of the Nation's infense It will help but it will not be enough tu develop still bigger still faster machines Needed just as much as size and speed of calculation are the flexibility to do whatever is required at the moment and the capability to serve many people at once Carnegie is conducting research in the areas of programming language theory of cornputer processes and man-computer interaction The Advanced Research Projects Agency in coordination with other government agencies has started to support research and development strongly to achieve those goals If the research and development are successful the implications may be very far-reaching extending beyond defense into other parts of government and into business education research engineering and indeedalmost every activity involving men and information The program holds out a special promise of leading to marked increase in the productivity of individuals and groups engaged in intellectual activities To bring the great capability of a largescale computer simultaneously into the offices and laboratories of many men and to mak e it helpfully responsive to all their various cornmands and questions is a very large task With MIT's Project MAC see page 17 this issue DCN in the effort are the Carnegie Institute of Technology Stanford University the Stanford Research Institute the System Development Corporatior and the University of California It may be helpful to provide a few facts about the research being conducted at the other institutions contributing to the over-all research program Insofar as level of funding is concerned the System Development Corporation at Santa Monica is the largest contractor in the program SDC is engaged in research on computer time sharing and computer languages and it operates for ARPA a laboratory in which commandcontrol information-processing studies are carried out with the aid of a large time-Fihared computer the AN FSQ-32 This laboratory is used by DC and by other ARPA-supported research groups ARPA supports two research efforts at the University of California one on the Berkeley campus and the other at Los Angeles Berkeley is developing a time-shared computer system with a patch panel at the Berkeley Computer Center connected by data link to the AN FSQ-k2 computer at the System Development Corporation and to computers at Stanford University The Western Data processing Center at UCLA is connected by data links with several other universities and research organizations in thWest The research at both University of Callfornia Centers will be concerned with computer network problems computer languages and computer programming In the research on time sharing and computer networks the idea is not to have computers talk with computers it is to have men talk with computers - and to have rapid and convenient accera to data and programs stored in computer memories even at remote locations At Stanford University work is under way on advanced information-processing techniques on an approach to computer programming called heuristic programming and on the foundation of what we hope will become a solid theory of computation At the Stanford Research Institute the main effort is to improve the effe'etiveness of computer programmers As has been stated one of the major goals of the overall program is to increase the responsiveness of the computer to the user All of ARPA's contractors are working toward this goal SRI's research is focused on the development and testing of innovations in real-time computer and data display processes and man-computer communication procedures that promise to enhance the programmers ability to accomplish his task ARPA realizes that the problems inherent in making on-line computer capability available to a number of users at diverse locations with 12 man-computer languages adapted to diverse re- operations as well as in manifold processes of age retrieval and processing of large amounts of information is a complex undertaking It is however an undertaking that must succeed if this nation is to use effectively the vast amounts of information now being generated and now required in military planning development and It is believed that the line of development of close cooperation between men and computers very early steps along which you will see today will lead to amplification of man's problemsolving and decision-making capability in almost every field of human endeavor Use of Technical and Scientific Information Awrbwh 'wpurafinn lPhik1drlph a Penim • h ama The Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense has awarded a contract to the Auerbach Corporation Philadelphia Pennsylvania to conduct a study on how scientific and technical information is acquired and used in-house by Department of Defense scientists and engineers engaged in research development test and evaluation This study is a part of the Department of Defense Scientific and Technical Information Program The contract which is expected to amount to approximately $290 000 is scheduled to be completed by the end of 1964 interviews with selected personnel within the Department of Defense which will cover all levels of Research and Development activities A series of pilot tests will be made to evaluate the overall study procedures before the fullscale study is undertaken The study will be under the direction of Walter M Carlson Director of Technical Information Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering Auerbach is a technical-services organization specializing in the development and implementation of data and information systems Its Information-Management Sciences Division which is cotducting the study is noted for its work in developing information systems to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of business industrial and technical operations The study will be directed at defining the types and kinds of information used by the technical and scientific personnel concerned and determining its relationship to decision making and management functions It is anticipated that this will be accomplished by having personal Reorganization of National Bureau of Standards and Office of Technical Services It' shigh m 1 The U S Department of Commerce in February announced that several of its scientific and technical activities are being combined in the interests of efficiency of operation and better serv'ce to science and industry Radio Propagation Laboratory and Institute for Applied Technology Dr Allen V Astin NBS Director said the changes will permit more effective management and closer identification of the NBS activities with the specific needs of science industry and commerce This is particularly important in view of the relocation of NBS now in process to new laboratories and facilities at Gaithersburg Maryland The activitP s involved include those of the National Bureau of Standards NBS the civilian technology prog 'am in textiles and the Office of Technical Services OTS Under th general administration of the Bureau of S•m ndards the programs will be grouped into four institutes Institute for Basic Standards Institute for Materials Research Central The move has been under serious study for some time and involved discussions with scientific tchnical and industrial advisers to the 13 k 7 science technology business and government quirements and with the capacity-for the stor- -- - -- I - j - Department to make certain that the needs of the professional and business communities would be fully and effectively met recently established National Standard Reference Data Program The Institute for Applied Technology brings together previously scattered activities related to the stimtlation of technological progress in industry To the industry-oriented NBS programs are added the civilian technology program in textiles and the OTS programs of technical information dissemination and the promotion industry of technological innovation in combine NBS programs in chemistry and metallurgy aimed at developing reliable and uniform methods of measurement for the properties of materials Such data are essential for improving the efficiency of production processes in modern industrial technology The Institute for Materials Research will The Central Radio Propagation Laboratory located at Boulder Colorado consists of those NBS divisions which conduct research and provide essential services in this field to Government and industry The Institute for Basic Standards comprises the long-standing NBS programs in the field of basic measurement standards as well as the PLATO 11 and IIl The lir ailý rf lIliumio INTRODUCTION Data obtained from the 14 students in the 1963 summer program have been further analyzed Seventeen REPLAB variables were examined for possible correlation with 32 other intelligence perception and cognition variables The results of this analysis suggested that REPLAB provides a comprehensive and multidimensional analysis of inquiry and that certain REPLAB variables correlate highly with clusters of other cognitive variables suggesting that at least three factors may be tapped by the test Cognithve Control Autonomy and Impulsivity The purpose of the PLATO project see Digital Computer Newsletter October 1961 July 1962 and April 1964 is to develop an automatic teaching system for tutoring simultaneously a large number of students in a variety of subjects The central control element of the teaching system is a general purpose digital computer The PLATO system differs from most teaching systems in that a single high-speed digital computer is used to control all student stations Thus it can bring to bear the power of a large digital computer in teaching each student PROOF INQUIRY TRAINING The working version of the PROOF program is being used to collect data from mathematics teachers in the Academic Year Institute This study like the one conducted with high school students is intended to discover the characteristic errors made in composing proofs on PLATO Common mistakes which can be traced to poor design in the program will indicate modifications in the next version During this quarter the PLATO-Inquiry Training lesson REPLAB on the bi-metal strip physics experiment was revised The experiment laboratory section of the lesson had originally been written for use In conjunction with a reference notebook Experiments chosen by the student from the notebook were indicated to the computer by number and the computer displayed the experimental results on the PLATO electrunic blackboard The supplementary book procedure was awkward so the revision incorporated the experiments in the electronic book part of the PLATO lesson The revised lesson after adaption for use with the PLATO III system will be used in the next semester by 60 students from Inquiry Training classes now being conducted in the local schools Work is already underway in writing a new program along the lines of PROOF but with a greatly expanded flexibility The new program is intended to serve two functions 1 To provide a system for collecting data on thought processes during mathematical problem solving which is capable of handling a wide variety of mathematical problems including 14 SF proofs solutions of equations and simplifiesalone In fields as diqparatc r- algebra geom- quests help is determined by routines which analyze the student answer for any of up to etry and the several besees of logie seven types of error Each of the smn help sequences then addresses itself specifically to pointing out to the student how he can correct the pa'tLicular error he made If no such apecial error is exhibited by the student answer the program causes the eighth or general help sequence to be entered 2 To provide a system for preparing instructional programs introducing students to the mechanics of rigorous proof in algebra logic or geometry which actually requires them to construct proofs step by step The programming flexibility should alluJw lessons in which students themselves develop a useful set of theorems from a given set of axioms 2 At various points in the main sequence evaluators may be inserted which compare student performance against specified criteria of performance If the student has met these criteria he is allowed to proceed to the next topic If he has not met the criteria he enters an expanded part of the main sequence He is given further materýal text and or problems until he demonstrates a satisfactory ability in dealing with the material The input to the evaluator routines is data gathered by monitoring routines Any problem in the main sequence may be designated for monitoring When this is done the following data is gathered for that problem and kept in the core store for later use by the evaluator PLATO 1Il SYSTEM EQUIPMENT During this quartvr work continued in the development and construction of circuitry required for the realization of a 20-studentstation teaching system Circuitry constructed to date includes all logic circuitry required for operation of eight student stations all storage tube circuitry required for two student stations all scanner circuitry required for one-half slide capacity and all video switch circuitry necessary for two student stations In effect the above suggests that only two student stations are presently operable a time required to solve the problem b help required or not if help is requested which sequences cf 1 above were used The remaining circuitry required for full operation of 20 student stations is either under construction or undergoing development Included in circuitry being constructed is logic and scanner circuitry Included in circuitry being developed is storage tube video and deflection circuitry video switch circuitry and power control circuitry c number of wrong answers and type of errors made d computer-provided correct answer or not and e reversal employed in the main sequence These data kept for each monitored problem are suitably processed by each evaluator and used to determine whether the student should skip or stay with the topic The demonstration lesson contains three different evaluators of this sort PLATO III TUTORIAL TEACHING PROGRAM During the past quarter the basic PLATO M tutorial teuching program was completed checked and demonstrated This progress report is therefore perhaps a good point at which to review the major features of this program 3 Up to eight different lessons may be stored in the machine simultaneously The PLATO HI tutorial teaching program uses as its core a teaching logic very similar to the old PLATO II tutorial teaching logic The latter logic with its main and help sequences has been described on many previous occasions The PLATO III tutorial teaching program represents the following major improvements The demonstration lesson deals with the addition of fractions and is carefully designated to exhibit all the logical features of the PLATO In tutorial teaching program in a minimum of time Thus if a student adds fractions correctly but fails to reduce to lowest terms he is given a different help sequence than if he fails to use the proper method entirely 1 With each problem in the main sequence up to eight help sequences may be specified The help sequence entered when a student re- The following items remain to be completed during the next quarter 15 I _ -• - -- ' T array_ -nel - order i sv - - I l t Sustaining - potential or stie S$bL--' y ____ 41 points An indivdual gas cell which is not fired S 1 gas call • An is tirednewok' whichindividual HH S2 Y • switching wthn Sewr network y switching network 'l••• 'H H - - •k••I•• 22 Path ob cd is established Sy by the various S 0 y pulse Figure 1 --Method of call selection For testing purposes the compiler has been divided into two parts The first part converts statements into the computer language and the second part permits the computer to communicate to all of the student stations without interaction Both parts of the compiler have been completed and are being tested In the near future we expect to connect the two parts Into a single program 1 a more convenient loader for getting lesson parameters into the machine than the one presently in use 2 the completion of the general datagathering routine which records all student inputs on magnetic tape Thest data are used for general evaluation purposes after a lesson and are not to be confused with the monitoringevaluation routines mentioned previously and PLASMA DISCHARGE DISPLAY TUBE 3 the preparation of general sorting processing and statistical routines for reducing the data recorded on tape as mentioned in the preceding paragraph The purpose of the plasma discharge display tube Is to develop a less expensive replacement for the present storage tube system The plasma display device would be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and being inherently a digital device would display the computer information directly This would eliminate the need for a digital to analog converter and a sweep generator The necessary logic circuits could be manufactured in a similar manner as the display tube and could be an integral part of the dievice PLATO COMPILER A PLATO compiler has been prepared so that non-computer-oriented researchers can prepare teaching logics without relying on the aid of computer programmers Knowledge of Fortran programming is all that is necessary for using the compiler 16 A plasma discharje display tube consisting of a large number of cells filled with an inert gas was prepnae by Lter-Sfegler l A switching array has been designed in this laboratory which is a solution fur the selection of the elements of such a display device The wave shape of the sustaining potential is of great Importance in preventing races and the firing of adjacencies in the display matrix digital to analog device Each bit in the binary representation for the cell is converted to an alternating current voltage lt F which is connected directly to the switching device without needing extra Interconnections Figure 1 illustrates the method of cell selection for a 4 x 4 array and a display code of 4 bits 0110 The first two bits 01 select the x position and the last two 10 the y position It can be shown that all the cells may be interconnected so that only two ends and their photoceramic material are needed for the whole switching network Since the necessary resistors and capacitors could be combined with the cells in a printed circuit fashion the switching network and the display array could be an extremely thin device whose overall width need not exceed twice that of the display matrix alone The switching array uses a small number of celio about 1 6 percent of those of an array of 32 x 20 cells which are similar to those of the display matrix cells and are suitably interconnected to allow two major simplifications of the switching problem The first is a great reduction in the number of external control contacts nooded reducing the number from 2n 1 to to 2 2n 1 where n is the number of bits used for position selection The reduction is accomplished by integrating the switching network and the display matrix into an easily constructed device The second simplification is the direct use of the digital binary coded information for selecting a spot without using an intermediate 1 _ The switching scheme and method of gating spots of the storage tube has been simulated using Ne-2Vs for the plasma elements A narrow asymmetrical rectangular voltage was needed for the sustaining voltage to eliminate races and firing of adjacencies in the array With this sustaining voltage any sequence of elements in the array could be fired Electronics 24-26 Jan 25 1963 l'niject MAC -Current a hld'elh IA01f 1 1 Status fal 1 hniiJn andtt odg•r 79 % ¢a %tathU •¢l mation processing at M I T and M I T 's Lin- INTRODUCTION coln Laboratory which Includes such milestones as the analog computer of Dr Vannevar Bush prior to World War l Whirlwind I the SAGE System and the TX-2 computer The present MAC computer system is based on recent research on time-sharing at the M I T Computation Center The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Is participating in a major national program of research on advanced computer systems and their exploitation The program is sponsored by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense and the contract to initiate the effort at M I T was awarded by the Office of Naval Research on behalf of ARPA during 1963 The research at M LT is being carried out under the project name MAC see Digital Computer Newsletter April 1964 an acronym derived from two titles machine-aided cognition expressing the broad project objective and multiple access computer describing its major tool The project director Is Dr Robert M Fano Ford Professor of Engineering and Proof Electric 1l Communications Project fessor MAC is located adjacent to the M IT camps at 545 Technology Square Cambridge OBJECTIVES The broad goal of Project MAC Is the exp er brnad gon of new wAys Ihich on-line use of computers can aid people in their creative work whether research engineineerig desivn managemer education iThusna design management or education Thus an essential part of the project is the evolutionary development of a large time-shared computer system that is easily and Independently accessible to a larger number of people and truly responsive to their individual needs It includes the development of languages that are suitable for man-machine interaction and capable of evolving with the conceptual structure of the Project MAC is capitalizing on a long history of pioneering work on computers and infor17 I with common interests who can then use the system as a communication channel for cooperative operation For instance programmers working together on a complex program can check continually the stctus of the overall program as each modifies and debugs his own contribution The problem of sustained and closely oupled intellectual cooperation by several people on the development of a single large system is a formidable one for which the techniques sought by Project MAC offer one of the very few hopes field in which they are used The keynote is eas of access both physical and intellectual leading to an intimate collaboration between the human user and the computer in a real-time dialogue on the solution of a problem in which they each contribute their best capabilities for the man-imagination insight inspiration and judgment for the computer-enormous computing power high-speed data retrieval frct a vast store and the ability to handle the details of very complex logical processes An equally essential part of Project MAC Is a program of basic research aimed at providing better theoretienl teoll for describing analyzing and synthesizing complex logical structures and procedures Such tools are needed to deal effectively with increasingly complex programs and with problems such as those arising in the planning and execution of large engineering and managerial tasksproblems which in the past could be dealt with only through human judgment and the skill of experience The system goal of Project MAC may be THE INITIAL MAC COMPUTER SYSTEM The primary terminals of the MAC system are at present 40 Model 35 Teletypss and 28 IBM 1050 teletypewriters Two of the terminals are located at Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington live at the homes of key members of the MAC staff and the rest in various offices and laboratories on the M I T campus Each can dial through the M I T private branch exchange either the IBM 7094 installation of Project MAC or the similar installation of the M I T Computation Center The supervisory program of the two computer installations may Independently accept or reject the call Each installation can provide prompt service to as many as 24 simultaneous users The number will increase and hopefully double within the next few months In order to provide convenient long distance access the MAC system is connected to the TELEX network operated by the Western Union Company and will be connected shortly to the TWX network operated by the American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation The TWX terminal alone can reach approximately 65 000 Teletypes and the TELEX network provides access from terminals in Europe as well as in the United States Some tcests and demonstrations have been conducted from European locations and experiments are being planned in collaboration with a number of universities to provide further experience with long distance operation of the systems regarded as the development and operation of a community utility capable of supplying computer power to each customer where when and in the amount needed Such a system is in some ways analogous to an electrical distribution system That is it must provide each individual with logical tools to aid him in his intellectual work just as electric tools are today aiding him in his physical work The present status of the computer as a source of logical power is similar to that of the early steam engine as a source of mechanical power The steam engine could generate much more power than could any man or animal and therefore it could do large jobs well The power generated however could not be supplied on an individual basis to aid men in their daily work until the advent of electrical power distribution The analogy between electric power and computer power illustrates only one of the aspects of a computer utility namely its ability to provide the equivalent of a private computer whose capacity is adjustable to individual needs Of perhaps greater importance to the customers are the implications of a vast secondary memory in the same system From such a secondary memory each customer can retrieve programming aids translators for a variety of programming languages information about a variety of subject including instructions on how to use the system itself and of course his own private files of data and programs The operating program of the MAC Coinputer System is the Compatible Time Sharing System CTE I ' an evolving program developed by the M I T Computation Center whose first public demonstration took place in 1961 CTSS includes executive scheduling debugging assembler-compiler and input-output facilities The programming languages presently available in the system are FAP FORTRAN MAD COMIT LISP PLIP a limited version of Furthermore group files can be developed and stored in the secondary memory by people 18 ° 1 ALGOL and two problem-oriented languages for area of computer-aided design is directed Civil Engineering COGO and STRESS toward tghtening in the design process throuo usetheofloop a computer wfth ap- The system is rapidly evolving through the addition of new language facilities and other utility programs and programming aids The operating program itself Is now being modified by system programmers working on-line and modifications are occasionally introduced without even interrupting the operation of the eystern In spite of its embryonic nature the myetern is already proving to be a powerful aid to research in various fields propriate terminal equipment Using such a terminal and aided by the computer the dosigner might sketch in a drawing of a mechanical part using a light pen or other device Working with his visual display the designer could then modify his drawing as he worked and then perhaps subject the partially designed part to simulated testing by indicating at his display the application of loads and having the computer presoial the i eaction of the part such as deforr ttlon failure and the like When the designer is satisfied he might then press a button which causes the computer to produce a tape to control a machine tool to actually produce the part The users of the MAC system include faculty and students from a dozen academic departments and research staff from five major research laboratories The disciplines represented range from engineering to psychology from physics to management from metallurgy to political sciences The initial model of a display console developed by the M I T Electronic Systems Laboratory for computer-aided design is now operating as part of the MAC time-sharing systern The console includes an oscilloscope display with character generator and light pezi together with some logical capability to simplify the task of the computer in maintaining the display Communication with the computer can be achieved by means of the light pen and also through a variety of other devices-knobs pushbuttons toggle switches and a typewriter The meaning of a signal from one of these input devices is entirely determined by the program in the computer There is no wired-in local significance Thus the console is an extremely flexible terminal which can be useful in many applications In a typical programming session at a terminal the user first logs in giving his identification He can then type in a subroutine perhaps using the MAD language and then call for a printout of his input edit it to correct errors and call for a MAD compilation The resulting binary program possibly with other programs previously compiled and then be loaded and run If the run Is unsuccessful the user can request post-mortem data to assist in locating the fault If necessary the user can examine the contents of machine registers correct the source program recompile it and so forth perhaps several times To terminate the session the user logs out at which time he receives from the supervisory program accounting data indicating how much actual computer time he has used Users' programs and data are stored in the disc files of the system together with compilers and other public programs Thus a user can interrupt his work whenever he wishes with the assurance that he can start again exactly from where he left off at his next session at a system terminal perhaps hours or weeks later The console communicates with the 7094 central processor through the direct-data channel and the display data are stored in the central memory of the 7094 Thus the console must be located in a room adjacent to the cornputer installation Remote operation would require the addition of a memory and some processing capacity for local maintenance of the display The equipment configuration of the MAC computer installation is illustrated in Figure 1 The IBM 7094 central processor has been modified to operate with two banks of core memory ach consisting of 32K words and to provide fiwilities for memory protection and relocation These features together with an interrupt clock and a special operating mode in which input-output operations and certain other instructions result in traps were necessary to assure successful operation of independent programs coexisting in core memory One of the memory banks is available to the psers' programs the other is reserved for the supervisory CTSS allows a conventional batch-processing load to be operated as background Any computer capacity not demanded by the time-sharing users is absorbed by the back-ground While Teletypes and other typewriter-like terminals are adequate for many purposes some applications demand a much more flexible form of graphical communication An excellent example of graphical communication arose two years ago on the Lincoln Laboratory TX-2 computer in connection with the doctoral thesis of Ivan Sutherland This work in the general 19 CWdRoodef Cott Punch 1 2r 32K1 ed Dqtt 3 •#n Dirct Dte t mblfrmy it externqal tuf conotio h-rale eup 7094 __ porocolsr ni FI dime lL B Sm'11 Do innis Mastery CM lo to Figure 1 channels program of the time-sharing system The second bank was added to avoid imposing severe memory restrictions on users because of the large supervisory program and to permit use of existing utility programs compilers and so on many of which require all or most of a memory bank store the users' private files of data and programs as well as public programs compilers etc The two drums are used for temporary storage of active programs The central processor is equipped with six data channels which are in effect small between the sixth data channel and up to 112 communication terminals capable of telegraph the data Two computers special-purpose mahedtic toto of anmputerfaes pchannels-areosed magnetic are used as interfaces card punches readers and card tapes printers conA third data channel provides direct data nection to terminals that require high-rate transfer of data such as the special display console mentioned above per approximately operation rate be readily canbits rate terminals 100 Higher second The transmission control unit is a storedprogram computer which serves as interface number substituted formialcrrs for a correspori• -ing hriasaes of these t numbe oen substitted compatible with Bell System data sets The MAC installation includes also a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-1 computer It was acquired to permit early experimentation with light-pen interaction with a display and for other very high-speed interaction work It includes a 16K-word core memory Microtapes a high-speed channel and a scope display with character generator and light pen Thie PDP-1 computer will be connected to the IBM 7094 via a telephone line and alternatively through the direct-data channel Each of the next two data channels provides communication with a disc file and a drum Each disc file can store up to nine million computer words and each drum up tn 185 thousand words The time required to transfer 32K words in or out of core memory is approximately 2 seconds for the disc file and 1 second for the drum The two disc files which have a total capacity of 18 million words are used to 20 Qqwnpum aYlq• 1 r -1 The National Bureau of Standards U S Department of Commerce in cooperation with the Office of Civil Defense has developed a method for predicting environmental conditions in proposed underground protective structures 1 The method devised by Dr T Kusuda and P R Achenbach of the Bureau staff employs a digital computer simulation technique and gives results that compare favorably with experimental observations Such calculations will be useful in designing and evaluating underground fallout shelters in locations where earth and climatic temperature data are available - In - The Bureau's computer program can prodiet shelter air temperature relative humidity shelter inner surface temperature and shelter inner surface heat flux at two-hour intervals during a 14-day occupancy period The cornputer results compared favorably with the data observed for the same time period In two prototype shelters In one of these a six-man family-size shelter located on the Bureau grounds data were obtained during one winter and two summers In the other structure an 18-man community shelter located at the University of Florida data were obtained during one summer Although finite difference solutions to difAlthog finit edi herene sutiontto are Inherently subject to equations farential errors due to the finiteness of the matrix grid and to rounding off of the significant figures during iterative calculation steps the accuracy of predicted environmental conditions for an ata hle eed rmrl nterla actual shelter depends primarily on the reliability of Input data These data include thermal mission or ventilation determines the overall ikeise thehumdit in sheler empratue shelter temperature Likewise the humidity in a shelter depends on the dynamic balance be- properties of the earth outdoor weather conditions Initial earth temperature profile and surface heat transfer coefficients A major advantage of the computer technique In this application Is that the number of simplifying assumptions for the calculation can be significantly decreased with a corresponding increase In the probable reliability of the computed resuits tween moisture evaporation and condensation and moisture removal by the ventilation air r The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of using the digital computer to solve the problem of simultaneous exchange of heat and water vapor among human occupants ventilation air and the walls of a three-dimensional earth cavity at finite depths below the earth's surface The earth temperature surrounding the cavity during the occu_ pansy period was calculated by a finite differonce time iteration technique Solar radiation and ambient air heat exchange with the earth's surface over the shelter were also included in the calculation Some of the earliest studies of fallout shelters were made to evaluate their structural safety and fallout protection More recent experimental investigations conducted at the Bureau2 have indicated the importance of the thermal environment upon occupants in fallout shelters The metabolic heat generated by the shelter occupants and heat produced by Internal ust bee dssipted pwersystms lighingor lighting or power systems must dissipated either to the surrounding earth or to the ventithelgeneration air Thea hou orebalac betwensthe generation of heat and itsremoval by trans- _ n The mathematical relations necessary for solving the three-dimensional problem have written in Fortran computer language and _been programmed into a 7090 computer A listing of the Fortran program as well as the assembled binary card deck are available from the Bureau ITarnami Kusuda and P R Achenbach Nutacrical analyses of the thermal environment of occupied underground spaces with finite cover using a digital computer American Society of Heating Refrigerating and AirConditioning Engineers ASHRAI •Preprint 1963 4P R Achenbach F J J Drapeau and C W Phillips Environmental characteristics of a small underground fallout shelter ASHRAE Journal 4 21 1962 Also Simulated occupants aid study of family-size underground fallout shelter NBS Tech News Bull 46 26-30 February 1962 The program is being applied to the other larger-size shelters for further comparison and will eventually be used to study the effects of various design parameters Similar threedimensional heat transfer problems in underground cavities other than fallout shelters can also be analyzed by this program with some modification of the external boundary conditions of the system 21 'I - - WW5 W138 1' $331 $0 $311 5 OBSERVED MTEO AIR mo RELATIVE WY _l AIR TEHPERATURE HUDIDITY CENTER OF 0 on 5 LEVEL A on 2 LEVEL 0 RH 5' LEVEL Figure Computcd values of air temperature and relative humidity superimposed on the experimenhl dun observed during one summer test in the NBS family -size fallout shelter l7 l8 9 20 2 22 CALM r 1 - - LV 4 934 40 ans 23 J 307 4308 JOISNI OBSERVED INSIDE 31m TEHPERATLRE I AT GEOMETRIC CENTER COMPUTED INSSDE SWACE TEMPERATURE 53L 0 NORTH mu CEILING A CELNG AVERAGE OF SIX SURFACES FLOW FLOOR CALEFDAR DATE - SEPTEMBER 3359 Figure values of inside auzface temperatures of the oor the ceiling and an average of all Hi exposures of the NBS family-size shelter are plotted here with similar observed experimental data for north wall ceiling and oor surface during an summer heat i y it % LLI D w 4 ----- -- - N I 44 H I 0 0 L V L 00 U 4 44 m14 N ifl± 31VN NOISSIVYSNVN 24 IV31I '4 omputer Selects Best Airmail Routes for Faster Delivery lI' hingla D 1 C 20217 means of IBM 1401 computers which have recently become standard equipment in that Department Either program can be used to find the cheapest and fastest routes that can be formed from available air mail flights Computer programmers at the NBS Institute 1 of Applied Technology U S Department of have devised a program for selectCommerce ing the beat routes for intercity mail Bernard M Levin and Stephen Hedetniemi of the Institute's Information Technology Division developed and tested this program which i desqgned for planning mail transportation uelng the IBM 7090 computer The same methodls van be used to select air marine or surface touto en by both shippers and carriers in industry and overnment PATH SELECTION BY COMPUTERS High-speed electronic computers are wellsuited to the task of treating a large quantity of data to construct and evaluate possible routes Furthermore similarity of this problem to the shortest path problem for which computer solutions have already been obtained suggested 2 3 possible approaches Such computer programs operate by applying algorithms or mathematical formulas to obtain solutions 'ecting the best possible routes for mail transprvtation is a problem of very practical interes • o the Post Office Department The selectiov must be made on the basis of speed desired departure or arrival time cost and reliability The complexities of route selection must be dealt with on a massive basis in a short period of time twice a year when schedules are changed with shifts to Daylight Saving Time and back Selecting routes by computer should help ease the time pressures The algorithm used for the machine solu3 4 tion of the Post Office problem was adapted for computer use by means of a program written in FORTRAN one of man's computer languages for the 7090 computer The program is capable of making route selections from among 2000 trip segments including up to 80 transfer points The so-called shortest path problem of which the selection of the quickest or cheapest route is a variant has attracted the interest of mathematicians in the past and more recently of computer technologists The Post Office's problem of routing airmail served as a real problem around which the Institute could develop theoretical and practical programming techniques In developing this method of route selection much of the actual computer programming was done by Mrs Waveney Bryant of the Post Office Department ROUTE SYNTHESIS The essential characteristic of the program is that it first determines all usable routes and then makes selections from this list of routes It uses as input data punched cards giving for each possible link the name of the airline the flight number the airport and time of departure and the airport and time of arrival Each of these 2000 trip segments is considered as a ingle-link route and listed as a route for its origin-destination pair Then each possible two-link route formed by joining contiguous The procedure now being introduced by the Post Office is different from but related to the Institute's and was developed by the Post Office subsequent to the Institute's program The Post Office system is geared to its specific problem rather than to the more general problem It searches for necessary transfer routings by 2 R Bellman Quarterly of Applied Mathematics 16 87-90 April 1958 G B Danzig Managemnent Science 6 187-190 Jan 1960 and M Pollack and W Wiebenson Operations Research 8 224-230 March-April 1960 5G J Minty Operations Research 6 882-883 4 Nov -Dec 1958 4 B M Levin and S Hedetnierni Determining fastest routes using fixed schedules '' Proceedings of the Spring Joint Computer Conferenc 19t 3 'As the result of a reorganization effective January 30 1964 the National Bureau of Standards now cornsists of 1 the Institute for Basic Standards 2 the Institute for Materials Research 3 the Central Radio Propagation Laboratory and 4 the Institute for Applied Technology 25 S-- n nn - n n i b - - -- ingle-lin k rott•A IAcompared with previously found routes providing the same services Promising routes for each origin-destination pair are retained on the list in the machine memory and all others discarded The corn- the loading charge for the airport at the start of its portion ot the route plus the t aaasportation cost for its continuous portion The raachine program considers these charges in selecting routes puter goes on to form compare and retain Belected routes by this process until the routes of m 1 links offer no better route than those offered by the collection of m-link and shorter routes At this point the machine memory contains a list for each origin-destination pair of all routes which could possibly be named as the best route for the times being considered SELECTION OF BEST ROUTE The many routes synthesized for each origin-destination pair are listed in the cornputor memory The program instructs the computer to punch a card identifying the optimum route and to print out a number of next best routes Each next-best route is paired with an indication of the reason it was nrAt selected as the best The printout facilitates identification of next-best routes having outstanding characteristics and evaluation of possible tradeoffs of time with cost TRANSFERS Transfer time has an effect on the reliability of routes More time must be allowed for interline transfers than for intraline ones these transfer times are also related to the size of the airport The computer was programmed to include correct transfer times based on rules previously worked out in synthesizing valid routes As this route-selection program is still an experimental tool the NBS scientists have experimented with the consequences of varying selection criteria Under one set of rules the cheapest route leaving after the required origin departure time and arriving before the desired destination arrival time is selected The printout lists the next best routes in order of cost Speed is the major criterion under another set of rules The selections made using the various criteria are being compared to determine the best way of solving routing problems Generally speaking the more time between a mail movement's arrival at an airport on a flight and ifs departure after transfer the more reliable the route However the difference in time required for interline and intrailne transfers at any airport creates the Interesting poesibility of a route having an interline transfer actually being less reliable than one similar but using a parallel intraline transfer and departing at the same time or even slightly earlier To avoid the errors resulting from using time-on-ground as the sole indicator of transfer reliability the computer is programmed to search where an interline transfer is tentatively selected for earlier outgoing flights offering the same or better reliability An intraline transfer found in this way could be more reliable and would offer the additional advantage in most cases of lower cost tested on the 7090 computer which took only 1 preerr phs from oniy minte on the city I minute to find the preferred paths from to 83 others for a given departure time The program has been applied only to departures after 6 p m and arrivals before 8 a m the following morning exclusive of Saturday night and Sunday morning the time of primary interest to the Post Office Although this route selection program as devised by the Institute could provide specific assistance to the Post Office the techniques used also have obvious application to selection by carriers or users of air rail bus truck or composite routes These techniques could also be used to determine the usefulness of proposed additional links Continuing work at the Institute in this field is directed at reducing the computer capability required to make the selection and using a gateway approach to permit dealing with only part of the data at once COST OF ROUTES Cost as well as speed and arrival time is a criterion for the selection of routes The Post Off itý pays for air transportation on single carrier routes at rates consisting of a loading charge based on the airport size and a transportation charge based on the shortest singlecarrier distance No additional charge is made for intraline transfers Each airline participating in an interline route however is paid 26 • 100 000th Automated Purchase Order Opre Navy Amion S•up £ I S J'hthad 4phui I1 '#nn' h 'niJ The Nav Aviation Supply Office ASO recently issued the 100 000th purchase order processed under its advanced automated purchase order system to Harold Bayer Product Support Manager Douglas Aircraft Co Long Beach California are translated on to a magnetic tape in terms of the quantities and destinations of the required items Since March of 1963 when the Northeast Philadelphia Naval activity became the first federal organization in the nation to fully automate the processing of small purchase orders 100 000 such orders with a monetary value of $24 000 000 have been processed 3 Requests for Quotation Electronic Accounting Machine cards are produced by a computer One card for each potential supplier is produced for each item and destination 2 The requirements tape is automatically matched against a tape file of ASO suppliers 4 Request for Quotation RFQ cards are sent to all potential ASO suppliers of each item needed Automation of the purchase orders required for world-wide Naval Aviation stock replenishment has resulted in administrative savings in excess of $100 000 Besides the monetary sayings tc the country's taxpayers the new process has greatly reduced the time required to fill requisitions from the Navy's Aviation Supply Distribution System consisting of a vast complex of ships and shore stations There are also indications that the process has greatly simplified the supplier's part in the buying cycle 5 The supplier enters price delivery data and discount terms on the RFQ card and sends it back to ASO 6 An ASO buyer determines acceptability of quotations and selects supplier This is the only human decision in the system h 7 Acceptable quote is fed to the camputer which produces the purchase order The automated purchase order is the end product of a fully automated system-starting with the incoming requisition and going through a multiphase procedure that finishes with the electronic preparation of an order It is complete to the mecharically affixed official signature of the contracting officer By the end of June of this year the price catalogs of various companies will be stored in the ASO computer Price and delivery information will be obtained from these catalogs and priced purchase orders will be produced automatically from the computer With order number 100 000 ASO approaches its second year of automated purchasing for the support of Naval and Marine aircraft throughout the world Continuing research promises technica' refinements that will broaden the scope and effectiveness of this phase of ASO's support of the fleet Basically the procedure involves the following steps 1 The needs of the fleet are determined by a computer which has been fed requisition Information from al 1 over the world These needs Advanced Concept Management Information System V' S NMjy IButeu of S hip% 11ahingloui Ac 20m1o The Bureau of Ships' new Management Information System MIS represents an advanced concept that now makes it possible for Navy management to base their operating decisions on Information that is more timely and accurate than has ever been available in the past Such a far-reaching system incorporating the best ideas of Navy management and American Industry was necessary because last year's data-processing equipment and programs are no longer able to keep up with the demands for information about workloads schedules inventory and procurement 27 j Viai reason the Boston Naval From this centralized ant Mtanht7u data-procepsing system are coming significant benefits to Shipyards and to the Navy overall Shipyard has in place the UNIVAC rn-a cornpletely transistorized system with a larger memory and i tApe processing speed that is 25 times faster than the unit it upersedes The complete system in Boston consists of a highspeed printer card-punch high-speed reader central processor and tape system UNIVAC III executes most instructions in 8 microseconds and as many as 13 operations can proceed in parallel under the control of several concurrently running programs Improved management decisions Increased operating efficiency through lower inventories Better workload forecasts a Improved material forecasts a Better scheduling UNIVAC III also accepts information in COBOL COmmon Business Oriented Language This permits the same program to be processed on other computers without re-programming thus saving time and money Lower data-processing costs Increased mobilization capability Faster engineering design Also uniform production planning and control procedures for all Shipyards means that the man on the job receives the job order the material and the plans he needs to do the job- faster and when and where he needs them Reduced engineering costs Under the previous computer programs each technical bureau and field activity had al- most to to determine its need and buy or rent which unit computer authority for a complete what programs to feed it This system also helps management to forecast workloads faster and more accurately to reschedule work as special jobs require to maintain better inventory control and to improve the procurement of materials But under the spur of further integration to meet today's defense needs the technical bureaus now exercise centralized direction and control by developing and implementing uniform procedures in field activities Boston Naval Shipyard had the lead in installing the new UNIVAC III and in developing uniform procedures in the area of production planning and control Other Shipyards participating in this program are Portsmouth Philadelphia Norfolk Long Beach San Francisco and Mare Island The key benefits realized from such an approach is the fact that activities can now exchange programs thereby eliminating duplication of effort on such items as systems development programming and program maintenance This new Management Information System is another progressive step to help the Navy even more effectively support the Nation's overall defense mission in this atomic age Updating Shipyard coinputers meant it was vital to install a system that represented a flexible economical and efficient solution to the 28