R D IG ITA L CO0M PU TE R L117Jil ' SOFFICE Of NAVA RESIARCI - - Vol 11 - No 24 ftheeil W6 roi rsd a u dism or the Interchanige ma latarsated 0 658am 9f Ieforeatio ionee- Corning r 4wat 4dewlegatel in risadIessI6tal coapotsr projects MrAdL CIuucu DVSImON April 1965 Gordon D Goldstein Editor Margo A Sass Associate Editor CONTENTS I lo 7W pbritsee Page No EV ITURIAL POLIC Y _NQOICU 1 E ditorialI 2 Contribution 3 CiecuiationI 1 CQNIFUTERS AND DATA PK09CESS RS jNORýý AMi' PICA 1I Radio Corporation of America RCA Spectra 70 Series New York 20 N Y 21 Univac General Purpose Fluid Element Digital Computer New York 19 N Y 9 COMPU I ING CENTERS 1 Carnegie lnstitutv of Technolog y Center for the Study of Information Processing Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 0 Dartmnouth College Computation Cunte Dartmouth Tiie -Sharing System Hanover New Hampshire 3 U S Army Electronics Command Overseas Aotodin Installations Fort Monmnouth New Jersey 4 Yale University Computing Center Two Computer Link New Haven Connecticut CMPUTERSjt 5 D gFNT ERS OVERSEAS 1 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Computing Re searclh Section Current and Future Equipment Canberra Australia -1 English Electric Co Ltd English Electric-Leo Computers London England 3 International Comnputrrs and Tabulators Ltd I C T 1900 Series Computer Systems London WI England 4 Marconi Company Ltd Marconi Myriad General Purpose Computer London England MISCF LLANEOUS 1 The Bunker-Ranio Corporation Typesetting Computer Canoga Park California 91304 2 Burroughs Corporation M inual on Management of Data Processing Center Detroit Michigan 3 4 5 I 1 17 17 20 20 21 Z4 26 44323 26 Carnegie Institute of Technology Management Operations Study Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Case Institute of Technology Remnote Computer Medical Research Cleveland 6 Ohio Florida State University Study of Computer Potential in Helping Pupils Learn Tallahassee 28 28 Florida 6 General Motors Research Laboratories DAC-l Project Detroit Michigan 48202 7 Herner and Company Document Retrieval Systems Testing Wahhington D C 8 The University of Illinois Coordinated Science Laboratory Plato 11 and 111 Urbana Illinois 9 Inte rnational business Machines Corporation Experimental Compute r-Assisted Instruction System Yorktown Heights New York 10598 10 Jantzen Inc Management Data Processing Portland Oregon 11 Litton Industries Ship Autoýnation Beverly Hills California 12 Los Angeles Police Departmen Co mputerized Crime Information Los Angeles California 13 Louisville Nashvll Ri oad L and N IBM 1050 Teleprocessing System Louisville Kentucky 40201 I 50 14 The City of New Yok Dopr Ient of Traffic Computerized Records of Traffic Lights Long Island City New York 11101 15 Metropolitan Police Department Police Computer System St Louis Missouri 31 32 37 37 39 4Z 45 49 51 51 16 System Development Corporation Compute r Based Justice Identification and Intelligence Sys tern Santa Monica California 17 Systems Development Corporation SD C-Denmark Time-Sharing Demonstration Santa Monica 5Z California 18 United Air Lines Optical Scanning of Airline Tickets Chicago Illinois 60666 53 54 ' r' -Th PA E 7'1TT lITIUI LL J J Jo U B L L The Approved by Under Secretary of the Navy 25 September 1981 NAVSO P-645 Reproduced by tho e CLEARINGHOUE s Federal Scientific Tochnical Inflormation Springfield Va 22151 s z' U - Editorial Policy Notice EDITORIAL The Digital Computer Newsletter although a Department of the Navy publication is not restricted 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 lt is to be noted that the publication of information pertaining to cummercial 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 exchange 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 material and suggestions to z1 1 the editor for future issues Material for specific issues must be received by the editor at least three months in advance It is often impossible for the editor because of limited time and personnel to acknowledge individually all material received CIRCULATION The Newsletter is distributed without charge to interested military and governmlnt agencies to contractors for the Federal Government and to contributors of material for publication For many years in addition to the ONR tnitial 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 Communicatloios could bptter 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 F I II Computers and Data Processors North Americau RGA Spectra 70 Series Radio C orlwation of 4mlerik ai New 'o 20 New•Vork IccRODUCTION The first ofp new generation of electronic computers designed to meet the total informateon processing requirements of science and industry well into the 1970's was announced here today thy Radio Corporation of Americat This now computer series called Spectra 70 combines technological advances that not only match but go beyond those of any other known computer system First in the third generation of data processing systems Spectra 70 presents major Innovations In logic circuitry and language capability Comprised initially of 4 compatible general purpose computers and more than 40 inter- changeable peripheral devices the new RCA series features these principal innovations stIn the two larger computers the first use of fully integrated circuits--world's fa2test and moxt reliable commercially available circuits of their kind a An advanced multi-lingual capability enabling Spectra 70 computers to speak all of the most common programming data and cormmunications languages including those of the most recently announced computer systems and •Improved cost t -rformance ratios over the full range of systems and applications Spectra 70 provides a complete spectrum of computing peripheral and communications equipment and it meets the full range of aystern and application requirements of science and Industry Rental prices range from $800 a month for the smallest processor to $22 550 a month for the largest processor The ability of the Spectra 70 Series to accommodate the programs of other computers has broad implications for the company hoping to evolve to a total management information system The new computers have been designed to live harmoniously With many of their contemporaries Their fluency in other computer languages greatly leswens costly re-programming and makes possible greater management control for the computer dollar than ever before Advanced production of the Spectra 70 Beries has already begun in the RCA Palmo Beach Gardens compoter plant and customer deliverie will e begin in the fourth quarter of 1965 The new series takes Its place alongside RCAls well established 3•01 3301 and 501 compvters and will be able to accommodate programs written for these as wo 11 as other non-RCA systems RCA's decision to pioneer as the first company to manufacture computers in quantity wThth fully integrated circuits was the result of logic circuitry r asearch begun some years ago in RCA Laboratories Success of this research and development of new manufacturing tech- niques for the circuitry provided RCA with the means of creating this third generation of co- puters • The new Spectra 70 Series in initial form consists of four computers identified as the 70 15 70 26 70 45 and 70 55 The four provide all of the elements needed for total informqtlon systems including an extensive array of data storage communications and inputoutput equipment The two larger computers In the series the 70 45 and 70 55 employ high-speed fategrated circuits with typical switching times of 7 nanoseconds billionths of a second or legs Each of the circuits is formed of a silicon chip so small that it would barely cover the letter o of a typewriter yet large enough to con ii two complete electronic circuits wvith 15 transistors and 13 resistors This type of circuit is called monolithic because all of the elsectronic elements are combined in a single bit of material ' These specially developed integrated circuits represent a major step beyond the most advanced type of circuitry previously announced-a hybrid form in which chin transintors and diodes are mounted separately on a printed circuit module approximately 1 2 inch square In addition their use in the Spectra 70 Series permitted a one-third reduction in the size of computer cabinets LANGUAGE ABILITIES RCA's Spectra 70 Series marks the third generation of computers as much through its advpnced language ability and the unpAlalleled freedom this gives the computer user as through its use of the latest electronic technotogy The new integrated circuits are described by RCA engineers as faster more reliable and more economical than any such circuit technique now in commercial use or so far announced With the circuits RCA computer specialists alsohave developed for the Spectra 70 Series a circuit-linking technique that effectively reduces problems of signal interference among adjacent circuits and virtually eliminates all Sconventional wiring The nbility of the Spectra 70 computers to talk all of the most common programming data and communications languages cuts the high cost of re-programming and makes possible effective communication between computers including computers of other manufacture The new RCA family of multi-lingual computers goes further in the direction of providing the flexibility needed to protect the computer user's investment in the past while still meeting his needs of the present and for the future than any other system The exceptional language fluency of Spectra 70 computers is achieved at four levels each of which add to the total pattern of flexibility that has been achieved Design of the new series Itself was aided by extensive automated design techniques in which circuit and system layouts were produced by an electronic computer Among the most significant aspects of Spectra 70 according to the RCA specialists is its compatibility with the programming languages communications codes and data formats of other computers The native tongue of the Spectra 70 systems is the Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code EBCDIC and each of the new computers can generate and wbrk with the American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII One of the most significant advances is the Spectra 70 Meta-assembler a new concept in assembly languages that give the user the ability to create his own problem-oriented Ianguage The British philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell pointed out that the problem of studying language is that the study is conducted In language itself Thus he calls for a 'neta-language -a symbolic notation that would permit language study in another system of logic As a result of this multi-lingual capability the new RCA computers pace the industry in protecting the computer user's investment in past data processing systems and in offering him equipment designed to handle all his anticipated future data requirements An almost Identical problem not philosoph- The series has been designed for a full range of users including banks insurance companies manufacturing concerns transporfation companies utilities research laboratortes and government agencies ical but Very practical has occurred in cornputers The computer has a language of its own-a binary language of one's and zero's that can be understood and manipulated by man but only with great difficulty and painstaking attention to minute details In application the Spectra 70 computers will handle a wide range of information processing from the analysis of exotic rocket fuels and the solution of highly complex scientific problems to such data processing functions as statistical report•ng accouating and market evaluation From the beginning of the computer era man has been trying to get together with his machines to find languages that both can understand and use effectively But there has been no truly common system of notation between man and machine although there have been common languages for men that have been implemented on many machines The many assemblers and compilers that have been developed to translate these languages to machine code are separate accomplishments for each language and for each machine Thus each Spectra 70 is a completely homogeneous family of computers with hardware and software fully integrated The new RCA line makes extensive use of advanced highly sophisticated software techniques 3 II effective handling of punch cards punched paper tape mark read cards and documents printed ior opticai or magneiic characier recuguitiUn language developed for each machiiie has been a one-shot answer to the problem In effect RCA's meta-assembler says that there are a finite number of manipulations and expressions tor the computer It seeks to describe them in a standard set of symbols and rules This allows either the user or the manufacturer to describe the syntax or semantics of a new language and thus makes it practical to create new specialized languages quickly and economically COMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITIES Making possible for the first time a gradual economic evolution from routine data processing to total management systems the Spectra 70 Series has been designed with an unprecedented range of communications capabilities Through communications equipment and techniques planned to fill a virtually unlimited variety of requirements the data processor has become a powerful and far-reaching aid in decision making management control and long range planning Neither the average programmer nor the computer needs to know the meta-language--it is independent of both Thus the user can describe his programs in a particular notation familiar to him and the meta-assembler will provide a program In machine'languag called an object program in computerese that the computer understands The computer-communications team extends the range and scope of the centrallylocated computer making available on a realtime basis facts and figures from local or remote locations The computer has been linked directly to data sources within the same plant or across the continent At the programming level the multi-lingual Spectra 70 series will speak FORTRAN IV and COBOL other languages as they become finalized and accepted by the industry as standards as well as Spectra 70 and other assembly languages The increasing tie-in of computers and communications facilities has made possible direct dealing with information from a wide variety of sources regardless of location To illustrate the growth of data communications Bell system private long-line circuit use for data transmission has risen from 500 such circults totalling 400 000 miles in 1960 to 5700 circuits covering over 2 5 million miles todayan increase of more than six-fold This broad combination of programming languages plus the Spectra 70 Meta-assembler system makes it easy and economical to accommodate a wide variety of higher-order languages This allows the computer user to select the most efficient language for a given application and ease c aversion problems At the machine language level all Spectra 70 non-privileged instructions formats and characters codes are identical with the corresponding features in IBM's System 360 This instruction language capability is further enhanced by stored logic in the read-only memory of the larger computers that make it possible to create new order codes The machine codes that may be handled in this way include the RCA Spectra 70 computers achieve the widest possible use of data flow to and from telegraph telephone microwave and such specialized communications systems as the Department of Defense AUTODIN Automatic Digital Information Network hookup Five basic buffers cover this broad spectrum of data movement 301 501 and 3301 and the IBM 1401 computers The Spectra 70 communications concept allows memory-to-memory traffic between Spectra 70 computers at the same site as well as memory-to-memory communications between remotely located Spectra 70 computers over voice grade communication facilities It also provides for memory-to-memory communications over voice grade facilities between Spectra 70 computers and RCA 301 and 3301 systems as well as other popular machines At the data language level the native tongue of Spectra 70 computers is Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code EBCDIC Other codes that can be talked to and worked with are the American Standard Code for Information Inter hange ASCII the Industry standard seven-bit plus parity code and the sevenand five-level teletype codes All fit within the basic eight-bit plus parity structure of the Spectra 70 Series In addition to this form of high speed single channel communications Spectra 70 through an optional communications Multiplexor Channel can be the heart of an advanced integrated Spectra 70 computers also communicate through a wide variety of document codes for 4 Computer-Communication System by dealing wiLh up wv256 communication jines covering a range of speed up to 5100 characters per second Data communications systems have evolved over the years by gradual expansion with myriad devices and facilities so that it is not uncommon today for a single company to have communications services and terminal equipment from various common carriers and equipment suppliers These devices and services have been justified economically in their own discrete areas and have served a useful function in hybrid management information systems however the drawbacks have been many The addition of even one new standard remote communications terminal at any point results in personnel retraining expenses together with added implementation costs Based on nearly a half century of communications experiences on a world-wide basis RCA has pursued an open-minded open-ended approach to the broad field of data communications This has manifested itself in an RCA computer-controlled electronic switching systern now in operation at the RCA Communications Company's New York headquarters connecting with some 70 foreign countries In designing Spectra 70 RCA not only made provision to accommodate existing common carrier record communications facilities but also took into account the newer data communications codes and formats in ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange oriented systems FIELDATA codes and future ASCII first and second level codes also can be assimilated by Spectra 70 Further provision has been made to allow the computers to converse with remote communications terminals of varied manufacture over standard communications facilities SPECTRA 70 COMMUNICATIONS AND RANDOM ACCESS CAPABILITIES t a communications innovator involving such computer-controiiec communications tasKs as the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System the Air Force Logistics Command System the Electronic Telegraph System oa RCA Communications Inc and supplier to Western Union of the world's largest electronic switching system Spectra 70 communications equipment and techniques permit s RCA computers to interchange information memory to memory at the same site or between widely separated locations 9 The on-line flow of data between the computer and such remotely located operations as warehouses plants and regional and branch offices e The gathering of data from in-plant operations through the direct connection of RCA EDGE electronic data gathering units to the central processor Data flow into the computer to and from telegraph telephone microwave and specialized communications systems including the Department of Defense AUTODIN Automatic Digital Information Network hookup Swift reply to information requests on a local or remote basis by means of inquiry and display units connected directly to the electronic data processing system e Real-time acquisition of vital data for decision makers Data Exchange Control DXC RCA Model 70 627 The new DXC allows computers in the Spectra 70 Series to be linked mermury tomemory at the same site as much as 200 feet apart Data can be moved through the DXC in bursts of eight bytes at speeds up to 640 000 bytes per second depending on the processor the channels used and the number of simultaneously active devices For total information management systems today or a decade hence the Spectra 70 processors have been designed to employ a cornprehensive range of communications capabilities and random access memory devices with multi-billion character capacity Single-Channel Communications Controls CC Models 70 652-25-26 and Models 70 653-25-26-34 The Spectra 70 Series provides five models The ability of Spectra 70 computers to communicate is in keeping with RCA's role as of single channel communication controls to bring distant computers into memory-to-memory communications ' Single-Channel Communication Controls installed in Spectra 70 processor are connected through one of two types of 3ubsets to ieased or diai network communicaiioni lines Either manual or automatic dialing can be used greater economy The drum capacity is one million bytes or two million decimal digits The data transfer rate is 119 000 bytes or 256 006 decimal digits per secund to set transmidsion in motion Disc Storage Unit RCA 70 564 Data speeds vary with the CC model from 220 bytes per second to as much as 5100 bytes per second Any Spectra 70 computer with CC may be linked to other Spectra 70 processors RCA 301 or RCA 3301 computers similarly equipped Serving as an extension of internal main memory the Disc Storage unit provides medium-capacity random access as the main storage for operating systems and working programs or where fast direct access Is of prime concern Communications Multiplexor Channel CMC Model 70 672 The average access time is 85 milliseconds with the track-to-track access 30 milliseconds and the rotation time 25 milliseconds The capacity is 7 25 million bytes or 14 5 million decimal digits per disc unit while up to eight units can be attached to a single Controller for an overall capacity of 58 million bytes or 116 million decimal digits The data transfer rate is 156 000 bytes or 312 000 decimal digits per second The Spectra 70 45 processor can be equipped with an optinnal Communications Multiplexor Channel to handle as many as 256 on-line devices in the form of input output units or terminals A combined data rate of 10 000 bytes per second can be attained The CMC is designed to accommodate all existing communications services and probable future services Mass Storage Unit RCA 70 568 The 70 568 provides a mass data base online with low-cost random access and multibillion-character capacity The unit is designed to exploit the speed and throughput power of the Spectra 70 Series pinpointing facts in a fraction of a second Operation is automatic once the conditions for interrupt and sequencing of data flow has been established Only the programming parameters have to be changed to handle new or additional remote termimis with different communications characteristics The wired-in program is stored in a special read only memory Data storage involves flexible magnetic cards 16 by 4-1 2 inches Interchangeable magazines in each file house 256 cards Each unit can handle from one to eight magazines An optional expansion assembly increases the magazine capacity to 16 Six types of line buffers make possible tie-in with a wide variety of communications facilities Mass Random Access Storage and Retrieval PROCESSOR Spectra 70 computers have at their disposal three random access storage and retrieval systems-Drum Memory unit Disc Storage unit and Mass Storage unit All three memories are operated by the RCA 70 541 Random Access Controller with up to eight devices at a time connected in any combination The new RCA Spectra 70 series initially comprises four compatible electronic data processors ranging in price from $800 monthly rental at the lowest end of the line to $22 550 for the largest memory at the upper end The processors feature memory cycle speeds of 2 microseconds for the Spectra 70 15 the smallest to 840 nanoseconds for the largest the Spectra 70 55 Memory sizes range from 4 096 bytes to 524 288 eight-bit bytes respectively The new processors provide multi-lingual compatibility real-time processing and the Drum Memory Unit RCA 70 565 The Drum Memory unit supplies fast direct access storage and is particularly useful as an extension of internal main core memory for 6 i I capability to utilize more than 40 kinds of peripheral devices Standard interface units allow interchange of Spectra 70 input output KCU-UA11U U1I10UIL3WLL11 Ideally suited for computer users desiring to convert from over-taxed magnetic tape or punched card installations the 70 25 pyovides u •F lII ts£illmu ULII•'m Spectra 70 processors L l aLD wl l bli ylA isiJ o to medium and medium-large installations The system is fully compatible with the smaller 70 11G and is fleld-expandable froni the minilmum70 25 storage 16 384 eight-bit bytesstandard to 65 536 The willofcommunicate through The aiultl-llhgual uapabilities enable the Spectra 70 to speak the language of many other computers including the recently announced IBM 360 as well as the RCA 301 3301 and 501 systems interface units with all RCA peripheral equipment Rentals begin at $1 850 a month for one of the lowest cost-performance indices of Its range When augmented by optional peripheral devices the 70 25 provides medium-large capabilities at a favorable cost per unit of work Spectra 70 15 The 70 15 processor the smallest of the Spectra 70 series is a general purpose computer designed for small data systems applications i'cmote terminals and as a satellite support unit The character-organized twoaddress system extracts and restores ineormation to memory in one eight-bit byte at a time one alpha-numeric or two decimal dkgits or binary Each character handled is a standard communication charac-er In Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code EBCDIC Memory cycle time is 2 microseconds per eight-bit byte Spectra 70 45 The 70 45 processor is a stored program general purpose computer designed to serve as the main element of a small-to-medium scale integrated system Featuring monolithic integrated circuitry its memory speed is rated at 1 44 microseconds per two bytes 16 bits The fast data transmission and computation rates of up to 144 instructions assures the 70 45 of highly efficient data processing communications control and scientific problem solutions Four optional floating point 64-bit registers are provided Up to 11-way simultaneity is available through intermix of input output devices A 300 nanosecond scratch pad memory provides 43 general purpose 32-bit registers Fixed length data of 8 16 32 or 64 bi s may be processed Variable length data of up to 256 characters in eight-bit byte increments or up to 16 digits four bits each packed two per eight-bit byte may be processed Eight-bit characters may be in either EBCDIC or ASCII Capable of communicating with all RCA peripheral equipment through a standard interface the 70 15 provides an orderly economic transition from conventional batch data proceasing to the most complex management information installation Rentals begin as low as $800 a month offering one of the lowest costperformance indices in the EDP industry The minimum configuration solves the small data processing problems perhaps as complex as a large corporation's but of smaller volume Linked to a larger number of peripherals the 70 15 provides medium-class sy'stem capabilities at a favorable cost per unit of work The large storage capacity of the 70 45 coupled with fast data transmission and computation rates makes this system highly efficient as both data processor and a scientific problem solver The 43 general purpose registers are used for base address index or utility registers with separate scratch pad registers for use in the interrupt and executive systems With a monthly rental of $3 600 minimum a low-cost per unit of work is achieved Augmented by optional peripheral equipment the 70 45 reaches the large-scale range and offers one of the lowest cost-performance indices In the data processing industry Spectra 70 25 The 70 25 processor is a general purpose stored program system designed to 3atisfy a wide variety of data processing requirements With its magnetic tape unit record and paper tape capabilities the 70 25 operates concurrently wlth input output date transfer A character organized two address instruction format is used instructions being 2 4 or 6 bytes in length An extremely fast memory cycle time of 1 5 microseconds per eight-bit byte is provided however information can be extracted and restored to memory four bytes at a time Up to 123 termLn Ais and peripherals can be operated on line Spectra 70 65 The 70 55 processor is a word organized stored program general purpose computer 7 intended as the main element of a medium-tolarge integrated management system Featuring monolithic integrated circuitry the 70 55 High and medium speed data channels and standard multiplexer and communications multiplexor channels are available to permit a pruvideas compLete programming compattibiity broad mix oi iunctions and in me numoer o1 with the 70 45 processor The extremely fast memory cycle time of 840 nanoseconds for four bytes 32 buile units reporting to the central computer system h5 coupled wlith huge memory ca- pacities of 65 536 131 072 262 144 or 524 288 bytes Fixed length data of 8 16 32 or 64 bits may be processed Variable length data of up to 256 characters in eight-bit increments or up to 16 digits four bits each packed two per eight-bit byte may be proce ssed Eight-bit characters may be either EI3CDIC or ASCII The Spectra 70 15 This small but powerful computer can serve as a flexible communications terminal in a larger information system-a low-cost highspeed controller for large volume input output operations either as a remote communications terminal or off-line satellite The 70 55 is designed for all electronic data processing applications The huge storage capacity coupled with 14-way simultaneity and parallel logic implemented by integrated circuLtry make the 70 55 directly applicable for total management operation The 300 nanosecond scratch pad memory provides 43 eneral purpose 32-bit registers while double precision floating point arithmetic offers i wide range of data processing and scientiftc capabilities Monthly rental for the 70 55 ranging from a low of $8 350 to a processor with the largest memory at $22 550 gives the 70 55 a low cost-performance index in its range Via six input output trunks the Spectra 70 15 communicates through a standard interface with all Spectra 70 input output storage and communications equipment With a memory capacity ranging from 4 096 to 8 192 eight-bit bytes the memory cycle Is 2 microseconds per byte Triple Purpose Transport A single versatile low cost unit provides a combination of optical reading with mark read and card read options INPUT OUTPUT The Spectra 70 251 Videoscan Document Reader teams television scanning techniques and a flexible high-speed data processing transport The transport mechanism handles documents ranging from 2-1 2 by 2-1 2 inches to 4 by 8-1 2 inches on either paper or card stock The tnit reads numerics and special symbols in the RCA N-2 font printed by a variWith a choice of more than 40 peripheral ety of methods-computer or typewriter output devices the Spectra 70 user regardless of the pre-printed forms or data printed from plastic size or sophistication of his data processing cards requirements can implement the precise sysA demand reader the 70 251 employs tem he needs and evolve to other stages easilyAdeadrarte7 5epoya em heoneedcan olve tunique vacuum drum to assure error-free seand economically lection of the next sought-after card on conmBecause of their multi-lingual talents puter command and with minimum wear and members of the Spectra 70 computer family tear on the individual cards Operating speeds The flexible concept of the RCA Spectra 70 Series is to provide a complete spectrum of data processing in one family of equipment The range of input output and terminal capsbilities available in the Spectra 70 family implements t hat concept are 1300 documents per minute on a demand basis and up to 1800 documents per minute on a continuous feed basis The 70 251 reads up to 500 standard 80-column cards per minute handling punched card holes pencil marks or both in combination in a single pass A 50 percent reduction in scientific problem solving and card processing times is made possible by an optional column binary mode Input hopper output stacker and the selective stacker each hold 2000 cards and can be loaded or unloaded while the reader is in operation can communicate effectively with the wide variety of media and devices available in the overall family-punched card punched paper tape optical character reader magnetic tape and mass storage units and communications equipment Standard input output interface allows Spectra 70 input output storage or communications units to function with other Spectra 70 processors and at the same time provides for easy interchange of onits 8 I Entry and Display 6077 Interrogator Control Terminal-provides facilities for operation of up to eight 6051 are an integral part of Spectra 70's real-time forming the required commurications with the system The 6077 makes provision for 480character display taid has a 48-chal'itutu alphanumeric-character generator The unit provides up to 16 standard callable formats for automatic allocation of information to proscribed positions on the video screen of the 6061 units -d4'U IJ capabilities They make possible real comr and and control techniquco for busincss by providing the ability to get facts where needed instantly Spectra 70 Video Data Terminal and Interrogator units operate directly with the central computer complex through buffered communications channels over a variety of common carrier facilities 6 ASIVA A UKit•r wit UI a•gibu IsIa Pj s 4 I Other Key Units The Spectra 70 Video Displays provide up to 480 character messages on a 14-inch cathode ray tube from a selected subset of 48 alphanumeric characters High-speca communications control for long distance inquiry servicing and memory-tomemory linkage with other Spectra 70 and RCA 301-3301 processors The interrogating keyboards provide the ability to write a message on the video display Data Exchange Contioh for local memory- to-memory linkage with other computers which can be corrected by retyping Once the message on the screen is correct the entire message or inquiry is sent to the computer by pressing a single button Multiplexor communications control for multi-line digital data networks Modular random access IICA 2888 mass Mor random ecres Ca2 ass The Spectra 70 entry and display systems memories data drumi memories data disc devices 6050 Video Data Terminal-a complete unit which combines data entry and display The terminal operates over its own communications line and contains its own storage and character generator capable of providing a selected 48character subset for display of up to 480 characters on its 14-inch screen The 6050 is available with two data transmission ratesone for 105 to 180 characters-per-second transmission the other operating at 10 -second characters-perand 60 000 and 120 000 byte-per-second magnetic tapes with mix tape controls seven-level Industry-compatible code options from 15 000 to 60 000 and 30 000 to 120 000 characters High-speed card readers image mode mark read options Buttered card punches 100 cpm with inage and 3300 cpin 00with cpm image with image m mode and option and mode uferpo read punch options Paper tape reader punches vanced sprocket hole option 6051 Video Data Interrogator-an entry and display device that operates under control of a model 6077 Interrogator Terminal The 6051 provides the same character display as the 6050 six-level ad- Medium-speed high-speed buffered line printers 160 column option General Purpose Fluid EIlement Digital Computer enables the new experimental system to carry out the four basic computer functions memory Arithmetic Control and Input Output Sperry Rand Corporation's UNIVAC Division announced and demonstrated an expertmental general-purpose fluid-operated digital computer Although there has been much fluid amplifier researnh and development during the past few years most work has been limited to Air flowing to 250 molded plastic switching elements through a complex network of channels 9 I by simply connecting one of the four outputs of an element to one of the four inputs of the next logical element in the circuit These nnnnations are made with plastic tubing circuit and basic element development The UNIVAC Fluid Computer represents the first working air-powered system that performs all ui ihe iunctions anu incorporates all of the fundamental logic 'ound in any general purpose computer One side of the computer contamins thc clock step counter instruction portion of the static register function table and A register circuits The other side contains the control coun- The new experimental system demonstrated in October 1964 has four instructions and four words of men-iory Each word is four bits long Operation is bit pairallel ter address portion of static register memory select and memory counter To simplify construction and testing of the UNIVAC Fluid Computer the system has been divided into two parts Each art consistsb of Each half was wired and tested independently Simulated pressure signals were used for testing the circuits on each side When both sides were working separately all of the cross connections between the two sections were made and appropriate outputs were connected to the control panel indicators To facilitate maintenance ane side hinges Out exposing all of the internal circuitry power supply manifold and three rows of NOR elements There are 280 circuit elements in the unit Existing function require 250 NOR elements The extra elements are Included for possible extens ons to the logic The NOR element power inputs are plugged directly into the manifold Circultsare completed 10 10 Computing Centers enter for the Study of Information Processing Cirirgir liniluir J Terhnohalt' Pilllbuegh I l 1eflA1 HA 15217 Center for the Study of Liformation Processing has been established at Carnegie Institute of Technology through a more than $3 million contract from the Advanced Research Projects Agency ARPA of the Department of Defense and quick response of which only the computer is capable Dr Perils visualizes the center as using the computer as sort of a public utility ilimilar to power companies in that it would provide its 'acilities to fit individual needs of many simultaneous users Future plans in fact call for a system Installed by the Bell Telephone Company whereby the Tech computer will be available for problem solving by any qualified person anywhere in the United States The new center will utilize Carnegie Tech's computer facilities which includes a paired computer with the second largest memory storage of any machine in industry or education in the United States In addition it is expected that another computer making a total of five will be shortly added to the computation center Tech also currently has 12 teletype units at various places on campus from which research projects can be conducted on the computer and it is expected that by the end of this year 30 such units will exist in various departments and residence halls on campus Organizationally the center will consist of a small number of full-time faculty and a large number of joint appointments and non-paid faculty users oi the computation center's facilities A two-story structure which will add another 6000 sqiare feet to the center was to have been completcd by November 1 for use by new staff members It is expected that by 1966-67 the annual budget of the new center will be about $1 800 000 with the equivalent of almost 100 full-time persons being employed According to Dr Alan Perils director of the computation center and Dr Allen Newell institute professor of systems and communications sciences all intellectual activity presumes information processing and all systems require communication and control The Importance of understanding information processing stems from the fact that it pervades and interpenetrates all other fields Currently at Tech computers are being used for research projects in all departments of the College of Engineering and Science in the behavioral sciences in management sciences In human thought simulation in thc iine arts and in the new systems and communications science program which cuts across traditional disciplinary lines and which has already received over $1 million of ARPA support Other current users of Tech's computer facilities inelude Mellon Institute and the Bureau of Mines at Bruceton both of which can use the facilities from remote units located in their buildings Th fundamental aim of the center is the understanding of the nature of information processing-that is the systems which process and transform information and the way it is used to control integrate and coordinate other systems The value of such an understanding to ARPA is found in the great need for anticipated demands 11 Dartmouth Time-Sharing System Dailmouth Coliegr ttanovr Nyu tIasJH khirE INTRODUCTION USERS DESCRIPTION The Dartmouth College Computation Center operates a Time-Sharing computer system that can simultaneously service a large number of remote consoles This system is used both for teaching large numbers of undergraduate students and for faculty research purposes It was designed and the software constructed in a relatively short time by a small group of faculty members ably assisted by a highly qualified and enthusiastic group of undergraduates The Dartmouth Time Sharing experience shows two facts First Time-Sharing should be considered not only for major research and teaching Centers but also for smaller and more conventional installations Second the nature of the programming and systems problems connected with Time-Sharing are now fairly well understood and present less difficulty than was previously anticipated The user introduces himself to the system by typing the word HELLO This initiates a short series of questions and answers which serve to further identify the user and his problem Specifically the user supplies his user number the name of the system with which he intends to operate specifies whether the problem he is about to name is new or old and gives the problem name If it is an old problem this system retrieves it from the saved program storage area on the disc The user may then add to the program or modify it in any way If it's a new problem the user is presented with a clean slate and he composes his program from scratch The statements of the program start U Lh a line number which distinguishes them from the commands to the system Having the user type his own line numbers permits him to correct lines in the program simply by retyping them to insert new lines in the program or to delete unneeded lines When he has finished composing his program he then types RUN without a line number This command causes the system to deliver his source program to a translator after which it is run The answer will then be typed out on the teletype machine EXTERNAL DESCRIPTION The Dartmouth Time-Sharing hardware complex contains two computers One is the General Electric Datanet-30 which is used both as the remote console controller and also as the site of the master executive program It can control thre gh interrupts the other computer a General Electric GE-235 whose main function is to perform floating point arithmetic There in a direct line connecting these computers which is used for control purposes The main path of the data apd information transfer in both directions however is through a disk storage nmit which can be accessed by either computer In addition to its ro e in handling information flow between the two computers the disk provkdes a storage for both active and save programs Other commands are available to the user By typing SAVE the user can store away for future reference his program as it exists at that moment and under the problem name he is currently using Such saved programs can be later retrieved by typing OLD If the user is finished with his saved program he should type UNSAVE which makes available that particular storage space for some other program At any point he may type LIST which will list his entire active program or LIST-XXXX which will list his program starting with line number XXXM At any time in the proceedings the user may type STOP Even if the system is printing out answers or listing a program it will immediately stop and wait further commands The combined use of the selective LIST and the STOP cornmands permits the user to easily list single lines in the middle of his program The multiple remote consoles are model 35 teletype machines however the equipment can handle almost any type of remote device employing standard codea transmitted at relatively slow rates The computer complex also includes conventional tape drives card reader card punch and high-speed printer These devices however play only an ancillary role in the TimeSharing System At any time the user may specify a new system The effect is to move inio the last half of the HELLO sequence where he selects NEW 12 O t slviz thii ucuituu jM1Z1 He may also at any time specify NEW or OLD and then give the new or old program name The command RENAME which simply replaces Eihe old problem name with a new name allows the user to generate easily two most identical versions of the same program He would retrieve the first rename it make slight modifications and then save the modified version un ler the new name SCRATCH permits the user to erase all the lines in his program and start out with a clean slate RENAME plus SCRATCH in either order is equivalent to NEW a spare-time task to start carrying out the command is set up and inserted in the sparetime task list If there is not enough time to complete his setting up the real-time part will complete the set-up during the next real-time period A user may obtain a complete listing of all programs saved under his user number by typing CATALOGUE Such a listing is useful not only for users having a large library of saved programs but also for users who might forget the spelling of their problem names In the 235 there Is a resident compiler system that acts as a translator and a resident executive routine to manage the disc inputoutput operations and to perform other functions The executive system permits simultaneous use of the card equipment the tape drives and the high-speed printer- during TimeSharing through Interrupt processing The spare-time portion carries out the spare-time tasks which include mainly disc operations and certain teletype operations Communication to the GE-235 is carried out in real-time according to Instructions generated in spare-time Currently under development are two new commands RENUMBER and MERGE MERGE will permit a user to retrieve two or more saved programs to create a larger composite program RENUMBER will permit the user to renumber the lines in any program to permit later merging with programs having similar line numbers The disc unit is divided into three areas First is the current working area containing the program which the user is either composing or has retrieved It is this program that is delivered to the 235 when a RUN request is made The second area in the disc includes the storage area for saved programs Depending on the size of the program somewhere between 2000 and 7000 programs may be saved The third area is a catalogue for saved programs The catalogue is divided into 100 equivalence classes according to the third and second digits of the user number Each time a request for a SAVE OLD or UNSAVE Is made the catalogue is scanned by the Datanet-30 for either the desired entry or a space into which a catalo ue entry for the program may be placed INTERNAL DESCRIPTION The system may be divided logically into three parts The Datanet-30 computer acts as a remote console controller but more importantly contains the master executive program The GE-235 performs all translations and executions and certain bookkeeping operations as well The disc storage unit acts as the buffer area for currently active programs the buffer area for information being outputted from the GE-235 and as a storage unit for save programs It also serves as the storage unit for the various systems used in the 235 Because the rate of information flow between the two computers is disc-bound the maximum utilization of the 235 cannot exceed approximately 80 percent Future plans call for a reallocation of the areas on the disc to minimize the average arm movement time and to possibly cut down the disc overhead time by about 25 percent Inside the Datanet-30 are input-output buffer areas associated with each teletype station These are operated in a flip-flop fashion so that input or output typing may continue in one part of the buffer while the other is connected to the disc unit The program in the Datanet-30 is d' ided into two parts a real-time part and a spare-time part The real-time part is enterr-d via clock controlled Interrupt 110 times per second in order to scan the teletype lines As characters are completed the real-time j• zt collects them Into messages and when a return character is encountered interprets the message If it is a line in the program nothing is done If the message is a command COMPARISONS The Time-Sharing system is not compatible with the monitor-controlled system as operated at other times during the day In TimeSharing the user has a block of only about 6000 words at his disposal During monitor operations he has a considerably larger area at his disposal It is planned however to permalt a user to compose and debug a program during 13 Time-Sharing and then to create an equivalent form for production running during monitor opesation This system can be accurately described as a small job processing system At the prosant time Durtmuuth Time-Sharing does not have the capability for running large complex programs under Time-Sharing Furthermore the design of the system as a job processor does not permit it to be desigkiated as a truly realtime system There can be fairly long waits of from 5 to 10 seconds as the spare time tasks and run requests become stacked up These stack ups and delays are almost entirely a resuit of the central role played by the relatively slow disc as an extension of memory Future systems with large memories need not be so encumbered Furthermore relatively simple changes in the master executive piogram will permit almost any sort of communication with external devices including the instantaneous sort of response required by laboratory experiment equipment being controlled by the cornputer The Dartmouth Time-Sharing system is however extremely effective as a small job processor The minimum amount of red tape required by the user and the simplicity of the BASIC language provide an accessibility equiv- alent to that offered by a desk calculator In fact it is often easier to run a trivial calculation through tha t m• •hng ' tha it i2 to use a desk calculator and it may also be easier to use the Time-Sharing system to calculato ametabled qitntity than to loolk up that quantity in the handbook While such usage may not be an effective use of the teletype consoles it costs virtually nothing in terms of the machine time used such an equivalent table lookup can be made for loss than one penny The Dartmouth Kiewit Computation Center began full-scale operation in September 1964 Professor John G Kemeny and associate professor Thomas E Kurtz the two college mathematicians who led in its planning feel that users may well be getting the fastest service on research any institution can offer They are also confident that few if any institutions now offer faculty and students such easy access to a high-speed computer Now in operation around the campus are 22 statioo which are connected to the GE-235 in the i •dnputing center This enables the college to meet increasing demands for computation by faculty and student research and to teach from 75 to 90 percent of all students the operations capabilities and limitations of electronic computers which most will be using in their careers BASIC - Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code To connect your teletype to the Time-sharing system press the ORIG key If you hear a tone speaker should be turned up and then no tone you are ready to enter the Hello sequence In the Hello sequence shown below lower-carae letters are used to indicate systems output and upper-case for user's input Incidentally to disconnect your teletype from the Timesharing system press the CLR key HELLO A User number -- S100000 must be 6 digits or 1 letter and 5 digits g System -- BASIC A New or old -- NEW unless problem has been saved A New problem name -- EXAMPL any I to 6 characters 9 All statements require a numeric label no more than 5 digits no spaces 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 90999 PRINT XW SINE X A READ X A LET F1 X 2 LET F2 1 2 FOR F n 3 to 19 STEP 2 Q LET F2 F F-1 -F2 A LET F1 FI X 4 F F2 A NEXT F a PRINT X Fl 9 GO TO 20 A DATA 1 5707 1 04'1 7854 6283 6 END R 14 Without LIST A RUN A --X300X to list your nroaram hmavnnina at statement Nd XYXYZIfX if you want your p-rogram to run statement STOP labels SAVE A if you want your program saved for later usa UNSAVE A CATALOG f NEW i OLD A SCRATCH 9 RENAME A if you want to destroy a previously saved program if you want the names of programs saved for a user number to erase current program and to start a new program if in the Hello sequence would search for saved programs erases a current program but retains the name if you want to rename a program T j if you want printing to stop Return Key A - Will not print on hard copy --- Key - Erase one character for each back error spaces are considered characters Alt Mode Key - If pressed will erase an entire line Variables are single letters possibly followed by a single digit A number may be up to nine S digits A line of print may contain five zones of fifteen spaces each Variables printed will be no more than six significant spaces each except for integers Any trailing zeros after the decimal point are not printed For numbers less than 0 1 the form XJXX0DDX E - Y is used unless the entire number can be printed as a six decimal number i e 03456 is exact 3 45800 E - Z has been rounded If the number is an exact integer the decimal point in not printed Integers of up through 9 digits are printed in full Hierarchy of Arithmetic Operators 1 The expression inside a parenthesis pair is computed before the parenthesized quantity is used in further computations 2 Raising to a power is computed before multiply and or divide which in turn are computed before addition and or subtraction in the absence of parenthesis 3 Several arithmetic operators of the same order are computed from left to right Correction to a Program - For explanation of error messages see Pages 53 54 of BASIC MANUAL Changing a line Inserting a line -- Deleting a line -- Type it correctly with the same line number Type it with a line number between those of the two existing BASIC sorts your program statements for you Type the line number only followed by the Return Key Summary of the 15 BASIC Statements - In this summary it is assumed that all statements begin with a line number Following each is one example LET LET variable expression i e 10 LETXI Y Z Z A - B 4 DI READ READ variable variable DATA DATA number number number i e 1 2 -3 7 123 479 -2 35 4 PRINT PRINT label or label expression or expression 10 PRINT SINE X I K A B COS Y GOT0 G0T0 line number i e 10 GOTO 17 IF-THEN IF expression relational expression THEN line number i e 10 IFX Y 0 THEN 419 FOR FOR unsubscripted variable expression To expression STEP expression 1oFOR I I To 17 NEXT variable i e 10 READ X Y Al Q I J 10 FOR X1 0 TO 7 STEP 0 5 NEXT unsubscripted variable i e 10 NEXT XI 15 I END END i e 10 END STOP STOP i e 10 STOP DEF DEF FN letter unsubscripted variable u expression 10DEF FNG Z - 1 SQR 1 Z Z GOSUB OSUB line number RETURN RETURN i e RETURN DIM DIM letter integer or letter integer integer 10 DIM A 17 B 3 20 REM any string of characters whatsoever 10 REM THIS IS THE END OF REM i e 10 GOSUB 110 APPENDIX C BASIC has available to the user the following functions FUNCTIONS PURPOSE SIN K COS K TAX X ATN X EXP X ABS I LOG X SQR X Sine of X Cosine of X Tangent of X X must be in radians Arctangent of X1 Natural exponential of X cx Absolute value of X IiX Natural logarith of IXI Square root of IXI RND INT 30 Schematic diagram of system hardware- PRNE MANT 16 TELETYPE I Overseas AUTODIN Installations Fiji Ahattuidit New l wý0 The U S Army Electronics Command Fort Monmouth has awarded Philco Corporation's Communications and Electronics Division a $31 381 167 contract to provide 10 overseas installations for AUTODIN the Defense Department's high-speed digital communications system The AUTODIN AUTOMATIC DIGITAL NETWORK contract requires Philco to design fabricate install test maintain and operate for 1 year the 10 overseas centers Equipment for a military instructor and operator training center at Fort Monmouth also will be provided The new AUTODIN centers will permit and high-speed digital data teletype world-wide communication and will enable computers literally to talk to each other Information at each center can be handled at rates up to 3000 words per minute The digital signals used in AUTODIN take up less space in transmission and can be transmitted fasLer than voice signals Digital signals are a cacophony of sounds to the human ear and require electronic equipment to convert them to usable information at the receiving end The AUTODIN centers through the use of electronic equipments carry out the vital function of handling messages and data information traffic and speeding its flow from center to center on a world-wide system Each center stores messages and retransmits them to the designated destinations as soon as transmission lines are available Messages are processed on a priority basis and top priority messages are transmitted without delay The two magnetic drums used at each switching center will store more than 2 million words each and the 10 magnetic memories at each center will each store 16 000 words To insure continuous operation a special switch function at each center will automatically replace any part of the system that fails The AUTODIN contract is administered by and under the technical supervision of the Army Materiel Command's UNICOM STARCOM Project Manager Col H F Foster Jr Fort Monmouth While the contract was awarded by the U S Army's Electronic Command the Defense Communications Agency's Defense Communications Engineering Office will operate AUTODIN Associated with the C E Division in the contract will be Philco's TechRep Division which will be responsible for installing and testing the equipment in the 10 centers and for maintaining and operating them for 1 year after the first center is completed Each Automatic Digital Message Switching Center ADMSC as they will he officially known will contain An automatic digital switch which is essentially a grouping of high-speed data processors A communications subsystem known as Technical Control whose major function is to maintain service continuity to other connected switching centers and tributaries e An uninterrupted power supply The 10 ADMSC's will be located in Alaska France Germany Guam Hawaii Japan Okinawa Panama Philippine Islands and the United Kingdom The centers will eventually replace separate facilities now maintained by the U S Army Navy and Air Force buildings They willforbewhich located in new air-conditioned Philco will prescribe architectural and engineering standards The Company initially will design and build a pilot model which will be installed at Willow Grove for testing and evaluating systems effectiveness Two Computer l ink The Yale University Computer Center took a step in September 1964 toward meeting the I 17 burgeoning demand for its services when it put into operation a new system linking together two high-speed computers-one acting as the The 7040 manager can handle up to six team data on problem C while transcribing problem E from punched cards to magnetic tape while printing the rcsults of problem A at 800 lines a minute The changeover points up the critical Importance of the computer in -a modern university where researchers not only in the sciences but in the arts music and linguistics have been waiting in line to use the electronic calculator The new computers are both fully transistorized which means that they run cooler than the vacuum-tube 709 while occupying the same floor space If one should break down the other can be run alone Until it was shrt down in August to make way for the new equipment Yale's bread-andbutter computer an IBM 709 had been running 24 hours a day 7 days a week tryilog to keep up with demand Even at that the workload had become so heavy that users often had to wait anywhere front 6 hours to 2 days to obtain results of their programs Even though use of the Computer Center is expected to increase about 430 percent in this academic year the new system would be able to handle a normal day's work in a few hours The Center however will remain open from 8 30 a m until 1 a m the next day for the convenience of students and faculty who must work at night This situation developed over the past several years despite the fact that the 709 is no slouch as computers go-with its electronic memory of more than 32 000 36-bit words it can do 40 000 additions of 10-digit numbers a second The reason for the immediate surge in computer use is twofold-use of computers is increasing rapidly at Yale because progr ins are being expanded and many programs now being carried out at other computer installations will be transferred to Yale The Yale Center's new IBM Direct Coupled System will reduce waiting times of 24 hours and more to 5-30 minutes depending on the number of persons using the facilities at one time Besides the Direct Coupled System the Center will retain three smaller computers for use on less complex problems and for teaching programming and computer science These are an IBM 1401 an IBM 1620 and an IBM 610 According to Center Director Morris S Davis the system one of the most advanced at any university actually will solve half the problems fed into it in 12 seconds or less with additional waiting time being consumed by clerical routine The 709 computer which the University bought 3 years ago with a grant of $500 000 from the National Science Foundation has been put in storage Yale is leasing its new $4 5 million system from IBM with an option to purchase it The growth of the Computer Center since it was established in 1957 has been phenomenal and has been in response to an ever-increasing demand from practically every area of University life for faster computing facilities The agent of all this efficiency is two highspeed solid-state computers linked together in a division-of-labor arrangement One computer an IBM 7040 is the manager of the team It controls input-output operations for the brain of the partnership an IBM 7094 which solves problems at fantastic speed while its manager handles such housekeeping chores as checking and scheduling programs storing and retrieving information and controlling cardpunches and two high-speed printers No longer the exclusive tool of the scientist and engineer the computer has become a valuable even essential research aid In nearly every academic discipline from anatomy biology and chemistry to law music medicine political science and the humanities Although each of the new computers when used alone calculates 7 to 10 times faster than the 709 they are even mere efficient when linked together The reason is that the coupling arrangement relieves the brain of a host of support operations that slow down a single computer und also because the new computers can Landle more problems simultaneously Mr Davis an astronomer when not directing Center operations traced the birth of the Center to the use of punched-card installatic by several departments during the late 1940's to carry out a variety of problems 18 Among the early users of these machines which aireauy nave Uecome museum pieces %wereAstronomy Sociology and the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics Demand increased steadily however and In 1957 with the assistance of a $20 000 grant iromn the N S F the University opened a Cornputing Center in the Observatory P-ilding on Prospect Street The Center's main computers were an IBM 650 and an IBM 610 purchased in 1959 The first leap forward came in 1961 when the new Center with its 709 computer was dedicated The growth of computer use at Y ie has not been confined to the Computer Center The departments of Industrial Administration and Engineering and Applied Science have their own 1620's while the Physics Department has a Digital Equipment Corp PDP-1 and is planning to get another Several departments that are heavy users of computer facilities have their own card punches and sorters The office of the University treasurer recently installed an IBM 1401 to process records while another 1401 will be installed in the new Laboratory of Epidemiology and Public Health at the School of Medicine when the building is completed in December This machine will be under the direction of the Computer Center and is expected to receive heavy use from such departments as Psychology Psychiatry Anatomy and Epidemiology and Public Health For the future there is the possibility of remote input stations in various departments linked to the Center so that users could rnm mwnicate with the DCS without leaving their offices In fact a proposal is being studied to tie in the 1401 computer at the Medical School to the Center so that it can be used as a remote station Another linking arrangement that would tie the DCS to the control computer at the University's Nuclear Structure Laboratory also is beIng considered This link would enable the DCS to accept and process output overflow frot the accelerator's computer Although scientists and engineers are naturally the Center's biggest customers with physics astronomy and chemistry heading the list the computers are being applied to some less obvious areas of scholarship including art the humanities music and even philosophy Some of these projects include studies of theory proving in philosophy statistical investigations in art and music a computer analysis of musical sounds and a comparison of Polynesian languages The Graduate School is studying possible uses for the computers in the humanities while he Medical School Library is cooperating with Harvard and Columbia in developing a high-speed computer system to replace cumbersome card catalogues One area where Mr Davis hopes to see expansion is in computer science-the study of computers Courses are now offered on both the graduate and undergraduate levels in engineering and to undergraduates in astronomy In addition the Computer Center offers a 12hour non-credit course in programming that is repeated often through the academic year 19i I I Computers and Centers Overseas Current and Future Equipment Commonu eulth Srandi ui and ndwlrial Researth Organiiahio Computing Rsirsrch Section Canberra City 4ustrauia The Computing Research Section of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization has a dual aim Firstly it undertaken research into numerical techniques language translation and other applications Secondly it provides computing facilities for all the Divisions within C S I R O and for Departments of the Commonwealth Government The system consists of a central computer at Canberra and satellite computers at Adelaide Melbourne and Sydney installation at Canberra is shortly to be modiflied by the addition of 2 million words of drum storage and a number of on-line display consoles with keyboards COMPUTING EQUIPMENT The system envisaged will make intensive use of the drums The average core-drum transfer loading factor may be as high as 50 percent i e transfer in progress for 50 percent of the operating time when the drum would be equivalent to 2 million words of 10 usec core store for an apparent mean increase in the internal core cycle time from 1 5 to 2 0 iisec The Canberra installation comprises a Control Data 3600 computer with a 32 768 word core storetape andunits cycle card time reader of 1 5 psecs eight magnetic card punch two paper tape reader punch units two printers at 1000 lines mrad one printer at 150 lines ratin 0andnes min oeprintereent 150 at plnes min and two Calcomp incremental graph plotters one for 30-inch and one for 12-inch paper Each C R T display unit will show a page of about 500 characters The first stage of oftare 500leharation software implementation wi will allow sthe all the on console users to create edit and execute program files at stated priorities in a time shared manner between the consoles and the normal serial Job stack This initial objective will allow for future development of console usage to The equipment at each satellite comprises a Control Data 3200 computer with a 16 384 word core store and a cycle time of 1 5 psecs three magnetic tape units card reader card punch paper tape reader punch one 1000 lines min printer one 150 lines min printer and one Calcomp 12-inch graph plotter on-line computation symbolic processing and creation of new processing systems for specialized lenguages and application areas In addition to the keyboard console displays one larger high definition general purpose C R T display will be installed This will be provided with a large internal buffer store and light pen facilities The internal control systems will allow brightening and blanking of any chosen areas of the display pattern without continuous control by the C P U FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS In order to improve the throughput rate and return times for program development the English Electric-Leo Computers EnKli h Electric Ca L d London Engfnrld The English Electric Company Limited London England has agreed to purchase J Lyons Company's shareholding in English Electric-Leo Computers Limited for approximately $5 2 million English Electric-Leo Computers now becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary within the English Electric Group The shareholding being acquired from J Lyons Company Limited will be transferred to the Marconi Company 20 rI Li izred Engiish sziectric's principal electronic subsidiary company Limited with the Data Processing Division of The English Electric Company in April 1963 The computer company will now bc known as English Electric Leo Marconi Computers Limited English Electric-Leo Computers Limited Among the company's scientific and indusal compare th enKDF9 nhighspe trial computers are the KDF 9 high-speed computer the fully-transistorLzed KDP the small KDN 2 industrial control computer 10 and was formed by the merger of Leo Computers the Leo series of data processing machines I C T 1900 Series Computer Systems hilereudirm l C mpitdep aind TIbiti• r t 1id INTRODUCTION stituted and the existing peripheral units retained International Computers and Tabulators Limited announce the I C T 1900 Series-a comprehensive range of compatible computer systems This flexible new range gives the user freedom to auigment or modify his installation to meet changing requirements without sacrificing his investment in programming or in peripheral equipment As the user's cornputing needs change the I CT Standard Interface provides the facility for the central processor or peripheral units of the I CT 1900 Series to be replaced simply and rapidly The flexibility of this technique allows for the tailoring of each system to meet the present needs of the user and yet permits the system to be modified easily and quickly to satisfy changing requirements Comprehensive and simple programming languages common to every central processor in the series are available A program written for the smallest system will run on the largest Within days of the launching of the I C T 1900 Series British executives and visitors to this country were able to examine the new equipment in operation at the Business Efficiency Exhibition which opened in London on October 6 1964 Deliveries will begin within a year TECHNICAL ADVANCE MULTIPROGRAMMING Five central processors in the series incorporate the multi-programming technique developed by ICT This means that several tasks can be carried out simultaneously without mutual interference As a result the productivity of these computers is substantially increased The 1900 Series ranges from a basic configuration costing £40 000 for routine accounting for example to more sophisticated systems suitable for the most complex commercial and scientific work costing £750 000 or more In all seven central processors will be available SIMPLE OPERATION COMPATIBILITY Communication between the operator and the computer is simple A typewriter passes instructions to the computer in plain language and from there 'Executive' the Master Program takes over 'Executive' is a special program devised by I C T which supervises the operation of the system for It thearranges user andpriorihelps to eliminate human error The I C T 1900 Series is designed around the concept of Standard Interface through which standardized sets of signals transfer information between processors and peripheral devices Thus it is a simple operation to attach peripherals to all existing processors conversely a ties reports on the progress of jobs and the state of peripherals controls the transfer of information and oversees the functions of each device In the system Information for the operator is fed back by the typewriter The typescript of the dialogue between operator and more powerful central processor may be sub- computer can be retained for referenco The introduction of this new range puts the British computer industry in a strong competitive position in world markets 21 i 3 STANDARD INTERFACE The very comprehensive range of storage input and output devicei%itwhsd A Magnetic Card File-a random access device capable of 9 iving rapid access to more than 2 500 million characters filed away on flexible plastic cards Printers capable of printing up to 1 350 lines a minute are available Interesting additions to the peripheral equipment are devices which plot graphs irom information fed from the computer and others which display information on screens resembling television reccivcrs The 1900 Series ystem has been designed so that any peripheral device can be coupled to any central processor this has been made possible by the provision of standard interface The principle establisheL that in order to achieve interchangeability I ween peripheral units of different types it is necessary to standardize the format in which data and control signals are transmitted between the central processor and the various peripheral units In the 1900 Series the basic unit of data selected for this purpose is the six-bit character Embodied in the con apt of the 1900 Series are two features of major technical importanceExecutive and Standard Interface In turn this means that every peripheral device has to be provided with facilities for assembling and handling data in this format and the electronic control unit needed for this task is located in the peripheral itself and not in the central processor as has been the custom hitherto Some control units are designed to control the operation of several like devices EXECUTIVE Executive is a supervisory program that is supplied with every central processor of the 1900 Series Executive performs the following functions automatically The cable connecting a peripheral unit to the standard interface can be of any length up to 100 feet Auxiliary equipment can therefore be positioned as free-standing units anywhere within this radius of the central processor It controls the interpretation and execution of commands received from the operator It provides him with information on any incidents encountered during the running of programs and reports on the statuw of peripheral devices All communications between the operator and the computer are via a console typewriter CENTRAL PROCESSORS There are seven 1900 Series central proc- The peripheral units of the 1900 Series are designed for autonomous operation Executive initiates and controls the transfer of data between the central processor and the peripheral units checking that such transfers have been completed successfully By virtue of their autonomous operation a high degree of simultaneity can be obtained essors All these operate with a word of identlcal length 24 bits and all obey instructions of identical format Hence these units are fully compatible The two smallest processors the I C T 1902 and 1903 can handle one program at a time Each program can however contain two sub-programs If equipped with communication units these machines can operate in the realtime mode In addition Executive enables the more powerful central processors of the 1900 Series that is the 1904 and above to handle multiple programs concurrently It allocates peripheral devices and information storage capacity to the progranks as they are loaded onto the machine and ensures that they do not interfere with one another It also controls the switching from program to program so that waiting time on the processor and peripherals is reduced to a minimum I C T 1904 and 1905 central processors can handle up to four main programs concurrently Two sub-projrams may be associated with every main program The 1905 is equipped with an autonomous floating-point arithmetic unit I C T 1906 and 1907 central processors can handle up to 16 main programs simultaneously and up to 3 sub-programs may be incorporated in each main program The 1907 is equipped with an autonomous floihtig-point arithmetic unit E aecutive increases the operational capabilities of 1900 Series computers withoe a concomitant incriase in the technical coinplexity or qutntity of 'hccirnnir equipment required in a syst 1n 22 1900 SERIES-CHARACTERISTICS OF CENTRAL PROCESSORS Table I Characteristics 1902 _ Core store cycle time micro-seconds 1903 6 2 4 096 8 192 S16 384 8 192 16 384 32 768 - - Core store size wordsa Data channels maximum slow fast general 194 9 1 10- 2 2 18 5 1907 I 1909 ___- 1 1 or 2 1 1 1 or 2 1 6 up to 1 25 or 2 25 1 25 or 2 25 average for largest core store 32 768 32 768 16 384 by 32 768 by 32 768 32 768 to 262 144 to 262 144 8 192 8 192 16 384 16 384 32 768 32 768 - 1906 18 18 any number as required 18 5 18 5 - 8 At average 1 25 As cycle time Arithmetic times Fixed point add subtract multiply 18 ps 7 Ais 1 5 ms 650 As average average 2 3 ms 900 Ao average average 13 As 5 is divide jump 7 As 7 As 40 Ais 40 uis 2 5 As 11 25 ps 2 5 As 11 25 is 18 ps 67 ps 44 As 44 Ass 18 A 18 ps 71 ps 5 AS 5 As 2 5 As 2 5ps 13 ps 6 Ais 8 AS 29 As 51 As 25 ps 6 25 ps 6 25 As 60 ps 65 pa8 2 75 s 2 5 fis 2 5 As 7 75 As 16 75 Mis s13 s Floating point add subtract load store multiply divide 1 15 ms 5 25 ms 9 6 ms 475 As - I11 pIa - - - 2 25 ms 285 As 3 85 ms 316 As 21 18 18 37 59 ps As pAS As As Address niodificationb 6 As 2 AS 2 as 2 As 1 25 As 1 25 As 6 As Scalar product loop x x a b 6 5 ms 2 8 ms 435 ps 60 As 103 75 As 20 25 As 112 As Polynomial loop x's x a 6 4 mns 2 7 ms 403 As 42 as 88 75 As 10 5 pas 58 ps Speed ratio for performing typical scientific calculations based on the above loop times 1 2 3 Numher of time-shared programs each with sub-programs 1 2 1 2 15 126 67 420 76 4 2 4 2 16 3 16 3 4 2 aWord length Fixed point 24 binary digits--four alpha-numeric characters Floatinp point b 19 Argument - 37 bits plus sign Exponent - 8 bits plus sign 0 5 1907 and 1909 processors incorporate floating point unit Addr ss modification of most floating point instructions takes no extra time due to overlapping of instructions 23 I C T 1909 Is a central processor specifi- MaCaTo When data are to be transferred to or from whirh In not already on the drum a posItive method is used to select the card which Is then extracted from Its magazine and passed rMind a drum beneath a group of eight read write heads The read write heads can be moved to the required position whilst the card is being fed to the drum or whilst the card is being rotated on the dsuni Data arc transferred at 80 000 characters a second The card will r emain on the drum until instructed by the program to return to its magazine Maximum productivity can be achieved by overlapping selection reading or writing and return a- oa vi 90ispedip puter for scientific applications It has an autonomous floating-point arithmetic unit and can handle as many as four main programa concurrently each with two sub-programs Performance igures for the various central processoro are listed in Table I 1MAGNETIC-TAPE UNITS A range of industry-compatible magneticunits are available with information transtape fer rates extendling from 7 500 characters a second up to 96 000 Data are recorded as characters on tape 0 5 inch wide in a format that conforms with internationally accepted standards Cluster construction is used for all except the highest speed magnetic-tape units RANDOM-ACCESS STORES Two types of disc store are available With a the I C T 1953 store data are recorded on cartridge of six discs The feature of this store is that the disc cartridge can be removed from the drive mechanism and another cartridge replaced More than 4 million characters can be stored on a cartridge MAGNETIC DRUMS Three sizes of drums are available with capacities of 32 768 131 072 and 524 288 words each Up to four drums of the same size may be connected to a 1900 Series romputer system by means of one control unit DATA INPUT OUTPUT UNITS A comprehensive range of data input output mnits is available for inclusion in I C T 1900 SBles systems These include card punches aztd card readers paper-tape punches and readers line printers graph plotters visual display devices and a magnetic-ink character sorter-reader In the I C T 195f' gre the discs are permanently mounted on neir drive units Randomaccess storage capacity for up to 252 million characters can be provided with stores of this type In addition to these two types of disc store a magnetic-card file-the I C T 1958-is available for use with an I C T 1900 Series system Cards are held in magazines containing 256 carda each card storing up to 166 400 characters An I C T 1968 assembly can provide random-access storage facilities for over 2 726 million characters In addition various communication units will be available which will enable data to be transmitted directly between a central processer and remote stations over landlines and other existing commu mca on links One of the communication lev s h0 I C T 1995 data one 1900 Series exchange cont ' 1 0nicate directly with central procesi L' ' r or an I C T another 1900 Se 1004 data proce M Marconi Myriad General Purpose Computer Marconi Comjaray 1i Eng Wd LLX ndon combines a number of advanced techniques to provide a desk-size unit which operates at 10 times the speed of computers of comparable complexity currently available It has therefore 10 times the potential on-line capacity The new Marconi Myriad ultra-high speed computer will form the basis of the next generation of computers to be produced by The Marconi Company The Myriad derives from air traffic control and military requirements and 24 - Swith Sconi - smaller than a normal office desk The cornpuoer worKs nsynchronously and uses a coincident current ferrite core store which has a capacity of 4098 words The computer uses a 24-bit word length and has a store access time of 0 4 microseconds ard store cycle time of 1 2 microseconds Thirty-two basic microprogramme orders have been provided and thr order speed for fetch add subtract and so on is 2 5 microseconds and for multiplying 10 mlcroseconds The operating panel includes voltage indicators to show the instantaneous contents of each registeras well as keys and switches for computer control and programming This new machine has come about as the result of work carriad n _ k rc pany in the fields of microminiaturized compoRents and ultra-high speed silicon logic circults It can perform over 30 million orders per minute It has been used to demonstrate data handling operations and simultaneously as an on-line automatic teleprinter exchange message storage facilities using the Martabular display system to provide an elpetronic message display The Myriad is based on the use of microminiature silicon diode transistor logic modules with a stage delay time of as little as 5 nanoseconds The compact construction resulting from the use of theue micr minriature techniques is a major factor in the high speed of the computer The nic• ologic devices are mounted in type TO 5 modlules and printed boards are used wherver possible Intermodule wiring has been reciuced to the absolute minimum resulting in a computer that is Connections to peripheral devices are made via data and control highways An autonomous store access facility allows external devices to have access to the store without interfering with the programme Normal interrupt facilities are also included to handle up to 15 peripheral devices 25 Miscellaneous ryvpcatting • Computer IlihrtIuk#t-er-lHavo Cwpiplralhm Ceinag I Par'k califfinlia 9170 4 sides of the newspaper column even justifying These routine tasks are now done easily and in almost half the time it formerly took to do them manually by the computer Another major step in the use of computers that of helping to print newspapers more rapidly and accurately than has ever been done before was announced by The Bunker-Ramo Corporation Comp Set can retain three different type styles in its memory and can set 9000 lines of virtually error-free text an hour almost 20 times faster and infinitely more accurately than could be done manually Bunker-Ramo computers are now regularly performing with previously unattainable resuits routine typesetting operations in two Southland newspapers the Santa Monica Evening Outlook and The San Diego Union Tribune In addition the Comp Set requires no special installation and it can be located anywhere in the composing room It operates on ordinary house current from a standard wall outlet Known as the Bunker-Ramo 230 Comp Set this is the first computer specifically designed for use in the composing or typesetting rooms of newspapers It was made for printers rather than computer programmers with mathematics degrees The Bunker-Ramo 230 Comp Set computer is similar in its construction to the BunkerRamo 130 and 133 military computers in wide use at military installations throughout the world for photo interpretation navigation control and simulation applications This means that the 230 can accept without conversion to computer code the highly specialized terminology of printers and can carry out involved instructions on the arrangement of newspaper columns photograph captions classifled advertisements and headlines Bunker-Ramo pioneered the field of computer control and their computers have inherently high reliability because their design requires fewer parts than conventional computers The company still leads world-wide in the number of control computer installations Now with only 5 minutes training printers can ýrepare the punched paper tape used in setting the newspaper copy much more rapidly than could be done without the Comp Set This is becvuse the accuracy and appearance of the line and columns of the newspaper are automatically controlled by the computer The Bunker-Ramo Corporation a subsidLary of Martin-Marietta Corporation specializes in the design installation and servicing of electronic systems for on-line data processing and process control in industry business and goveminent Take for example such time-consuming jobs ans hyphenating words and keeping both Manual on Management of Data Processing Centcr Burroughs CpJreaLion Delroi lichiigni 18232 The need for this book is clear said V J Ford Burroughs' manager of market development The service center industry is young but growing at a spectacular rate and The computer industry's first comprehensive manual on how to organize and control a comnieiial data processing center has been publifhed liv Burroughs Corporation 26 I the many problems peculiar to a new industry c c •c 21 Y 'Iy st • f-uvuu Jtprocessing called The 200-page copyrighted manual Serenade Ccntcrs Organization and Control is a documentation of the principles and techniques necessary for successful operation of a service center Most of these detailed steps are known in ona place or another and have been discovered in hit-or-miss fashion but until now they have never been assembled in a logical pattern that will serve as an operational blueprint The Burroughs executive said service cen- control inventory Instead it concentrate an the blocking and tarkling fundamentals of data as a business ters organizations selling data processing services to the general public for profit are facing what might be called a happy dilemma they must know how to grow rapidly and absorb large volumes of new business while maintaining quality and profits trained personnel especially programmers with little immediate prospect for improvement in the situation Service centers must be able to demonstrate that they have highly-qualified personnel in adequate numbers The electronic equipment which the center uses can be obtAined by any business with the necessary resources but it is not easy to hire first-rate personnel to program and operate that equipment On the surface the demand for service seems to be a tailor-made opportunity for the booming service center business But in order to take advantage of this potential service centers must reckon with several formidable internal requirements Most important among these are the need for well-trained personnel good equipment efficient computer programs and profitable operating methods First there is a definite shortage of highly This dilemma is very real he said Marketing of services is not the problem Service centers today are riding the crest of a seller's market Their problems Involve meeting demand not creating it The industry has some advantage in attracting top notch people because data processing personnel are direct labor in the service center not overhead this can mean higher status for those engaged in this work Service centers both individually and as a group must exploit this advantage to the fullest in order to attract and keep high caliber people More than 900 such businesses excluding those run by equipment manufacturers now have a combined yearly revenue of $500 million a figure which is expected to reach $1 billion by 1970 Burroughs recognized the fact that many existing service centers and those not yet in existence need formal methods of control but haven't the time or dollars to invest in the painstaking research needed We thought it was time that the research be done and documented in a manual that would help establish sound organization and operation procedures In addition they should work through their professional organization to assist schools and colleges in establishing educational programs designed to produce the kind of specialists needed by their industry How well the service center Industry faces the critical problems of developing expert personnel will to a large degree determine the scope of the industry's future development and growth We have personal motives of course Ford said A great number of these centers use Burroughs data processing equipment and we want to help them succeed However the need in the industry for such a manual is so clear that we have decided to offer it to anyone who desires it at the nominal cost of $15 00 Next there is the problem of choosing the right hardware Equipment must be powerful enough to handle peak loads and still have a reserve capacity for emergencies Equipment should have the capacity to expand as the business expands The Burroughs manual makes a detailed analysis of organization operations quality control price estimating internal controls and personnel development and offers dozens of exhibits illustrating work flow and control forms Equipment reliability can make the difference betweeii the success or failure of a service center Customers want speed accuracy and on-time performance They pay for it They have a right to be unsympathetic when told that a critical report was a day late due to an equipment failure The finest DP personnel in the country can be handcuffed by inefficient or unreliable equipment For the service center maximum equipment 'throughput' spells profit The manual does not attempt to present information on application problems such as how to set up a payroll for a customer or how to 27 t 'E l Finally there is the problem of achieving more profitable operating techniques This is the important area covered by the Burroughs u Zt -11itiu L16 w overall profitability of a service center Growth through new business can actually be self-defeating for a service center unless the basir problems of operation have been msived burrougns beiieves tne manual offers invaluable aid in solving these problems Management Operation Study C arnegie Zl iliIutj o0 TechtDIVooj Pitllburgh Pentusyhvimia A $400 000 Ford Foundation grant has been received by the Graduate School of Industrial Administration GSIA at Carnegie Tech for a 5-year study of management operations All the major firms will be engaged in this kind of activity within the next 5 years Cyert predicted He pointed out that two major industrial firms Westinghouse Electric and the United States Steel Corp are in the forefront of companies showing early concern for the development of management information systems The project will be divided into three phases for study management information systems research-development and marketing according to Richard M Cyert dean of GSIA Faculty members specializing in these areas will take part in the program There is a tremendous waste of time and money in the paper work now required to gather information necessary to determine what course a company will take the dean said We will be dealing with the problem of how to bring about change and how to manage it once it has been accomplished Dean Cyert said Our project will encompass the entire plcture of decision-making in business and the new concepts involving management practices GSIA is particularly geared to handle this study since it pioneered in research that has revolutionized management practices and expanded basic knowledge of management processes he added The problems faced by firms in the field of research and development and in particular the question of how to get creative people to do re search andused howbyto management steer that research nels best will be into dealtchandealt gement w nels b essed b with by Professor Igor H Ansof a former vice-president and general manager of theRichLockheed Electronics Co and Professor ant dean EleBardnburg Lrd ard G Brandenburg assistant dean Problems faced in marketing products will be investigated by Professors Alfred A Kuehn and John U Farley In the field of management information systems Professor Charles Kriebel is already at %vorkon a similar project for the Navy The study will involve the use of computers for the storage and use of information necessary in decision-making The project will be closely linked with the Center for the Study of Information Processing which has been established at Tech Remote Computer Medical Research Geue himlituir of T'ehnology c 'eki d6 Ohio Computer science has taken another step toward that often promised but never realized goal of the central computer station in which remote subscribers can have instantaneous access to the full capability of a large ultra-fast computer In a joint aanouncement yesterday in Cleveland Case Institute of Technology the UNIVAC Division of Sperry Rand Corporation and Western Reserve University Associated Hospitals revealed that a satellite system has been in operation since March 1964 directly linking a research project at Highland View Hospital with the giant UNIVAC 1107 computer at Case's Andrew R Jennings Computing Center The distance is only 10 miles but the system would work just as well if it were 100 or 1000 miles for the linkage is an ordinary telephone line 28 By means of the new system the time required to evaluate the heavy load of expertmental data haeh hame on A _nn _ 9 1 day and the actual computation time is often measured In seconds now in use in which a remote station can 'talk' to a distant computer but until this new system dA a• e rl thc m w -- W simple message switching or information retrieval Now the remote station can analyse large volumes of information wit2hii the central The announcement heralds a breakthrough in the use of computers in medical research Many research problems in medicine and biology have been beyond the reach of most laboratortes said T Keith Glennan President of Case because there was no way to process the vast amounts of data fast enough to make them useful in going experiments In this current research at Highland View each patient generates some 10 000 items of data each week Only a large extremely fast computer can handle such a work load and very few laboratories for medical research can afford them The only solution has been to transport the data physically to the nearest computer this has proved to be an awkward and time-consuming arrangement computer and use its full capabilities to handle complex problems of computation Literally thousands of potential users have needed the part-time services of a large-scale computer but there has been no practical way of getting large quantities of data directly into and out of the computer at a distance without serious time losses Now that this communication and programming problem has been solved the way is open for any company institution or agency to make full use of machine computation The original research project at Highland View Hospital was the out-growth of collaboration between the Hospital and medical engineers from Case's Engineering Design Center Seeking a fuller understanding of human metabolism researchers were faced by the need to record and analyze reactions of the patients to a wide variety of environmental variables Now with this system which gives a remote user access to the full capability of a large computer a researcher even in a amaUl laboratory can be as near as a telephone line to a computing center and heavy loads of complex data can be processed almost Instantaneously Quadriplegic patients were chosen as subjects for the experiments because their almost The announcement of the new system follows the disclosure earlier this year by Comnputer Sciences Corporation of two commercial and engineering applications one involving the Signal Oil and Gas Company and the other the Rohr Corporation using similar equipment and programming techniques The developments at Case and Computer Sciences Corporation although virtually simultaneous were carried out independently and make it clear that remote on-line computing for a wide variety of users is now a practical reality total paralysis allows detailed observations to be made which would be difficult or impossible with patients capable of normal activity They participate voluntarily and with complete cooperation even though the routines are vigorous and do not always conform to standard patterns The patients feel that their contributions to basic research will ultimately result in better understanaing of their condition leading to better care not only for themselves but for others with similar problems Environmental variables include such fac- The three systems now in use are built around a UNIVAC 1004 card processor interconnected by telephone line to a UNIVAC 1107 thin-film memory computer tors as diet feeding time and turning time in bed Biochemical variables include urine analysis by volume and specific gravity and the amount of chloride potassium sodium creatinine total nitrogen total solids and aldesterone and other adrenal cortico steroids Physiological variables include peripheral temperatures abdomen and bladder temperatures pulse rate spasms patient position and insensible water loss Room temperature and humidity measurements are also recorded Since the Case-Highland View hookup has been in operation research management at the hospital has received daily a complete stsitistical evaluation of the experiments in progress So rapid is the system that an unsuccessful experiment can be redesigned or terminated while it is still in its early stages Funds for this experiment in Highland View were provided by the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration of the Department of Health Education and Welfare Commenting on the significance of the new system Ray W Retterer Vice-President of UNIVAC said There are many installations 29 i I Before the project was approached from a medical engineering standpoint it took the Metavuoism Ward at Highland View as long as 6 months to obtain and evaluate such data in a single experiment The Highland View staff first developed a series of auto-analyzers to record the data from each patient automatically This reduced the time factor from 6 months to 2 weeks Next a new digital acquisition system was developed by the medical engineers which reduced the time from 2 weeks to 1 day Finally the computer installation was developed and made it possible to evaluate a day's data in as little as 15 seconds The tie-in with the large computer would be vahnlilaas nf en -a if tern were not dependable For this reason the new technique enables the operator to instruct the 1107 to guart1 against extraneous noise or errors in the system If a transmission comes through that is not rational according to the original instructions the 1107 instructs the 1004 to keep sendý-g the specific block of data until clear transmibston is obtained The new technique also solves a trol alesome economic problem Operating tiwn on a computer the size of the 1107 comes high but its speed is so great that actual working time is comparatively cheap The trick is to hire the computer only for the time It is actually needed sometimes only a matier of seconds or minutes To achieve this goal the 1107 Is instructed to store the incoming data from the 1004 until all of the items in a particular transmission have been received Then and only then the 1107 goes to work and-literally at lightning speed-performs the computations Now that the complete system is in operation all physiological data are automatically recorded from the patient and fed serially by channels into an analog recorder which is operated in parallel with a digital recorder and a standard keypunch The digital recorder scans both the analog recorder and the auto-analyzers in the biochemical laboratory and automatically punches physiological and biochemical data into cards on the keypunch The only data which Is manually measured and keypunched Is the specific gravity of urine and its aldesterone and other adrenal cortico-steroid content Active ' e development of the new systern at Cas were Professors George Hayman and William Lynch of the Computing Center aided by their students and Al Misek Chief Engineer Punched cards are collected and manually entered into the UNIVAC 1004 card processor on a daily basis This manual step is purposely included because punch card records of data simplify location and errors can be easily corrocted Where desirable however the data can be transmitted directly to the 1004 The Highland View study is under the direction of Dr Olgierd Lindan Director of the Metabolic Ward assisted by Dr Robert Greenway and Case graduate students Paul King William Baker Jr Howard Apple and Charles Kramer The 1004 then transmits the data by mx • ns of the telephone line Telephone transmission is made possible by a UNIVAC data line terminal installed in the card processor This equipment connects to a Bell Telephone data set which feeds experimental information through the phone line at the rate of 2400 bits per second or sixty-six 80-column cards per ninute At the Case Computing Center the data is received by another Bell data set fed into a data communications terminal and then into the computer B omedical engineers from Case are under the directior of Professor James B Reswick Director of the Engineering Design Center The UNIVAC 1107 is one interesting member of the new family of transistorized computers It was the first to employ a thin magnetic film control memory and can read out information in 600 billionths of a second In addition it employs a core memory with a storage capacity of 65 00 words and a drum memory with a capacity of 746 432 words It was purchased with the aid of $500 000 grant from the National Science Foundation The controlling factor in transmission speed is the phone line since the 1004 processor normally operates at a rate of 300 cards per minute The same is true for transmitting data from the computer to the hospital for printout on the 1004 Printout on the 1004 is at the rate of sixty 132-character lines per minute although the normal printout rate of the 1004 is 300 lines per minute Now that a customer with a small satellite computer can have access to the full capability of a large computer located many miles away and handle large quantities of complex data a wide range of possibilities is opening up for business and industry In addition to the two similar systems developed by Computer 30 Sciences Corporation which were mentioned tion and dynamic disturbances encountered in tern linking Lord Manufacturing Company in Pennsylvania with Case's UNIVAC 1107 Erie in Clevoland The satellite applications on the Came campus too As in the Highland View hookup the new system will enable Lord to handle large volumee of data via telephone lines It will handle VAC 1107 to input-readout stations in the new undergraduate residences now being built adjacent to the main campus These remote stations would enable students to use one of the idea may have unexpected A ayetem is being studied which would link the UNI- computations for research projects in a wide biggest most expensive most sophisticated variety of areas ranging from investigations of computers in the world to help them with their the structure of materials to studies of vibra- homeworkl Study of Computer Potential in Helping Pupils Learn Flirida State tinivmrsiy lTallahwamer Fbrida An experimental program to examine the potential of the electronic computer in meeting the individual learning needs of students from kindergarten through graduate school haa been launched at Florida State University The project is being undertaken by FSU with the cooperation of the Florida State Department of Education and International Business Machines Here is how the system works The sindent receiving computer assisted Instruction goes to the terminal in accordance with his schedule There he types his name student number and the course title The computer automatically checks this data to verify how far the student has progressed in the course and then presents the next lesson Corporation This usually takes the form of text which the student studies either for as long as he wishes or for a predetermined time The typewriter terminal next prints out questions under computer control The research effort uses a typewriter-like keyboard terminal linked by telephone wire to an IBM computer system some 1200 miles away at the company's Thomas J Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights New York If a student responds correctly on the keyboard of the terminal the computer will - in a typical course - then present another portion of the lesson for study For incorrect answers however the course author will have previously entered other information into the computer which is presented to the less proficient student This can take the form of additional remedial reading plus alternative questions which guide the student at a slower pace toward an understanding of the material FSU's experiment will utilize computer assisted instruction a system developed by IBM which enables an educator to enter instructional material questions and guidance into a cornputer for presentation to students on typewriter consoles or other equipment The course unfolds at a pace and in a manner determined by a student's demonstrated ability Instructional material used in the computer project is organized edited and sequenced by the actual teachers of the ccurses who are doubly qualified in knowing both their subject matter and the ways in which students learn The responses made by each student on the typewriter terminal are compared by the cornputer with the correct answers stored in its memory This together with the fact that the computer also keeps stored a record of each student's performance enables the presentation of the material to be tailored to the individual's capacities In addition to testing the potential value of computer assisted instruction the project will furnish University faculty members with specific data on student learning processes This information will enable educators to investigate the characteristics of individual instruction and its best use by the classroom teacher The study will also serve to measure student acceptance of the computer as an instructional aid and its relation to other instructional 31 I techniques The FSU educators are also seek • ' c i- y jdtrtuntans in •ihe eiiectiveness of the computer technique at all grade levels from reading readiness in kindergarten to coursc work for graduate desreeb student better than has been possible in the pust With a deeper understanding of these Individual needs Dr Curtis feels that a closer relationship can be established between the student and the teacher Subject matter now being developed and tested includes solution of trigonometric identities educational measurement non-metric geometry learning paired associates test validity and stress and strain tensions Dr Edward Adams Research Director of IBM's computer assisted instruction effort said that as important as the computer and its terminal are in the program they are overshadowed by the role of the teacher responsible for developing the course material IBM has therefore concentrated he said on developing techniques which allow educators to prepare course material for the program even though they are unfamiliar with computers Dr Donald L Hartford of the FSU School of Education's Department of Research and Testing and the Institute of Human Learning will supervise FSU's participation in the project According to Dr Hartford there is widespread interest in the project throughout the University Many faculty members plan to investigate the implications of this program for their fields Work in computer assisted instruction at IBM's Research Division is part of the activity of the IBM Instructional Systems Development under Charles E Branscomb This department plans to work with universities and other educational institutions as they develop teaching techniques which use machine systems It will also continue an intensive program within IBM to increase the capabilities of the systems themselves Dr Hazen A Curtis head of the Educational Research and Testing Department has stated that the large memory capacity of the computer will allow the classroom teacher to follow the learning process of the individual OAC l Projet Genleral Al fox Rne utch Labomlorhn Detrod oibhignp 48202 An experimental computer facility that may someday be used by General Motors engineers to help create new automotive designs was described at the Fall Joint Computer Conference of the American Federation of Information Processing Societies grams more than three-fourths of a million instructions to enable the designer to use his equipment effectively Such a combination makes possible expertments In conversational communication between designer and computer The conversation is in engineering graphics-the drawing language used by draftsmen and designers to convert their design ideas into final products Participating in these experimental applications are design groups from GM's Fisher Body Division and Styling Staff The laboratory for design research is part of the General Motors DAC-I project Design Augmented by Computers a system under development during the past several years by GM's Research Laboratories The prototype man-machine design system has been operating for experimental purposes for 8 hours a day since early 1963 In its present form the DAC-I system consists of a large scale computer a man-computer communication console and image processing equipment which enables the computer to read and generate drawings In addition the GM researchers have developed a large library of computer pro- The DAC-I laboratory facilities were described in four technical presentations at the computer conference by members of General Motors Research Laboratories' Computer Technology Department A fifth paper was presented jointly by GM researchers and members of International Business Machines Corporation's Data Systems Division The special 32 i0 I image processing in mn-optrdeintas DAC-I deisianed 2nd h lf equipment hy _ tOI used Cec ra oo was I specif ications time clo is one of the essentials to economic apn1ieintas a-omue The GenerRl Motors computer researchers explained that the system thus far has achieved three major goals heretofore not attained in a single computer system HISTO•ICAL BACKGROUND OF DAC-I PROJECT 1aino The general field of mechanical design has for years depended on the techniques of drafting as a means of design prior to the making of models Graphics the art of -science of drawing serve as the basic means of man-to-man transmittal of design information 1 The computer can now read key lines from engineering drawings and store the information in its memory storage units 2 The designer and computer now have direct methods of rapidly communicating graphic Information back and forth as the man employs the computer to deveiop or to modify a design In the late 1950's the General Motors Research Laboratories began a study of the potential role of computers in the graphical phases of design Prototype hardware and software components were developed to invest'gate the problems of processing graphical data For example a breadboard setup using an IBM 740 cathode ray tube recorder demonstrated that lines on film could be scanned and digitized under the control of computer programs Programs were written for the manipulation of 3 The computer can generate permanent drawings on 35 mm film which can in 30 seconds be developed and ready to be enlarged into working drawings For finished engineering drawings the computer can produce tapes that control drafting machines images In three dimensions These three goals they said were achieved through several major advances in computer technology involving both new computer hardware and new computer software i e special instructions programmed for the computer GOAL OF DAC-I PROJECT ACHIEVED IN 1963 As reported to the 1964 Fall Joint Coinputer Conference by Edwin L Jacks assistant head of the GM Research Laboratories' Cornputer Technological Department One of the new hardware units is a graphic display console at which the designer observes the computer's handling of his design problem on a TV-type viewing screen When needed he may modify his design or give the computer further instructions using such options as an electric pencil a typewriter-like keyboard a data card reader or 36 program control keys On the basis of these early feasibility demonstrations the decision was made to establish a more comprehensive laboratory for graphical man-machine communication experiments The facilities were to permit the cornputational power of a large scale digital computer to be brought to bear on the problems of graphical design in a manner which fully recognized the importance of the man in design The project has since become known as Design Augmented by Computers The other hardware unit is an image processor used for input and output of drawings Key lines on 20-by-20 inch paper are entered into the image processor After being photographed on film the line can be optically scanned by a cathode ray tube that is under the control of computer programs Conversely the lageprocessor can produce an output drawing ready for viewing in 30 seconds after a request is made of the computer The initial goal of the DAC-I project was the development of a combination of computer hardware and software which a would permit 'conversational' man-machine graphical comnmunication and b would provide a maximum programming flexibility and ease of use for experimentation This goal was achieved in early 1963 t The General Motors computer people reported that one of the key software features of the DAC-I system was a successful multiprogramming monitor The monitor allows the computer to spend any available time down to a thousandth of a second solving other engineering problems whenever the man at the design console is thinking or putting in new information This efficient use of costly computer The DAC-I system has been in operation 8 hours per day since then Mr Jacks reports From the standpoint of a laboratory facility the system is performing excellently We are 33 I learning that man and m wchine can communicate readily via graphical means computer indicates if the beam is on clear or opaque portions of the image The program searches for opaque lines on a clear background In its present state of development the scanner can detect and digitize lines as thin as 0 01 inch with an average accuracy of plus or minus 0 015 inch The line scanning is controlled from the console and in areas of difficulty e g a finger smudge the man can help guide the computer past the difficulty using the electric pencil and a TV sweep display of the localized area DAC-l HARDWARE Thu present DAC-I hardware complex consists of an IBM 7094 digital computer and an IBM 7960 special image processing system The 7094 computer has an extra-large 64K corec memory unit half of which is available for multiprogrammed use or DAC-I problems In addition the computer has extended storage facilities two 55-million character 1301 disk files and three 1-million character 7320 drum units b Output operation A second highresolution CRT is used as a recorder for exposing frames on either of two 35-ram film transports The film is automatically developed and ready for viewing on a 20 by 20 inch screen within 30 seconds after exposure Drawings from both film trains can be projected simultaneously on the screen allowing the designer to compare differences and similarities in the information A film buffer allows up to 20 images to be exposed before processing begins The 7960 special image processing system was developed and built by IBM's Data Systems Division to specifications provided by the General Motors Research L aboratories The specifications were based upon early GM experiments with computer displays recording devices and program-controlled image scanners Its two main units are DAC-I SOFTWARE for a 1 A graphic console which provides dynamic two-way communication between the designer and the computer The console is equipped with The computer instructions or software which operate the computer complex are all new and give DAC-I its unique design capabilities It is the exclusive development of the GM Research Laboratories' Computer Technology Department Among the advanced software techntq1 es incorporated in the DAC-I system are four major dcpartures from conventional prcgramming techniques a A cathode-ray-tube CRT display screen b An electric position-indicating pencil used by the man to respond to the computer by pointing to an area of interest on the display 1 Multiprogramming monitor Allows the computer to be working concurrently on two different problems It thus permits a designer to be working on line with the computer efficiency c Thirty-six program control keys and program status lights The man at the console can monitor the status lights and control the program execution with the keys d Two data entry devices One is an alphanumeric keyboard for typing messages into the computer The other is a card reader with which the man enters data and sign-on identification 2 New compiler language NOMAD Ninety percent of the DAC-I software system was written in a very flexible and fast compiler called NOMAD a GM Research revision and extension of the University of Michigan's MAD system Michigan Algorithm Decoder 2 An image processor used for the input and output of graphical data 3 Program storage allocation control Permits the computer program to make at the moment decisions on efficient allocation of core memory to meet the rhanging data and program demands of the problem being solved a Input operation A sliding drawer allows the designer to enter key lines drawn on 20 by 20-inch paper or vellum A camera translates the image to 35 mm film which is developed i 30 seconds A GM-developed computer program then controls the positioning of a CRT beam optically focused on the 35 mm image A photomultiplier response back to the 4 Disk-oriented system for storage and retrieval of programs Allows access within a fraction of a second to millions of words of program and data System is so arranged as to 34 II ' uage caiied - grams with no change to control programs NOMAD N IUMAL it a higher level language similar to FORTRAN and ALGOL Basically it is an extension and revision of the In addition special softwarc has been de- University of Michigan MAL language Michi- vised for programming the graphical input output hardware gan Algorithmic Decoder is in the ALGOL '58 family of languages The NOMAD dialect dif- SPLIT-MEMORY MULTI- erators 2 new variable types 3 new relocation scheme and 4 real-time statements Among other things these extensive revi- fers from MAD in four areas 1 additional op- PROGRAMMING sions represent steps toward a language which recognizes parallel processing in a large comnputer an area where computer software has been lagging behind hardware The DAC-I laboratory requires that a large-scale computer be available ready to respond quickly to the communication and computational needs of the man at the graphic console To meet this requirement and still make economical use of computer time the GMR Computer Technology Department developed a so-called split-memory multiprogranming monitor In an unusual programming twist the NOMAD compiler was also used to write another GMR compiler called MAYBE Used by systems programmers MAYBE provides instructions and commands for operation of the data channel which connects the computer's central processing unit with the DAC-I input output devices Or e-half of the computer's 64K memory contains the normal GM engineering or research job being processed by a batch processing monitor In the other 32K resides the DAC-I problems and data being worked on by the man at the on-line console The GM multiprogramming monitor switches control to DAC-I within 50 microseconds as demanded by the man or DAC-1 hardware These random instantaneous demands may come as often as 400 times in minute In total however for every hour at the console the designer requires only about 8 minutes of computer time for his work The GM multiprogramming monitor makes it possible for this large percentage of available time dow i to a spare thousandth of a second to be used by the computer on normal jobs JISK-OPIENTED OPERATIONAL SOFTWARE In another departure from conventional programming GM Research programmers have provided in the DAC-I systex r a disk library of programs available during program execution From the point of view of the man at the DAC- console this disk-oriented software allows him to 1 introduce data rapidly and accurately to the computer 2 perform various operations on this data 3 observe the results of these operations and modify them while still on-line and 4 file the original data and final results for future references In summary the GMR multiprogramming monitor features Highly efficient time-sharing of the cornputer's central processing unit In their paper before the 1964 Fall Joint Computer Conference GM Research computers programmers Phyllis Cole Philip Dorn and Richard Lewis conclude Our experience indicates it is feasible to operate from a disk and gain rapid access to large amounts of information thus attaining considerable on-line capability To obtain this on-line capability users must pay a penalty in several areas Core memory space must be reserved for an inmemory loading and relocation routine Machine time must be granted for disk bookeeping and editing functions Compatibility with other installations is completely lost Minimum cross-over errors between programs because of an effective core-memory protection system and Complete accounting of multiprogrammed computer time using a special millisecond interval clock built by GM's Delco Radio Division NEW COMPILER LANGUAGES To handle the immense programming support for the DAC-I system GM Research Laboratoriee' computer programmers developed and used a very fast and flexiblc compiler lan- In return for this investment the system allows access to an enormous library of 35 F routines without haviN g to deal with an object level card deck Large quantities of data are stor'ed on-line and iay be added to modified deleted or used with no difficuity Both subroutines and data are always available run preparation time is sharply reduced By providing an extensive flexible and powerful I O software capability the presence of he hardware interface need not concern the programmer and he can devote his whole attention to the more significant aspects of manmachine communication STORAGE ALLOCATION CONTROL BY SOURCE PROGRAM One special feature of DAC-I's diskoriented system is storage allocation control by the source program Programs can make decisions at execute time on allocation of space In the computer's core memory some portion for data the other portion for needed subroutines Instead of the usual prefixed space commitments this GM-developed control allows each program to adjust storage assignment dynamically as a function of data needs It is another way that GM programmers have provided for the changing needs of the designer at CHANGE VIEWS the console SPECIAL I O SOFTWARE FOR PROGRAMMERS Computer programmers at the GM Research Laboratories also developed flexible and easy-to-use software to enable them to use fully the man-machine communication capabilities of the DAC-I hardware i e the on-line console and image processing equipment For exunple with a minimum of fuss and bother the programmer may use the console's cathode ray tube for the output of either alphanumeric iformation or requests for operator actic r Or he may use the voltage pencil for the input of Figure I --A new angle to car design--These before and after displays were generated by a digital computer under instructiows from a General Motors designer They illustrate three of the capabiliLies of DAC-l Design Augmented by Computers an experimental man-computer design system developed by General Motors Research Laboratories The drawings appear on the viewing screen of the designer's console and come from a mathematical representation of the design stored in the computer's memory In one case MODIFY the DAC-I system has enabled the designer to make a major revision in the deck lid of a car while working at his console and to see immediately the results of his changes positional information the keyboard for input of alphanumeric information and the program control keys for the input of decision information Providing these input output capabilities are a set of subroutines and source language statements that are conveniently referenced in the NOMAD language The advantage of such general purpose software As GM Research computer programmers Thomas R Allen and James E Foote state in their 1964 Fall Joint Computer Conference paper 36 A- U Document Retrieval Systems Testing Hr 'ner and Compaiy W4ashieigton D C Herner and Company has formed an evaluation section to undertake tests of the effectiveness of document retrieval systems utilizing techniques of the type developed in England by Cyril Cleverdion In the collection retrieved in searching and the percentage of total search output judged relevant by the original questioner Test programs are designed to permit analysis which can identUy defects and sources of Test programs are carried out under the Lancaster mmediate supervision of F W CrW ancaesdtea Cedatspe v eron former member of Cleverdon's Cranfield team failure as well as indicating system efficiency A detailed report summarizing findings on system behavior drawing useful comparisons with other systems and making recommendations or its theofsystem of improving means on atlon Is the final product a Herner testoperpro- Any type of document retrieval system can measbe tested with techniques which involve urement of response to a number of synthetic and real-life questions gram Test programs have already been completed for a number of organizations the most recent being the U S Navy Bureau of Ships Technical Library System effectiveness is measured in terms of the percentage of known relevant documents PLATO II and III Outldie'ad Strieijjr LoabborarleJ Th U d• tt •i4V II mi UMbona 1I1invi-i INTRODUCTION quired for the operation of two student stations A continuing exemplary effort by various technical sections of the laboratory dealing with circuit packaging and fabrication suggested that at least a total of 10 student stations were to be operable by some time in November 1964 The purpose of the PLATO project see Digital Computer Newsletters dated Oct 1961 July 1962 Apr July Oct 1964 and Jan 1965 has been to develop an automatic computercontrolled teaching system of sufficient flexibility to permit experimental evaluation of a large variety of ideas in automatic instruction including simultaneous tutoring of a large number of students in a variety of subjects The PLATO system differs from most teaching systems in that the power of a large digital cornputer is available to teach each student since one such computer controls all student stations The project work has fallen into three categories no two of which are wholly separate from each other 1 development of the tools for research 2 learning and teaching research and 3 provision of a prototype for multi-student teaching machines The interface circuitry was expanded to include the CSL CSX-1 computer as an alternative computer facility to the CDC 1604 Checkout of the interface was facilitated by a compact general engineering routine written during the third quarter of 1964 by Mr G Frampton Development continued on special circuitry which would update the then present circuitry or provtde special system facilities Included in the special circuitry was transistor deflection power control master keyset and master video switch circuitry PLATO HI SYSTEM EQUIPMENT PLATO HARDWARE PLATO MI COMPUTER PROGRAMMING PLATO SOFTWARE During the third quarter of 1964 work continued on the development and construction of for thesystem realization of a 20required circuitry teaching student station The Resident Program for CATO CATORES CATORES has been functional for some time as an input-output monitor for machine language teaching programs communicating with the PLATO III equipment During the third quarter Student station circuitry constructed through August 1964 to date included all circuitry re37 of 1964 the program underwent a careful axaminatuon and re-evaluation with respect to efficient use of the PLATO III equipment with respect to features suggested by the users as The CATO CZimput j AuLusstaiic Teaching Operations System CATO Compiler for Automatic Teaching Operations was completed during the third quarter of 1964 The system contains three major portions FORTBIN-An expanded and modified verslon of the FORTRAN-60 algebraic compiler desirable and with resp ect to ultimate compatibility with CATO-compiled programs As a result the program was almost completely rewritten with many additions and extensions for the 1604 Three different methods of recording student data on magnetic tape wero available by August 1964 For code-checking student data could be output to the printer or to the typewriter as each key was pushed Elaborate checks were established to avoid unnecessary time-consuming storage tube operations for a student The plot and selective erase routines were expanded and genralized for easy use with CATO-compiled programs and several subroutines were added expressly for use by CATO programs In addition the addresses of the subroutine entries and the structures of several internal lists were modified to meet restrictions imposed by CATO LOGICOMP-A logical compiler which constructs a teaching logic interpretable by CATORES from a vocabulary of 10 directives SYSTEMS TAPE-a set of modified subroutines and programs to allow easy use and modification of the system and all programs compiled with it PLASMA DISCHARGE DISPLAY TUBE RESEARCH The purpose of the research on the plasma discharge display tube is to develop a less expensive replacement for the present PLATO storage tube system The feasibility of initiatlng the discharges from outside the tube was tried with excellent success Controlling the discharge from outside the gas environment not only simplifies construction by allowing the electrodes to be in the external environment but also effectively adds series impedance to each bulb which helps isolate each cell from its neighbors The freedom from adjacency initiated firing was to be investigated during the fourth quarter 1964 since the firing of adjacent cells should no longer be a problem Finally three manually-entered routines were added PROGSAVE allows an entire teachlng program to be written on an auto-loadable magnetic tape SPECTRE allows a student's actions to be played back in real time half time or double time by executing data read from the student data tape RESTART allows a program to be continued from the same point at which it was stopped in case a lesson runs more than 1 day or in case of equipment failure The program uses the data on the data tape to re produce the exact situation present in memory and on all student screens at the time stoppage occurred The cell which was used to demonstrate the feasibility of externally controlled discharges was constructed in the following manner Three glass cover platea 25-mm square by 0 15-mm thick were prepared for use in a vacuum systern On two of thpse a gold strip 25 mm by 0 127 mm by 100 A was deposited on the side that was to be on the outside of the cell The third slide had a 0 127-mm hole drilled in its center A 0 05-mm thick mylar spacer to channel gas into the cell was placed on either side of the plate with the hole cell and the other plates on either side with the gold contacts outwards The whole assembly was connected to glass tubing with epoxy and filled with neon A comprehensive machine language engineering program was also written in conjunction with the revision of CATORES This program was used extensively to check and to evaluate the changes to CATORES as they were made and is now used to facilitate the maintenance of the PLATO III equipment DOPEREA PLATO dope is defined as the record of a student's operation of a PLATO keyset The number of each key pushed is stored on magnetic tape along with its associated time mode and student number The stored records may be analyzed at a later date in any appropriate fashion A machine language FORTRAN subroutine DOPEREA was written which reads and translates the PLATO dope tapes to binary numbers fast enough to allow smooth reading PLATO LEARNING ANDI TEACHING RESEARCH Inquiry Training REPLAB A 4-week workshop was conducted in June in the College of Education of the University of 38 Illinois to instruct 28 elementary teachers in the tl e C C fi U LE wicnnques Text Tester A new program called Text Tester was developed during the quarter ending in August 1904 This program was designed to be used in testing new textbooks The program provides for reproduction of text materials on slides with the insertion of student answers from the keyboard as in PLATO tutorial logics The student is permitted wide freedom in the use of the text therefore he is allowed to turn pages and to answer questions at random He is permitted but not required to check answers using a judger which compares students' answers to lists of stored correct answers Provision is made for the insertion by students of paragraphform comments about the text materials Provisions for testing the student at various points throughout the text are also included A major feature of this program is the inclusion of author modes by which the author may insert or modify correct answers and insert comments which are intended to help students at specific points in the program or which are intended to elicit comments from the stu dents Text Tester is the first program ready for use with the PLATO Compiler Code-checking of the Text Tester program will be carried on in September followed by trials of the program with students later in the fall A demonstration class of 22 pupils drawn from the local community was held in conjunction with theworkahops The pupils used the PLATO program REPLAB described in an earlier progress report as one of the lessons in inquiry The lesson is based on a bimetal strip experiment No statistical analysis was made of the work of the summer students For comparison with classroom behavior many of the workshop mithclassonitorbedhevistudentswhie the e teachers monitored the students while they were perstudent of reruns watched using PLATO formance or received copies of the dope sheetsalso student records Interested teachers were permitted to try the lessons themselves The rerun of student performance was made possible byacomputer program SPECTRE which simulates students using PLATO by reconstruction of the operation from the dope record stored on magnetic tape during a PLATO lesson Teaching A BC's Four 3-year-old children spent two short sessions on PLATO using ALPHABAT a program designed to teach the letters of the alphabet The PLATO equipment was modified to include a semi-automatic audio system The students were first shown a letter on the screen told its name and asked to match it Later on they were not shown the letter but were simply asked to press the key named The children's reactions and progress gave insight into methods of effective programming for possible saimplifications of and additions to the PLATO systern for use in primary and preprimary education Proof Work was continued during the third quarter on the preliminary programming and advanced planning of the program for the study of mathematical problem solving first described in CSL Report R-185 Experimental Computer-Assisted Instruction System Inter naional Bhusintss machines Corporation V'orklowus HeighuL Neu York 10598 Scientists at the IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center are experimenting with a computer system which can simultaneously give individual instruction to a number of students in a wide variety of subjects The Research Division's experimental system makes the capabilities of a computer system accessible for convenient use in experiments by educators The system is based on standard IBM equipment but incorporates an experimental computer language that makes it simple for educators to put courses into the computer dertaking an experimental study in cooperation with IBM to prepare instructional material for computer presentation and to study its effectiveness Faculty members at Penn State are preparing four courses for use by students at a typewriter station located on campus This station is connected via commercial telephone lines to an IBM data processing system at the Research Center in Yorktown N Y A variety of other experiments can now be undertaken to evaluate computer assisted Instruction and to devise and test ways of using the approach to best advantage IBM emphasized that the ultimate usefulness of computers The College of Education of The Pennsylvania State University University Park is un39 for Instruntinn will not ho knonwn iintil Pietonhivin nthnva andi Iti'hrnian nf l'nmnlita i fnltvafinn instruction IBM scientists feel that computer experiments have been conducted holds special promise for adult education programs because it has potential for dealing with Lurbh utudi a will anahle Iaofestnrx tn l10irn how different subjects can best be taught with the system and how computer assisted instruction might be integrated into the overall educa- wide differences in educational background tional process An important feature of the Penn State studies is that each course author is both accomplished as a teacher and experienced in the subject matter to be taught rector of computer -assisted instruction said that although the equipment itself is of great importance the effectiveness of computer instruction wIll depend critically on the knowledge understanding and imagination of the teacher who writes the course material For this reason one of the chief aims of IBM researchers has been to make the writing of courses for the computer convenient so that teachers can cxperiment with the concept even though they may be completely unfamiliar with computers Dr Edward N Adams IBM Research di- In the experimental system a teacher's instructions questions and guidance are stored in the computer and presented to students on typewriter consoles or other student station equipment Since the student's response made on the typewriter can be analyzed by the computer presentation of subsequent course material can be tailored to the needs of each student With the present experimental system a teacher can simply type his course material along with a few opecial symbols at one of the typewriter stations The computer then generates its own detailed instructions for handling each section of the course material At present each student station consists of a typewriter console through which the student receives directions from the system The student's response on the typewriter can be many words in length The computer analyzes the student's reply and according to the plan laid out by the teacher responds with clues questions remedial study matter drills or the next assignment The computer also can record response times errors and other data on the student's performance Thus an extensive analysis of both student performance and the adequacy of the course is possible with the opportunity of improving each Work in computer assisted instruction at IBM's Research Division is part of the activity of the IBM Instructional Systems Development Department under Charles E Branscomb This department plans to work with universities and other educational institutions as they develop teaching techniques which use machine systems Also it will continue an intensive program within IBM to Increase the capability of the systems themselves The extensive record-keeping capability of the computer system will also permit valuable research on teaching techniques and the learning process itself Thus apart from its usefulness as an instructional tool computer-assisted instruction should lead to better understanding of the educational process Pioneering studies in computer-assisted instruction at IBM Research were started in 1958 by Dr Gustave J Rath Dr Nancy S Anderson and Richard C Brainerd They investigated the use of a computer and a typewriter for instruction in binary arithmetic In these preliminary studies only one typewriter terminal was used and instructions to the student were given orally by the instructor rather than by the computer The courses being prepared at Penn State are one-term three-credit courses normally offered at the University They include cost accounting and engineering economics for advanced business and engineering students nvw mathematics for prospective elementary school teachers and audiology for majors in special education The Penn State project which is under the direction of Professors Harold E Mit el and Kenneth H Wodtke is being aided by a grant of $97 000 from the U S Office of Education under the provisions of Title VII Part B of the National Defense Education Act The present concept of computer assisted instruction evolved from a system developed by Dr William R Uttal in 1961 Experiments were performed with a modified IBM 650 computer and specially designed electrical equipment to connect the student stations to the computer Now two computer systems are being used in experimental studies in computer instruction Each system consists of the following basic elements 1 1311 disk storage drives which are used to store the contents of the course material along with other bookkeeping information 2 a Within IBM a variety of courses ranging from general education to training in specific skills are being put on the computer to evaluate 40 central processing unit which artR no an 'er- nmediary between the course material stored in the disk files and the students 3 a multiplexing unit which directs the traffic of messages between the students and computer and 4 IBM 1050 data communication systems or typewriter terminals presented As the student progressed the display of key combinations was gradually sliminated Tho computer recorded erxre and drilled the student in his areas of weakness until he showed acceptable proficiency c crct 'L6 Jw IL A ii m WM A new technique called partial answer processing is being explored by Dr H William Morrison Herbert Baskin Mrs L D Selfridge and others in the research group to increase the effectiveness of computer instruction The dogree of accuracy of a student's partly correct answer can be evaluated by the computer by use of this approach Based on this analysis the system can type back the correct parts of the response give other clues present a simpler question or carry out other remedial operations Using this equipment IBM researchers have experimented with a number of teaching techniques which take advantage of the high speed data processing capabilities of the computer An experimental course in elementary statistics prepared by Ralph E Grubb is similar to a sophisticated version of the scrambled textbook ' In this course however instead of selecting a multiple-choice answer the student constructs the answer The computer compares the constructed answer with anticipated responses stored in the machine to determine what action to take next By using the computer in this way a student can be branched to different remedial materials depending upon his answer In addition his previous responses may be used to determine what material will be presented next the staIn solving numerical problems in tistics course students took advantage of the high-speed computational abilities of the cornputer directly through the typewriter student station They used the typewriter station to perform addition subtraction multiplication division squares and square roots Under study is a technique to permit a student to query the computer for information he needs to complete a problem or exercise This capability now used in some information retrieval systems would be especially valuable in subject areas where the instructor could not easily anticipate what clues or information the student might need to complete a problem EXAMPLE NO 1 Typewritten record of a lesson in mathematics using computer assisted instruction This sample lesson shows how specific hints and guidance can be given to a student in response to an incorrect answer The letters in the left-hand column indicate computer typeout C and student's answer S In another experiment Dr Werner J Koppitz used a drill technique for teaching a beginning course in German After the student completed a reading assignment a series of translation exercises was presented on the typewriter testing the student's knowledge of the new material If the student made an error in translation he was informed of his mistake and asked to try agahn Although there was no limit to the number of trials a student could make he could ask for the correct answer if he wished The computer recorded his mistakes and later repeated the exercises which were not answered correctly If the student missd too many exercises the entire lesson was presented again later C WHAT IS 23 S C -1 DO NOT SUBTRACT 23 2-3 OR 3-2 TRY-2--AGAIN S 2 3 C 23 IS NOT ANOTHER WAY OF WRITING 2 3 I-SAN EXPONENT TRY 23 AGAIN S To investigate computer instruction for teaching manual skills Mrs Anna Maher and Dr William R Uttal prepared an experimental course in stenotype which was designed to give a basic proficiency in stenotype keying In this course words or phrases to be transcribed and the corresponding correct key combinations were displayed on a screen After the student C DO NOT ADD THE BASE AND THE EXPONENT 23o 2 3 TRY 23 AGAIN 5 6 C DO NOT MULTIPLY THE BASE AND THE EXPONENT 23 2 3 TRY 33 AGAIN 8 CORRECT 8 C 41 EXAMPLE NO 2 Typewritten record of a sample lesson in C C Correct The house has cold rooms German The letters in the left-hand column indicate computer typeout C and student's answer S The lesson embodies a new technique being explored at IBM's Thomas J Watson Research Center in which the computer analyzes the studentts answer and types back only correct portions of the answer Missing or incorrect letters are indicated by hyphens for lower case letters and underline marks for upper case letters S Der Haus haben kalt Zimmer C S D-- Haus ha- kalt- Zimmer Das Haus hat kalte Zimmer C Correct C S Did you see the dog Haben sie sehen das hund C S Haben _ie d- - _und - -sehen Haben Sie der Hundgesehen C S The ring is round Das ring is rund C S Sie d-- Hund gesehen Haben Haben Sie den Hund gesehen C S D- -_ing is- rund Der Ring ist rund C Correct Management Data Processing Jnniel Inc Pordand Oregon Ours is a business of futures but for years we've been running solely on information from the past All this has changed now at Jantzen With these words Paul DeKoning president and general manager of Jantzen Inc the world's largest and oldest manufacturer of sportswear and swimsuits in November 1964 introduced and demonstrated Jantzen's com- In 1959 after the company sensed a lengthy information time lapse and limited systems development an IBM 650 RAMAC computer was installed as the initial step toward a total management information system information system The demonstration took place at the company's Portland Oregon world headquarters this equipment permitted a greater degree of sophistication in computer applications Two years later an IBM 1401 computer with four tape drives was installed to replace the 650 RAMAC pletely operational computer-based management The increased speed and capacity of During this period Jantzen linked the 1401 tape system in Portland to a 1401 card system in Seneca South Carolina This teleprocessing system permits the fast interchange of current production and shipping information Research during this same period led to a refinement in estimating and forecasting techniques The new system represents the apparel industry's first application of data processing to all significant company operations Including finance merchandising manufacturing and marketing It provides Jantzen management with a close look at what's happening minute by minute to a growing company in a fast changing market This system was developed by Jantzen in cooperation with International Business Machines Corporation and is based on an IBM 1410 computer which is to be replaced in 1966 by an IBM System 360 Model 50 In 1963 the programming and systems staff began defining and organizing the key operations they would perform on the 1410-1301 data processing system which was delivered in September This third upgrading of Jantzen's computer power now makes it possible to convert to an electronic order allocation system This machine conversion to order filling can be followed by a cost-saving pre-billing of customers' invoices Jantzen pioneered in the use of machine data processing systems with the installation in 1929 of the first IBM machine in the pacific northwest This 45 column round-hole mechanical sorter was just the beginning of many evolutionary changes which have led to Jantzen's present computer proficiency Delivery of an IBM System 360 in the fall of 1966 will permit the complete consolidation of 42 data from a decentralized computer directly into home office facilities will be feasible and imme- of the sales production by salesman or sales region diate access to stored information will be prac- tical Order bookings are related to retail accounts to report sold and unsold customers and to measure current-season sales to past performance During the period of problem definition and systems development for the 1410 and System 360 computers a specialized apparel industry total information system will be coming to full bloom at Jantzen Applied during the early 60's in a few other industries the computerbased technique integrates all significant company operations into a group of interdependent applications to provide a basis for sophisticated decision making It is new to the apparel industry In order to measure the degree of sales saturation in a variety of markets results are also compared to national apparel sales indices The obligation issumed with the booking of the order is not completed until the order is coordinated completed and shipped on time Utilization of the computer to make the thousands of decisions necessary to match orders properly to inventory is mandatory in maximizing inventory turn and customer satisfaction Jantzen's system is designed to give vital information in four key areas of the company e Merchandising-the management information system is geared to give statistical information which defines characteristics of the volatile fashion market and indicates consumer preferences Analytical research into historical buying patterns gives the merchandisers direction when relating style and color trends to seasons and geographic regions In practice the 1410 system permits nextday shipping on nearly all of the items Jantzen stocks These items change every 13 weeks as a new offering of merchandise averaging 200 different styles is brought out In addition precise usage of all Jantzen production plants and close coordination with contractors will yield substantial savings in the pivotal labor and material areas These advantages plus better decision-making in market estimating and forecasting embody the greatest initial advances of the system The projected acceptability of new lines which have just been launched can be forecast as soon as any significant orders have been processed This acceptability can be defined by styles within lines delivery and period requirements within seasons and projected gross profit margins based on sales mix Finance-budget goals and financial results are compared by monthly statements prepared on the computer Expenses are automatically allocated to the many company divisions and factory operations Manufacturing-computer estimating and forecasting techniques translate the current customer orders into future demands These figures are used as a basis for establishing the production progvams and issuing material purchase orders The computer order allocation system so necessary to the marketing arm of the business provides a periodic inventory-turn analysis for finance Machine scheduling of production in companyowned plants will permit the optimum use of production facilities Analysis of material usage variances in production is possible through the factory programs The use of variable delivery lead times in scheduling material needs will permit the most profitable raw inventory turn The normal accounting functions of accounts receivable accounts payable invoiciing and payroll preparation are completely controlled by the computer system Machine preparation of factory work orders establishes data which can be used in many ways to measure factory progress and efficiency and to prepare piece-work payrolls The Jantzen 1410 has 60 000 characters of storage four 729 magnetic tape units a random access 1301 disk storage unit capable of storing 28 million letters or numbers one 1403 1100line-per-minute printer two high-speed card e Marketing-sales goals and quotas serve ais planning guidelines for several areas within the company Marketiing reports tied to these 43 sorters one 088 collator a 557 interpreter for of a total order can be shipped at one time card verification and punch-to-print and a 1013 card transmission terminal which sendb data at the rate of 96 carde-per-minute to another 1013 without substitutions and with better assurance of salable quantilies li i -Qrrelated multi-unit lines The Seneca device is linked to P 1401 cornputer which then produces cards invoices and other documents as needed The Seneca installaton also transmits reports invoice information and other data back to Portland patching for better utilization of three major Jantzen production facilities plus contractors This it aimed at more output of better quality with less material waste at Seneca South Carolina 3 Production control--scheduling and dis- 4 Faster more accurate communication through the Portland-Seneca remote units generation of more essential data by the 1410 System 360 and more accurate communication with field personnel A card tabulating installation at Vancouver Washington Is now used for some shipping and billing operations but will be replaced in October 1965 by a prebilling arrangement in which the invoice Is included in the shipping carton 5 Creation of a usable body of facts on apparel merchandising estimating and forecasting large enough for decision making and preparation of meaningful market studies and predictions All mass files will be on disk or tape in the 1410 installation by the end of 1965 The account file includes name and address at least 1 year of sales history credit data and other information Attainment of these immediate objectives will reveal further profitable applications in moving towards Jani en's ultimate ideals in this field Present daytime operations are largely general accounting program testing and research functions Each week night at about 6 p m k production updating run starts the processing of that day's activity Order editing the next run verifies each order Next the housekeeping and assignment run is made based on a nightly sheet of priorities basic inventory information and other data as completed for each line by an Order Allocation Controller All accounts are organized into seven categories for this purpose Finally the order allocation run which actually prepares shipping cards and printout sheets is made These nightly runs take about 8 hours 1 Management by exception-computergenerated reports in essential quantities only provide enough factual data for decision making Attainment of this goal is expected to make Jantzen's system pay off at the highest possible level 2 Decisions so made will create better market knowledge and operations It should lead to more sales with less inventory at less sales and product cost with the same numbers of personnel capital facilities and materials investment Basic differences in operation of the System 360 as presently seen will be elimination of all card file operationsby storing this data on tape or In 2311 disk storage drives which have 36 million random-access digit capacity Additional files will include a 3-year sales history and other data Three remote inquiry units will permit interrupt and reply via cathode ray display screen or voice A high-speed printer and a 2321 data cell drive capable of holding or storing 800 million digits are also on order DeKoning emphasized that Jantzen would move as fast as possible toward a complete management-by-exception system but will make haste slowly We'll review our programs to make sure we're turning out only the information we really need while using our imagination to find new ways to use the computer profitably Basic system objectives are DeKoning concluded by highlighting the total management information concept as central to Jantzen's plans The firm's basic conservati and sound fiscal position combined with its realization that progress is essential and that their computer installations are profit-making systems supplying a competitive edge give Jantzen an excellent chance to achieve the 70-percent expansion it wants in the next 5 years 1 Accurate daily inventory control-an essential to Jantzen operations which include the largest and most complex garment lines made by any U S firm 2 Order allocation-to provide faster and more precise customer service in which more 44 I I Ship Automation Indu srin M ilan• Bevrly Hills Galitorrsia INTRODUCTION was the full-time duty of a man to write this data in • A new era for the merchant marine was opened here in August 1964 when the first automated ship built in the United States was introduced cornpl ance with maritime laws An infra-red scanner measures the intensity of the flame in the engine burners and automatically takes correct action if required Called the S S MORMACARGO the 550foot ship was built for Moore-McCormack Lines Inc New York City by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries Pascagoula The $10 million ship is scheduled to carry cargo and New equipment has also been introduced to the deck of the ship A constant tension winch enables two men to moor a ship instead of six A new type Stulcken boom and automatic hatch covers greatly reduce the time a ship remains passengers between New York and Scandinavian in port for loading and unloading ports Temperatures in the 40 000-cubic -foot reefer in the ship are monitored by remote sensors at 28 points and are recorded on the engineroom console For the first time in the history of the United States merchant marine the ship's speed can be controlled directly from the bridge The main engines and boilers automatically respond to movement of a single throttle lever on the bridge making it possible for the ship to go from zero to full speod in about 5 minutes The Mormacargo is the first of six Constellation class ships to be constructed by Ingalls The fifth the Mormacaltair was launched by Ingalls today prior to the Mormacargo's demonstration These ships with speeds of 24 knots will be the fastest ships in the maritime service The Mormacargo was launched on Jan 25 1964 and was delivered Aug 14 As a safety factor the engineroom can override the bridge at any time but the bridge cannot override the engineroom Direct contact from the bridge is safer than the former method by which instructions were called to an engineroom crew which then adjusted the proper valves The new technique also makes the ship more responsive and maneuverable MORMACARGO CHARACTERISTICS Owner Moore-McCormack Lines Inc A centralized control console greatly reduces engineers' walking distance an estimated 85 percent More than 150 operations are now performed by the push of a button instead of manually Builder Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation a Division of Litton Industries Pascagoula Mississippi Design type C4-S-60a In addition 108 separate points in the engineroom are automatically scanned every 5 minutes for temperature pressure liquid levels or for motor failures and the results Cost Size In excess of $10 million Length overall - 550 feet 9 inches Beam Molded - 7s feet are automatically recorded In the event of a dangerous condition an alarm sounds irmmediately and the console displays to the engineer the source of the alarm condition Formerly a fireman was required to monitor gauges throughout the two levels of the engineroom It took him about 1 2 hour to make a complete trip Deadweight - 12 100 tons max draft - 31 feat 7 inches Light Ship Weight - 7 700 tons Displacement Weight - 19 800 tons records inA bell logger automatically formation on engine RPM throttle position whether the bridge or cngineroom has control time every 1 2 minute and date Formerly it 45 Propulsion Geared Turbine Speed The horsepower and the very fine lines permit an operating speed in excess of 24 knots Single Propeller I Passengers 12 Crew 32 Decks Holds 7 8 Dry cargo 665 300 cubic bale Reefer Over 40 000 cubic feet Navigational aids Modern Radar Loran Depth Sounder Gyro Compass Radio Telephone VHF Electronic controls Engineroom and Bridge Consoles Throttle can be operated directly from Bridge Main engines and boilers automatically adjust for change in throttle setting Electrornic monitoring of all main auxiliary and reefer temperatures Keel laid April 22 1963 Launched January 25 1964 Delivered August 14 1964 stalled to drive the normally installed shaft tachometer for the Engineroom and Bridge rpm indicators An additional digital tachometer is also installed to provide a zero speed signal for the shaft-stopped alarm When the throttle lever is moved rapidly from AHEAD to ASTERN or from ASTERN to AHEAD positions the operation of the AHEAD and ASTERN valvas overlap The closed valve begins to open when the throttle lever has passed through the STOP position and the closing valve has moved half-way to the CTOSED position This position is adjustable over a wide range The speed of travel of the throttle valves is adJustable and not contingent on the speed of the throttle lever The speed of travel from CLOSED to full OPEN or vice versa for the throttle valves is adjustable with a range of 10 to 30 seconds An astern speed limiting device is also included in the hydraulic circuit of the astern steam valve bar lift mechanism The throttle valves have modulating charac teristics so that the throttle valve opens sufficiently to bring the turbine to the desired speed within the prescribed time limit and then close in to maintain the desired rpm The position control of the throttle valves is also dependent on having normal pressure in the steam headers A pressure transmitter on the line from the superheater headers to the combustion control master steam pressure regulator feeds an electrical signal to the throttle control system If the pressure falls below a preselected level the system overrides the valve position reference and controls the valves to maintain the minimum set pressure If the pressure keeps falling the valves will close all the way When steam pressure builds back up to normal the override signal drops out and the steam valves are returned to their previous position TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF AUTOMATION AND CENTRALIZED CONTROLS The following discussion of the remote throttle control and semiautomation features of the MORMACARGO is confined to the general arrangement and operation of the major components Detailed description of the various interconnections and controls which contribute to the smooth overall working of the system has been omitted The position control of the throttle valves is also dependent on having normal water level in tho boiler drums A high water signal is taken from the remote water level indicators for each boiler and fed into the throttle control system When either level rises to the high level alarm point on the indicators the system overrides the valve position reference and prevents the valve from opening further Unlike the steam pressure override the valves are only prevented from fv rther opening and do not close in unless a signal is received from the throttle lever to do so When the water level returns to normal the uverride signal drops out Throttle Control The AHEAD and ASTERN throttle valve hydraulic actuators are motor operated and the position of the valves is controlled in response to commands from the throttle levers at the Engineroom Console or the Bridge Console The actual position of the steam valves and the speed of the propeller shaft are fed back into the control system to maintain the selected rpm The shaft speed feed back is accomplished by use of two analog tachometer generators driven off of the shaft ring gear which is in- A manual switch is provided on the Engineroom Console to permit the engineer on watch 46 to override the water level and steam oressura inmits just described This switch is only operable while the engineroom has throttle control An indicating light is provided to show when the throttle control limit override switch is being used In- tn ew-v 4 i th his - power is restored Handwheelm at the Engineroom Console are used to central throttle valve aeihttors manually through mechanical linkage The transfer of throttle control cannot be accomplished in either direction unless the throttle levers are matched in command Dual throttle position indicating meters are provided on both con6oles for this purpose and a Light located above the meters will also lig 't when the levers are matched Matching the throttle levers provides for bumpless no speed variation transfer The Engineroom may resume control at anytime without first notifying the Bridge A two-position control mode switch is located on the Engineroorn Console During nor mal steady steaming conditions at speeds sufficient to use the scoop injection on the main condenser this switch is in the NORMAL position Usually in advance of maneuvering or speed reduction this switch will be turned to the MANEUVERING position In the MANEUVERING mode the main circulating pump sea suction valve limitorque operator opens the valve the main circulating pump is started and the astern guard valve limitorque operator opens the guard valve If the throttle lever is moved to reduce speed below that considered necessary for scoop operation while this switch is in the NORMAL position the above described operation of sea valve opening circulating pump starting and astern guard valve opening are initiated automatically The switch should then be turned to the MANEUVERING mode position to reset the circuit While on Bridge control an alarm is also provided to warn the Bridge when the shaft has been stopped for 3 minutes The digital tachometer previously mentioned in this discussion provides a signal for this alarm After the shaft has been stopped for 2 minutes a light will come on on the Bridge Console and after the shaft has been stopped 3 minutes an alarm buzzer will sound This alarm can be silenced only by moying the shaft or by the Engineroom assuming control OPEN and CLOSE pushbuttons and position indicating lights are provided on the Engineroom Console for the astern guard valve Additional equipment concerned with throttle control and located on the Engineroom Console is as follows The throttle control system is interlocked so that it cannot be energized when the turning gear limit switches indicate that the turning gear is engaged Lights are provided on the Engineroom Console to indicate whether the turning gear is engaged or disengaged 1 THROTTLE TRIP pushbutton for manually tripping ahead throttle valves In the event of throttle control system failure the throttle valve motors may be operated directly from the Engineroom Console by use of two spring centering switches if power is available for this circuit and the failure was not due to malfunction of the motors To change over the control location switch is turned to DIRECT and the DIRECT THROTTLE AHEAD and DIRECT THROTTLE ASTERN switches are used to position the throttle valves THROTTLE 3 CONSOLE LIGHT TEST pushbutton One also located on Bridge Console 2 THROTTLE CONTROL MONITOR test switch with AHEAD and ASTERN test positions and OFF position 4 Although not associated with throttle control a thermometer is mounted on the console for measuring air temperature inside console Boiler Control CONTROL FAILED lights are provided at the Engineroom Console and the Bridge Console and an alarm is sounded on the engineer's alarm panel The original Type V2M-8 two-drum topfired boilers were modified for wide range boiler operation as follows In the event no power is available for the DIRECT electrical throttle control just described mechanical linkage can be connected to the valve actuators manually The actuator motors are electrically disconnected when the linkage is cngatged to privczzi the curt•uvl sybLein fruoni Ly- The fuel oil system pressure was increased to accommodate new burner sprayer plates to obtain a 14-1 turndown The fuel oil pi ire required at the burner varies from approximately 20 to 280 psig the lower pressure allowing all six burners to remain lighted at all times 47 j without overfiring The burners are steam atomizing type and the steam pressure to the burners follows the fuel oil pressure by 5 na•a up to a steam pressure of 80 psig Above a fuel oil pressure of 85 psig the steam pressure remains psig The range of each is burner steady under at the80arrangement Just described from approximately 1770 to 125 pounds of oil per hour ammeters indicate burners are lighted and the condition of the flame Thq tripping switches arb fn - m # - t ner c ' t ly - The three-position switch at each burner consists of an ON position when the scanner Is in use an OFF position used to close solenoid valve at the burner when securing it and an EMERGENCY position for operation without the scanner system in use for that burner When in this last position a light at the panel at control station indicates that the scanner system is being by-passed When lighting off normally the switch should be in the ON position When the torch is inserted the scanner sees the flame and opens the solenoid valve allowing fuel oil to be supplied to the burner Due to the wide pressure variptions required at the burners a new valve was installed to regulate the pump discharge pressure and maintain about 75 puig above the pressure required at the burners The purpose of this is to minimize wear on the fuel oil regulating valves to each boiler across which this pressure drop takes place The pump pressure regulating valve is actuated by an air signal received from a pneumatic transmitter at the Combustion Control Board For steaming at low rates it was considered that the forced draft fan inlet vanes were not adequate to limit the air to the burners A damper was installed in or discharge control the air supply ductsteam to each boiler and they are controlled by the pressure regulating drive motor in the Combustion Control cabinetg The size of the motor was increased to take care of this added function These dampers are wide open for most of the firing range and come wide operaonfor mot y othe fitringerne and ome into operation only at the extreme low end to The Coast Guard required an additional low water alarm completely independent of the originally installed remote water level indicator with its high- and low-water level alarms The connections for nozzles this additional unit for were off of the drum being used thetaken connections to the feed water regulators The low level alarm point was set below the original low level alarm and the new alarm point is used to initiate shut down of fuel oil to the boiler involved when this point is reached The alarm is indicated visually and audibly The fuel oil shut down is accomplished by individual solenoid Although not directly involved in boiler control a steam dump feature was added in the plant to take care of conditions of temporary overfiring should they ever occur This was accomplished by the use of an additional controller for the originally installed auxiliary exhaust dump valve to the auxiliary condensers This additional controller takes a signal from the combined sensing line to the Combustion Control valves to each burner An adjustable time delay prevents shutdown during rolling and pitching Temperature Scanner An electronic remote temperature scanner system of the resistance-temperature-detector type was installed to read 84 points throughout the plant The scanner unit has 12 banks of nine points each allowing temperature points in the same range to be grouped together Each bank has a separate alarm set point to indicate an abnormally high temperature steam pressure regulator measuring superheater outlet header pressure It is not that this steam dump will ever come into play but it is an added feature providing for unexpected or abnormal steaming conditions There are two types of installations at the locations being monitored One is the tip sensitive RTD probe that is installed in an existing or new thermometer well The other is the pad type RTD also tip sensitive which is attached to its location by a holder designed for that service The pad type unit reads surface ternperatures such as motor and line shaft bearing temperatures Since it Is intended that all burners remain lighted at all times except for cutting out in port a flame scanner system was installed to indicate that all burners are functioning properly The system consicts of a solenoid valve in each burner branch line a three-position switch for each burner a flame scanner at each burner and a panel at the boiler gauge board consisting of indicating lights micro-ammeters and tripping switches The lights and micro- The scanner unit and recorder is located at the main control console and is continually 48 I --- trol station Flame failure at any burner initiates the shutdown of fuel oil to that burner and tustation visibly and audibly alarmed at the control i t 4 - - - - - - - - M11146 R V P valve is modulated from this point for about 30 psi above the point when the valve will be fully closed When wide open the valve will pass the required quantity of recirculating water to assure proper pump operation monitoring the points in sequence The operator aixiy ouiAin a print out of the readings at any time on a strip chart but this function is on demand and the unit does not print continuously A list of the point numbers and their locations is provided as well as a mimic board for identification of the points being monitored Turbo-Generator Start Up Lube Oil Temperature Control To allow a one man start up of the T 0 sets the normally-inatalled hand-operated lube oil pump was provided with a motor speed reducer and V-belt drive To provide for automatic temperature control of the main propulsion turbine and gear lubricating oil a thermostatic valve was installed to allow the flow of oil to be divided through and around the L 0 coolers The valve receives its temperature indication from downstream of the coolers and proportions the flow of oil through the cooler and by-pass to obtain the desired temperature Central Operating Station The foregoing plant modifications were made with the view of providing for bridge throttle control and a one man engineroom watch To this end the central operating station in the engineroom was arranged as follows Shaft Alley Bilge Pump The location of the station is on the operating level just forward of the boiler firing aisle In addition to the throttle control console and combustion control board the following items required for central operating control are also located at the station A shaft alley bilge well sump pump was installed to keep the bilge well in this space from overflowing The pump is automatically controlled by a float switch but may also be controlled at the main control console A high level alarm for the shaft alley bilge well is also provided in the event the pump does not start automatically or Is not able to keep the level from rising above a certain point Steam temperature control panels Flame scanner panel Main and Boiler gauge boards combined Soot blower control panels Engineers alarm panel Watch call bell system Meters for indicating condition of electrical plant Cargo reefer temperature recorder and indicators Cargo reefer recirculating fan pushbuttons Sound powered telephones Pushbuttons for F 0 Service Pumps and Forced Draft Fans Main Feed Pump Recirculating It was determined that for all conditions of PORT and STANDBY operation and for low steaming conditions that it would be necessary to have main feed pump recirculating valve open A flow of steam to the main turbine was determined at which the recirculating valve could be closed This flow was related to a pressure in the H P turbine first stage and a signal was taken from this point to actuate a control valve in the feed pump recirculating line The valve is wide open for PORT and STANDBY conditions and 6jes not start to close until the predeter- Several other refinements were also added such as additional gauges and a control air low pressure alarm to provide for closer supersion of the plant Computerized Crime Information Lo •ngle s Poeite Departdnz Lwo e lnge'ls alijnlia An advanced scientific technique for naturallanguage processing of crime information via high-speed computer was annoumcd by the Los Angeles Police Department and System Development Corporation a non-profit research and development firm 49 1 The LAPD-SDC program represents the first police application of computer processing in natural English language In effect this enables the police officer to talk with the machine The technique was judged highly effective during an experimental study conducted by the two organizations during the past year r The experiment was conducted with reports of actual robberies committed in the City of Los Angeles during the past year Information was relayed via ordinary teletype circuits to and from a high-speed computer at SDC's Santa Monica headquarters This computer is being utilized simultaneously by many different user organizations in a Department of Defense cormputer time-sharing research project The crime information experiment believed to be the first of its kind in the country was conducted with the approval and support of the Los Angeles Board of Administration The Board chaired by the City Administrative Officer includes representatives from the Mayor's office the City Council and other City offices Spokesmen for the Los Angeles Police Department and SDC said they are continuing to refine their approach ane make improvements in 'Pe system They added that results of their study probably would be incorporated in any operational computer system which might be developed by the Los Angeles Police Department Officials said the joint program demonstrated that computer processing of crime reports in original English language form was both possible and desirable and offered a real possibility for a major breakthrough in the law enforcement field Work on the joint LAPD-SDC project was co-directed by Lt William W Hermann officer in charge of the Systems Research and Design Section of LAPD and Herbert H Isaacs Man- Deputy Chief of Police Richard Simon ager of Special Systems Projects at the System pointed out that this type of program holds great promise for the operational law enforcement officer as well as the command staff of the department Development Corporation SDC a non-profit corporatiuw specializes in the design and development of computerbased command control and information systems for military governmental scientific and educational applications The corporation which has its headquarters in Santa Monica Calif has major facilities in Falls Church Va Lexington Mass Paramus N J and Colorado Springs Colo The modern police department must avail itself of advanced computer techniques if it is to face the steadily growing volume and cornplexity of information associated with increasing population and corresponding rise in crime Chief Simon said L and N IBM 1050 Tele-Processing System Lovui ile anzd Nashville Railroad LouvtUllr Kentucky 40201 A passenger coach loaded with electronic hardware is rolling over the rails of the Louisville Nashville Railroad The coach renumbered 1050 to match the IBM 1050 Teleprocessing system it has aboard has operable machines in a simulated yard office at one end and a division office in the other Said to be a first in railroad circles the car will be used to accommodate groups of employees for lectures and demonstrations of just how the new 1050 system actually works will be located At these stops employees will be given a concentrated course in proper operational procedures before the machines are placed in actual service This particular 1050 system will not be sending any data beyond the confines of the coach but by mid-January 1965 the L and N began field installations and by the end of this year expects to have them located at 27 yard offices throughout its 13-state territory In addition other units will be placed in each of the company's nine division headquarters In effect a classroom on wheels the car began its tour November 15 1964 at Louisville with a series of sessions at which time top division officials were shown how the 1050 system will be used and how the machines actually operate The special car is scheduled to visit all cities on the L and N where the 1050 field units Installation will be done about a month apart roughly on a divisional basis starting at several points in Eastern Kentucky and these units will be activated immediately When the entire 1050 network is complete a wide variety 50 of operational and statistical information will be ci4IUAi •u io Louisville through an IBM 1448 switching center a 1460 computer and 1311 disk files until IBM's new larger and faster System 3e0 compuLer is installed in 1966 Utilization new challenge diate uses will tion to provide data 6 teal- 'trai -i ishup Cox reports departures and arrivals from local industries and car accounting It also will transmit administrative messnages such as huld track reports engine utilization data centralized reports and statistics Many other types of reports are envisioned a number of which are already in the planning stage and as the L and N put it this places the railroad industry on the threshold of a completely new era of the 1050 system presents a the L and N said Some immeinclude transmission of informainstant and completely accurate Computerized Records of Traffic Lights T tIity A P ' T 1 110 Lontg bland ityNru Y'ok l 1101 A modern data processing system to handle the operational and maintenance records of the New York City Department of Traffic was installed in December 1964 One of the principal tasks of the new system will be to keep installation control and maintenance records for trqffic lights at approximately 9 000 signalized intersections and 60 000 parking meters located throughout New York City's five boroughs The new system will provide detailed records of every traffic signal light pole controller detector parking meter and other associated equipment on the city's streets It will also record reports of defective equipment and the time of repair in order that the department will have assurance of prompt repairs by its maintenance contractors The Department of Traffic in announcing the new system reported that this installation would significantly improve their ability to keep accurate track of all equipment as well as provide better control of maintenance This now becomes increasingly vital as New York City embarks on a $100 million electronic signal modernization program Heart of the new data processing system is a UNIVAC 1004 Card Processor a versatile high speed electronic card processing machine designed and built by the Sperry Rand Corporation's UNIVAC Division In addition to providing records relating to signals and meters the equipment will keep a complete record of traffic accidents in the city These data will help the department's traffic engineers to pinpoint dangerous and potentially dangerous intersections requiring corrective traffic control measures Future applications envisaged by the department include inventory records for its sign and signal shops motor vehicle records payroll time keeping budget operations personnel and accounting operations Police Computer System AlthuImlnitan 11ahirel# h'l St' Lol tm • lil %tnm The first components of an advanced police computer system were installed in October 1964 with additional items arriving in December 0 With the installation of the IBM '7040-7740 computer system the St Louis Metropolitan Police Department will have a new and powerful ally in its light against crime Once operative patrolmen detectives and neighboring law agencies will have almost immediate access to vital information stored in the computer's vast memory Col H Sam Priest president of the Board of Police Commissioners pointed out that it will take several months of testing after installation before the system is fully operational and several years before the full potential of the system will be utilized This computer system is designed specifically to assist in crime detection and control 51 equipment like this does not become operational overnight despite the fact that we have been planning for it and establishing programs for is then transmitted by radio back to the inquirIng officer 'tIt's easy to see how much more efficient many months a patrolman can be asserted Col Brostron Acquisition of the system will make the local police department a world leader in the application of electronic data processing to help fight crime he stressed This is a pioneering effort being watched with a great deal of interest by police agencies throughout the world Instead of waiting up to 20 minutes with a suspect to get information the patrolman can get his answer almost immediately and have the additional time to devote to his job of crime prevention It's just like adding men to the force he said In addition to the new applications the cornputer center would produce crime analysis reports plus many routine reporting and accounting previously done on the punched cardprocedures system Those include arrest record ac- In the past using a small punched card system we have developed methods which have served as models for police departments in the U S Japan Turkey Indonesia England and Canada counting criminal identification radio call reporting excise tax recording gasoline and personnel accounting and field activity accounting Also the system can prepare in minutes corprehensive reports on the types of crime being committed and where Now with the speed and adaptability of the new computer system we will have a major tool to help policemen make St Louis a more crime free community Ability to retrieve information of this nature on almost a minute -to-minute basis has important ramifications in efficient use of their resources Computer prepared analyses can help assign the 1 850 police officers and 400 vehicles in areas where they are the most needed To develop a new patrol plan previously took about a year now it can be done daily if desired More effective utilization of manpower and equipment should significantly minimize the scope of criminal activity in St Louis This is another step in a continuing effort to give the department the moot modern facilities available Col Curtis Brostron Chief of Police explained that the primary purpose of the new system is to aid the patrolman in the field John Juwer Director of Data Processing described one of the great many operations which the computer will perform to assist the officer on the street An officer in a patrol car sees a vehicle he suspects has been stolen or a man who may be on the wanted list He calls headquarters on his radio and gives the dispatcher a description of the car the man or both and the license number Integralparts of the new system are a 7040 a 7740 message control system seven 1050 terminals a 1301 disk file which stores 56 million characters of information including stolen and towed autos stolen St Louis area license plates names and descriptions of wanted persons and missing persons detailed descriptions of stolen This information is punched into the keyboard of the terminal which transmits directly into the computer system In abcut 3 seconds the system provides a positive or negative response which is channeled back through the systern to the terminal where the reply is imme- property and a file of known criminals Facilities to house the computer center have recently been completed on the third floor of headquarters building 12th and Clark ' here room for future expansion was planned when the building was constructed in 1927 Ciomputer-Bam ed Justice Identification Lind Intelligence System sy lem Ave ni p i n The State of New York and the System Developmcnt Corporation have begun work on the development of a computer-based identification and intelligence system for agencies concerned with the administration ol justice in New York State 52 Announcement of the system was made in - Z - 11ia 4 1i1A Lu Government EDP Systems by R P J Gallati New York State director of the system creased with such speed in recent years that their sneer volume alone is drastically reducing the accuracy and timeliness that they were intended to serve Until recently it looked as if we would become bogged down in a piece-meal approach to the goals of criminal justice Lumbard said 'eu The new information processing system utilizing modern computing techniques is expected to significantly increase the speed and efficiency of information handling over present manual methods It will be capable of rapidly and efficiently receiving processing storing and retrieving information required by local and state agencies in the course of discharging their duties By adopting a system concept and using electronic information processing there is a real possibility for a major break-through in efficient high-speed handling of law enforcement and criminal justice information he said Some of the studies to be undertaken during the initial phase of the project will be the funetion and role of the various local agencies participating in the system requirements for equipment and procedures to protect the security of information study of transmission equipment and lines to be used between the using agencies and a central data processing facility and an equipment evaluation Work on the first phase of the system is under way be SDC scientists and New York State personnel in determining the requirements of the various state and local agencies which will use the new system When implemented it will serve New York police departments sheriffs' offices district attorneys the criminal courts correction departments and probation and parole agencies In 1963 SDC prepared for New York State an Information Requirements Analysis which examined and defined the requirements for an identification and intelligence system Future developmental work on the system will encompass System Production and System Installation Eliot Lumbard Special Assistant Counsel to Governor Rockefeller for Law Enforcement in the State of New York said the computerbased system offers a real possibility for a major break-through in the identification and intelligence field Work on the system is being performed by scientists from SDC's Paramus N J facility under the direction of Dr Ezra Geddes New and larger categories of information as well as files and filing systems have in- SDC - Denmark rime-Sharing l emonstration slollll •lli't A 6000-mile international demonstration of computer time sharing took place between Copenhagen Denmark and Santa Monica Callfornia on the morning of November 19 1964 at 9 a m flirn i Danish sponsors to the demonstration included the I S DATACENTRALEN The Copenhagen County Hospital Association The Danish National Health Service The Copenhagen Police Department The Danish Hospital Association The Danish EDB Information Processing Association and the Danish Management Association Physicians attending the world health organization's conference on information processing and medicine in the Danish capitol communicated directly with a high-speed computer in laboratories of the System Development Corporation SDC in Santa Monica Transmission was made via Western Union Telex The purpose of the demonstration was to acquaint European physicians with the significant advances in data processing which now allow them to communicate directly with a computer Previously most medical computer uses have been restricted to a more involved system where doctors described their problems to computer programmers who then translated them into computer understandable terms which wele fed into the computer The results qometimes This 6000-mile span is believed to be the longest distance over which information has ever been transmitted between a remote input station and a central computer in a time sharing operation 53 4 took hours or days before receipt SDC time tually simultaneously the power of a large centrally located compuier at reitumnIune UUbLb sharing system on the other hand permits near instantaneous communication between user and computer This multiple use of a computer or time sharing has been the subject of a major re- Western Union International whose facilities provided the transatlantic communication link monitored the line during the transmission to ensure highest reliability and quality of service search and development program at System Development Corporation since early 1963 under the sponsorship of the Advance Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense Included in the demonstration were the following programs Direct access to the SDC computer from the Western Union Telex system was made possible by equipping two standard Western Union Telex sets with special interfaces or signal translators which translate regular Western Union Telex signals into a signal that the computer can read Once a connection is established a written conversation then takes place between the remote caller and the SDC computer ECCO-lThis program demonstrates a personnel data retrieval system which provided on-line inquiry capability for searching personnel data files makes statistical computations on the data and prints out the required information VALE-The Veterans Administration Laboratory Experiment Program was designed to explore input techniques for laboratory data to determine the flow of information between the laboratory and wards accurately to develop coding techniques for medical data and to establish an effective format for displaying the data that has been collected The signal translator interfaces were specially engineered and provided by the Weste ii Union Telegraph Company for this demonstration as part of the company's developmental program in the total tele-communications field The computer time-sharing program which has been in operation 8 hours a day at System Development Corporation since January 1963 is being expanded to handle a maximum of 30 or more customer programs simultaneously Approximately 100 customers use the system at different times TINT-TINT is a tool used within the timesharing system that enables the programmer to perform on-line programming functions via teletype machines SYSTHEX-This program demonstrates how the computer accepts simple natural language questions about material in the Golden Book Encylopedia and how the computer responds to the questions with simple natural language answers The SDC developmental work may lead to a nation-wide operating network which would enable many thousands of people to share vir- Optical Scanning of Airline rickets U npjicJ Air Linuei Chicc2lo I Il nall 0060 High speed optical scanning equipment capable of reading airline tickets at the rate of 600 per minute and automatically transferring accounting information to computers was purchased by United Air Lines in September 1964 or carbon backed paper such as that used for airline tickets Information including such items as the routing fare tax totals carrier code and fare basis are correlated with a route code read from the ticket and transferred to magnetic tape by the new machine Called an Electronic Retina Character Reader the equipment will speed direct processing and auditing of United's flight tickets and auditor's coupons The new system eliminates manual key punching of data in ticket accounting operations It is expected to reduce processing time and cost dramatically The device also performs various sorting operations including sequential sorting of tickets or air bills by number carrier or both The machine sorts as rapidly as it reads It is the first scanner capable of transporting and sorting paper as light as 9-pound stuck Manufactured by Recognition Equipment Incorporated of Dallas Texas the equipment 54 has been instaled at United's headquarters of- magnetic tape drive The unit is comparable in 4 M7 n tekI pp iaf i g fices near O'Hare International Airport Chicago The control unit in addition to programming the system and recording data read by the scanner can be used as an off-line scientific computer It can read from or record data on magnetic tape punched-paper tape or a typewriter The reader recognizes preprinted or matrix-applied numerals through an optical system and an Electronic Retina as each numeral or figure passes in front of the retina which is a battery of hundreds of light sensors that read each character in all of the various shadings it is printed in Scanning time per character is measured in millionths of a second The optical recognition technique employed in the device resulted from a study of the seeing characteristics of the human eye The highly versatile scanner will negotiate various papers down to 9-pound stock as well as carbon-backed papers such as that usud for airline tickets Although intended to process documents prepared and handled with reasonable care the transport system permits the unit to process and read papers which have been torn cvmpled or stapled Through use of a check digit technique programmed into the machine United expects to reduce the machine's substitution rate to almost zero Overall rejection rate for preprinted flight coupons will not exceed 2 percent according to the manufacturer United records and audits in excess of one million airline tickets a month on electronic computer equipment and currently the basic data is transferred to magnetic tape by use of key-punched cards New United tickets now employ a precoded ticket number positioned to be read by the scanner along with numeric routing data added at the time the ticket is sold Readable impressions include originals and carbons made by plastic route matrixes and air travel cards Although the United equipment will utilize only the numeric reading capabilities of the Electronic Retina Character Reader the machine can be modified or expanded to incorporate at least six alpha-numeric fonts for more diversified operation The new equipment includes three basic units consisting of a document carrier a recognition unit a programmed controller and a 55 I