ER CO MPUT DIGITAL UTER M ITL CO DIG hpefthnuitr- Is to pravld Interebaql res e of a medlust for the Amei Interested Infoermtion con- to varlos diggitalessuter prlej sts •AIk Y EW SVol OIIstr livt 1111IsIIWI hWta rsoll LL47 IaII tantributers 'OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH • MATNEMATICAL SCIENC$S oIVIf1N July 1965 Gordon D Goldstein Editor Margo A Sass Associate Editor Jean T Usilton Editorial Assistant 17 No 3 C D Elaine K Strohl Editorial Assistant CONTENTS YmnP SEDITORIAL 1 2 3 4 NOTICES OTIG1 Editorial Policy Contributions Circulation Errata COMPUTERS AND DATA PROCESSORS NORTH AMERICA Air Force Missile Development Center CDC 3600 Computing System Holloman Air Force Base New Mexico 88330 2 American Bosch Arma Corporation Micro C Computer Garden City N Y 11532 3 University of California Western Data Processing Center The IBM 7040 7094 Direct Couple System Los Angeles California 4 International Business Machines Corporation System 360 Time-Sharing Computers White Plains N Y 1 4 5 COMPUTING CENTERS 7 8 University of California Computing Facility Los Angeles 24 Callfoinia University of Illinois Department of Computer Science Urbana Illinois International Business Machines Corporation Manpower Management System Washington D C 20036 4 University of Maryland Computer Science Center College Park 1 2 3 Maryland 5 6 7 8 9 20742 New York University Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences AEC Computing and Applied Mathematics Center New York 3 N Y University of Pennsylvania The Moore School Problem-Solving Facility Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19104 Space Technology Laboratories Thompson Rarno Woolidridge Inc On-Line Computing Center Redondo Beach California 10 10 10 COMPUTERS AND CENTERS OVERSEAS 1 2 3 4 13 13 15 Industridata Aktiebolag New Data Centers Solna I Sweden N V Electrologica EL XZ The Hague Netherlands Universita' di Genova Istituto di Elettrotecnica Genova Italy The Marconi Company Limited TAG - A High-Speed Real-Time Computer Chelmsford Essex England 15 MISCELLANEOUS 1 2 3 The University of Chicago Institute for Computer Research On-Line Experiments in Particle Physics Chicago Illinois 60637 The University of Illinois Coordinated Science Laboratory Plato II and 20 III Urbana Illinois 20 National Bureau of Standards Historic SEAC Computer Parts Presented to Smithsonian Washington D C 20234 Z5 4 National Bureau of Standards Computer Plots Potential Nuclear Damage Washington D C 20234 5 6 7 S 9 10 Office of Naval Research Gaku-Computer System to Solve Problems by Experience Washington D C 20360 The Pennsylvania State University Redundant Digital Counting Circuits University Park Pennsylvania PArdue University Automatic Control Center Lafayette Indiana Stanford Research Institute The MINOS II Pattern Recognition Facility Menlo Park California 9402S US Department of Commerce Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information Springfield Virginia ' _ g U S Naval Underwater Ordnance Station Automatic System for cil ' J Ejector Research Newport Rhode Island 02844 Reproduced by the C LE A R I N G H O U S E for Federal Scientific Technical Information Springfield Va 22151 25 27 28 29 30 4k0 A c d l it Approved by The Under Secretary of the Navy 25 September 1961 NAVSO P-645 Fditorial Notices EDITORIAL POLICY agencies to contractors for the Federal Gov--- w n im-ntrhutUre of material for The Digital Computer Newsletter although a Department of the Navy publication Is not ývblication restricted to the publication of Navy-ogiginated material The Officetoofthe Naval Research welcomes contributions Newsletter from any source Thu Newsletter from certain limitations In slue which prevent pubcertan matrialmore lishing all the material received However items which are not printed are kept on file and are made available to interested personnel For many years in addition to te GNU iniial d bution the Newsletter was iiildsrbloteNwlte a ree printed by the Association for Computing Wkchinery as a supplement to theirtoJournal recently as a supplement their and Communications The Assbatation decided that their Communications could better serve its members by concentrating On ACM editorial material Accordingly effective DC In published quarterly January April July and October Material for specific issues July byanthe Octber spcifc Isues must be received editor at least three months in advance with the combined January-April 1961 Issue the Newsletter became available only by It is to be noted that the publication of information pertaining to commercial products does not in any way imply Navy approval of those products nor does it mean that Navy vouches for the accuracy of the statements made by the various contributors The information contained herein is to be considered only as being representative of the state-ofthe-art and not as the sole product or technique available Requests to receive the Newsletter regularly should be submitted to the editor Contractors of the Federal Government should reference applicable contracts in their requests 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 t is hoped that the readers will participate to an even greater extent than in the past in transmitting technical material and suggestions to the editor for future issues Material for specific issues must be received by the editor at least three months In advance I is often impossible for the editor because of limited time and personnel to acknowledge Individually all material received direct distribution from the Office of Naval Research ERRATA There Is an old adage in some organizations that they can accomplish the difficult in a short time but the Impossible takes a little longer For the Newsletter the impossible took ten years and then occurred in the masthead of the April issue Because the masthead In a photo replica and has been in use for ten years it is not seen by the editor Somehow for the April issue someone literally dug up and it wasn't easy a photo replica that went out of use in 1956 So to keep the record straight the Newsletter continues to be a publication of the Mathematical Sciences Division Il did not move to the Physical Sciences Division All communications pertaining to the Newsletter should be addressed to GORDON D GOLDTEDIN Editor Digital Cnmpter Newsletter Informattons Systems Branch CIRCULATION The Newsletter is distributed without charge to interested military and government TheNeslete tsditriutd ito• Office of Naial Research Washington D C 20360 ffce f a'fl eser1 I I 61 Computers and Data Processors North America G IX' 3600 Computing System II •il j'lllDIfJI'O ll u e1h I ur ' t Ju ' N lAf•ay8 1it II 'lelylm III Fl m• l V'w 1h' 1' three printers two plotters a card reader and a card punch All these peripheral Jobs proceed at full speed and start or stop independently of each other A remote terminal with a CDC 8090 processor is being connected via telephone line to the system The Air Force Missile Development Center has a CDC 3600 with a CDC 160A satellite The hardware configuration provides access to all tapes printers and card readers from either computer An in-house developed time-share program for the 160A simultaneously drives Micro G Computer • a pii m 11 rh AimaCori•lmili i hlt C'I N Y I15 72 The Micro C Computer was developed especially for use on Navy surface ships and submarines The Micro C is a compact general purpose digital computer designed for military environments It is especially suited to Navy maintenance requirements as the computer is modularized and malfunctions can rapidly be isolated to a plug-in throw-away module The machine is an outgrowth of the ARMA product line of micro computers and is logically and electrically similar to micro-computers designed for missile environments Memory Type NDRO multi-aperture core Input-Output Addresses 258 separate locations available Instruction Repertoire 20 separate operations Instruction Time 27 microsec word Instructions Included Arithmetic and Memory Characteristics Clear and Add 1 word time Organization Serial single address Transfer 1 word time Number System Binary fixed point fractional two's complement for negative numbers Add 1 word time Subtract I word time Store 1 word time Shift n Places n 1 word time Multiply Single Precision 5 word times Multiply Double 5 word times P Square Root 12 to 22 word times Divide 12 word times Clock Frequency 972 kc Execution Rate 36000 words second Data Format 22 bits including sign non-return to zero Program Storage Working Storage Precision 4608 words expandable to 6144 words 22 bits each individually addressable ' 1792 words 22 bits 9 Also can be supplied with a single aperture Memory Access ferrite core DRO memory of up to 32 000 words Random 3 microseconds 2 4 Physical Charaeteristics Environmental Snectfications Size cubic feet 3 87 For computer with Weight pounds 150 6144 words of NDRO memory I 0 complement as described under characteristics of Typical Inputs and Outputs and a cornpletely self-contained power supply Operative Vibration 0 2g 2 cps 15-2000 cps Acoustic Noise 140 db up to 10 000 cps PAcceleration I ower watts 211 11 g Humidity 100% 20 hours Temperature 0' to 85'C Explosive Atmosphere Radio Interference MIL-E-5272 Mon-Rotating Memory Random Access Bi-aperture ferrite Non-destructive Non-volatile readout 0-1000C Operation No temperature or core Non-Operative current control Reliable Discrete Components Miniaturized version of existing proven parts Semiconductors -silicon of latest configuration Semiconductors -passivated or hermetically sealed Rigid component specifications and thorough parts teeting Power Input 115 v single phase 60 cps DC 400 cps 2400 cps options available MIL-I-6181D The Micro C's components are arranged on substrate wafers which carry printed resistors and printed wiring Only six different types of logical modules comprise the entire logic electronics A typical wafer will contain two flipflops and their input gates The wafers are mounted in a module which is sealed and which plugs into a tray The tray may contain approximately 185 modules Intermodule wiring is by wire wrapped connections to the terminals of the connectors into which the modules are plugged Four trays comprise the entire computer complement of circuit modules Vibration 3 g rms 5-300 cps Shock 4 drop test impulse 100 g's rise time of 35 ma and decay of 6 ms Humidity 10 cycle - 95% R H Altitude 350 000 feet Ti mperature -62 to 100'C Salt Atmosphere 50 hours Fungus Resistance MIL-E-5272 Sand and Dust MIL-E-5272 Rain MIL-E-5272 Typical Inputs and Outputs Inputs 3 Gimbal Angle 3 DIPO Pivot Angle 3 DIPO Accelerometers 3 Arma I rI ybahSielaa OLM SuUlII8UU onnaur stp Command can be provided for ___________________ Cntiued MiWaile Guld- Inpu Continued amce hnpt Discretes 60 Telemetry 324 kc 36 kc Serial Data 36 k Serial Data 36 kc Output Dtscretes 30 momentary 30 on r-f-off -rduched • Tape - - Keyboard AGE Prescan Control for Paralsel Data Input Land or Sea Nay- Keyboard Verify Igation Inputs Steering Corn- mande AGE Control 3 d c Analog Arm Inibit The IBM 7040 7094 Direct Couple Sy tem WIsttrn Iata M uingCnde SIni•wriiy oqGLa diJrnu IAUAndekj Cahjonmw The power of the new Direct Couple System directly from core to core The 7094 commu- which In the future will be the only one available nicates only with the 7040 and this communica- will be better understood if one first reviews the operation of the stand-alone system In the old system job decks submitted to WDPC for procesing are first put on magntic tape as a separate operation on the 1410 cotr-puter Then magnetic input tapes with many jobs per tape are physically carried to and hung on tape drives attached to the 7094 Processing ti then carried out the output being written on other tapes These output tapes are then carried back to the 1410 for printing and punching As each program is run special tapes may have to be hung sense switches set or other operator interventions performed Also even the reading and writing of magnetic tape Is slow when compared to 7094 core memory speeds tion is carried out essentially at core speeds AU input output devices are connected to the 7040 including a 1301 disc file Operationally the system configuration Is utilized as follows AlU actual job processing except for utility functions such as tape copying Is accomplished on the 7094 The 7040 carries out all utility functions and all input and output functions When a job is received by the 7040 it is blocked into a special disc format assigned an internal job number and a priority code and stacked on the 1301 disc file to await processing by the 7094 If special tapes are required they are requested read blocked and stacked on the disc to await processing As the 7094 processes the job output is stacked on the disc and when the Job is completed the output records in their In sum then several manual operations may turn are printed and punched by the 7040 The be required for the processing of each job Incontrol program in the 7040 is not up in such a herent system are some wasted time and conto Is setdifferent up ings motion in andthis a large burden on computer operators fashion as to b beabne able to 74 do many things motion andee loprogedurden toun thcomputeroper s without wasteful inactivity waiting for completion to develop procedures to run the computer clenly The iret CupleSysem as dvelpedof effiof any pparticular crfutinTh700ste function The 7040 system ma may clently The Direci Couple System was developed be thought of as another stage of buffering beto lend greater efficiency to the computer by tween the outside world and the 7094 Jobs are eliminating the need for some of these manual processed effectively at 7094 speeds with no operations wasteful stops or operator intervention The total system is not an insignificant amount more In the WDPC Direct Couple Configuration efficient than the tape-to-tape stand-alone 7094 a 7094 and a 7040 are connected electronically system with offline 1410 4 System 360 Time-Sharing Computers A Inina ejhuiniwxv MackMim Myiwation Wha rlk- N- Two new computers for time-sharing were announced by InLteritatlonal Businems Machines The IBM System 360 Model 64 and Model 66 are designed specifically for time-oharing applcentions in which a computer system serves in a single configuration many people simultaneously Thpepe omultaerswilly bebletModels The computers will be able to handle a number oL difiek'eu jubt at oice They Will provide the equivalent of large-scale scientific computing facilities to engineers and scientists working at a variety of terminals remote from the computer itself To a man at a terminal the effect will be the same as sifting at the main controls of the computer He will have the essential facilities of the data processing center available on call Dozens of users will be able to enter problems at the same time without interfering with one another or even knowing ithat thers are using the computer The central computer will operate in a conversational way with each terminal acknowledging data entry and automatically checking for clerical or logical errors For many problems such instant response or conversational mode of operation reduces problemsolving time from a matter of days or hours to only minutes or seconds In addition to operating in a conversational time-sharing way Models 64 and 66 can also be performingstandarddataprocessingcalculations To do all these jobs effectively the new models of System 360 combine several major advances in computer circuit design and programming K IBM By7tem 360 equipment are the dynamic relocation feature and the channel controller which permit flexible interconnection of processors memories and Input-output equipment up to four computer processors eight memories and four channel controllers can be linked together Corporation Ya A These include channel controllers and dynamic relocation of memory Dynamic relocation refers to a method of using memory space effic• r' when programs and data are being quently in aand out of the system This mov imethot jakes use of new electronic circuitry known as associative memory and frees the compoiter user of the need to keep track of exactly where information is located during the actual processing multiprocessing systems the now computers are able to partition themselves into different arrangements of memories and central processors to suit different workload conditions The key differences between the new timesharing computers and previously-announced 64 and 66 use the full met of System 36 rogramming instructions plus extra instructions to direct the time-sharing feaLurs Programs prepared on the two new machines can be recompiled for use on other System 360 equipment 6 rrminintutospsetain TIME-SHARING APPLICATIONS Time-sharing systems are particularly useful in data processing installations that handle a wide variety of scientific and engineering probles Generally each problem takes a relatively short amount of actual computer time-on the average less than a minute Engineerln$ groups large scientific rosearch organizations and university d ta proceasing centers typically have the kind of problem mix suitable for time-sharing At present computer centers operating in 3uch environments use a job-shop technique for processing the work load Scientists bring in their problems and the computer center staff puts them in a stack to wait their turn on the computer When the problem has been processed the results have to be sorted and returned Although the computer itself may do the calculation in a few seconds it takes much more time for a problem to get through the queue and the physical sorting and delivery procedure Time-shared systems not only provide instant response but lead to a whole new way of using computers to solve problems The scientist or engineer can work continuously on a problem He can call on the powerful computer at will to make partial test runs As a result he can use the computer to help develop the problem itself in addition to using it to get a pAs solution to a calculation This method of operation usually results in a much more thorough problem analysis with less expenditure of research and engineering time and effort System S60 Models 64 and 66 will be available in a wide variety of configurations With I the channel controllers up to four central processors can share a pool of main memory units cmpable of storing tqp to 2 million characters The polymorphic configurations-those with more than one memory central processor and channel controller-will provide the ability to incorporate fail safe l techniques so that computation can continue in case a memory or central processor or channel controller needs mainienance Memory cycle time for the Model 64 is 2 microseconds for eight characters of information Cycle time for the Model 66 is 1 microsecond Additional core storage up to 8 million characters in available through the IBM 2361 large core storage unit Computing Centers Computing Facility L u s Angelek 24 elil rnia In April 1961 the Numerical Aoialysis Research Project relinquished -control of the SWAC Computer to the newly established UCLA Cornputing Facility which at that time acquired an IBM 7090 In December 1961 a 1401 was added to the computing complex Upgrading of the 7090 to a 7094 and addition of a L %I 4 Cornection were performed in February of 1964 A second 1401 was added in November 1964 It includes a 1311 disc drive The SWAC has been connected to the second 1401 through the I O adapter And to the 7094 through the Direct Data Connection The SWAC1401 combination is used primarily to record on digital magnetic tape various analog records brought by the researchers of several campus departments and to transfer paper tape records to magnetic tape It is useful also for the conversion of row binary cards into 7094 compatible magnetic tape records An on-line system of the Culler-Fried type utilizes the Direct Data Connection between the SWAC and the 7094 The SWAC acts as a digitalto-analog converter for the display scope inspects the keyboard symbols and interrupts the 7094 for the required calculations Although the Culler-Fried system presently uses the 7094 on an exclusive basis it is planned to confine it to 16k of the memory and permit production runs of other jobs in the other half of the memory The monitor to permit this is now being programmed An inte rpretive programming language PAT Personalized Array Translator has been inplemented from a 1620 program by Mr Glen Johnson a member of the staff of the Computing Facility This permits rapid coding of problems involving matrices and vectors Since it occupies very little memory it is planned to have it co-exist at times with the Culler-Fried on-line system to permit simultaneous access to the 7094 by two independent on-line groups An assembly program SWACAP has been written for the SWAC computer It resembles the MAP language in its symbolism Assembly is done on the 1401 which produces either row I7 binary object programs for direct insertion in the SWAC card reader or loads the SWAC mereory through the I O adapter connection This work was done by Val Schorre a staff member The SWAC is approaching the 15th anniversary tf its dodication which uccurred on August 17 1950 Our efforts to keep it operative have been successful as evidenced by the comments preceding Modernization by systematic replacement of failhng p urts with quality controlled components has reduced maintenance to 1 hour per day An occasional malfunction of a catastrophic nature has usually resulted in a planned overhaul of all related areas in order to prevent recurrence of that particular trouble Present plans call for replacement of the one remaining large area of unreliability the Williams tube memory A core replacement has been under construction for some years but has made slow progress due to personnel turnover mostly students It is now possible to purchase a custom designed memory which may be more suitable The demands on SWAC by the previously mentioned applications are light enough so that no serious interference with calculations has occurred despite the disparity in reliability between it and the 7094 The Computing Facility operates its computers on a 24-hour basis 7 days a week The weekend time is not always used but lengthy jobs are pre-empting it more and more frequently Users of the machines come from every department on campus except the Graduate School of Business Administration which uses the Western Data Processing Center and the Medical School which operates the Health Sciences Computing Facility with NIH help The major users are in the physical sciences of course partly for historical reasons and partly because of the problems of programming in nonphysical science areas The English Department however is currently engaged in a project of producing definitive editions of the works of some early English poets Political Science is doing statisticalwork of several kinds on emerging African nations and there are active projects in Sociology and Education A relatively new series of projects is beginning in the Library on-line systems maintenance and miscellane- Services Programs for indexing abstracting £ai uid iurmuaiusi reirieYal atra uuiviti prepurjA uua Because the installation is in an educational institution vaelaed types of access to the co0nputers are permitted Unscheduled open shop access for periods not exceeding five minutes and for debugging purposes only is provided in three 1-hour time slots daily Scheduled open shop occupies 7 hours daily with runs up to 1 hour in length Closed shop operations use 9 hours The remainder is used by the staff for CKPJt7A-AzuILiLA FrJsa7i4aII i 15 This mixture of accesses has proved highly satisfactory A user can Ignore open shop cumpletely and still obtain two turn-arounds per day Open shop users find that they can influence the operation of their programs by their presence and thereby often avoid resubmittal of their runs The Computing Facility is fortunate in having experimentally minded users who are anxious to avail themselves of these opportunities D epaarthment of Co mputer Science haschanging approvedthe name of the nigital i the 11iBM794 The University of Illinois Board of Trustees n teetalsmeto te The completion of ILLIAC 1I the acquisition of has approved changing the name of the Digital the IBM 7094 and the establishment of Mlathe- Computer Laboratory to the Department of Cornputer Science In view of the expanding teaching program of the laboratory and other developmerts in its services the general term department more laboratory describes its functions than the title accurately matics 195 a basic programming course as a required course in the engineering curriculum have been the important factors in bringing about this change The Department of Computer Science will continue its instructional program through related departments -mathematics electrical engineering physics and chemistry It will maintain the present balance between engineering research and other phases of research The laboratory established in 1949 and given the status of department in 1957 had as its principal purpose the design and construction of a computing system and the carrying out of the research ancillary to that goal More recently there has been a change in emphasis toward the education and service aspects of the department John R Pasta Research Professor of Physics has been head of the laboratory since May 1 1964 succeeding Professor A H Taub Manpower Management Systcm I I jaijnglon AC 210 0e A highly-advanced manpower information system using five IBM dystem 360s will provide virtually instant access to an inventory of the skills and talents of each of the more than one million men and women in the United States Navy Education Navy characters of stored information The systems will permit the Navy to apply computer-tocomputer information exchange and retrieval to its world-wide personnel requirements The five data processing systems will be installed for the Navy's Bureau of Naval Personnel These new systems are designed to permit the Navy to Obtain on demand personnel management will heighten its effectiveness information which eergecy instuatons ters in emergency situations forecast potential abilities of each of more than one million officers and men on active duty in the reserves and in retired status will be processed by the system IBM System 360s-a ModelHeadquar40 and a ModelTwo 30-will be located at BuPers yem other t be D c C Three Win tel in other System In Washington 360 Model 30's will be located at Personnel Ac- e Forecast personnel requirements of both existing and future weapons systems using operations research techniques mathematical models and simulations counting Machine Installations PAMIs at remote locations-Norfolk Va San Diego Calif and Bainbridge Md The Norfolk PAMI processes Atlantic Fleet data San Diego processes information for the Pacific Fleet and Bainbridge handles manpower information for the continental United States training experience location and other stores of information that will help to The advanced systems will be capable of providing swift access to more than a half billion 8 centreaidata bank cuni-inin au lya -' master files holding the Navy's complete roster of officers enlisted men Naval activities and requirements will be maintained at BuPtu The computer's central data bank will be comprised of mass storage wilts Stored information will be instantly available to the BuPers computer as well as the remote PAMI computers Changing information about Navy personnel such as expanded skills will flow to BuPers over a defense communication network The new data will be entered into the central cornputer bank and simultaneously transmitted from - TAlka thereby updating previously stored information Officers charged with personnel management within tho Attlntic Fleet for examp e will use the PAMI computer at Norfolk If a response cannot be made at that level the inquiry will be handled by the BuPers computer By using the communication network to link all of the System 360s information will be entered into the BuPers and the PAMI data banks when the changes are reported The present Navy manplwer Information system computers process Information in batches at the end of periodic accounting cycles C•omputetr Sciece enter VF11'1YFP PA 0III MI1 JI 7124 The Computer Science Center of the University of Maryland is an interdisciplinary academic department not aftiliated with any school or college of the University Its ftuction encompasses three areas research service and education following topics will give some indication of the variety of these projects Since September 1964 the Center has been operating with an IBM 7094-1 16 tape drives BM-401satelits harng drives 6 tape drves sharing 6tap satellites two EBM-1401two with the 7094 and associated equinment Between March 1963 when the Center was established and September 1964 an IBM 7090 1401 system was in use In September 1964 a branch center was opened in Baltimore to service the Baltimorescampus It is called thesHealth SetBaltimore campus It is called the Health S12ences Center and operates an IBM 1620 Is able to use insofar as possible the appropriate computer language for his problem A origto the faciliadded were of subsystems number inal IBM-IBSYS monitor Some of them ai e as tPL of clu uSe tat tate the use of such languages as IPL-V OMNITAB MAD UMAP and ALGOL others represent special developments of multiprecision packitges such as MPP and PRECISE MOIST provides flexible I O and still others combine a wide variety of computational aspects under one system such as X-RAY-65 which is concerned with crystallographic structure determination In addition the MAMOS submonitor An addition to the Center's building was completed in March 1965 doubling the floor space and providing necessary space for staff users and equipment Expansion such as this reflects the tremendous growth in computer activity at the University and anticipates a continuing development in the Center's role as an all-university facility The Director of the Center is Dr Werner C Rheinboldt John P Menard is Associate Director and Robert L Jones is Assistant Director In addition to Professor Rheinboldt the professional faculty includes Research Assoclate Professors A Rosenfeld and R Glasser Research Assistant Professors E Schweppe J Ortega and R Austing and nine part-time faculty consultants from other academic areas The Systems Analysis group is headed by A Beam and R Herbold The Center also maintains programming and operating staffs Currently there are more than 225 research projects using the facilities of the Center The In the area of programming systems work m our yseffort is directed to up-dating constant tem so that the research user of the machines Projects in other areas of computer science research include the following finding and analyzing algorithms for the determination of solutions of a general operator equation in Banach spaces kinetic theory and spectroscopic studies on the fundamental properties of molecules computational work in plasma physics including an in situ probe system to measure ionospheric paii--e-T•rs and experimentation with rotating laboratory models which simulate the general circulation of the atmosphere radio astronomical observations and gallactic and stellar modelsi and the psychomotoric testing of pilots A major project is underway in Image Processing and Kutomatic Pattern Recognition This project has many facets including the following discrimination of connected regions and of solid from broken regions measures of shape skeleton capacity and frame and computer-generated patterns for vioion research Applications have been made to such areas as cloud pattern analysis and contour map processing In the fall semester of 1965 the Center will begin offering credit courses in Computer Sclence at the undergraduate level A basic sequence will emphasize the algorithmic approach to the solution of problems rather than cornpiter programming as such and will make exte isive use of the computer Two courses at the 109 level will consider the language and struc ture of computers more generally along with applications Additional courses are planned Courant I stitute of Mathimatical Sciences 4k U '1#phain•g aidtt ' pf ib'd A1 1hll'uh' lll 'C thr 'r' N imnk 'mu' ik The AEC Computing and Applied Mathematica Center at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences oC New York University will install a Control Data Corporation 6000 in their new building Warren Weaver Hall in April 1965 400 nanoreconds each of the two floating multiply units has an execution time of 1 mlcrosecond The initial configuration of this installation will include 131 072 60-bIt words of core store a console display a disk a card reader a punch a printer and 7 magnetic tape drives The 6600 has 10 peripheral processors for I and a central processor with 10 functional units which concurrently perform arithiaietic logical incrementing and branch instructions The floating add unit has an execution time of The Courant Institute invites applications to its postdoctoral visiting membership program in the fields of numerical analysis and nonnumerical computing The Moore School Prohlem-Sol'ing Facility I 'iI d •v rq I' ' d0anu 11hiladelphira Prntmthwl ia lQW-1 The Proolem Solving facility of The Moore School of Electrical Engineering University of Pennsylvania integrates results of the research program that has been in process since 1959 The pilot system is due for completion in April 1965 however parts of it became functional in September 1964 This will expand existing University of Pennsylvania computer facilities into a time-sharing system with remote consoles The primary motivation was the need to implement a Problem Solving facility with remote inquiry display subsystems with access to the processing and mass storage facilities of the University Computer Center The inclusion of a number of remote CRT stations allows simultaneous use of sharing of a large computer by a number of users making it possib'e to enhance the effectiveness of any existing computer facilities by allowing man-machine interaction at the problem level without unnecessarily tying up the system for any one user or group of users A similar facility was originally applied to Navy logistics problems for which the storage of a large file is necessary For this purpose the system is a successor of a similar less versatile system implemenfed with participation of the Moore School at the lTaval Aviation Supply Office The latter system has been in operation since October 1962 and has since been used operationally The type of problems for which the system is being designed include library applications large simulation studies and real time tactical and strategic problems On-line Computer Center S•1m • r erthimlnog I bI raur ie s lhmn' I hlrpgv II' rg l Im le 'dmu h Br rli Catilonia In January TRW Space Technology Laboratories unveiled a new and powerful tool for advanced design engineers scientists and mathematicians Called an On-Line Computer it allows an experimenter or designer to talk directly to a digital computer give it instrucdions program it observe ' te computed results immediately and if necessary modify his pro- grams-all in his own language and with his own problem-solving technique The TRW On-Line Computing system is unique because it is specifically tailored to the user It is the scientist or engineer who originates a problem and works on it directly rather than a programmer or others professionally 10 i concerned with computing The system is as convenient as a desk calculator-except that as with any electronic digital computer all operations are many times faster and completely automatic once the user has supplied data and instructionc to it This type of on-line computing system was conceived originally by Drs Glen J Culler and Burton D Fried in 1961 for TRW's Computer Division now part of the Bunker-Ramo Corporation and has been serving TRW and Bunker-Ramo engineers and scientists ever since The version demonstrated today is much more flexible and convenient than the original model At TRW Space Technology Laboratories a 5-hour lecture and laboratory course qualifies an engineer to use the On-Line Computer unassisted Dr Fried a Theoretical Physicist at TRW-STL admits to knowing nothing about computers but finds an On-Line Computer a crucially important tool in his plasma physics investigations Dr Culler regularly uses a remote on-line station in Santa Barbara connected by telephone data link to the original computer located at the Bunker-Rama facility in Canoga Park California Au a Professor of Mathematics at the University of California and consultant to TRW Dr Culler uses the system extensively to teach such difficult subjects as numerical analysis and other forms of higher mathematics Further use of the On-Line Computer as a teaching aid is being considered by other educators The TRW On-Line Computer uses a BunkerRamo 340 computer a medium-size digital computer to which are connected four computing stations Each station has a console with two keyboards for controlling the computer operations and a display tube on which results are presented in graphical and or numerical form All four consoles may be used simultaneously and independently Expansion of the system to 12 stations some connected to the computer by remote telephone data link is planned for the future Never before has an experimental approach to problem-solving been available so directly to the engineer This direct communication with the On-Line Computer is most valuable for solving problems whei e the experience and judgment of the user are akplied at each step and several methods of solution must be attempted before discovering a successful one quite sub stantlal Equally important the charges for on-line computing time are about one-tenth the rate tor larger digital computers An earlier version of the On-Line Computer system has been used successfully to solve a wide variety of advanced research problems in physics and engineering design including nonlinear integral and partial differential equations missile control problems and basic problems in superconductivity and quantum electrodynarnics Another recent application was in the proposal effort for the abort guidance system to back up the primary guidance system of the Lunar Excursion Module of the Apollo Spacecraft The problem was to determine the variety of mission possibilities under which an abort condition could exist For each possibility the engineers had to determine the proper action that would permit the safe return of the LEM to the Apollo Command Module Neither desk calculation or programming for a high speed computer of all the possibilities and counteractions would have been possible in the time available to prepare the proposal But with the On-Line Computer the job was completed in the time allowed and to the satisfaction of the customer G uumman Aircraft and Engineering Company who awarded the contract to TRW Space Technology Laboratories late in 1964 To operate the TRW On-Line Computer the user need only push the keys on the two keyboards at the console One keyboard is for entering and selecting data the other is for performing operations on the data While this resembles superficially a desk calculator technique the mathematical operations available in the OnLine Computer are far more extensive and powerful By a single key puch for example mathematical operations can be performed on a whole list of numbers or function as well as on a single number Moreover lists of operations can be generated by successive key pushes to create programs which the computer can executs In addition to initiating computer actions by a series of key pushes the user can at any time cause the computer to display partial results or intermediate steps in a problem including graphs showing any variable plotted against ny other When attempting to solve a problem the engineer or scientist makes use of the standard operations of elementary and advanced mathematics algebra calculus differential and integral equations and so on Each of these operations is controlled by a single key on one of The value of allowing a design engineer to program the computer in his own language and to see the results as they are being computed is inestimable But the time that can be saved in proposal-efforts and on normal projects is also i1 I the keyboards Of crucial importance however The units are being used in the design of trajec- is the console programming feature which alLowe him to compose any combination of these tories for space missions to design spacecraft operations into new ones tailored by him to his thereparticular problem or problem area He library of missile flights F Fo otfih programs in his own problem -oriented Ianguage created by him at the console for reuse when future a related problem needs solving in the reduced are firstCenter missiles and from and transcribed in spacecraft the Data Reduction of fore to able to accumulate a personal The BR-340 computer associated with the On-Line Computer has an 8 000-word magnetic core memory a 48 000-word magnetic drum for data storage and 2 magnetic tape units In addition to the usual printed list of numbers representing the results of a calculation a Cal Comp Plotter will provide a paper copy of any graph or other data shown on the display tube Also the display tube may be photographed by a polaroid camera themselves arnd to perform analyses on baiiainiie nlsedt eeeee Specialinequipment the analog CDRC for the data collected space to aconverts form suitable digital computers Also tapes are prepared in this center that provide trajectory instructions for the boost vehicles used on all the manned spacecraft flights and for the nation's ballistic missiles TRW Space Technology Laboratories is an operating group of Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc one of the nation's leading manufacturers of aviation aerospace electronics and automotive products In its modern facilities in Redondo Beach California TRW-STL is designing and producing the Orbiting Geophysical Observatory and Interplanetary Pioneer spacecraft for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Nuclear Detection Vela Satellites for the U S Air Force TRW-STL is also providing Systems Integration and Test Support for the U S Navy's antisubmarine warfare program For more than 10 years TRW-STL has also provided systems engineering and technical direction for the Thor Atlas Titan and Minuteman Ballistic Missile Programs The On-Line Computer is part of TRW's Computation and Data Reduction Centers CDRC which is under the technical direction of Dr Eldred C Nelson The heart of the Computing Center of CDRC but not presently involved in the On-Line Computer operation is a pair of IBM 7094 fully transistorized digital computers and all the peripheral equipment necessary to print daily a quantity of data equivalent to the contents of a Sunday New York Times newspaper 12 - Computers and Centers Overseas New Data Centurs f 'ldt auINam ' r' minals capable of transmitting at a speed of 600-1200 bauds This system will be worked out in cooperation with General Electric and the ITT Company The paper tape terminals will also be equipped with Olivetti typewriters haylng a speed of 40 characters per second Industridata AB was formed by ASEA FACIT SAAB and the Scandinavian Power Company to promote administrative and scientUic data processing The data centers in Stockholm Gothenburg and Malmb are equipped with the Swedish-built computers FACIT EDB and SAAB D21 In June there will be delivered itGeneral Electric GE-625 to ASEA Visterlis 70 miles from Stockholm with a Datanet 30 This installation will be operated by Industridata for many varieties of remote terminal equipment Programming will be made in ALGOL COBOL and FORTRAN and special systems will be worked out for various engineering applications The network of terminals will be very advanced thanks to the special communication machine Datanet 30 There are also negotiations with the Swedish Board of Telecommunications for entering lines with a capacity of 60 000 bauds Normally the data will be transferred over switched lines Initially a UNIVAC 1004 will be installed in Solna where the headquarters of Industridata is lcated At the data center in Gothenburg and at most customers there will be paper tape ter- S N 1 ig El X2 P'an• h lg•a I r Ilugur ' N 'et -land ' each time in conformity with the existing need be selected freely and developed from simple apparatus in the initial stages of the automatization into large systems suitable for processing mass quantities of information GENERAL With the EL X2 the N V ELECTROLOGICA has constructed a data processing system which combines great processing speeds with low prices a small basic installation with practically unlimited expanding possibilities and a simple programming code with possibilities of expansion in a widely varying field In the construction of this machine naturally fully transistorized and built with miniature components the severe rationalization in designing the logical units has enabled the utilization of labour-saving and therefore cost-savingtechniques This enables ELECTROLOGICA to launch the EL X2 at very low prices CENTRAL PROCESSOR The central processor consists of three parts the arithmetic unit the control system and the interrupt system It is installed in a metal cabinet 81-1 2 x 31 x 30 inches to which the control panel is also fixed COMMUNICATION WITH PERIPHERAL APPARATUS The basic limited-size installation consists of a central processor a 4096-word core store whit h corresponds to about 30 000 decimal digits a teleprinter for input output with 56 different symbols and 69 positions per line and a five-channel punched-tape input for automatic operation of the keyboard It has an output x-eed of 10 symbols sec The possibilitie of expansion on the other hand are very many The composition of the machine can The communication with the peripheral apparatus is attended to by the control unit a part of the central processor which at the same time makes use of the interrupt system An interrupt signal is issued when the auxiliary unit concerned has completed an instruction to transport a number of information units stated in the program and can therefore accept a new 13 Instruction The control is then automatically shifted to the appurtenant standard interrupt program which if necessaiy attends to the initiation of a following information transport The interrupt system guarantees an efficient operation of the auxilary equipment and makes possible a large measure of simultaneity in the operation of central processor and peripheral equipment The standard interrupt programs are delivered together with the apparatus tape punch P 150 for output in five- seven- or eight-channel punched tape spccd 150 symb sac CORE STORE The word length Is 27 binary positions I e line printer RD 5 10 50 different sym- parity bit this corresponds to seven or decimal digits sign The access time store Is 2 5 microseconds The size of store can be expanded a maximum of words 4096 words of to store are housed punched card read and punch unit two tracks speed 7200 cards hour track o fast card reader speed 42 000 cards hour c a card punch speed 18 000 cards hour bols 144 positions per line 4et automatically at a speed of 5 alphanumeric eight to the the 32 768 In a o a fast line printer RD 20 50 different symbols 144 positions per line speed 20 lines sec ' metal cabinet of the same measurements as mentioned above I l a clock with twofold function it indicates the time with an accuracy of 10 me and signals the ei ds of program controlled time intervals from 10 ms upwards MASS STORE For storing mass quantities of information magnetic discs and magnetic drums can be connected A magnetic disc unit consists of at least 4 and at most 16 discs On each disc 450 000 words can be written The rotation time is 60 milliseconds The access time to an arbitrarily situated word on one of the discs is on an average 195 milliseconds The magnetic drum has 512 tracks of 1024 words so in total 524 288 words can be recorded on 1 drum The rotation time is 42 milliseconds the aver- AND EVEN THE EL X8 In case of a very great increase of activities the possibility exists of engaging the EL XS This can be done in several ways The central processor of the EL X2 is replaced by that of the EL XS In that case the peripheral equipment is connected to the EL X8 a The central processor of the EL X2 together with its auxiliary equipment are connected to the EL X8 as a satellite installation age access time 21 milliseconds NUMBER OF AUXILIARY DEVICES A maximum of 16 auxiliary devices can be connected to the EL X2 a number of magnetic tape units connected serially courting as one device The user is entirely free W ch- se from the great variety of input output equipment To realize these possibilities it has been arranged that EL X2 programs can be executed on the EL X8 The representation of the EL X2 instruction is in fact the same as that of the corresponding EL X8 instructions in both machines the communication with the peripheral equipment is based on the same principles INPUT OUTPUT EQUIPMENT Besides the teleprinter with punched tape input mentioned under basic installation the following auxiliary equipment can be connected to the EL X2 THE INSTRUCTION ARSENAL Besides the arithmetical operations--additions subtractions multiplications and divisions-the EL X2 understands a great number of transport jump and shift instructions and several logical operations For the internal recording of the so-called function part of these instructions i e the part which describes the nature of the instruction no fewer than 12 binary positions are available The number of five-channel punched tape output to the teleprinter speed 10 symb sec punched tape reader EL 1000 for input of five- seven- or eight-channel punched tape speed 1000 symb sec 14 I YONNibiLitie waich can oe reauiect in this way DOME INUBTRUCTION TUMED 37 5 moftascf adita necessary than great greater is extremely for the most extensive system of is instructions Squestions The remaining possibilities are utilized by providing the instructions with a number of subasdiary functions e g questions reactions to address modification or Indirect addressing and use of constants not taking up any store space In this way instructions with a fourfold function can be composed which carry with it a very great efficiency subtraction 40 microseconds multiplication 250 microseconds division microseconds 350 3OFTWARZ THE PROGRAMMER'S CODE The user of the EL X2 has aths dtuposal The expansion of the function of elementary Instructions described above appears to full advantage in the code used by the programmer Moreover this code is easy to operate The nature of the operations is indicated by the sign which is customary for them or by their abbreviated name Operands can at will be named in such a way that their name corresponds with the nature of the quantity concerned clearness of Needless to say the desired the programs is greatly advanced by this This clearness is of great importance If programs are exchuaged with other users Address modification and indirect addressIng finally make available to the programmer the means by which very flexible programs can be drawn up @ interrupt programs for the communication of the central processor with the peripheral equipment s standard programs which are used by the programmers to be able to work in a simple way with the input output equipment such as sorting programs for magnetic tap apparatus an extensive subroutine library complete programs of operations of frequent occurrence in the administrative and techalcal sclentific fields Moreover compilers of various programming languages are developed Istituto di Elettrotecnica Cpntra h ELtetropai Uniwsit'diG•o•v G nottv 1l14y A new research group has been formed at the Istituto di Elettrotecntca of the Universita' di Genova under the directorship of Professor Enrico Astuni The group has centered its activities around the following three themes s Implementation of a series of computer programs for the synthesis of logical networks Concerning this last point the Institute does not have its own computer rather the University of Genoa has established a Computing Center to work for all departments of the University The Computing Center is equipped with medium scale IBM equipment and for Jobs exceeding its capacity other University Computing Centers in Italy are available under a coordinated plan Characterization of switching components presently field-effect transistors are being investigated Study of iterative sequential networks and TAC-A High-Speed Real-Time Computer The Marrani ompany limWLed ChemLsj ord Essex England INTRODUCTION Itary systems These projects have provided unique experience of the requirements of Digital Systems Engineering and have led to the development of a range of advanced semiconductor circuits designed for reliable operation over Teams of Marconi engineers have been engaged over a long period in the application of digital methods to a succession of complex Mil- I 15 2I long periods These circuits of which the reliability has now been proved by experimnea in the field have been applied to the TAC computer-a high-speed general-purpose machine for real-time data processing and control puters The highway system on TAC allows I- Ut ho n •_l-h n from 2 or 3 in the basic installation up to about 100 or more with no changes to existing equipment In real-time applications the computer is taking part in a process as it occurs Examplea are Priority Interrupt This facility which is vital for real time computers allows any external device to domand the computer's attention at any time A system of priorities is allocated so that simultaneous interrupts do not cause confusion in the machine Typical applications include the oporation of sequential control equipment and the handling of alarms 1 The monitoring of the operation of industrial plant involving the detection of equipment failure and the measurement and display of temperatures pressures and flows 2 The control of industrial equipment such as steam turbines boilers fractionating columna of ground or air traffic or of military weapons systems Peripheral Equipment Availalle 3 The generation and reception of teleprinter or other digital messagos for subsequent processing for rerouting or for display It is not sufficient just to develop a computer for real time application A whole range of elements is needed from which particular systems can readily be assembled The principal elements designed for use with TAC are Because in general the related process cannot be held up whenever the computer fails reliability is an essential design objective Equally the computer must be capable of ready integration into a wide variety of environments and must be directly compatible with a corresponding range of equipment for sensing variables and for storing and displaying them 1 The Digital Scanning Unit for sensing pushbutton commands contact closures and so on 2 The Analogue Scanning Unit for measuring plant parameters 3 The Marconi Cathode Ray Tube Tabular Display System which presents up-to-date information to operators in plain language on a CRT screen allowing rapid communication between operator and computer FEATURES High Speed TAC is a parallel machine working with fast transistor circuitry and its consequent high speed of operation frequently means a reduction in peripheral equipment Most simple orders in etc gsare such as fetch add subtract 92 unlimited andobeyed 22 ps Multiplication takes input orders only 10 nLs per word 4 The Magnetic Drum Unit to provide economical storage of information where relatively rapid access is important 5 The Magnetic Tape Unit for the economical storage of large quantities of information where longer access times are permissible Reliability Electric typewriters and printers are of course also available Well toleranced and conservatively rated semiconductor components are used throughout The computer is built largely of diode-transistor nor nand elements constructed on high-grade fiberglas printed circuit boards Independent tests on the standard logic circuits have continued for over 27 million semiconductor hours with only I failure Systems Analysis SMany real time computer systems are oxtremely complex and the Marconi Company maintains a group of System Analysts who design complete systems to customers requirements Both small and large systems have been handled including some multiple computer instaliations each involving over 100 racks of equipment Highway Input Output System An easily expanded input output facility is essential for real time process control com16 I 1 I I COMPUTER DESIGNI avb r General TAC is a fixed- point paraltlel comjnptoo with a 20-bit word and a 4096-word core store It ts a single address sequential machine which aBT implies simple programming and an economical equipment design Storage The 4096-word ferrite core store has an access time of 4 Ais and a cycle time of 10 A s Data and instructions are stored interchange wMn sewn IGS ably and are transferred to and from the store via the memory register M4 Normally as soon as one instruction has been obeyed the next instruction is already waiting in the register M to be transferred to the control register UI Control 1WWMMTIVST5 The Control System Includes two registers C the control register and E the Instruction counter C contains the Instruction currently being obeyed and its contents are decoded by the Control Unit which controls the action of the various parts of the computer and the flow of information between them The register E which consists of only 12 binary digits contains the address of the next Instruction Since instructions are normally obeyed in sequence E is increased by one at the start of each order Jump orders however may completely change the value of E so the next instruction Is then obtained from an entirely different part of the store Arithmetic trol Th Aitmti Sstmincludes the three Arithetic Sysemc f2 inr iis Thegitr gt registeorsmall and aseac dofbl20 biaryigts rme and Biha normallys An act asaeoulelegteacu mulator i e 40 binary digits with B as the less significant half so that when adding to B any overflow is automatically added into A D may be used as a single length accumulator The Arithmetic System Includes besides A B and D the Arithmetic Unit which contains all the logical circuits required to perform addi tions shifts and transfers More complex opothbyirepettion of theseon ae saimpl fucarionned simpenderthediretio fnctins of he onunit Figure I-TAC block diagramn nected to its peripheral units by a highway consisting of 1 A data highway of 20 lines allowing Information to be transmitted from computer to peripheral units or conversely at up to 10 5 words per sccond 2 A Route Selection highway which is used to address a particular peripheral unit The Route Selection Register is set by the progeraphera andith whigeihwayigactivate h the selece periheraluishl niiin h cino l 3 A control highway which Includes an 'inerp lndtexhgectoliesad aneirupctlione datwexherang conptorolln andotu anoesindicati ndo wethrad nuo notu poesi eadd When a peripheral unit requires attention it indicates this by earthing the 'interrupt' line This diverts the computer into the 'interrupt sub-routine' which will Interrogate the highway to discover which units need attention and will deal with them before returning to programme This feature is of great valife in real-time eyetems since it avoids the need for programmed The Input Output System The computer input output system is based on the use of a 'highway ' The computer is con17 examination of the demands of peripheral units which can be extremely wasteful of time 44 45 46 47 Shift AB left N places Shift AB riaht N niaeaa Shift D left N places Shift D right N places ii TAC OUDER CODE Input Output Jumps jump 12 As no jump 16 As 00 Unlimited input to N onwards 01 Unlimited output from N onwards 02 03 04 05 06 Input to N Output from N Input to A or D 16 Io x Jump to N if gs 1e AS Jump to N and 1 Jump to N if Transfers and Simple Arithmetic 10 11 12 13 14 Fetch N to A Add N toA Subtract N from A N with A Store in N from A 1 15 AB - N 16 Justify Ai• 17 Clear N 20 Fetch N to B 2 1 Add N to Bt 2 2 Subtract N from B 23 NwihB73 22 us Jump to N and 22 As us 16 22 As Miscellaneous 22 As 24 Store in N from B 16As 24 As 16 us 30 31 32 33 34 22 us 35 36 Ones in A - D 37 - 53 54 55 56 AB negative B trigger set B trigger not met clear prohibition I 57 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 Link to N 22 As D zero D non-zero D positive D negative fail trigger set clear or set prohibition F clear prohibition R Jump to N m 70 ordernext B Ninstruction 77 with 71 B Modify 22 As D or N D if'address - 0 72 Count next word up to N Decimal to Binary conversion 15 or 24 A s So is 64 ýs 74 Binary to Decimal conversion 67 As 25 D-AorA-D 26 Comp AD or D 27 Clear AB or D Fetch N to D Add N to D Subtract N from D NwithD Store in N from D 50 AB zero 51 AS non-zero 52 AD positive 24 As 24 As Output from A or Df 07 Send N 16 10 x gs 75 Transfer priority or RSR toD 16 us l16 s 76 SetPRSRtoN 16 pAs 77 Clear or Set prohibition N B Where there are two alternatives e g 04 Input to A or D address 0 implies the first alternative and address 1 the second except in order 71 ENGINEERING FORM Multiplication and similar operations and Shifts The computer is housed in racks 7 feet 312 cm tall by 13 feet 305 cm wide by 15 inches 38 cm deep overall Its associated control desk which incorporates a tape punch and a high-speed tape reader as standard is 4-1 2 feet 137 cm wide by 28 inches 71 cm deep 40 Multiply AB by N product in AB 41 Multiply AB by N product rounded off in A 42 Divide AB by N 43 Square Root of AS The dissipation of the computer and desk including paper tape equipment is 1 2 kw The ma e is powerbd from 45 65 cycles per sec ond mains at 240 volts 6% The machine in capable of operation at ambient temperatures of up to 40°C 16 - 49 As 92 As 94 As 100 us 80-155 us 18 2 AUi highways are speclafly designed to A supply of cool air is recommended since ihe uemiconducior reliabivity increawuu um u hc WIiLIMJiMAU il -ILA operating temperature is reduced loss against protected 3 The computer failure and can throughiswains of pxograiue SPECIAL FEATURES 1 Should a peripheral unit be disconnected or switched off the computer will not be capable of communicating with It Input or output orders will then 'fail ' and the computer is automat cally linked to a special sub-routine which can arrange for example for print-out to take place using a second printer where a first has not responded The highway will still operate normally for the remaining units be supplied with special batteries to permit continued operation for a limited period 4 A 'watchdog timer' can be provided to indicate computer failure It will operate an alarm unless reset regularly by the computer programme 5 The computer control desk provides excellent facilities for programme testing and for machine maintenance 1 19 A Miscellaneous On Line Experiments in Particle Physics hutitultJorComputer Researrh f t University uqfChikego GhiragJ 1uimns 60 63 7 curacy of about ±1 2 mm has been routinely observed The experiment in which the spark chamber was employed was the measurement of the energy spectrum of electrons from mumeson decay Momentum analysis was made by using a magnetic field the spark chambers delineating the electron track through the magnetic field with a minimum of material in the track Run-time programs that reconstruct the track in space and analyze the curvature of the track in a magnetic field follow the immediate tests for the legality of the event Data rates were low enough that direct computer control of the experiment was unnecessary Thirty thousand events were accumulated per day The Maniac MIf computer has been used online with physics experiments at the University of Chicago Cyclotron Much of the experimentation involved the use for the first time in a physics experiment of the wire spark chamber that was developed at the University's'Jnstitute for Computer Research Spark chambers are particle detectors that provide geometric information about the location of a particle track The wire chamber developed at Chiciego divides the chamber into many strips thereby producIng digitized coordinate information directly from the spark The coordinate information is written into a memory core by the spark current for later readout under control of the coraputer or of a preprocesser Track location ac- PLATO 11 and III Tw e Univderaityo I Cou'rdimatrdScYience La mjlryt• na% U1riine 11i doi The purpose of the PLATO project see Digital Computer Newsletters dated Oct 1961 July 1962 Apr July Oct 1964 Jan and Apr 1905 has been to develop an automatic computer-controlled teaching system of suff iexperimental evaluato permit cdentofflexibility in automatic in tion a large variety of ideas struction including simultaneous tutoring of a largen incumberno stmudentsaineos riet ofofsub-a Wa ge number of students aa variety PLATO systemin differs from most jet The ITe n that the power of a large jects circuitry required for the realization of a 20student-station teaching system Student station circuitry constructed thru December 1984 includea al that is required for ired Only Decemer of in tsuden stat the operation of eight student stations Only three of the eight stations are fully operable are underfive out stations the remaining however going installation and check and were expected to be fully operable during the first quarter 1965 d n qtations %ai n ttoAnbeIntermediate ef ly operable o e a goal l innof N 10v stum e fully November dent 1964 has not been met mainly because of slow- teAching systems inta ness of delivery of required electronic compo- INTRODUCTION h oe falre nents digital computer 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 PLATO III SYSTEM EQUIPMENT 1964 wor conM During the fourth quarter 1964 work continued in the development and construction of Development continues on special circuitry which will update present equipment or provide special system facilities Included are transistor deflection power control master keyset and master video switch THE CATO SYSTEMS PROGRAM EThe CATO Compiler for Automatic Teach ing Operations systems program consists maitly of the followine 20 J Ul FORTRAN RESIDENT modified version CAwuM - the compiler part which corresponds to FORTBIN LOGICOMP - the logical section of the compiler CATORES - the resident program for CATO-compiled teaching programs position data zenerated bv the digital com puter must be converted to an analog signal to position the electron beam of the RiytheoP memory tube Depending on the mode seleeted by the computer this beam reads writes or erases a spot on the storage tube To display the Information of the memory tube on the student television screen it is necessary to form a video signal from the stored data Figure 2 gives a block diagram of the plasma displiy tube complex Since the tentative completion of CATO programs in the last quartdr the system has gone through its initial trial period During this period various errors in all above parts have been uncovered and corrected CATORES had the least while LOGICOMP had the most Also some desirable changes in the systems programs have been suggested by the usera of the CATO system These are being considered and changes to the systems programs are being made accordingly spot postio dta Computsr '1ipl Figure 2--Proposed student plasma display tube complex Only one mode is necessary for control of the plasma-display tube the erase mode Digital spot position data are directly used by the plasma-display tube and as mentioned above the storage and display features are innate to the plasma-display device A matrix of gas cells makes up the plasmadisplay tube Fig 3 shows a simple matrix consisting of four rows and four columns The cells are filled with an inert gas The principle of operation is as follows 'The firing voltage Vf is greater than the sustaining voltage V when a cell that is not fired is held at V it remains unfired To fire a cell the corremronding row and column mre selected and a pulse added to each of polarity such that the voltages across the cell add and raise the voltage above Vf firing the cell Either pulse alone is too small to initiate a discharge If at least one set of conductors rows or columns is transparent innate display results Once a cell is fired it it maintained by V which is always across the array As was previously mentioned 1 the switches ruay be made of elements similar to the gas cells of the matrix and by suitable interconnection the number of external connections is reduced from 2 ÷3 to 2 2n 1 For an array consisting of 256 by 256 cells the number of external connections is reduced from 512 to 34 The row and column conductors are placed externally to eliminate firing of adjacent cells under certain situations see Fig 4 PLASMA DISCHARGE DISPLAY TUBE RESEARCH The purpose of the plasma-display tube project is to develop an inexpensive substitute for the present PLATO memory-tube complex This new system should cost less than onetwentieth of the present one One of the novel characteristics of the plasma-display tube is the innate ability to display information that to stored so it will be called the plasma-display tube rather than plasma-memory tube The present memory tube may be compared to the plasma display tube system as follows Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the present memory-tube complex Digitpl spot Comr Rood writs erar 0Sf' 1'' deat a l Converte - to Tube J 7 Maod s ector •rs The subroutines called TRANSFER and CONNECT were added to the systems library tape The former is a multipurpose routine which allows the users to treat pairs of characters to be equivalent count number of characters ignore and or find certain ones or store them in a specified way The latter routine is used for communication between mtudent or teacher stations Mode slector ml student TPao Display tube complex Figure 1--Present student memory 1 As each student site must have a memory dovice the savings for even a small number of student sites can be large 21 Coordinated Science Laboratory Quarterly Progress Report for December 1963 January and February 1964 Wrt soI J 12 pul 311 Ss l 045 cm cells asinig4 adAjcncelbadc Figre3-Plsm fitmarix Asfm gawshcellgtcelas dspayreie plsets aresplmedo theat and ae clm proth row column of the matrix however since cells b rlow anpid aprorae ple pulses are plaedothe N- ' I I I Iance I I Figure 4--Firing of adjacency problem-either a or d could fire both will fire Putting the row and column conductors on the outside adds a series Impedto each cell helping to isolate cells and attenuates the pulse as it passes through fired cells Sputtering problems are eliminated and construction is simplified by the external conductors Y TL as Moelrof poassarray Nr T T T Figure S-- Panel matrix n-odel 22 I b Transmission line analog I Transparenz conductors have a non-zero resistance typically a few ohms between each c11- wawi in capacitatively coupled into the cells A transmission line analog may be made for the matrix see Fig 5 and a worse-case analysis dode Lu determine the upper frequency such that writing pulses are attenuated less than 10-percent in traveling across the array The result from such a calculation using measured values of r and c for a one-cell structure Programs for analyzing data generated by TEXT-T22T E iii Leviug piinned When TEXT-TESTER was demon•tr t to representativo of the Mlementary Behool Science Project the School Science Curriculum Project and the University of Illinois Social Studies Curriculum Study Center curriculum projects located at the University of nllinois the prospect of having this evaluative tool avail- shown in Mi 6 indicates that f 106 cps GiftsI oil#@h Thin I able was enthusiastically received Thin reylot Controlled Inter-station Communication In considering the possible research uses of the PLATO system I discovered that the capability of communicating among stations would generalize PLATO by establishing a new dimen- 1 sion of PLATO research With the capability of a controlled inter-station communicaiion it would for example be possible to perform experiments in gaming simulation and group interaction of interest to the behavioral solestists PLATO would offer an iadvantage over conventional studies of this sort because it o Cal g ed • i' Figure 6 -- Construction of a one cell display tube would supply very flexible but completely defined means of communication together with a recording of moves in experiment in a form convenient for later analysis The rules controlllng the interaction via keyset and TV screen could take a number of different forms for example rules explicitly imposed by the program rules imposed and changed by one or more players during a game or rules derived One main problem remains to be solved in makinag practical n plasma display tube This mking pfull is the problem of charge build-up on the walls of the gas cell which lowers the firing potentiai to V A number of experiments are currently being performed to eliminate this charge buildup and it is expected that a solution will be reported next quarter from the successive actions of the players In order to make possible the controlled inter-station communication it was necessary only to modify the compiler by adding a 20word routine CONNECT That such a small change permits such a strong generalization of PLATO's usefulness is evidence of the maturity of the PLATO system Like other features of the compiler CONNECT is easy for the programmer to use thereby placing the emphasis where it belongs on the objectives and tech iques of the lesson-writer or game-designer PLATO LEA ebbING AND TEACHING RESEARCH Text-Tester A prelinilnar-- version of TEXT-TESTER a PLATO teaching logic designed to help evaluate new textbooks is now available This program permits each student to manipulate the test as he would a book e g he can flip pages skipping text exercises and even chapters and answer questions whenever he elects to In addition the student can request that the system judge his answers During this quarter several dozen faculty members some from curriculum study groups and others representing various arias in the behavioral sciences have viewed demonstrations of the generalized PLATO and given us their comments on PLATO's potential usefulness in new curriculum and behavioral science research Discussion with these people and also with representatives of the Department of Defense interested in command and control problems have substantiated our contention that we have indeed added a valuable new dimension Lo PLATO's capabilities Provisions are included for the author to quickly change portions of the text to insert attitudinal or other questions calling for paragraph answers from the students and insert tests of any length which are automatically administered by the system at the appropriate point in the student's progress through the text despite the fact that the atudent is not required to follow any predetermined path through the materials 23 D Amn rnntrno fnr Real Exneriments Demonstration Programs for the In the pant the PLATO teaching stations have been used for presenting lesson material to students as well as allowing them to perform experiments simulated by the computer The possibility of using the student stations for controlling experiments and receiving data from them was examined during this quarter In co operation with F Propst an experiment involvlag pulse height counting was chosen for our first project Digital data from the experiment are inserted into the computer via the keyset lines The output functions from the PLATO system normally used for writing on the student's screen are used for controlling the vartables of the experiment By using the subroutine called CONNECT the experimenter can use one student station to describe the experiment which the computer then controls on another station At the completion of the experiment the experimenter can process the results and have the calculations displayed in visual form on his TV screen These features have been tested using a preliminary experiment A second program is In progress which will allow the experimenter to combine the results of several experiments The lesson TEACHER which expltins thib structure and operation of the PLATO system has been completed It provides a discussion of the system as a whole the television display the keyset and the programming logic The lesson demonstrates many of the major capabilitles of the PLATO system and is the first in a series of lessons to instruct potertial PLATO lesson-writers Since the lesson was coded in PLATO compiler language it serves as a simple reference model for compiler format The revised version of Perimeters of ' aolygons has been completed and together with the Addition of Fractions program will be used as an example of PLATO tutorial logic 1EPLAB In the interest of debugging the PLATO compiler the REPLAB program scientific inquiry training sequence based on the bimetal strip exneriment has been rewritten in compiler luaguage This is the third language in which it has been programmed ILLIAC CbDAP and PLATO compiler Several minor comptlei changes were suggested by the reprogranimiung Although this concept was originally developed to allow experimenters to perform and analyze experiments quickly its use as a teaching tool is also important All the student stations have access to the exv riment Thus the students can perform indi ti'Aal experiments with a relatively expensive piece of equipment which normally could not be supplied to them The factor analysis of the student data from the REPLAB runs of the spring of 1964 is still being cr'rried on Historic SHAC Computer Part Presented to Smithsonisn National Bureau oJ'Standard L1whiagton D C 20234 After 15 years of service one of the Nation's pioneer electronic computers SEAC reached Its final resting place on February 24 In a small ceremony held in the computer laboratory of the National Bureau of Standards U S Department of Commerce Dr A V Astin NBS Director presented typical parts of SEAC to Dr Walter F Cannon Curator in Charge Division of Physical Sciences of the Smithsonian Institution The parts were from the cornputer's memory computing unit and control the first internally progri dgital corputer to go into operaticn m we United States 1 Developed originally to wz tiA the Air Force to attack massive logistic oprl lakms SEAC was also used to perform computations required in the design of the first H-bomb ISEAC the National Bureau of Standards Eastern Automatic Computer NBS Tech News Bull 34 121-125 Sept 1950 SEAC improvements increase computing power NBS Tech News Bull 38 8-13 Jan 1954 and Electronic Computer Research issue of the NBS Tech News Bull 42 57-66 April 1958 console When completed at NBI in 1950 SEAC Standards Electronic Automatic Computer was 24 3I SEAC has since been used in a wide variety of computer research Including experimentalion in automatic searching of chemical pitents and the manipulation of pictorial data and in such novel tasks as moving cars on streets existing only in the computer memory SEAC also demonstrated the feasibility of techniques which contributed to successive generations of computers ceremony April 23 1964 2 At that time many of the group which originally developed aPn built the machine gathered at the Bureau to bid the machine farewell Now SEAC is physically disappearing R Is being dismantled and except for those parts going to the Smithsonian for display its usable remains will be scattered through government surplus distribution Current problems and experiments now require the higher speeds and greater memory capacities of the more modern machines Because of this SEAC was retired in a special ZNBS pioneer digital computer retired NBS Tech News Bull 48 112-114 July 1964 Cenputer Plots Potential Nuclear Damage Ma' irma lhuye tal 5 1 antrth• IWa •inghon D C' The NES Institute for AppL ud Technology 1 S Department of Commerce has developed a •oomputer program for use by the Defense Communications Agency DCA in planning its wor 'dwide communications network The DCA is designing the system for continued operation in the event of any national emergency its sites materials and construction features must therefore be selected to withstand the effects of a nuclear bomb The computer program was devised by Mat Lits Joel and Douglas D Lottridge of the NBS Information Technology Division It is used with a plotter to produce overlays showing on standard maps the hardto withstand hyof installations ness required attacks nuclear pothetical known The overpressure from a given blast becomes less with increasing distance from it and in this program is assumed to be the same at all points equidistant from it thus circles of overpressure values can be drawn around a target See Fig 1 OVERPRESSURE FROM NUCLEAR BLASTS there less but this advantage would have to be balanced against any increased cost and uncertainty of maintaining and communicating with the station Geographic presentations of hardness requirements are essential to the DCA since site selection may involve trade-oils among several factors FACILITY HARDNESS The ability of a structure to withstand a blast is called hardness and is expressed as the pounds of overpressure which it can withstand A building hardened to 2 psi could withthan 2 lessones overpressures stand by greater be destroyed wouldhaving psi butblasts The hardness requirements of a more remote 8fte might be lower and cost of construction A nuclear detonation affects life structures and weather in several ways-by the shock wave heat and other radiation The DCA is interested in knowing the immediate effects on stations of a communications network from hypothetical detonations of assumed intensity and height Stations directly under a prime target might be annihilated some a few miles away might escape if massively protected and others still farther out might survive even though poorly protected To plan its communications system the DCA must know for certain assumed attacks Just how much protection'would be needed at alternative locations The DCA can now quickly determine lethal radii of overpressures around prime targets by use of the Bureau program to compute and plot the circles along which specified values of overpressure are expected This computation is performed on a digital computer and the results encoded on magnetic tape The tape is used to drive a plotter printing concentric circles of overpressures on transparent overlays on the same scale as the World Aeronautical 'Charts The hardness requirements at tenta'tive sites for specific hypothesized attacks of one or several simultaneous blasts can be visually determined a• d compared by placing the appropriate overlay on the chart showing the assumed target and sites being considered The immediate' destructive power of an explosion can be calculated as overpressure shock wave pressure in pounds per square inch above the prevailing atmosphere if the distance from the burst and its height and yield are 25 I rr Figure I The computer program and the overlays produced admittedly do not take into consideration all factors which affect the suitability of facility sites Considerations of topography and prevailing climate could be added to an overlay but would seriously limit ease of using the method In its present form the program provides readily available guidelines as required eliminating the need for laborious hand calculations and manual mapping computer program by the circular error probable CEP factor A miss would r'esult in overpressures higher than calculated at one side of the target and the destruction of faciltties not adequately overhardened While facilities on the opposite side of the target would be less taxed and their survival more favored the program makes allowance for the CEP in order to evaluate realistically the worst-case overpressure SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION1 Tie probabilities of overpressure ing hardness for various CEP distance exceedvalues have been calculated These can be used to select a specified number of CEP's to be added to each lethal radius this CEP multiplier is an input parameter of the program Its net effect is to enable some fatilities to meet off-target excesses and to give others the advantage of being overhardened Correction for Off-Target Blasts SThe Smiss fact that a bomb may not detonate iramediately above Uts intended target but may in an unpredictable direction by a distance related to probability is allowed for In the lFor further technical information see A program for plotting circles o f constant Overpr'essure around targetted points by Mai Liis Joel and Douglas D Lottridge N1 3S Te ch Note 249 Oct 1964 available at the cost of 40 cents from the Superintendent of Docuaments U S Government Printing Office Washington D C Z040Z 26 I Sfti fli '- fSyP cPwvbiemsmby of Naval Reorelrl Wash ington P C 2036•0 A compý aer system that can learn to handle increasingly complex tasks by using its own past experience plus human guidance is being developed by Mrs Aiko Hormann at System Development Corporatior Santa Monica Calif The system is called Gaku which Is a Japanese name denoting learning sequently this near sightedneln of the problemoriented mechanism is corrected by a third mechanism which takes a larger view often at an abstract level of a given task This component called the planning mechanism Is capable of analyzing the structure of a given probiem and placing guideposts on the road to the MOlution After surveying the tank as a whole this mechanism subdivides the task into a hierarchy of subtasks each of which is supposed to be easier to perform than the original task This hierarchy of subtaks constitutes a rough sketch of a possible course of action that guides the problem-oriented mechanism To make efficient use of G ku's experi- The Office of Naval Research has announced the award of a contract to SDC to provide partial support for the continuation of Mrs Hormann's research under ONR's information systems research program Gaku is not a machine but a new way of usIng a digital computer in partnership with man In the conventional method of using a computer fully-detailed instructions must be programmed into the machine specifying the exact steps needed to arrive at the solution to a given problem These methods are inadequate if the data are incomplete and the solution procedure not precisely known in advance Further it is not feasible to store in the computer's memory all the specific procedures required to solve all problems some ceivd tim of th a th sytem which s dsigedabout may not even be conceived at the time the system is designed Gaku overcomes this basic difficulty by utilizing and procedures of a more generalinstructions nature This material actually consists of general rules for decision making and information handling which the system can apply to a widp variety of problems When given a specific problem Gaku then uses these general procedures to work out an appropriate course of search and experimentation leading toward the desired particular solution Exzperienes ence the problem-oriented mechanism is also influenced by the induction mechanism which takes a still larger view of a given task Them induction mechanism can survey the system's past experience with various problems and apply relevant experience to new problems Although it may be noted that many of the huma at ofman Intelligence are ando learning asd wn ha the ayesknw tem is not intended to be a deliberate imitation of human processes Gaku works in partnership with man who is its teacher in the early stages Gradually the system increases its capability as It works with its human colleague He assists by giving Gaku samples of other previously-solved problems relating to the subject general information which might be In the form of a lecture and suggestions on how the task might be done In order to evaluate Gaku's performance and detect its limitations Mrs Hormann has used as a testing vehicle a sequence of increasingly difficult problems taken from the Tower of Hanoi puzzle This puzzle involves a tower or stack of disks of Increasing size from the top to bottom The problem is to transfer the disks from the peg on which they rest to either of two empty pegs in the fewest possible moves but moving only one disk at a time and never placing a larger disk on top of a smaller one Humans faced with this puzzle sometimes take hours to solve it and some give up completely Gaku has four major components or mechanisms First there is a programming mechanism for manipulating basic operations and prestructured programs similar to a programmer' s function normally done outside the comnputer The second and key component is the problem-oriented mechanism which is responsible for determining the overt behavior of the system This mechanism both constructs and carries out the required sequence of actions leading to the solution of a given problem It contains the procedural rules mentioned above which choose actions more efficiently than random trial-and-error search These rules are of a step-by-step nature causing the mechanism to attack problems in piecemeal fashion Gaku started by working on the relatively simple three-disk case After solving it the system used this experience to find the solution moves for progressively more difficult problems involving a larger number of disks finally finding a general solution pattern through the induction mechanism This process however tends to lose sight of the total picture of the given problem Con- 27 II Currently the system is only in a rudimen- total population remains constant The Navy is tary stage and ts not yet able to handle a wilde variety of complex tasks There are many problems of both a technical and conceptual nalure that must be solved before the desired alreaay expending tremendous amouutv u Litit and money on training bringing human talents and skills up to very high levels of performance yet even more is required fur effecive I generality and versatility can be achieved operation-effectiveness that is critical to survival of our national freedom - In her continuing research Mrs Hormann will look for new ways to make the system more efficient and general-purpose Oine of the principal areas to be covered in the next phase of research sponsored by ON is to improve communications between the human tutor and Gaku The object is to permit the tutor or experimenter to define problems and give suggestions to Gaku in a manner flexible and broad enough to resemble the approach of a teacher to a human student The Office of Naval Research is providing partial support under ONR's Information Systems research program because the modern Navy continues to become increasingly sophieticated and complex and consequently the demands made upon Navy people also increase Military commanders must sift through more information in less time laboratory scientists and engineers must use new mathematics on more difficult problems and operators and technicians are faced with almost unbelievably complex machines Yet the capabilities of people cannot be changed human memory capacity is relatively fixed conceptual grasp of multiple simultaneous factors in limited and the distribution of intellectual talents within the SThus the Navy is forced to turn more and more toward machine aids to help tomple ineidsctu pro esmen perform oern their complex intellectual processes Modern computers and electronic data processing equipment have already contributed very significantly to many of our activities but several highly useful and desirable processes still lie beyond the capability of even our most powerful present day machines Such processes include analysis of poorly defined situations identification of meaningful patterns in data and synthesis of possible courses of action These are just the activities with which the military cornmander or scientific problem solver is primarily concerned and thus any help along these lines provided to him by machines should increase his effectiveness remarkably Because these desirable capabilities lie largely beyond the current state of the cornputer art the Information Systems Branch of the Office of Naval Research is supporting a program of basic research in computer augmentation of human reasoning Mrs Hormann's project is one possible approach to solving the Navy's problem Redundant Digital Counting Circuits T he Penn gyh alnt State tltfiver•illy Univr sity Pinrk Pew lv'arti In the Computer Facilities Department of Electrical Engineering at The Pennsylvania Stata University research is being conducted on redundant digital counting circuits Redundancy is incorporated as an inherent result of the initial design procedure rather than being included after a nonredundant working design has been obtained Instead of using any of the known methods of simplification of Boolean functions the synthesis procedure involves the selection of a minimum number of terms which satisfy a connise set of distance and intersection properties The selection procedure is intrinsically suitable for machine computation The results of the first efforts have shown that by using minimum distance three-state assignments and considering error states when deriving the input equations counters tolerant of a single error can be synthesized Although one Flip-flop in the counter might be in error the other Flip-flops will continue to sequence correctly Thus acceptable sequencing will continue with a malfunctioning unit present in the circuit Because of the error correcting properties of the state assignment the correct count can be recovered A one bit error introduced by noise or an intermittent malfunction will be automatically corrected It is estimated that the cost of an errortolerant counter would be about three or four times the cost of a standard counter including the cost of the circuitry necessary to recover a state Several different approaches are being taken in an effort to reduce this cost and to explore other characteristics of the error-tolerant 28 counters approach is to useinput dual equafunction synthesis toOne derive the Flip-flop hUwx ap prunch in io use a minimum distance four-state assignment and a third method to Investigate the results minorityislogic This additional workofisusing being supported by The Bureau of Naval Weamponm and in under the supervision of Dr Boy L Rosso Automatic Control Center Purdue Univermily Two major problems of adaptive and selfoptimizing control are those of identification and optimization If a controlled system Is partially or completely unknown It is convenient to determine its mathematical input-output characteristics automatically so that with this information the controller can adapt itself to the system A promising approach involves the use of a delay line synthesizer model of the ioystem Here the delay line operator relating aystem output to input is approximated by a linear combination of pure delays The accuracy of the approximation has been determined for commonly occurring systems and inputs As a result the magnitude of the delays and number of terms in a linear combination of delays to achieve a given accuracy are known The problem remains of automatically determining the model so that it describes the systern to the desired accuracy This may be done fitting the response of the model to a given by input to that of the system to the same input A property of the delay line synthe remarkable slzer is that the variation of a coefficient in the delay line operator affects the response of the model primarily in one corresponding time domain only Rt is necessary to rum through the adjustment of the coefficients a few times only to fit a time response of the model to that of the system This ts analogous to frequency response curve fitting where adjustments affect certain ranges of frequency only This problem is under study satieflod When the controlled system is identified an adaptive controller must adjust its characteristics to fit the system Preferably this should be done to give optimal control Optimality is thus a problem that must be solved For a given controlled system given disturbances and given constraints on the controller one must determine the characteristics of the controller to yield optimal response For the case of a single controlled variable this means that the maximum error In the variable must be minimized the solution should have a minimum number of oscillations transient duration should be minimized'and other performance indices A typical constraint on the controller is that the rate of change of Its output namely the controlling variable is bounded This is often equivalent to the condition that the power available for control is bounded This maturation limitation always exists in practice For sudden disturbances arnd systems likely to occur In practice and this saturation limitation a single control function suflices to yield optimal control The theory has been extended to an arbitrary disturbance where an uncontrollable portion which the controller cannot follow to keep the system error at zero precisely is followed by a controllable portion sufficiently long to enable the controller to bring the eyetern error to zero The control function in this case involves only instantaneous measurements of the state variables and average values of the disturbance and its rate of change for a pr operly chosen future time interval Rfthese values are not known they must be estimated Errors in the estimations cause the system to be non-optimal but If they are small the system in sub-optimal The theory for sudden disturbances on a single controlled variable-single controlling variable system has been extended to the single controlled variable case with two controlling variables Here a check-decision process is needed for optimal control This can be readily automated with a digital couniputer Where a disturbance is known in advance correction can be initiated before the disturbance occurs For saturation systems an timprovement of as much as 8 1 in the maximum system error is possible If the disturbance is known sufficiently far in advance If the disturbance Is known in advance but not for a sufficiently long time interval the Improvement is not as great In fact up to a point the optimal control that can be achieved improves as the amount of time the disturbance is known in advance Increases The results described above were obtained on ONR Contract Nonr- 1100 20 They have appeared recently In reports to ONR in journals of the engineering societies or have been accepted for publication by these journals 29 The MINOS II Pattern Recognition Facility StanfordResearch Iutitum Spurer corndigitalbuilt addition of a small With in machine 11 learning thethe MMN t the Applied Physics Laboratory at SRI has evolved into a flexible facility for pattern recognhtion The MINOS H facility it able to accept pattern information from a variety of sources digital analog and optical and to assums various learning-machine structures The heart of the facility is the MINOS II learning machine or adaptive pattern classi11er built under the sponsorship of the U S Army Electronics Laboratories MINOS H belongs to a class of pattern recognition machines utilizing adaptive threshold logic units TLU's The central feature of MINOS II is a bank of 66 TLU's each containing 102 stored adaptive analfg weights or multipliers The analog weights are stored in a matrix of tape-wound magnetic cores addressed by coincident currents The weights of each TLU form an adaptive template vector whose correlations dot products with the 102-element pattern vectors are electrically generated on the read-out line of the TLU During training the weight vectors are automatically adapted by a complex algorithm built into the machine Early in 1965 MINOS 11 was joined to the SDS 910 a small binary digital computer The computer communicates with the input buffer which holds the patterns and reads back the decision information from MINOS U The computer can also read the 66 analog sums dot products through an A D converter The SDS 910 computer was first viewed as a controller and monitor for MINOS I providing faster operation immediate diagnosis on- I control of proof selective results and line analysisfor exleriments attentitm processing But it was soon discovered that the combined system opened many new avenues of research The computer can rearrange the outputs of the TLU's in MINOS I Into different decisionfunctions In this way w'hrle new classes of learnthg-machine'structurtA-r can be formed and tested The SDO 910 •a also act as a simulated learning-machine providing valuable direct comparisons of different structures and of hardware vs idealization Analog data can be brought to the computer through the same A D converter used to read the dot products and preprocessed into pattern format The flexibility of the new facility also allows input of patterns from two optical preprocessors a push-button retina and standard computer peripherals as well as patterns generated directly in the computer Presently under construction is an optical preprocessor for the facility which produces ne input images Each 1024 replicationE image replica is tiltered by a photographic mask providing 1024 binary decisions which are then logically combined into a 102-element patterns for MINOS 1I Input to the preprocessor Is provided by a TV camera whose scanning of pictures and scenes can be computer controlled The MINOS 1 facility Is being used for pattern-recognition research on a wide variety of subjects including graphical symbols analog signal recognition weather prediction multimodal mathematical distributions and automat system studips Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information U S Department oJ Commerce nSnineld Virginia Development of the Clearinghouse was endorsed in February 1964 by the Federal Council for Science and Technology an advisory body to the President The Council specifically calls for the Clearinghouse to serve as the single agency through which unclassified technical reports and translations generated by all Government agencies are uniformly indexed and made available to the public provide information on Federal research in progress and operate a INTRODUCTION A Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information to serve as the central source for Government research data in the physical sciences and engineering has been established in the U S Department of Commerce and has taken over the document distribution program of the Office of Technical Services 30 I referral service to sources of specialized tech- the object of a new U S Department of Comwerce program which functions in coomsrattt nn nical expertise In the Government U it 0 ORGANIZATION -ud iocal organizations The program haa been developed by the Institute for Applied Technology National Bureau ofand Standards Stateagencies universities commerce development and similar organizations are cooperating in the program in a rapidly-growing number of States The role of theme organizations Is to serve an distributors of informational materials supplied by IAT and to help RAT determine what type of technology can be used most effectively by firms in their areas According has to Commerce the Clearinghouse completed officials Its programminig and expansion of staff and facilities and is now carrying out theme missions The agency is using computer and other modern data proceasing and reproduction equipment and techniques in order to speed and increase the flow of technical Information to scientists and engineers throughout the country As a further increase in efficiency all Clearinghouse personnel and facilities were assembled in a new building in Springfield Va near Washington in October Typical of the State and local organizations now participating are Associated Industries of Georgia Tennessee Industrial Research Advisory Service Pennsylvania Department of Cornmerce Connecticut Manufacturers Association Tennessee Manufacturers Association Peunsylvania Manufacturers Association Pennsylvania Smaller Manufacturers Association Pennsylvania State University Mellon Institute Franklin Institute North Carolina State College and University of Tennessee The Clearinghouse is a part of the new Institute for Applied Technology in the National Bureau of Standards The Institute is headed by Dr Donald A Schon formerly of Arthur D Little Inc Cambridge Mass The director of the Clearinghouse is Bernard N Fry formerly with the National Science Foundation and Atomic Energy Commission Informatioial materials from RAT consist largely of two regular services One is the Fast Announcement Service designed to inform industry promptly of new Government R D reports determined by National Bureau of Standards scientists and engineers to be of special significance to industry These reports are classified into 49 industrial subject areas to permit pinpointing the distribution of the announcements In addition to providing research information to industry the Clearinghouse is designed to reduce duplication in both industry and Government in research and information processing According to Dr Schon savings to the Government of about $500 000 will be realized during the firat year of operation as a result of reducing duplication of document processing and distribution within tho Government A major step in this direction was a recent agreement between the Department of Cornmerce and the Department of Defense whereby the Clearinghouse assumed the task of processIng all unclassified unlimited DoD research reports as well as reproduction and distribution of these documents to both the public and DoD agencies and contractors The other service is a Package program for the retrospective presentation of Government R D Under this program searches for relevant reports are conducted through the Government R D literature over the last 2 years on subjects recommended largely by State development and university-industry groups and trade associations Each package contains reports bibliographies and price lists A five-page summary or review of the Package is published for separate distribution and also as part of the package Specific subjects are treated such as fire extinguishing materials hot machining of metals and grease lubrication Hereafter orders for documents formerly handled by OTS should be addressed to Clearinghouse U S Department of Commerce Springfield Va 22151 CLEARINGHOUSE TO PARTICIPATE IN NEW FEDERAL TECHNOLOGY SPIN-OFF PROGRAM While the Fast Announcements and the five-page Package reviews are being distributed by local organizations in many states any company can obtain these services directly from the Clearinghouse There is no charge for the Fast Announcement Service and package reviews are sold at 50 cents each Getting spin-off technology from Federal research into the hands of companies who can use it to expand and improve their business is 31 Federal Government for the collection and distribution of unclassified technical reports growIng utu of tWe defense apace atomic cnergy and other Federal researchIprograms in the physical sciences and engineering It is currently collecting over 50 000 documents a year which are available to industry at the cost of reproduction and handling These reports are reviewed by IAT and NBS staffs to determine which are of high industrial interest It is these selected reports which are announced through the Fast Announcement Service This new effort is increasing and speeding the flow of Governmentgenerated technology into industry since the problem industry has faced in the past has been the winnowing out of useful material from the vast stockpile of reports collected by the Clearinghouse according to the IAT The KAT regional dissemination program and the Clearinghouse itself exist because it is the desire of the Government to get Federallyfinanced research already paid for with tax dollars into industrial utilization as rapidly as possible IAT officials say Use of this technology in the development of new products and more efficient products or processes benefits the general public and contributes to national economic growth Reports collected by the Clearinghouse therefore are sold to industry at prices covering only the cost of reproduction and handling and a report that may represent the expenditure of thousands of dollars of Government research may be purchased by industry for as little as a dollar velopments This streamlining affects all phases of the Clearinghouse system-microprinting order processin inventory control indexing and publication preparation Reproduction A significant innovation in the Clearinghouse is the use of microfiche-a sheet of mierofilm Microfiche 4 x 6 inches are made for all documents received Clearinghouse microfiche are based on uniform standards overall size and reduction ratio agreed to by Federal agencies Microfiche has many advantages over standard 35-mm microfilm A single sheet contains up to 60 document pages with a headtng for file purposes Second sheets trailers needed for larger reports contain 72 pages Fiche are cheaply and easily produced filed and retrieved They require little storage space nearly 1500 sheets in paper jackets can be accommodated in two 4 x 8-inch file drawers Hard copy blowback at 60 percent of the original copy size can be easily reproduced Coplee of documents not in printed stock are provided one at a time from microfiche Since Clearinghouse fiche adhere to Federal standards which in turn are based on internstional standards they can be used universally on standard reading and reproducing equipment Duplicate fiche axe made on Diazo film equipment so new only one mcahine Is in use on a production basis The Clearinghouse machine is 8er #2 The Clearinghouse was established on the framework of the technical information servIces of the older Office of Technical Services in the Department of Commerce however both the missions and the staff and facilities to create the Clearinghouse represent a great expansson of the OTS program The Clearinghouse employs an economical process to stock printed copies of research reports and translations Five new tandem offset presses installed in the plant are capable of printing both sides of a page simultaneously The presses with automatic sorters attached print and collate in one operation The position of the Clearinghouse in the physical sciences and engineering is comparable to that of the National Agricultural Library Department of Agriculture and the National Library of Medicine Department of Health Education and Welfare Reports selected for full-aize printing are first photographed on 35-mm film This film is rim Utrough electrostatic copy enlargers to produce inexpensive short-run paper mats for the presses A standard printing run is 50 copies of each-document All pages requiring special handling such as those containing half-tone photographs are processed for mats separately on other equipment MODERN EQUIPMENT AND TECHNIQUES SPEED AND ECONOMIZE CLEARINGHOUSE ACTIVITIES The Clearinghouse microprinting plant expects to produce about 2 million copies of documents either on microfiche or in reproduction form in fiscal year 1965 The Clearinghouse has incorporated ceveral innovations into its document handling operations including mechanized systems and is 32 Automation with the capability of automated lito-aehar - avarcning and other document management information Automated data processing will play a big role in future operations The Clearinghouse now uses the Univac 1107 computer system of the Defense Documentation Center Department of Defense to get some of its document indexes As programs are developed the Clearinghouse will be able to search its vast collection of reports automatically to prepare special selective bibliographies and fee literature searches Before the end of 1955 the scientific and technical community will be able to buy duplicate magnetic computer tapes containing the necessary document retrieval data for do-it-yourself literature searches of new reports received by the Clearinghouse The Clearinghouse has made definite plans for using electronic photocomposition equipmeat to prepare its periodical document announcement publications The Defense Documentation Center the Clearinghouse and the Covernment Printing Office are now working out arrangements for using Linofilmn rmachines and GPO's Autoset program This method involves using the Univac 1107 to sort the announcement Journal entries into sequence create the supplemental indexes and prepare magnetic tapes to GPO for the photocomposition In this system the page format type style number of columns and items per page are determined by the GPO computer from a program tape previously prepared on the 1107 This information is subsequently fed into Linofilm machines and a plate for each page is produced Presently such a system can set copy at about 100 characters per minute The ultimate is 8000 characters per minute Electronic photocomposition eliminates timeconsuming manual preparation of at least three lengthy and frequently Issued Government publications Order-Processing A semi-automated system is now speeding the processing of orders received As in any large volume operation the advantages of minimum inventory levels quick and accurate verification of orders rapid billing and complete records on the receipt and sale of each document are easier to achieve with an automated system Each incoming order Is verified and then broken down by the individual documents requested This order extraction process does away with unnecessary delay permitting the Clearinghouse to send out each part of the order as it is rdady If the report ordered is on the shelf it is mailed to the customer within 24 hours When reproduction is necessary it may take up to 5 days Microphotography All documents entering the Clearinghouse collection as of July 15 1964 are available on microfiche Fig 1 as well as full-size reproduction The International Standards Organization size of 105 mm x 140 mm approximately 4 x 6 inches sheets of microfiche will be used Image size will be generally an 1I 1 reduction If a document contains 57 pages or less normally only one sheet of microfiche will be necessary Additional Trailer sheets are used for longer reports The inventory control system used by the Clearinghouse makes it possible to record accurately the receipt and sales history of each report When inventory control detects a consistent demand for a report not carried in printed stock but provided one copy at a time a printing order is placed to provide minimum stock for quicker distribution The Clearinghouse microfiche are the same size as those of other Government agencies Microfiche has the following advantages over microfilm it's cheaper to produce faster to make simpler to file easier to retrieve and Preparing Publications stores compactly The preparation of copy for Clearinghouse document announcement journals and catalog cards is partially mechanized Punched paper tape equipment provides from one typing journal camera copy catalog card camera copy and punched paper tape for the input of bibliographic information to the computer This bibliographic recor 1 stored in the computer will in the near future provide the Clearinghouse U S PATENT ANNOUNCEMENTS The Clearinghouse is expanding its U S Patent announcement services in two categories Government-owned U S Patents and U S Patents in High-Interest Subject Areas Both these efforts contribute to an integration of patent information with other Government-sponsored R D literature in announcemfent to the public 33 I _ _ • __ • -- • '• F -- ' 5 -- SL Fig• re - 1--Typical microfiche publications in one unified journal for the public Government-Owned U S Patents Beginning with the January 5 1965 issue of U Government Research and Development Reports the Clearinghouse has been announcing abstracts of recently issued Government-owned patents The3e patents were prcviously announced in a semi-annual report called the Patent Abstract Series which has been discontinued The new proredure results in more timely announcemient of Government-owned patents as a source of scientific and technical information and as a current awareness source of royalty-free nonexclusive patents for use by industry and the technical public GOVERNMENT-WIDE INDEX A comprehensive unified index to Government research and development reports rems being Issued monthly major Federal agencies mj Federangec by the Clearinghouse This consolidated index to Governmentsponsored technical literature-the GovernmentWide Index to Federal Research snd Develope and research managers with a single source index to new unclassified unlimited Government technical information U S Patents in High-Interest Subject Areas The Government-Wide Index consists of the standard points of access to report literaturesubject author source and report number indexes The Clearinghouse is implementing a new program involving announcement of all recent U S Patents within areas of high industrial interest The program began with the annour ement in U S Government Research and Development Reports of all patents allowed in the area of Lubricants All patents in this area from January 1965 forward will be included This pilot project will be followed by coverage of other areas of high industrial interest as resources permit This effort is part of the overall goal of bringing together the announcement of Government scientific and technical For this project the Clearinghouse is using the computer facilities of the Aerospace Resparch Applications Center located at the University of Indiana The Indcx will be made up from the machinable document records prepared by the Atomic Energy Commission National Aeronautics and Space Administration Department of Defense and the Clearinghouse 34 for their own document announcement journals avoiding duplication of oata preparation availability of Ineroamtni n nmo u f tions from Industry and other private organisa- tions Abroad the Clearinghouse is cooperatEach of theme agencies is now mending ARAC its machine records which ARAC reformats by computer into the index format specdfied by the Clearinghouse The magnetic tape produced from this operation contains one record of the input from all contributing agencies ing with the European rTaelatto e Center at Delft Netherlands to announce translations available in Western languages If an individual wants Lo know if a particular foreign work has been translated or is being translated he can phone wire or write the Clearinghouse for the information In this way extensive duplication of translation effort is prevented This information is then sorted into sequence for each of the four indexes Cameraready copy for the publication is produced by computer printout This copy will be proofread and the Index pages made up at the Clearinghouse The Index will be printed and distributed by the Superintendent of Documents U S Government Printing Office To announce and index new translations available to the public as well as list translations in process which will eventually be available the Clearinghouse in cooperation with SLA publishes Technical Translations twice a month This Journal sold by the Supertntendent of Documents at $12 per year $16 foreign mailing serves as a central source of information in the United States on translated technical material available Issued about the middle of each month the Government-Wide Index includes material from the previous month's issues of Nuclear Science Abstracts AEC Scientific and Technical Aeroce Renrt 14ABA Technical Abstract Bulletin Defense Documentation Center and the U Government ftesuarch and Devi lopment Reports Clearinghouse Foreign Currency Translations The first issue of the Index covered technical reports of these agencies from January 1 1965 The Special Foreign Currency Science Information P L 480 Program is a Governmentwide translation activity Currencies accrued in certain countries from the sale of surplus agricultural commodities are utilized Li the preparation of translations of scientific literature for eight Government agencies The National Science Foundation administers this program and the Clearinghouse is responsible for the public announcement and dissemination of the translated materials TECHNICAL TRANSLATION AND FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS In recognition of the growing importance of foreign research and development to United States science and industry the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information has expanded its role as the Government center for the collection and distribution of translated Slavic Oriental and other foreign technical literature At present the foreign countries participating in the program are Israel Poland and Yugoslavia Eight foreign languages Russian Polish Rumanian Serbo-Croation French German Arabic and Hebrew are translated The greatest volume is from the Russian Thousands of complete translations and many more thousands of abstracts of articles and books are prepared each year by Federal agencies for their own use These items are made available to the Clearinghouse for cataloging announcement and salp to the research and industrial community at the cost of reproduction and handling The agencies participating in the Program do their own initial distribution of P L 480 translations but they are also listed in Technical Translations and sold by the Clearinghouse The Clearinghouse also catalogs and announces translations available from other sources both public and private including commercial translators publishers and universities It has a cooperative working arrangement with the Special Libraries Association Translations Center to announce the Foreign Technology Program A new program is under way to make available to industry and the technical community more information on significant foreign technology represented in the Russian East European and Communist Chinese literature 35 The principal objectives of this new foreign TECHNICAL LITERATURE The Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific 1 To expand the availability of significant foreign technological literature not now translated but judged of intbrei t by U S industry and e the technical community 2 Publication of new abstract series in cooperation other in agencies nical papers with produced Easterncovering Europe techUSSR recordfie ietechnical community CopReEN bibSgRapH r r nneeds PROGRESS IN viDE teeos willestarcqiprovideonInformatthon Beginning in July 1965 the Clearinghouse adDEVELOPMENT I and cuRGREntl Technical uneray Informafor Federal Scientific unclassified Government- sponsored research aURnd developmeAR project underwayth researchinhose what doing in who indicating phyical sciences engineering and related technology-in order to prevent duplication of te ehicai wl Technical Information has broadened it literature searching strviTes in response to an increasing number of request by industry andoprivate research organizations for access to of scientific and collections Government-hold technical literature The collections include t agency een projo atomic energy space and other and inects as well ran technical witr h traislations thepot odepatentsof brary of Congress The program provides a fas andeconomicalamethod byiwhich a large segmenttof the public with special often urgent for research information can tap these four major Government literature resources It offers tailor-made bibliographies suited to the day-to-day as well as long-range informa- ervcs of iothr-ae Gof scientists lovernetagenies asuiwell o and tion requirements Steps engineers are underway ftechnical administrators make available under this program the literiormation four resources G rand specialized niature well as ofy-th-day e the Program Works ork How The Science Information Exchange of the Smithsonian Institution is cooperating with the Subscribers to this service can request that a literature search be made by the Library Clearinghouse in this effort The SIE will fur- of Congress the Department of the Interior the nish the Clearinghouse on a current basis a copy of each Notice of Research Project it prepares in the fields of the physical sciences orirtechnology The Clearengineering and related Tnghouse will receive from SiE only NFPe a on active grants and contracts The Clearinghouse will also negotiate directly with other Federal s-eparvment of Agriculture or the Clearinghouse or any combination thereof If desired a literature search can be performed by all agencies simultaneously The Science and Technology Division of the Library of Congress covers the published liter- agencies with research and development pro- ature of the vast science and technology collec- tion at the Library The Clearinghouse acting as an agent arranges for searches of the science and technology collections at the Dopartment of Agriculture and the Interior In addition the Clearinghouse searchesits own collection of reports derived from Governmentsponsored research and development as well as its large holidings of technical translations grams to obtain reports on current development projects not furnished ScE This current reearch information will be cataloged and made available in a monthly announcement journal The new service will offer listings by project title performinghorganization principal investigators term of contract or grant and descriptive terms for the new re- Ths flexibility of the service accommo- search reported The file created through the dates pin-point research on individual subjects or Is-depth coverage of broadly related fields The Clearinghouse collection itself has more than 350 000 documents resulting from many input of this research and development In progreasInformation will also be used in general Clearinghouse reference services to answer inquiries in specific areas tinIrnia netgtrtr fcnrc Ts 36 t ag odnso ehia rnltos an h A--w s'- ' billions of dollars spent for Government re- _ narie and mnr•a search $15 billion in 1963 Additionally the large translation collection is a valuable source of information on foreign research and development activities interested He will then receive references to pertinent materials at intervaU prescribed on the subseriptton form 1 montth 3 montha and so forth 9 Subscribers to the retrospective bibliography service state the subject field of interest and receive a list of references currently applicable as of the date of the request Two Kinds of Services The Literature Searching Service provides two kinds of bibliographies he form TS-L-70 Request for Special Literature Search can be used as an authorized work order to the Clearinghouse When the services of the Library of Congress or Departments of Agriculture or the Interior are desired the request form also served as a work order and the Clearinghouse transmits the request to these sources as an agent for the subscriber 1 Current Awareness bibliography for keeping subscribers abreast of new developments in their fields of interest on a periodic basis 2 Retrospective bibliographic searches listing literature available on L subject at the time a request is made How to Subscribe e Time required for different compilations varies widely The subacriber may set a limit on the time to be spent on searching for his information Prescribed limitations can be specflied fo2 any or all of the four sources Th fees for this service is $11 per hour with a minimum of 8 hours or $88 Search of the document collections of the Clearinghouse the Library of Congress and the Departments of Agriculture or the Interior are performed to the extent indicated by an inquirer on the subscription form TS-L-70 Each completed form must include all search requirements s An advanced deposit may be placed with the Clearinghouse against which the cost of searches may be charged Government PrintIng Office deposit accounts are not applicable to this service For the current awareness bibliography service the subscriber outlines the ge- Automatic System for Condensing Ejector Research U S Naval tI 'nrue r Ordnance Station Neuport RhodS Island02844 Applications of condensing ejectors as torpedo turbine exhaust gas pumps are a continutig research project of NAV UNDERWATER OROSTA For deep-running open-cycle therneal torpedoes it is necessary to increase the relatively low pressure turbine exhaust gas in order to overcome the high back pressure imposed by increased operational depths Fundamental analytical and theoretical studies to determine the phenomenalogical nature of the two- phase multicomponent flow in the device are being conducted at a fully Instrumented test facility capable of simulating present and future tactical situations fully automatic data acquisition and reduction system was conceived Fig 1 Seventy-two channels of information are available in the test control center at an instrumentation patch panel From this patch panel any channel of information may be displayed on 1 of 50 visual indicators on the test control console Thirty-eight oscillograph channels are available for graphic recording of test operating conditions and results The most critical instrumentation data signals are recorded on analog magnetic tape using frequency modulation techniques This system is moat heavily relied upon because of its versatilit and high data sampling rate The data gathered in this manner is then available for direct autowatic reduction to finished tabulations of calcuhtted performance parameters in tabular and iCraphic form Experimental confirmation of the theoretically derived analytical flow models demand sophisticated instrumentation systems to fully evaluatc the many inter-related two-phase flow parameters To meet these requirements a 37 iI GAS PRESSURE SENSOR OSCILLOGRAM CONUEN •ING EJECTOR VISUAL IN 'DICATION RECORDING OSCILLOGRAPH TEST CONTROL CONSOLE ELECTROPLOTTER r LAORATjRY DATA REDUCTION sVyTL BLD 160 MULTI -CHANNEL r 20 4 1 COMPUTER F M TAPE RECORDER DIGITAL MAGNETIC ANALOG REPRODUCTION TAPE RECORDER 1620 FORMAT TO DIGITAL MULTI-CHANNELj I F M TAPE CONVTER FINAL PLOT ECORDER j PROGRAM TABULATION OF CALCULATED PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS Figure 1--Condensing ejector data acquisition and reduction 12 times each The resulting maximum sample output would be a 12 x 12 matrix A logic section determines the samples to be entered on to tape by choosing a position on a selection switch which allows the choice of 1 2 3 4 6 or 12 equally time-separated samples per major scan Up to 12 test facility data channels can be recorded simultaneously on the analog tape along with a voice channel and a data information time channel Samples of the data channels are taken sequentially each 100 microseconds on an analog to digital convertor for multiplexing into a common output The voice channel is utilized for relating pertinent test information required for proper digitizing After being digit' ted the data is stored in the A-D System's co which has a 4096 position capacity After a piv 4etermined number of digits have been gathered a data dump is initiated and the digits written upon the digital output tape in a computer compatible format A computer program has been written for reduction of the digitized data Calibrations for each of the data channels are forwarded from the test site to the computing facility for use as input data for the particular runs involved The test values consisting of temperatures pressures and flows are obtained directly from the input digital tape by the program's applying the appropriate calibration factors The program then makes use of selected regions of the steam tables incorporated into it to assist in determining the thermodynamic properties of the primary gas steam Simultaneous iterative solutions of the momentum energy and continuity equations are also obtained by the use of twophase-flow-correlation techniques The NAV UNDERWATER ORDSTA analog to digital converter can handle sampling rates of 5000 or 10 000 samples per second depending on the density selected for the output digital tape The multiplexer operates on a major scan where it samples from 4 to 12 channels 38 The computer out-out frnhee th gineer with computed ejector performance parameters as well as the original 12 temperatures pressures and flows daecribing the tests conducted The data are obtained in a format directly compatible with a digital plotter to produce graphical records of the recorded data The output data as presented are grouped for direct comparison of related variables and can be used as input for further determinations and correlations Data to be permanently retained are stored on magnetic tape Thiu automatic data acquisition and reduction system has greatly acculerAted the condensing ejector test effort Increased data samplizg has allowed testing of more geometrical condensing ejector configurations over a larger range of operating conditions than ias heretofore been possible Direct access to the computer has reduced the time between the actual test and critical analysis and review of the test data from days to a few hours Thishasbeen accomplished while performing computational analyses of an increasingly complex nature s9 I