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November, 1968
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Special Feature: Graphic Data Processing
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Letters To The Editor
Vol. 17, No. 11 -
November, 1968
Edmund C. Berkeley
Editor
Automating Better Education
Proof Goofs
I seek to answer Charles Hutchinson, who wrote in your August 1968
issue, and all other mathematics educators: There is an organization devoted
to automation, computers, data processing, and the mathematics educator.
This is the Society for Automation in
Science and Mathematics, a Federated
Society of the Society for Automating
Better Education.
There are also Federated Societies
for Automation in other areas, such as
Fine Arts, Business Education, English
and the Humanities, Professional Education, and the Social Sciences.
The first Federated Society, the Society for Automation in Business Education (SABE), was formed in 1960
and now has some 750 members.
Dues of $5 a year include membership
in the covering group and in one Federated Society, and a subscription to
the organization's monthly Joumal of
Data Education. For more information,
write: SABE, 247 Edythe St., Livermore, Calif. 94550.
Your new feature, "Proof Goofs",
which appeared in your September
issue was most interesting to me.
In addition to the errors you pointed
out, I believe "shipmates" in the second
line of the third paragraph is an error.
However, this could be considered an
editorial error since it is a misuse of
the word. According to Webster's New
Collegiate Dictionary, shipmate is "one
who serves on the same ship with another". Thus, the men aboard the
Docker gave three hoarse cheers to
themselves! The sentence should have
been edited to: "The men aboard the
Docker gave three hoarse cheers to the
crews of the other ships, but the noise
of the breakers drowned them out."
Now that you have started this feature, please keep it up. I'm sure you'll
find an abundance of material.
ENOCH HAGA, President
SABE
Livermore, Calif.
Computer Art Reprints
I would like to know if it is possible
to obtain a copy, suitable for framing, of
any of the computer art entries shown
in your August 1968 issue. If copies are
available, I would appreciate receiving
the necessary information for placing
an order.
H. G. MARTIN
3M Company
St. Paul, Minn. 55101
(Ed. Note - We are undertaking the
reproduction and sale of some of the
art which was published in our August
issue. An announcement of which jJictures will be rejJroduced and how much
they' will cost will be made in Computers and Automation as soon as the
re jJroductions are available.)
4
WILLIAM A. BARDEN, Director
Defense SUjJJ)ly Agency
Alexandria, Va. 22314
Here are my corrections for the
"Proof Goofs" in the September issue.
The obvious ones are "reunited" and
"terrestrial". Less obvious, and all too
commonly overlooked: Docker's, not
Docker's. The apostrophe and "s"
should be in roman, not italic, because
they are not part of the boat's name.
GEORGE W. PRICE
I nstitute of Gas Technology
Chicago, Ill. 60616
Associate Editor
Sharry Langdale
Assistant Editors
Moses M. Berlin
Linda Ladd Lovett
Neil D. Macdonald
Contributing Editors
John Bennett
Andrew D. Booth
Dick H. Brandon
John W. Carr III
Ned Chapin
Alston S. Householder
Peter Kugel
Leslie Mezei
Rod E. Packer
Ted Schoeters
AdlJisory Committee
T. E. Cheatham, Jr.
James J. Cryan
Richard W. Hamming
Alston S. Householder
Victor Paschkis
Aft Directors
Fulfillment Manager
Ray W. Hass
Daniel T. Langdale
William J. McMillan
Advertising Representatives
NEW YORK 10018, Bernard Lane
37 West 39 St., 212-279-7281
CHICAGO 60611, Cole, Mason, and Deming
737 N. Michigan Ave., 312-787-6558
PASADENA, CALIF. 91105, Douglas C. Lance
562 Bellefontaine St., 213-682-1464
SAN FRANCISCO 94123, Richard C. Alcorn
2152 Union St., 415-922-3006
ELSEWHERE, The Publisher
Berkeley. Enterprises, Inc.
815 Washington St., 617-332-5453
Newtonville, Mass. 02160
Editorial Offices
Excellent Magazine
BERKELEY ENTERPRISES, INC.
. I understand you had an excellent
article, "The Ford Computer Graphics
Project", in your Nov. 1967 issue.
May I say, as a new subscriber, that
I think you have an excellent magazine
- one with more substantive material
than any of the others that I see.
815 WASHINGTON STREET,
NEWTONVILLE, MASS. 02160
ARTHUR N. CONNER, JR.
President
Micromation Systems Inc.
Hyattsville, Md. 20781
( Ed. Note sent. )
Tear sheets of Nov. article
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COMPUTERS AND AUTOMATION IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT 815
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POSTMASTER: PLEASE SEND ALL fORMS 3579 TO BERKElEY ENTER·
PRISES, INC., 815 WASHINGTON ST., NEWTONVillE, MASS. 02160
,i) COPY.f!IGHT, 1968, BY BERKElEY ENTERPRISES, INC. CHANGE Of
ADDRESS: IF YOUR ADDRESS CHANGES, PLEASE SEND US BOTH YOUR
NEW ADDRESS AND YOUR OlD ADDRESS (AS IT APPEARS ON THE
MAGAZINE ADDRESS IMPRINT), AND AllOW THREE WEEKS fOR THE
CHANGE TO BE MADE.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
November, 1968, Vol. 17, No. 1 1
T he magazine of the design, ajJplirclti()llJ. alld impliratiom of information processing systems.
Special Feature:
Graphic Data Processing
14
INTERACTIVE COMPUTER GRAPHICS
by Henry J. Genthner
How interactive computer graphics allows a user to maintain "thinking momentum" ... and thus to cut design costs, speed up development, and increase profits.
18
LOW COST GRAPHICS
by Murray Rubin
The applications . . . and limitations . . . of the "refresh" approach and the
"storage" approach to low-cost graphic display systems.
22
A COMPUTERIZED PHOTOCOMPOSITION SYSTEM OF GRAPHIC ARTS
QUALITY
by Phillip P. Petron
The properties, operation, and applications of a computerized photocomposition
system, which can make characters of graphic arts quality at speeds up to 6,000
characters per second.
28
COMPUTER GRAPHICS IN ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT DESIGN
by J. Robert Logan
New, simple, effective computer methods to define graphic information have
cut the time needed to produce a reproducible circuit design from 24 days to
8 liz hours, for a typical eight-layer laminate.
31
MACHINE-GENERATED SPEECH FOR USE WITH COMPUTERS, and the
problem of fitting a spoken word into one half second
The front cover shows a
Univac graphic display which
uses digital deflection. The
digital deflection technique
differs from the usual analog'
deflection technique in that:
it is electromagnetic instead
of electrostatic,' it eliminates
converting digital inputs into
analog inputs,' and it provides
a more stable and accurate
image. For more information,
see page 55.
by W. D. Van Gieson, Jr., and W. D. Chapman
How a word may be masked, filtered, or chopped, with no loss of understanding,
in order to fit into the half second allotted for utterance by an audio response
unit controlled by a computer.
36
MICROFILM COMBINED WITH COMPUTER FOR INFORMATION HANDLING
by George H. Harmon
The advantages of combining two powerful tools, one passive and one active,
for information handling.
Departments
Re gular Features
Editorial
6
Operation Bootstrap in the Computer Field, by Edmund C. Berkeley
45
Across the Editor's Desk Computing and Data Processing Newsletter
66
Advertising Index
65
Book Reviews
Ideas : Spotlight
20
Both "Encyclopedic, Tutorial" and "Information-Dispensing"
Systems Should Receive Emphasis, by Manfred Kochen
Information
Retrieval
C&A Worldwide
38
Report from Great Britain, by Ted Schoeters
Jobs and Careers in Data Processing
39
Computer Training for the
Disadvantaged,
by Sharry
Langdale
8
Calend'ar of Coming Events
4
Letters to the Editor
Computer Market Report
61
Monthly Computer Census
40
59
New Contracts
60
New Installations
66
New Patents
In the Background . . . Government Procurement Policies, a Computerized Stock
Exchange, Continued Sales, and Research for the "Fifth" Generation, by Ted
Schoeters
Fifteen Years Ago in Computers and Automation
42
How a Central
Clippinger
Computing
Laboratory
Can
Help
Industry,
by
Dr.
Richard
F.
Multi-Access Forum
11
11
12
13
13
13
"Communications Data Processing or Time Sha ring" Comments, by Gordon R.
Carlson
The Market for "Civil Systems" Will Equal 10% of the Gross National Product
in 10 Years - a Prediction, by Simon T. Ramo
Proof Goofs and Proofreading Errors - Comments, by Enoch J. Haga and the Editor
What is a "Systems Analyst"?, by Carroll A. Hazen
IEEE Technical Committee on Computer Peripheral Equipment Seeks Volunteers
Who's Who in the Computer Field, 1968-69 - Entries
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
by Raymond R. Skolnick
26
Numbles
by Neil Macdonald
26
Problem Corner
by Walter Penney, CDP
41
Proof Goofs
by Neil Macdonald
C- a
EDITORIAL
Operation Bootstrap In The Computer Field
In my mail on October 3 arrived the following notice,
printed on the first page of the October issue of DAT ALINK,
the monthly newsletter ?f the Los Angeles Chapter of the
Association for Computing Machinery:
Program: The Ghet~b. and the Computer Professional
Speakers: Sam Feingold, System Development Corp.; Bob
Hall, Operation Bootstrap
This month's program features a hard-hitting commentary
on today's most relevant and pressing problem. Operation
Bootstrap is a non-profit organization whose goals are to
educate from within members of the Black Community.
'Vith the motto of "Learn, Baby, Learn", Bootstrap has set
up cultural and educational activities which are meeting
these goals. Mr. Feingold has been teaching computer
programming at Operation Bootstrap. He will discuss the
complexities of this work and the successes and failures
which have been encountered so far. Bob Hall is a cofounder of Operation Bootstrap; he will represent them in
the discussion. A feature in the program will be a movie
about Bootstrap which tells it like it is in the ghetto, in
stark details guaranteed to make you know it as it is.
This is one of the most controversial and timely topics
facing today's professional groups.
Is it illusory and unfair to trainees to let them expect to
work in professional areas without holding the engraved
invitation of a college degree?
Do professional organizations have an obligation to solve
social problems which fall outside of their narrow fields of
special interest?
Or is a serious disservice being done to members of professional societies by developing technicians without full
educational credentials?
A serious and com plete discussion of these and other
complex problems facing our society and its professionals
is expected. Plan now to attend. Can you afford not to?
Place ....
Date: Wednesday, October 2, 1968. Time: . . .
I was a bit tempted to catch the next plane and go. But I
did not have the capacity to imitate Miss Bright of Einsteinian fame:
There was a young lady named Bright
Whose speed was far faster than light;
She set out one day in a relative way
And arrived the preceding night.
Pleasantries aside, we think the Program Committee of
the Los Angeles Chapter deserves much credit for arranging
such a meeting, and for calling for discussion of this important area of the social responsibilities of computer people.
Our answers to the questions set by the Program Committee are:
• No, it is not illusory and unfair to trainees to let them
expect to work in professional areas without a college degree - but the teacher of training must emphasize that more than just knowledge is needed:
also, perseverance, responsibility, capacity to learn
more, etc.
6
• Yes, all professional organizations have an obligation
to bring their special professional capacities to bear
on solving important social problems - especially
( 1) those which touch on their special capacities,
or can use their general training as professionals,
and (2) those where the problems are urgent.
• No, it is not a serious disservice to professional societies to develop technicians without full educational
credentials, unless deception is practiced. Some
technical credentials are better than none. And
more technical credentials are better than a few.
The problem of helping untrained people from the ghettoes
and similar people from underdeveloped countries is not
easily solved.
It cannot be solved by doing nothing about it, simply letting time take its course.
Nor can it be solved by the attitude "That is none of my
business. Let George do it."
Nor can it be solved by tolerating enormous diversion of
government funds from productive activities to non-productive activities. The United States government is spending
millions of dollars per day in bombing, napalming, and defoliating areas in South East Asia, trying to shore up a corrupt puppet government supported by far less than half of
the people in the area it is supposed to govern. The government of the U.S.S.R. is spending millions of dollars per day
in maint:tining 600,000 occupation troops in Czechoslovakia,
trying to prevent changes in a government, changes which
are thirsted for by millions of the people in Czechoslovakia.
These enormous funds should be diverted from these unfortunate objectives and instead devoted to the benefit of
people, ordinary people, common people, people here and
there all over the world who need food, shelter, clothing and training and education to equip themselves to work with
more advanced industrial techniques. These funds should
support an Operation Bootstrap all over the world.
ComjJuters and Automation desires to publish from time to
time discussion and argument about:
1. How can professionals in the computer field make
sure that partially qualified persons from ghettoes
receive opportunities to become more fully qualified
in the computer field?
2. How can the ten-mile gap be bridged, between the
suburbs where the computer professionals are, and
the urban ghettoes where people of minority groups
can become trained and useful?
3. How is an employer to establish fair and equitable
rules to apply to both people from ghetto areas
whom he wants to help, and his regular employees?
4. How can computer professional~ usefully contribute
their knowledge and experience for instruction and
education of members of underprivileged groups?
E'""~C.~
Editor
,
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
o
o
ito•
o
I
O~
o•
•
o
•o •
•
Population Explosion!
Planned Parenthood, which created a family of Interdata computers,
has resulted in a population explosion!
There are more than 100 good reasons why you should consider a
member of the Interdata family for your next computer! '
o
=-==--- •- E =
See Interdata and its offspring at FJCC Booth nos. 1504 & 1505.
EC,'
OCEANPORT, NEW JERSEY 07757
t..a:. ':.&..
201 - 229-4040
Designate No. 17 on Reader Service Card
CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS
Nov. 7-8, 1968: The Association for Precision Graphics (formerly The Precision Plotter Users Association), Second National Conference, The Univ. of Southern Calif., Los Angeles, Calif.; contact William G. Reimann, Nat'l Chmn.,
Assoc. for Precision Graphics, c/o Litton Systems, Inc., 5500
Canoga Ave., Woodland Hills, Calif. 91364
Nov. 10-13, 1968: Digitronics Users Association, Bourbon
Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, La.; contact Digitronics Users
Association, P.O. Box 113, Albertson, N.V. 11507
Nov. 25-26, 1968: Society for Information Display (SID),
1968 National Technical Conference, Waldorf Astoria Hotel,
New York, N.Y.; contact Richard Du Bois, Wagner Electric
Corp., Tung-Sol Div., 200 Bloomfield Ave., Bloomfield, N.].
07003
Dec. 2-4, 1968: Second Conference on Applications of Simulation (SHARE/ ACM/IEEE/SCI), Hotel Roosevelt, New
York, N.Y.; contact Julian Reitman, Norden-United Aircraft Corp., Norwalk, Conn. 06856
Dec. 9-11, 1968: Fall Joint Computer Conference, Civic Auditorium (Program sessions), Brookshall (industrial and education exhibits), San Francisco Civic Center, San Francisco,
Calif.; contact Dr. William H. Davidow, General Chairman,
395 Page Mill Rd., Palo Alto, Calif. 94306
Dec. 12-13, 1968: Digital Equipment Computer Users Society
(DECUS) 1968 Fall Symposium, Jack Tar Hotel, San
Francisco, Calif.; contact Angela ]. Cossette, Digital Equipment Computer Users Society, Main St., Maynard, Mass.
01754
Dec. 16-18, 1968: Adaptive Processes Symposium, Univ. of
California at L.A., Los Angeles, Calif.; contact]. M. Mendel,
Douglas Aircraft Co. Inc., 3000 Ocean Pk. Blvd., Santa
Monica, Calif.
Jan. 15-17, 1969: Second Annual Simulation Symposium,
Tampa, Fla.; contact Annual Simulation Symposium, P.O.
Box 1155, Tampa, Fla. 33601
Jan. 28-31.. 1969: International Symposium on Information
Theory, Nevele Country Club, Ellenville, N.Y.; contact
David Slepian, Dept. of Transportation, Washington, D.C.
Jan. 30-31, 1969: Third Annual Computer Science and Statistics Symposium of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), International
Hotel, Los Angeles, Calif.; contact Business Admn. Extension Seminars, Room 2381, GBA, Univ. of Calif., Los
Angeles, Calif. 90024.
March 24-26, 1969: 10th VIM meeting, (users group of
Control Data 6000 computer series), Florida State University Union, Tallahassee, Fla.; contact Carol ]. Richardson,
Control Data Corp., 8100 34th Ave. So., Minneapolis, Minn.
55440
March 24-27, 1969: IEEE International Convention & Exhibition, Coliseum and N.Y. Hilton Hotel, New York, N.Y.;
contact IEEE Headquarters, 345 East 47th St., New York,
N.Y. 10017
March 26-29, 1969: 16th International Meeting of The Institute of Management Sciences, Hotel Commodore, New
York, N.Y.; contact Granville R. Garguilo, Arthur Anderson
& Co., 80 Pine St., New York, N.Y. 10005
April J-3, 1969: Numerical Control Society's Sixth Annual
Meeting & Technical Conference, Stouffer's Cincinnati Inn,
Cincinnati, Ohio; contact Peter Senkiw, Advanced Computer Systems, Inc., 2185 South Dixie Ave., Dayton, Ohio
45409
April 15-18, 1969: The Institution of Electrical Engineers and
the Institution of Electronic and Radio Engineers Computer
Aided Design Conference, Southampton University, So 9,
8
5 NH., Hampshire, England; contact Conference Dept., lEE,
Savoy Place, London, W.C.2
April 23-25, 1969: 21st Annual Southwestern IEEE Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio Convention and Exhibition
Center, San Antonio, Texas; contact William E. Cory,
Southwest Research Institute, Box 2296, San Antonio, Texas
78206
May 14-16, 1969: Spring Joint Computer Conference, War
Memorial Auditorium, Boston, Mass.; contact American
Federation for Information Processing (AFIPS), 345 E.
47th St., New York, N.Y. 10017
May 18-21, 1969: Power Industry Computer Application Conference, Brown Palace Hotel, Denver, Colorado; contact
W. D. Trudgen, General Electric Co., 2255 W. Desert Cove
Rd., P.O. Box 2918, Phoenix, Ariz. 85002
June 9-11, 1969: IEEE International Communications Conference, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.; Dr. Martin
Nesenbergs, Environmental Science Services Administration,
Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, R614, Boulder,
Colo. 80302
June 16-19, 1969: Data Processing Management Association
(DPMA) 1969 Internat'l Data Processing Conference and
Business Exposition, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; contact
Mrs. Margaret Rafferty, DPMA, 505 Busse Hwy., Park
Ridge, Ill. 60068
June 16-21, 1969: Fourth Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), Warsaw, Poland; contact
Organizing Comm. of the 4th IF AC Congress, P.O. Box 903,
Czackiego 3/5, Warsaw 1, Poland.
June 17-19, 1969: IEEE Computer Group Conference, Leamington Hotel, Minneapolis, Minn.; contact Scott Foster, The
Sheffield Group, Inc., 1104 Currie Ave., Minneapolis, Minn.
55403
June 21-28, 1969: Second Conference on Management Science for Transportation, Transportation Center at Northwestern University, 1818 Hinman Ave., Evanston, Ill. 60204;
contact Page Townsley, Asst. Dir., Management Programs,
1818 Hinman Ave., Evanston, Ill.
Aug. 6-8, 1969: Joint Automatic Control Conference, Univ. of
Colorado.. Boulder, Colorado; contact unknown at this
time.
Aug. 11-15, 1969: Australian Computer Society, Fourth Australian Computer Conference, Adelaide Univ., Adelaide,
South Australia; contact Dr. G. W. Hill, Prog. Comm.
Chrmn., A.C.C.69, C/-C.S.I.R.O., Computing Science Bldg.,
Uni\:. of Adelaide, Adelaide, S. Australia 5000.
Aug. 25-29, 1969: Datafair 69 Symposium, Manchester,
England; contact the British Computer Society, 23 Dorset
Sq., London, N.W. 1, England
Oct. 6-10, 1969: Second International Congress on Project
Planning by Network Analysis, INTERNET 1969, International Congress Centre RAI, Amsterdam, the Netherlands;
contact Local Secretariat, c/o Holland Organizing Centre,
16 Lange Voorhout, The Hague, the Netherlands
Oct. 27-31, 1969: Business Equipment Manufacturers Assoc.
(BEMA) Annual Business Equipment Exposition and Management Conference, New York Coliseum, Columbus Circle,
New York, N.Y. 10023; contact Laurance C. Messick, Business Equipment Manufacturers Assoc., 235 East 42nd St.,
New York, N.Y. 10017
Nov. 18-20, 1969: Fall Joint Computer Conference, Convention Hall, Las Vegas, Nev.; contact American Federation for
Information Processing (AFIPS), 345 E. 47th St., New
York, N.Y. 10017
•
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
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Who said you can't buy more 16-Bit
computer capability for less than $30,000?
see Says you
can - and you don't have to
be a Dr. Livingston to find it.
Compare the 4700 with other computers.
You can spend $30,000 for a 16-bit model that
Our NEW 4700, 16 bit, 920 Nanosecond Digital
expands from 4K to 32K. The 4700 expands from
Computer is the first small machine with a through4K to 65K.
put rate fast enough to handle those tough jobs ...
You can pay $30,000 for a 16-bit machine with a
It costs less than $15,000 for the basic machine.
790 nanosecond cycle time. The 4700 does it in
The 4700 can free a larger system for more important
920 nanoseconds, but it only costs half the price.
work. It can be the brains behind a satellite communications network ... a message switcher or a
You can spend $30,000 for a 16-bit machine and not
data terminal.
get hardware double precision and floating point
The 4700 can control processes while your engineers
arithmetic. The 4700 offers this option for only
check out programs simultaneously. It gives you an
$5,000.
economical way out of the communications bottleneck ... a complete remote capability at a price you
Furthermore, we don't know any 18-bit orange that
can afford.
dares to compare itself with our 16-bit apple.
"SEE US AT BOOTH 201-202-203 DURING FJCC"
Whatever Your Computer Application - Be Sure You Talk With SCC Before You Buy
Scientific Control Corporation
P.O. Box 34529 • Dallas, Texas 75234 • 214 -
241-2111 • TWX 910·860·5509
EASTERN REGION: College Park, Md.
CENTRAL REGION: Dallas, Tex.
WESTERN REGION: Palo Alto, Calif.
Huntsville, Ala.
Hazelwood, Mo.
EI Monte, Calif.
Parsippany, N. J.
Houston, Tex.
West Springfield, Mass.
Designate No. lOon Reader Service Card
MULTI-ACCESS FORUM
"COMMUNICATIONS DATA PROCESSING OR TIME SHARING" - COMMENT
Gordon R. Carlson, Technical Director
Computer-Research Div.
Booth Newspapers Inc.
200 E. 1st St.
Flint, Mich. 48502
The article "Communications Data Processing or Time
Sharing" in the August 1~J68 issue of this magazine is another
in a long list of "X" versus "Y" articles.
This type of article is ill-advised, in my opinion, for several reasons:
1. The reliability of a conclusion, based on a comparison of two or more items, is dependent upon the
thoroughness and accuracy of the investigation. A
discussion of complex topics, such as the above
article covered, require a more thorough treatment
of the items being compared than can be accomplished in a short article.
2. For too long a time, a major portion of the computing industry has regarded different aspects of computing ( e.g. : business data processing; scientific
computing; batch processing; multi-programming;
time sharing; interactive dialog; on-line;. off-line) as
completely separate areas with little or no common
relationships. This prevents cross-pollination of experiences and ideas. This type of article fosters and
continues this situation, \vhich is not in the best
interest of the industry and user.
Rather than arguing "X" vs "Y", we should be discussing
"What is X" and "What is Y" and how can these tools be
applied to help improve our computing effectiveness. Until
sllch time as users become knowledgeable enough to understand "X" and "Y", the tools they provide, and how to use
these tools, \\'e will continue to be faced with massive conversion efforts every several years with its corresponding
waste of human effort when trying to increase our computing
capability and effectiveness.
Hardware manufacturers are involved in software only to
that extent which is necessary to sell their equipment. The
quality and effectiveness of their product will be in direct
relationship to the quality and effectiveness of our demands
for use of their products and services.
Several points should be kept in mind in discussions such
as this one, since these points often outweigh all other criteria in computing:
1. The name of the game is profitable and effective
computing for organizations and increasing effectiveness of human beings.
2. The preliminary installation of computing equipment
is usually based on a preliminary application which
is only one aspect of the processing needs of an
organization.
3. In order to maintain profitability and effectiveness,
an organization must be dynamic and growing, and
its computing needs reflect this. In order to properly
handle an organization's computing needs, a system
should be implemented on a basic framework which
allows mixing of strategems and environments, with
the ability to change the mix without a major conversion effort.
The problem that we face is learning how to make computing equipment and systems effectively respond to dynamic
environments. To this end, we cannot afford to discount any
techniques or ideas without proper investigation and experimentation.
•
THE MARKET FOR "CIVIL SYSTEMS" WILL EQUAL 10% OF THE GROSS NATIONAL
PRODUCT IN 10 YEARS - A PREDICTION
Based on an interview with Dr. Simon Ramo, Vice-Chairman of TRW, Inc., reported in Electronic News September
16, 1968.
In recent years, problems such as ground and air traffic,
transportation, pollution, and urban development have excited
systems engineers in the aerospace industry, but the problems
have not excited their profit-oriented management. In the
past year, the situation has changed, and federal and state
budgets are finding room to include development of "civil
systems".
The change has come about primarily through public
sentiment. Public understanding, even an "eagerness", has
replaced apathy toward technology. People realize now that
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
we have the power and the need to solve social problems.
They have begun to ask, If we can land a man on the moon,
why can't I get to the airport in less time than it takes to
orbit the earth? If we can analyze a malfunctioning diode on
the moon, why can't we monitor a heart with the same
precision? If we can supply oxygen for astronauts On the
moon, why can't we breathe the air here at home?
There is also a growing feeling that "technologists created
the problems, so let them solve them."
11
In the past, America's prIOrIty list of technological developments has placed security ,(national defense) at the head
of the list, with the space program number two, and civil
systems running a poor third. But civil systems is moving
into the number one spot, starting with the public, and
spreading to their elected representatives. During the next
decade, the civil systems market may well equal 10% of the
gross national product, growing to an annual rate of $100
billion 10 years from now.
What about the hardware? The technology itself is now
ready, but the systems engineer and the hardware developer
must constantly work hand-in-hand. The systems problems
can't be solved without knowing the hardware capability, but
the hardware can't be specified without systems engineering
first. They have to come along together.
The "old-fashioned" approach to marketing hardware,
where you take a company product and try to specify it for
new uses, is not valid in the civil systems field. The systems
engineer has to know what hardware exists and then work
it into a system which is economically feasible. But this does
not mean that the large systems firms will, therefore, corner
the market on hardware sales by specifying their own equipment. In the case of TRW's systems contract on a transportation system for the "Northeast Corridor", for example, the
need is arising for a new type of lightweight passenger
vehicle. When the specifications are completed, TRW might
build it; but it is just as likely to be built by an aircraft or
auto manufacturer.
The civil systems market will mean big business - the
time has come when the aerospace industry can go out to
play in the heavy traffic for profit rather than just for fun.
•
PROOF GOOFS AND PROOFREADING ERRORS - COMMENTS
I. From Enoch J. Haga
Foundation for Business Education
247 Edythe St.
Livermore, Calif. 94550
As a sometime writer and editor, and a former engineering
writer, I found your September 1968 Editorial and other
data on "Proof Goofs" to be fascinating. I personally believe
that the last error will always be discovered in the first
printed copies! Hence, a proper subject for discussion is the
control of errors, not their elimination.
Just today I noticed in looking through a copy of the
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION, I believe the
April 1968 issue, they have what appears to be a regular
feature on "Textbook Errors." In this connection, it seems
to me that more textbooks are being written, sans editing,
than ever before. The same seems true in magazines and of
course in newspapers.
In a sense, errors are responsible for computers. Charles
Babbage, it should be recalled, was vitally concerned with
the elimination of errors in printed tables. His Difference
Engines and Analytical Engine were accordingly designed
to produce printing plates directly from error-proof calculations. (See CHARLES BABBAGE AND HIS CALCULATING ENGINES, Dover Publications, Inc.; look in
Index under "Errors".)
I want to take issue with the method of proofreading
described in your Editorial. In practice, I have found it
wanting 111 several respects. First, errors of punctuation are
difficult to detect in this fashion. Second, it is almost impossible to get complete synchronization of the reader with
the "follower." More could be said, but punctuation is far
more vital than pronunciation. That is, errors detected by
means of pronouncing the words seem less consequential
than punctuation errors. Further, reader-follower proofreading tends to gloss over editing along with proofreading.
Serious errors in structure or word sequence can be discovered by an alert proofreader. So, for many situations, I
think that it is best for one person to read and compare. He
sees all punctuation, he can match line for line in synchronization, and he can remain mentally alert so as to catch logical
or structural errors in the content. Proofreading is not a
low-level skill unless you are willing to settle for that! In
fact, the "let's hurry up and read this" attitude probably
promotes errors. Magazine editors, I think, should return
proofs to authors for checking, in addition to running their
own checks. Both magazine editors and book publishers
should do more editing. Why correct errors in sloppy writing?
Proofreading errors can probably be detected on computers
in a manner similar to that which Babbage proposed: Read
in the manuscript directly to the computing equipment.
II. From the Editor
The amount of proofreading error which can be found is
a function of many factors. One of these certainly is the
alertness of the editor reading by himself and trying to catch
errors which have slipped by the author and which are on
a level such that no pair of ordinary proofreaders, one reading and one watching, could be expected to catch. Woe to
the alertness of the editor, if he has eaten more of a lunch
than he should and he feels sleepy at his desk later!
I think the exciting stimulus to a higher and higher level
12
of alert solo proofreading is to know that errors will inevitably occur, and to be prepared,. to catch them when they do
occur. The prepared mind makes important new discoveries
in science - and the editor who is mentally fitting together
the context of words as they are used becomes eventually
prepared to find remarkable errors, such as the one shown in
the Proof Goof in Walter de la Mare's poem which we
publish in this issue.
•
COMPUTERS and AUTOMA nON for November, 1968
WHAT IS A "SYSTEMS ANALYST"?
Carroll A. Hazen
Senior Systems Analyst
Pottawattamie County Board of Education
Council Bluffs, Iowa 51501
Sidney Davis' article ("A Flexible Concept for Recruiting
Data Processing Personnel for the 1970's," page 22 in the
September 1968 issue) and the philosophy it presented to
American industry was very well done, up to the point of the
subheading "Finding Systems Analysts." Here he becomes a
victim of the gross popular misconception that a Systems
Analyst is the captive talent and foster-son of the data processing profession!
Since this thinking has become so popular, I feel very
strongly that the air should be cleared on this matter.
There are two distinct varieties of "Systems Men":
( 1) The Systems Specialist - whose efforts encompass
a specialized field, i.e., Programmer-Analyst, Forms
Design, \York 11easurements, Task-Analyst, Production-Analyst, and 37 other specialists; and
(2) The Systems Analyst - who by virtue of this title
is a generalist and will have extensive experience
in at least 4 "specialist areas" with more than just
a nodding acquaintance with the other 38.
This means that those who honestly wear the title of "Systems
[accent on the plural] Analyst" have considerable maturation
both in business and years.
The statement
WHO'S WHO IN THE COMPUTER FIELD,
1968-69 - ENTRIES
Who's Who in the Computer Field 1968-1969 (the
Fifth Edition of our Who's Who), will be published by
Computers and Automation during 1969. The Fourth
Edition, 253 pages, with about 5000 capsule biographies
was published in 1963. The Third Edition, 199 pages,
was published in 1957.
In the Fifth Edition we hope to include upwards of
la, 000 capsule biographies including as many persons as
possible who have distinguished themselves in the field
of computers and data processing.
If you wish to be considered for inclusion in the
Who's Who, please complete the following form or provide us wi th the equivalent information. (If you have already sent us a form 'some time during the past eight
months, it is not necessary to send us another one unless
there is a change in information. )
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
. . . if they come from unrelated industries, (they) require a substantial amount of time to gain an understanding of your business
,,·ould also take issue with. This is true in the case of the
Systems Specialist, but as for the Systems Generalist, a most
emphatic NO!
Environmental assimilation and perception are mandatory
hr the Systems Generalist.
•
IEEE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON
COMPUTER PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT
SEEKS VOLUNTEERS
Edwin I. Blumenthal, Chairman
Peripherals Equipment Comm., IEEE Computer Group
Burroughs Corp.
Paoli, Pa. 19301
The Technical Committee On Peripheral Equipment recently formed by the IEEE Computer Group invites volunteers of professional stature to join in its work.
The scope of the committee's work includes the design of
both peripheral devices and peripheral subsystems. The
subcommittee on Device Design is primarily concerned with
the design of input/output devices, and in general with the
design of devices peripheral to data processing systems including mass storage, displays, and special purpose devices.
The subcommittee on Subsystem Design is concerned with:
the design of peripheral subsystems; the buffering and control
of peripheral equipment; and the trade-offs between hardwired logic and small programmable computers for buffering
and controlling combinations of input/output devices.
Interested volunteers should contact me at the above address, indicating their specific experience and on which subcommittee they are best qualified to serve.
•
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
WHO'S WHO ENTRY FORM
(may be copied on any piece of paper)
Name? (Please print) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Home Address (with Zip) ? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Organization? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Its Address (with Zip) ? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Your Title ? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Your Main Interests?
Applications
Mathem'atics
Programming
Business
Construction
Sales
Design
Systems
Logic
Other
(Please specify)
Management
Year of Birth ? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Education and Degrees ? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
9.
Year Entered Computer Field? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
10. Occupation? ____________________
7.
8.
11. Publications, Honors, Memberships, and other
Distinctions ? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
(attach paper if needed)
12. Do you have access to a computer?
a. If yes, what kind of computer?
)Yes (
)No
Manufacturer __________________
b.
c.
d.
Model
Where-is-it-in-s-t-a-ll-e-d-:-------------Manufacturer ? ________________
Address? _______- - - - - - - - - - - Is your access: Batch? (
Time-shared? (
Other? ( ) Please explain: _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Any remarks ? _________________
13. Associates or friends who should be sent Who's Who
entry forms?
Name and Address
(attach paper if needed)
When completed, please send to:
Who's Who Editor, Computers and Automation,
815 Washington St., Newtonville, Mass. 02160
Interactive computer graphics (leG) is one of the fastest
growing areas in electronic and mechanical design.
The value of interactive computer graphics is revealed
in its name. It enables the user to establish two-way, realtime communication with a computer in graphic language and to make use of the machine's problem-solving capability
at the same time.
Hierarchy of Languages
In order to understand the value of interactive computer
graphics, we should consider a few basic principles of communications.
Languages convey thoughts. The most prImItIve language
conveys a small portion of the total thought in a language
unit.
Binary language is perhaps the most primitive language.
The language unit is a "bit", and it takes many "bits" to
convey a complex thought. Fortran and Cobol are higher
level languages.
A picture or chart is a unit of graphic language. The
cliche "one picture is worth a thousand words" describes the
power of a unit of graphic language to express thoughts. To
illustrate: often alphanumeric printouts of computer runs
are plotted on graph paper to obtain the full meaning of
the data. Until the alphanumeric data is plotted, various
characteristics expressed by the data (e.g., noise, trends,
extremes, etc.) are difficult to envision.
Plotters can provide one-way graphic communications with
a computer by directly converting computer output to curve
plots, diagrams, etc. Machines are also available which will
convert graphic computer input directly to punch cards.
Henry J. Genthner is the director of product management for the Digigraphics Division of Control Data Corp.
He holds a B.S. degree in Aeronautics from St. Louis
University, and has over ten years' experience in the
planning and integration of electronic data processing
systems.
14
Using these mechanisms, engineers, project managers, and
scientists, can communicate with a computer in their own
language: charts, graphs, and diagrams. The process, however, is loaded with time lags. The user must submit graphics
for conversion to punch cards, submit programs of data
decks for processing, and go to off-line plotters for output.
The total process is like communicating with the problem
solver (the computer) by mail. If the problem solver is
working on a highly complex problem, with numerous input
options, it is impossible to maintain what is sometimes called
"thinking momentum."
Real-Time Graphic Communications
Interactive computer graphics makes it possible to communicate with a computer in real-time. With such a system,
a user can describe his problem in terms of charts, graphs,
schematics, pictorial news, etc., and can read out the results
of analyses in equaly descriptive form. Operating in a timesharing mode, the user ties up the computing capability of
the computer for only short intervals, to compute problem
solutions and to process graphics, leaving the bulk of the
computer time available for batch processing.
The user constructs the routines which translate the graphics to computer input, and reduces the computer output
to charts, graphs, etc. The user is relatively unrestricted in
that he can use such graphics as vector diagrams, system
schematics, in fact whatever he needs, to describe input or
output on the display.
In summary, interactive computer graphics automates the
translation of a problem from engineering diagrams or
schematics or graphs to a numerical description, vhe conversion to computer input medium (e.g. punch cards, tape),
and the reduction of computer output to easily interpretable
form. All of this is accomplished within a time which makes
it possible to maintain "thinking momentum." It offers the
user tangible savings by automating tedious tasks and reducing errors of translation, and the less tangible benefits of
improved power to solve problems.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATlON for November, 1968
Display can view different positions of the construction grid.
Enlarging, or "zooming" can define a large ship to .001 inch.
The Interactive Computer Graphic System
Two primary factors differentiate the interactive graphIcs
terminal from a standard peripheral: (1) The functions performed by the graphic terminal are an integral part of the
problem-solving process; and (2) In order to be economical,
the interactive computer graphics terminal must operate in
a fully time-shared mode.
For these two reasons, it is essential that the interactive
computer graphics terminal be closely integrated into the
total computer system.
System Hardware and Function
The graphics of an interactive computer graphics system
are generated on the face of a cathode ray tube. vhe display
may be tonal (generated by a raster scan, such as in television) or may be a vector type display (in which the electron
beam can be moved in any direction across the face of the
CR T) . Both vector and tonal capabilities are available in
advanced interactive display systems.
When using an interactive computer graphics system, the
operator inputs either coordinate position information or
alphanumeric data to the system. Several mechanisms are
available for such inputs. These include the light pen, the
10-key numeric keyboard, the function keyboard,. and a
standard alphanumeric keyboard.
The light pen is the most widely used means of directly
addressing points on the CRT face. The so-called light pen
is actually a light detector which reads electron beam position. The detected beam position is related to the position
of a graphic entity (e. g., circle, arc, curve) being displayed
on the CRT face. Through the use of a tracking pattern
(such as a tracking cross), the light pen can also be used
to "draw" entities on the CRT face.
In order to treat very large physical entities graphically,
the display surface can be set up to represent a window over
a construction grid. For a particular application it may be
desirable to draw on various portions of a very large construcCOMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
tion grid, or "move" the display surface to view a different
portion of the construction grid. A capability can also be
provided to "zoom" in on a small portion of the construction
grid (much in the way that a movie camera zooms in on an
image) to get a closer view. Similarly, the capability can
he provided to zoom back and take an overall view.
These manipulations give power to define large entities
with fine precision. It would be possible, for example, to
define an area the size of the United States to within a foot
or smaller if necessary. A large ship can be defined to .001
inches.
Interactive computer graphics systems must provide for
the storage of the mathematical description of the graphic
entities used in any interactive computer graphics application. This includes the description of curves, graph grids,
and geometric constructions. These graphic entities may be
stored in the computer memory or in a peripheral buffer
memory.
In general, a system which employs peripherally stored
graphics represents a higher cost for peripheral equipment,
but a lower overall system cost. In addition, peripherally
stored graphics are protected from program errors, which
often "wipe out" information contained in the computer
memory.
There are various other minor design variations in interactive computer graphics equipment. One system may use
hardware to display alphanumeric characters, while another
may use software. One system may employ hardware to
provide light-pen tracking, another might accomplish the
S:lme function with software. In general, hardware display
control is faster, while software control is more flexible.
Systems Software
Those computing equipment manufacturers which market
an integrated interactive computer graphics system (consisting of the computer, graphics equipment, standard peripherals, software, etc.) supply a graphics software package
with the system. This package consists of a graphics executive program and a library of graphics routines.
15
The graphics executive program is resident in the computer
during the running of any graphics application program.
The function of this resident executive is to manage the
running of the graphics application, and drive the display
terminals. The library of graphic routines is generally carried
on mass storage (disk, tape, etc.). They are brought into the
computer memory from the mass storage file while the graphics application program is being run. These graphic library
routines create, manipulate, or delete graphic entities (e.g.
lines, circles, points, alphanumerics).
The graphic portions of the user's application program
can assemble intricate graphic displays by combining the
graphic entities available through the graphic library routines. For example, the user may create a graph grid, etc.,
from line entities, alphanumeric entities, and curve labels.
He creates the curves by scaling analysis output to the graph
grid and drawing small line segments with various line styles
(solid, dashed, center lines, etc.).
Similarly he may wish to insert loads on a pictorial view
of a structure. He sets up an application routine which will
read various values which he has entered on the display into
an analysis program. Graphic library routines are called to
assist in entering the values on the display and connecting
the values entered on the display to the proper form for
analysis input.
The computer manufacturer tries to provide a graphics
software package which occupies as little of the computer
memory as possible and which provides a sound control of
basic graphic entities. A well-designed software package is
essential for an efficient, economical ICG installation.
Applications Programs
Graphic applications range all the way from the creation
and maintenance of a drawing system to complex scientific
and engineering analysis.
The creation and maintenance of a drawing system, in its
purest form, involves computing only for the processing and
storage of graphics. No analysis computation is involved in
such an application.
At the other end of the interactive computer graphic
applications spectrum are those programs which accomplish
extensive mathematical operations to solve complex analyses.
In this case, graphics is used as a means of inputting values
to, and reading answers from, the analysis routines. In between these extremes is a range of applications which mix
and combine analysis routines and graphic routines to accomplish circuit layout and analysis, tool design and production engineering, piping layouts, etc.
Interactive Computer Graphics for Design
Design is a major application area for interactive computer graphics. Today, interactive computer graphics is
being used successfully in many phases of design from concept to the production of final hardware specifications. Some
representative design applications of interactive computer
graphics are described.
Automated Hardware Design and Numerical Control
Automated hardware design (mechanical or electrical!
electronic) is one of the most obvious applications of lCG.
The design process may involve some layout, some mathematical analysis, some test and evaluation, specification
development, and the preparation of final drawings and
production procedures.
It has been demonstrated that interactive computer graphics can be of extensive value in each of these phases of
hardware design work. Let's look at a typical mechanical
and a typical electrical design application.
16
Let's assume that the designer has to design a complex
mechanism to fit in a limited space. He first draws the
available space envelope. He then perhaps draws in key
points such as drive points, pivot points, axles, etc. and the
outline of various parts of the mechanism. In the process
of drawing he can group various graphics entities (lines and
circles) which make tip a single piece part.
After the mechanism is defined, he may call on various
application routines to simulate operation of the mechanism
as it was drawn. He might simulate a variety of loadings to
test deflection, operation under load, etc.
To do this he calls upon various analysis programs. These
programs are very likely standard analysis programs which
he used prior to the innovation of graphics. \Vith the use
of graphics, he sets the same programs up to take inputs
from the CRT. In addition he provides routines which will
display the program output in graphic form (curves, alphanumeric readout on a schematic, etc.).
The designer might analyze heat transfer problems or
operation of the mechanism under various environmental
stresses. He might for example, draw vectors to indicate
loads on a specific point, or enter an alphanumeric description of temperature at a point. As flaws in the design
become apparent, he can correct the drawing on the scope
face.
Once he has satisfied operational requirements, he can
proceed to develop the process for producing the mechanism.
He can isolate various parts of the mechanism, then move
graphic representations of various cutting tools over the part,
operating the "tools" at various speeds, describing the cutting
path, designating coolant flows, etc. In the process he may
alter the part design to better facilitate fabrication.
Once he has completed the design, he can call for creation
of numerically controlled tape directly from his design. At
any time after the design is complete, the designer can recall
his design from storage, insert changes, and re-run various
design analysis.
Similarly, an electronic designer can proceed from concept
through schematic layout, functional simulation, and physical
layout to process engineering using computer graphics. He
builds a circuit schematic. He calls application routines
which perform basic circuit checks, such as open circuits,
shorts, etc. He then specifies various inputs and environmental conditions and, using another application routine,
observes the output of the circuit under anticipated operating
conditions. Once he has satisfied the operating requirements
for the circuit, he can proceed with circuit board layout, and
the development of numerical control tapes to control
production.
Data Reduction and Evaluation
Data reduction and evaluation is another prime application
area for ICG. Aerospace and oil companies both generate
extremely large batches of .data. This data is most often
associated with a single test (e.g., a space vehicle flight, or
an oil well sounding). In both cases, the criteria for identifying and eliminating random and systematic. data errors is
difficult to define completely. Human judgment must find
and eliminate such errors.
Consider, for example, the task of reducing the data from
the flight of a launch vehicle. This job involves thousands
of man-hours and is often accomplished on a crash basis.
The raw data tapes are read into an interactive computer
graphics system. A display may consist of continuous curves
or numerous single data points. The console operator can
edit random errors in the raw data by picking various points
or portions of a curve with a light pen and eliminating them
from further consideration in curve fitting, statistical evaluation, etc.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
He can eliminate systematic errors by translating groups of
data relative to the coordinate system. This is done with
the light pen and translate functions. Once the raw data
has been edited, it may be converted to hardcopy, or passed
on to statistical evaluation routines for correlation. The
result is a direct saving in the time required to process a
batch of data, and also assurance of more meaningful data
for further analysis.
Evaluation of oil well seismic data also involves extensive
subjective judgment. Seismic data contain a considerable
amount of noise. A complete definition of the filtering which
should be applied to each batch of data, and the frequency
characteristics of the meaningful data would be very extensive.
An experienced geophysicist can subjectively "filter" and
evaluate data by viewing a display generated directly from
digital tapes.
Computer graphics provides a rapid, direct transition from
tapes to graphics. In addition, computer graphics eliminates
the necessity of converting all data to hard copy before
evaluation.
A further capability used for data reduction and evaluation
is tonal display. This capability permits definition of areas
of the CRT in various intensities. Data telemetered from
satellites can be immediately converted from digital to picture images for evaluation, without waiting for photo
processing. Additionally, the number of images eventually
converted to hard copy can be limited to those of real interest.
Tonal display is also highly valuable in engineering and
design analysis. It can be used to study flow and force field
problems, 3-dimensional statistical distributions, etc.
Layout
The layout function is one which inherently involves subjective judgment. There may be a single optimum solution
to each layout problem; however, the layout achieved by
experienced layout engineers using subjective judgment is
usually entirely adequate.
The primary problem encountered when designing a large
complex system is to control the utilization of three-dimensional space during the layout process. In a large system
the work of numerous specialists must be closely coordinated
in order to assure that no two objects are placed in the
same space, and that the interaction of layout and system
characteristics does not unnecessarily degrade the performance
of systems.
Ideally, everyone would work on one large drawing. As
this hypothetical drawing is created, it would be correlated
with analytical work (pipe layout would be correlated with
pressure loss calculations, instrument layout would be correlated with thermal analysis, etc. ) . However, one large
drawing - actually - is obviously impractical.
Using interactive computer graphics, however, it is possible for everyone to work on a "single drawing"; through
linkage of the graphics with analytical programs, the correlation between layout of a system and the system performance
characteristics is automatic.
The Digigraphics Division of Control Data Corporation
has developed a software package which provides for the
description of a system layout in 3 dimensions, and the
direct correlation of layout with system performance. With
this system, numerous designers can work simultaneously on
a single, 3-dimensional layout drawing. As the layout is
created it can be directly coupled to analytical programs
such as piping pressure drop computations, etc. The interaction of separate systems is immediately obvious during the
layout process.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
The Economics of Interactive Computer Graphics
The ultimate measure of value of any innovation must be
return on investment. In the past, interactive computer
graphics capability has been fairly costly. Without time
sharing and the features of a sophisticated operating system,
the computer had to be dedicated completely to graphics
during the running of an ICG application. Further, the
number of consoles which could operate from a single computer was very small. .
With the development of time-shared graphics, however,
the cost per console hour can be reduced to a fraction of
previous costs. In the near future, costs per console hour
will be in the range of $12 to $15. In (5 to 10 years) costs
per console hour of $1 to $2 may be anticipated.
Measuring the benefits of computer graphics is difficult.
Most applications will produce both tangible and intangible
benefits. Both are extremely important.
Tangible benefits derived by the user of ICG include: (1)
reduction in the number of man-hours required to test a
single solution to a problem; (2) reduced computer time
due to the users ability with ICG to "zero in" on the correct
answer; ( 3) direct saving of the man hours required to
translate problem description into computer input; and (4)
presentation of computer output as graphs.
An experimental application program run at Control Data
Digigraphics Division produces 200 curves of system performance versus time. The preparation of input for each
run of the program and the plot of output from each run,
previously, would take 2 to 4 man-weeks. Using the CDC
system the input is instantly controllable and the output
instantly readable.
The intangible benefits are primarily in the area of problem solving. Is the end product improved by letting the
designer work in an interactive mode? Does the designer
produce a better design (or an equivalent design) in a
shorter time if he can maintain thinking momentum? Will
he discover a better answer if he can test more solutions in
the given time using interactive computer graphics? Intuitively one would say "yes"; however, these advantages will
have to be proved over a long period in a wide variety of
situations.
The Future
In the hardware area, several features have been developed
which may find general use. These include color, optical
projection from the rear of the CRT, and fast "hard copy"
of the displayed data. These features should stand close
investigation of cost effectiveness before they are added to
the system.
The interactive computer graphics terminal must eventually
become a piece of office equipment (rather than a part of
the computer installation). The display console will be
smaller, and there will be. fewer restrictions on remote location.
Development of additional profitable applications, reductions in hardware costs, larger display area, and more computer display capability, are also important objectives.
In system software, a larger library of useful functions will
be developed. Software optimization will increase speed
and reduce memory requirements.
Interactive computer graphics is no longer "what's coming"
but what is. ICG is now playing. an important part in efficient and economical design by allowing users to cut design
costs, speed development work, and increase the profitability
of products.
•
17
LOW COST GRAPHICS
Murray Rubin
Digital Equipment Corp.
146 Main St.
Maynard, Mass. 01754
"A complete, stand alone computer graphics system, with comprehensive user language programs, and full graphics input and output facilities, can now operate for costs between $16,500 and $20,000."
Recent advances in semiconductor and display technology
have made possible complete computer graphics display systems selling for less than $20,000. This article will explore
the techniques and limitations of these new low-cost systems,
and possible areas for their application. A computer graphics
system is defined as one with line drawing or point plotting
capability, and excludes those devices that display alphanumeric characters only.
high speeds of the processor and of information transfer.
Because of the expense of implementing these with this hardware, such features will most likely not be found in a lowcost refresh-display system.
A characteristic of refresh-display systems which is retained in low-cost displays is the ability to rapidly update
the display (ordinarily a few tenths of a second). This is
desirable for applications involving line or text editing.
Refresh Approach
Storage Approach: Two Examples
There are two basic approaches to the design of low cost
graphics systems. The earlier approach is an outgrowth of
tele\'ision technology which utilizes the conventional Cathode
Ray Tube (CRT) as the actual display device. This CRT
does not contain any built-in memory; and so the picture
must be repeated several dozen times each second to present
a flicker-free image to the eye.
The absence of built-in memory in the CRT requires the
lise of some other form of memory (such as ferrite cores,
magnetic discs or drums, or delay lines) and a high-speed
controller and drive element capable of reading this memory
and refreshing the picture. The controller and memory are
quite expensive. Attempts at producing a low cost CRT
graphics system have concentrated on reducing the cost of
these components, and follow one of two paths. The controller could be designed to have fewer commands and operate more slowly out of a smaller memory, with resulting
performance loss in command repertoire and low overall information density. Or else several terminals could be grouped
together to share the cost of the central control and memory.
This latter approach can offer more powerful performance,
but obviously is only suited to applications where several
terminals are required or can be justified, and where they
can be easily connected to the central unit by high speed,
low loss coaxial cables.
Low cost systems using the refresh CRT will offer br.ight
displays of virtually any reasonable size and moderate to low
overall information density. However, flicker will be a problem in applications requiring medium to high information
density.
Techniques like light pens, dynamic motion, windowing,
and subroutines are possible in refresh display systems. They
usually must be implemented in hardware because of the
A more recent approach to the design of low cost computer graphics systems is based on the Direct View Storage
Tube (DVST). The DVST has the property of retaining a
visual image as it is written, in the exact form in which it is
written. Since the image need only be written once, the requirements for a separate refresh memory are eliminated.
Also, the information rate requirements of the data source
and its control and drive circuitry are greatly reduced. The
combination of inherent memory and slow drivers results in
tremendous overall savings in cost and complexity.
Figure 1 presents a block diagram of one form of computer
graphics system built around the DVST. In this system, a
small general-purpose computer operates by direct link to
one or more "local" display terminals. All control functions
originate in the computer under command from the terminal
keyboards or graphic input devices or both. The DVSTs
are driven from an analog function generator controlled by
the computer, and are selected so as to unblank only one
display at a time. The use of analog components in the design is the key to the low system cost, since they operate
under conditions of high accuracy but low slew rate. These
conditions are easily met by modern techniques using integrated circuits. A second key to low system cost is the
heavy use of software, as opposed to hardware, to do nearly
all data formatting and data control functions. Character
generation is also performed by a software technique which
permits the user to specify character fonts and repertoire.
The information transfer rates characteristic of the DVST
permits the distribution of audio frequency analog and digital
signals to terminals located up to several hundred feet from
the computer via low-cost cables. This same multi-conductor
direct link is another factor permitting the use of software in
the manner described above.
18
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
ANALOG
FUNCTION
GENERATOR
AND
TERMINAL
SELECTION
BLANKING
LOGIC
BULK
SOURCE
MEMORY
(DISC DR TAPE)
I
I
L
_____
Characteristics of Storage System
,----,
-
-l
OVST
I
-
-l
OVST
I
~
Figure 1
A stand-alone single or multi-terminal small graphics system
using a general purpose computer processor, a central analog
function generator, and selectively blanked terminals. Scope
signals are distributed at low speed up to several hundred feet
in analog form by a multi-conductor. Additional source memory in the form of tape or disc may be added for retrieval of
bulk information.
The system illustrated in Figure 1 can operate as a complete, stand-alone computer graphics system, with comprehensive user language programs, and full graphics input and
output facilities, for' costs between $16,500 and $20,000. Expansion of the basic system to eight terminals produces a
system cost below $7,500 per terminal. Bulk storage discs
or tape can be added at costs ranging from $6,500 to upwards
of $20,000 to satisfy applications requiring a large data
source. Alternately, an interface may be added to complete
a link to a large central computer for less than $5,000.
Also, the system in Figure 1 is highly attractive for general information retrieval and interactive graphic design. :Ihis
is especiaJly true in an environment permitting the local
grouping of one or more terminals in the computer room (or
rooms adjacent to the computer) in an application where a
fairly rapid computer response is desirable.
LARGE
COMPUTER
DATA
PHONE
DATA
PHONE
SPECIAL
PURPOSE
CONTROLLER
Figure 2
A remote stand-alone terminal system uses a special-purpose
controller and local hardware function generators to overcome
low bandwidth of the transmission path. Communication is
usually by ASCII or a similar universal character code, over a
standard dataphone link to the central computer.
Figure 2 illustrates another approach, still using a DVST.
This system is structured to operate directly on a telephone
line. The information rate of this system, approximately one
to two orders of magnitude slower than the direct system in
Figure 1, shows the penalty paid for using low bandwidth
lines. This reduced rate makes a hardware character generator necessary at the terminal, as well as other hardware
required to format vectors and control the telephone interface and keyboard.
All this special purpose hardware negates much of the
favorable software/hardware trade off possible with the
DVST, and produces a single terminal costing between
$10,000 and $15,000. To this cost must be added the dataphone and line charges, and the central processor computer
charges. This system represents a solution to the remote
access graphic terminal problem where it is not feasible to
have direct lines to the computer.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
Both of the DVST systems have similar performance characteristics except for response speed. The DVST now available produces a high-resolution image (over 4000 characters)
of a size, quality, and information density comparable to that
found on a standard 8)12 by 11 inch page of text with standard borders. The display itself does not flicker. On the
other hand 'contrast and brightness, while adequate for use
with a hood or in a semi darkened room, are less than that
achievable with refresh systems. No existing refresh system,
however, can match the information density of the DVST.
Its use is ideal for applications requiring high information
density.
Limitations
There are some applications where the use of a DVST
does present difficulties. Its use for true real-time applications, requiring essentially instantaneous response, is not possible. Also, the present DVST lacks selective erase capabilities, so that the entire frame must be rewritten if it is desired
to alter any substantial part of the picture. Here the re-write
time of one to five seconds for a system like Figure 1 may
not be objectionable, but the 30 to 50 seconds for the remote
system might be.
There are some program tricks which can be used to minimize the number of times the picture is rewritten. One of
these is the use of a special text buffer area when doing text
editing. In addition, there is the use of a partial refresh
technique where the last few actions entered in the picture
are drawn in a non-stored manner and are only stored upon
verification by the operator. This latter approach is possible
in a bistable storage tube, where it is possible to observe
a' visual image written on the screen at a writing rate too
fast to be stored by the tube. This image does not affect
any previously stored images. Thus, the tube used in this
manner may permit the use of a light pen or a joystick to
display and enter graphic data directly from the tube surface. The program to interpret this data, however, under
some conditions is fairly complex. A technique which can be
used in some programs is the tagging of what may be called
target circles, or hot spots. The display is drawn with certain
coordinates identified by a distinctive circle or other symbol.
'\Then a joystick is positioned so its generated non-stored
spot appears at a target circle and the appropriate interrupt
button is pressed, the program would read and identify the
'action associated with the target circle. Graphic input could
also be read in from the joystick in a similar manner.
Summary
These are the techniques, system configurations, and limitations of some recently developed, low-cost computer graphic
systems. Systems employing the direct view storage tube
principle are generally less expensive and are capable of considerably greater information density than present refresh systems. However, they are only suited for applications where
system response time from a few seconds (for the system of
Figure 1) up to a minute (for the system of Figure 2) are
acceptable. The limited refresh capabilities of the bistable
storage tube permits live graphic input capability and some
limited live vector functions to be performed, but is not
sufficient for applications requiring dynamic motion.
Applications which can benefit by the use of the DVST
include interactive design (but with limited motion requirements), bulk information retrieval, cartography, drafting, pattern generation, numerical machine tool contour design and
validation, drafting, editing, and almost all applications involving the generation, manipulation and interpretation of
graphical data or forms.
•
19
IDEAS: SPOTLIGHT
Both "Encyclopedic, Tutorial" and "Information-Dispensing" Information Retrieval
Systems Should Receive Emphasis
From: Kochen~ Manfred~ The Growth of Knowledge,
John Wiley & Sons~ Inc. 605 Third Ave.~ New York~
N.Y.10016~ 1967
A seven-year-old child asks how an amphibian breathes.
A space-suit designer needs to know the maximum and minimum temperature that a space-suit would attain at the surface of the moon at any time and spot. Providing suitable
answers to these queries are services expected of informationretrieval (IR) systems. It is mostly the traditional library
and the modern information center that provide informationretrieval services today. Neither would always provide the
1110st satisfactory answer to the kind of question posed by
either the seven-year-old or 'the space-suit designer.
An engineer, needing a high-intensity light source,wishes
to know how a laser works. His query has more in common
with that of the seven-year-old than with that of the spacesuit designer. . Both the engineer and the seven-year-old wish
to satisfy their curiosity and to increase their understanding
at a level commensurate with their ability to comprehend.
The engineer will be as little satisfied by references to gas
lasers, relay lasers, or injection lasers as the child would be
by references to gills or lungs.
A ,historian's quest for the exact year of Homer's birth
has 1110re in co 111 111 on with the space-suit designer's query
than "'ith that of the seven-year-old. Neither of them seeks
to modify significantly his image of an aspect of the world;
they· both seek a reasonably well-specified isolated datum.
Bothl11ightbe satisfied by pairs of numbers on appropriate
scales.
,: The responses of an information-retrieval system to such
queries 'as the four above may take many forms. Servicing
, ttJe, child's question is the task of what we shall call an encydo jJedic or tu~orial inform,ation ~ystem. An ideal form of
(response to the seven-year-old's query that such a system
might make could be a television tape that describes, at a
level of aseven-year-old, how amphibians breathe. The per:son to \\'hol11 the query is posed 'would be able to display the
answe~ . on a readily available television set, furnished with
a special tape reader, within at most a few minutes after
the query is first express,ec.J.; The tape for a seven-year-old
would differ from the tape for (1' ten-year-old asking the same
question. Even if it' were possible to catalog and use an immense library, of such tapes in this way, it would still not be
possible to' anticipate all queries. Furthermore, the child
sh())uld be allowed to interrupt) the showing with his questions. He should be able to elicit: tfrom the IR system a response that may be composed of several prerecorded fraghnents. It may give the child a bird's-eye, view, or it may go
,1nto 'as much detail as the child's curiosity demands.
This kind of encyclopedic information system would be
. able to sifti compile, evaluate, screen, combipe, and tie together into I a teachable, coherent whole what would have
been to the child a bewildering mass of detailed facts. The
,neeliof,at doctor for a good ,clinical picture of effects and side
understand the use of the word "obvious" in
I, patents, and. the, needs.' of a legislature in seeking to comprehead the attiJtude Q£CSouthern whites toward school integra"tion are all best servediby this type of information-retrieval
r s.ystel11.
20
Servicing the space-suit designer's question is the task of
what we shall call an information-dispensing system. Its function is to store and retrieve references to documents, to retrieve documents themselves, and to extract answers from
relevant documents.
An ideal response to the space-suit designer's query might
be a documented statement that gives the required maximum
and minimum temperatures, as well as the pertinent references to documents on which the validity of these answers is
based. The designer may wish to examine the documents.
He may need photocopies or displays of the text on a
cathode-ray tube or on the translucent screen of a microfilm
or similar projector. He would need these with minimum
delay and without the inconvenience of going to a library or
to a special station with equipment. He will be irked if he
has to wade through many pages of irrelevant or distracting
material. He will be even more annoyed if, years later, he discovers the prior existence of a document with a more accurate measurement than any given him by his IR system. He
is not interested in undocumented information.
Nearly all current efforts are directed toward developing
the second type of information retrieval system - the information-dispensing system. There is little doubt that such a
system serVes many important needs.
But is this type of system worthy of all the resources, or
even the larger part of the resources allotted to information
retrieval? If an occasional reader who can influence the allocation of resources in this area is swayed by the comments
presented here toward an increased' emphasis on encyclopedic
systems, a useful impact will have been made.
•
COMPUTER REPORTING
D
~T
A
PRO C. E. S ~"1 N G"
HO\.\.iN C::S.\ifAO
"How about that: 70% of all reports produced by
computers are thrown away!"
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
We put the best time-sharing software you can get
in a less expensive box.
$10,000 a month less.
Anyone who knows much about time-sharing knows
that our 940 has the best time-sharing software you
can get. Because there's more of it, and it can do
more, and because it is working.
But up to now the only way you could get our 940
software was to get a 940, or rent time on one.
Now you can also get it with our new 945 computer. The 945 will cost you less than $15,000 a
month. That's about $10,000 a month less than a
940. And it's as cheap as renting 5 full time terminals
from a time-sharing service bureau. (You get 24 with
the 945.)
In fact, the 945 is the least expensive time-sharing
computer on the market. It's every bit as fast as a
940, it has the same excellent response time, and it
uses the same software.
Which means that the 945 comes complete with
Basic, CAL, conversational Fortran, Fortran II, a
two-pass assembler, a text editor (QED), a debug
package, a utility package and a complete library of
special programs and routines. And even though the
945 is new, the software has been proven by the
toughest customers you can find: time-sharing 'service bureaus.
Then why is the 945 so much cheaper?
Simply because fewer people can use it. The 940
is designed for service bureaus and large companies
with hundreds of different users. The 945 is designed
for companies and institutions with dozens of users.
The 945 can recognize up to 64 individual users.
And up to 24 people can use it at
the same time.
That, more or less, is the whole
idea of the 945.
Less people can use it and Scientific Data Systems,
more people can afford it.
Santa Monica, California
Designate No. 16 on Reader Service Card
5 C5
A COMPUTERIZED PHOTOCOMPOSITION SYSTEM
OF GRAPHIC ARTS QUALITY
Phillip P. Petron
Product Planning
Alphanumeric~ Inc.
Z0 Nevada Drive
Lake Success~ L.I.~ N.Y. 11040
Manager~
"A computerized photocomposition system of graphic arts quality must:
(1) be flexible enough to satisfy the needs of the p'rinting and publishing industries as well as EDP users possessing files of information for internal or public dissemination; and (2) must be economically attractive
when compared with competitive manual and automated equipment."
FONT LI BRARY
MAINTENANCE
PROGRAM
FONT LIBRARY
DISPLAY
INPUT
FILE
FROM USER
·COMPOSITION
SYSTEM
DISPLAY
CONTROL
PROGRAM
APSOLUTE
PROGRAM
CT TAPE
ALPHANUMERIC
CRT PRINTER
r-------,
i
I OFF-LINE
TO
PLATEMAKING
POSITIVE
FILM OR
PAPER
I
I
PHOTOGRAPHIC
LFigure 1.
22
PROCESSING
- - - -
I
---.J
0
I
EXPOSED
FI LM OR PAPER
Alphanumeric Inc. Photocomposition System (APS)
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
Phillip P. Petron was born in New York City on September 11, 1931. He received his A.B. degree from New
York University and his M.S. from Stevens Institute of
Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey. He has done additional work at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn,
N.Y., and was a doctoral candidate at New York University School of Business Administration.
Since 1955, he has been engaged in the EDP industry,
initially with Western Electric Inc. and subsequently
with System Development Corporation. Prior to joining
Alphanumeric as Manager of Product Planning, he was
employed by the Xerox Corporation, Rochester, N.Y.,
conducting product planning and business development
in computer related fields.
Properties
One of the more recent applications of the technology of
electronic data processing is in the graphic arts printing
industry. Here cathode ray tube (CRT) devices have been
used to generate alphanumerics, special characters, and
symbols, with such flexibility and quality that they satisfy
the composition requirements of the printing industry.
Our company has designed and' manufactured a photocomposition system that phototypesets characters of graphic
arts quality, at speeds up to 6,000 characters a second. Associated with the photocomposition hardware, a comprehensive
set of computer programs have been developed to provide for
text composition and operational support. Together with the
phototypesetting hardware, these comprise the total photocomposition system shown in Figure 1. This system is currently operating. It is aimed at satisfying the needs in
graphic arts composition of the printing and publishing
industries, and also the needs of EDP users possessing files of
information for internal or public dissemination.
In order to satisfy such a diverse set of applications, the
photocomposition system must be economically attractive
when compared with competitive manual and automated
equipment. The system has been designed to handle a wide
range of tasks for various customers. These tasks include:
file maintenance; text composition; and the production of
photocomposed output on photographic paper or film which
is used to prepare either photo-offset or letterpress plates.
The system may be used by companies who have their own
fully edited input tapes, containing text information and
graphic arts codes or parameters.
The system has the following properties:
1. Quality and appearance of type images, meeting the
high standards of the printing industry.
2. Photocomposition printing speeds equal to and exceeding the speeds of current computer line printers.
3. An extensive type library of over 250 popular fonts.
These are stored in digitized form on magnetic tape
and on disk packs under computer control, and are
retrievable at computer speeds.
4. The power to add additional fonts, characters, special
symbols, or logos which may be designed or requested
by the user.
5. Compatibility with a wide variety of input media including magnetic tape generated for line printer output, and other magnetic tape, punched paper tape and
cards.
Photocomposition System
The photocomposition system comprises the CRT photoprinter and three software suhsystems that together make up
the Operational Support System as shown in Figure 1.
The photocomposition system phototypesets characters of
800 scan lines per inch. Output speed varies as a function
of type font and point size. As in conventional printing
systems, the number of characters that may be phototypeset
depends on font complexity and on character size. The
speed varies with point size; the larger the character, the
more CRT beam scan lines are required to generate the
character. Output speed usually ranges from 1000 to 6000
characters per second. These rates include the time required
to process all control commands, move the recording medium, and phototypeset the characters. Figure 2 shows a.
sample output page phototypeset by the system.
Typesetting, Photocomposition and Computer Applications
The printing industry has been advanced by two basic innovations in the field of typesetting. The first was the development of movable type associated with Gutenberg and Caxton as early as the fifteenth century. Typesetting remained a slow, hand process of selecting
individual pieces of type and returning them to their proper cases when the printing was
completed.
Figure 2. Sample APS Page Output
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
23
Digitally encoded character patterns are stored in magnetic
core memory in a manner graphically shown in enlarged
form in Figure 3. The character pattern is formed by sequential vertical sweeps of the CRT electron beam. Digital
coding determines when the beam is turned on during each
vertical sweep. Characters up to 14" high can be phototypeset at any point on an output page with a high degree of
vertical and horizontal accuracy. The maximum line width
is 8 1/3". The page length can vary up to the maximum
storage capacity of the photoprinter, which is 800 feet of
photosensitive medium.
The painting process is accomplished by moving the beam
from top to bottom, incrementing one horizontal position
unit each time the vertical sweep reaches bottom. The
vertical beam may be turned on and off several times during
each sweep. Blank spaces between characters shown as (a)
and (c) widths in Figure 3 are not included in the painting
process. To avoid consuming valuable CRT time, the (a)
and (c) values are added to horizontal positioning data
before and after each generated character. Gaps between
characters and words required for line justification are processed similarly, to optimize the speed of output.
110
'1l.
Operational Support System
120
The operational support system allows the user to generate composed output; he may use composition systems that
are device-independent; the input he provides is a magnetic
tape expressing composed text. In effect, the operational
support system allows users great latitude.
The system comprises three computer subprograms. The
first subprogram converts the composed text to the specialized
requirements of the CRT pfinter in three phases. The first
phase validates and analyzes input text and control statements; the result together with the data in the font library,
creates a matrix selection dictionary. The second phase
allocates data from the matrix selection dictionary into core
memory, for storage of matrix patterns for printing operations. The third phase creates the display input (DI File)
lIsed to drive and control the CRT printer.
The second subprogram, called the Display Control Program, executes all CRT printer operations. It accepts from
the DI File detailed control and display parameters and
specific instructions for loading all display patterns required
for a given job from the font library. Both subprograms
receive data from the font library, which is maintained by
the third subprogram, the Font Library Maintenance Program. This program initializes disk packs and performs
initial loading, adding, changing, and deactivating of font
and character in the font library.
The Operation of Photocomposition
The operation of the system includes the storage of font
and text information, the generation of characters by the
CRT, and the recording of the CRT generated characters
through a high-quality lens system onto a photo-sensitive
medium. This medium is driven by a digitally controlled
mechanism for film transport.
Appropriate signals are transmitted to the photoprinter to
initiate the flow of characters and positioning data. These
signals are processed by the printer to generate the character
through repetitive, vertical CRT beam sweeps at the proper
position on the tube face. The movement of the medium
through this process is measured by a digital encoder... Correction signals are applied to displace the CRT beam proportionally to film movement. This produces, a text line of
characters perfectly aligned, on the recording medium. This
process allows a constantly moving film medium, and avoids
time consuming start-stop techniques.
Circuitry and timing are utilized to ensure maximum
speeds of movement of media, while keeping the beam within
the prime quality area of the CRT face. Appropriate corrections are also applied to eliminate pincushion effects and
distortions created by the flat tube face.
A character on the CRT face is generated by "painting"
successive rectangular segments each 1.25 mils wide and
from 1.25 mils to Yi" in height resulting in a character
resolution of 800 lines per inch.
~
111I111r ll'l
]
130
140
~
150
~r-
I
160
I
170
180
190
1---0
o
rr~
lllmT
..I-
b
nd
-I-
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Figure 3.
e --I
Typical APS Character Construction
By means of program commands, characters may be displaced above or below the base line, as in mathematical and
chemical formulas. Or two characters may be set in one
space, to achieve "kerned" characters. Or characters may be
compressed or magnified up to plus or minus 32% in 0.25%
increments.
Codes may be compacted to reduce memory storage, to
suit what is economically feasible with currently available
magnetic core memories. Straightforward coding of each
clement of a character pattern would require too much core
memory. Storage requirements for individual characters
range between 60 and 120 eight-bit bytes. This is within
the core storage capacity necessary to process an entire job.
Applications
One application of these techniques is justifying and
hyphenating text. More generalized text composition programs of this nature are being developed, for use in setting
and adjusting to a wide array of possible formats for lines,
pages, and jobs.
Another application is preparing catalogs, directories, and
financial and legal printing where speed is a pressing need.
Another application is the generation of continuous line
figures on a page to satisfy the artwork requirements prevalent in printed circuit boards, circuit diagrams, logic diagrams, line drawings, etc.
Specialized programs are being developed for automatically
routing and mapping specially designed symbols that are
sorted and combined to generate continuous lines from any
point to any other point on a page.
Figure 4 shows a tabulation of individual symbols that
have been stored in photoprinter memory to photocompose
onto film the compact wiring paths of a multi-layer board
shown in Figure 5.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
,
1
(
)
•
L
~
~
-.J
~
- -., •
r
l
,
+
J
I
•
,.-
,
•
...I
~
transistor, resistor, capacitor transformer, etc., and the logic
font comprising the symbols for AND gate, OR gate, NAND
gate flip-flop, etc.
~
Hyper-Symbols in Hyper-Fonts
•
The set of programs for gen~rating line drawings utilizes
the hyper-font concept, where the program assumes the
existence of a macro type font containing combinations of
the symbol found in the basic font. For example, a line
1/10" in length may be a symbol in a line drawing font. A
line of 1" length can then be defined as a hyper font made
up of ten 1/10" line symbols. When the hyper font 1" line
is required, it can be requested by the composition program,
and the necessary calculations are then made to produce the
corresponding symbols in the proper geometric arrangement.
fL0201
SET INPUT
Figure 4.
Printed Circuit Board Artwork Symbols
NO
L 20
MOVE PARAM.
TO TABLE AT
POINTER;
SELECT NEXT
TABLE SLOT
Figure 6.
Program Flow Diagram from APS
Each hyper symbol can be used in turn to create a higher
order hyper symbol composed of a s~ries of lower or4 er
hyper symbols. Up to 20 levels of such symbol descript,ion
can be utilized. Figure 6 illustrates .a typical diagram produced with only 15 input statements.
.
A wide and exciting horizon of applications of computer
photocomposition is bei~g revealed.
Figure 5. Typical Layer for Multilayer Board
Generalized programs are being developed to process nonalphanumeric figures and symbols, to produce line drawings,
logic diagrams, program flow charts, etc. In this application
special figures and symbols are processed by the photocomposition system. In actuality, the special symbols required for
line generation are simply a special font composed of nonalphanumeric characters which are processed according to
algorithms written to generate the desired output.
For example, for electronic drafting, two fonts have been
developed; the electron~c font consisting of the symbols for
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
Acknowledgments
The author wishes to acknowledge the technical and documentary contributions of E. Cuba, S. Manber, and I H.
Bechard.
.IJ
This article is based, in part, upon a technical paper '~Digi
tally Coded Alphanumeric Photocomposition System", which
appeared in. the special issue ~f IEEE Transactions on Engineering Writing and Speech,.A.ugust 1968, and i~ published
with the permission of the IEEE.
•
25
C·-a
PROBLEM CORNER
Number Puzzles for Nimble Minds
- and Computers
Walter PenneYt CDP
Problem Editor
Computers and Automation
PROBLEM 6811: SAVING COMPUTER TI.ME
"Do you think you might be able to run this program tonight?", Al asked with a slight wheedling note in his voice.
"I could punch up the cards in five minutes."
Dan looked at the program Al had given him. "What
crazy program is this?", he asked.
R=O
A = 12.
3
B= A
Q = SQRT (2.*B +
5
NUMBLES
1.)
B=B-I
Neil Macdonald
Assistant Editor
A "numble" is an arithmetical problem in which: digits
have been replaced by capital letters; and there are two
messages, one which can be read right away and a second
one in the digit ciph6r. The problem is to solve for the digits.
Each capital letter in the arithmetical problem stands for
just one digit 0 to 9. A digit may be represented by more
than one letter. The second message, which is expressed in
numerical digits, is to be translated (using the same key)
into letters so that it may be read; but the spelling uses
puns or is otherwise irregular, to discourage cryptanalytic
methods of deciphering.
We invite our readers to send us solutions, together with
human programs or computer programs which will produce
the solutions.
Numble 6811
IF (B.NE.II.) GO TO 11
IF «Q - R).LT •. 00001) GO TO 13
R= Q
All
S HIP S
A=A + 1
LEA K
X
GO TO 3
11
IKSLET
Q = SQRT «2.*B + 1.) + (B - 4.)*Q)
GO TO 5
13
WRITE (6, 14)Q
14
FORMAT (lH1, 6X, F12.4)
K H L N ME
STOP
AS E KNI
END
E T M K P L MK T
"It's a problem in our algebra assignment that I wasn't
able to solve. We have to have it in by tomorrow so I
thought I'd write a program to compute it."
"I might be able to save you some computer time." Dan
made a fe,,,,, calculations. I'll tell you what - get me a cup
of coffee and a doughnut at the snack bar, and by the time
you're back I'll have the value of Q for you."
What is Q?
Solution to Problem 6810: A Chessboard Matrix
The numbers ,vere 0, 1, 8, 9, 32, 33, 40, 41 and 1, 3, 5,
7, 17, 19, 21, 23. Every number from 1 to 64 can be expressed uniquely as the sum of two numbers, one from each
group.
Readers are invited to submit problems (and their solutions)
for publication in this column to: Problem Editor, Computers
and Automation, 815 Washington St., Newtonville, Mass. 02160.
26
K P L ML M
21274
02146
24084
T
=P
3728
Solution to Numble 6810: Speech to Hide
In Numble 6810 in our October issue, the digits 0 through
9 are represented by letters as follows:
T = 0
1=5
D,G,M = 6
O,U = 1
P
2
H = 7
A = 8
S
3
E = 9
C = 4
The full message is:
SPEECH was given to man to HIDE HIS THOUGHTS,
and perhaps his face to show them.
=
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
WHAT TOPICS ARE INCLUDED IN
COURSE C12 ?
• Fundamentals of Computing, and Orientation in Computers and Programming, with "hands-on-thecomputer" experience in: how to compute; how to
program; how to edit a program; how to assemble
a program; how to debug a program
• Some Powerful Concepts in Programming
• Introduction to Programming Languages
• Basic Principles of Systems in Computer Applications
• Applications and Nonapplications of Computers
• Some Natural History of Mistakes, and How to Avoid
Them
Using a powerful, modern, small, general-purpose
computer (a Digital Equipment Corp. PDP-9 which can
perform 500, 000 additions per second, etc.) which we
have recently acquired -- and our experience since 1939
in many parts of the computer field, we have started to
teach:
Course C12:
COMPUTING, PROGRAMMING,
AND SYSTEMS FUNDAMENTALS
FOR SUPERVISORY MANAGEMENTWITH 'HANDS-ON-THE-COMPUTER'
ORIENTATION AND EXPERIENCE
This course will be offered NOV. 13 -1 5 (Wed.
through Fri. ), and from time to time thereafter, at the
Computers and Automation Computer-Assisted Instruction
Center, 815 Washington St., Newtonville, Mass. 02160.
Computer time for course enrollees will be available,
without additional charge, Wednesday through Sunday. The
fee is $190; the enrollment is limited to 15.
After the lectures beginning at 9 a. m. each day, the
course will center around study groups of three or four
persons who will have access together to the computer
for three hours at a time; while one person runs his program, the others will work out or correct their programs.
The instructor will, of course, be regularly available for
guidance.
WHO SHOULD TAKE COURSE C12?
In a recent article in Computers and Automation, Swen
Larsen, now president of Computer Age Industries Inc. ,
said:
"In many companies, the top operating executive
--the one who makes the key decisions -- came
into his position of responsibility before the computer revolution. Of all the men in an organization, he is probably the one in the greatest need
of knowledge of the computer. Two computer
experts describe the manager's plight in this way:
'The executive is likely to be baffled, or confused, or snowed. He has confidence in his
firm IS EDP manager, but he doesn It understand
the jargon that he hears, nor does he comprehend what can be effected from the tools he
controls. '"
Course C12 is directed Squarely towards these people
and this problem.
WHO IS THE INSTRUCTOR?
The instructor for this course is Edmund C. Berkeley,
editor and publisher of Computers and Automation since
1951, and president of Berkeley Enterprises, Inc., since
1954. He has been in the computer field since 1939. He
took part in building and operating the first automatic
computers, the Mark I and II, at Harvard University in
1944-45; he is now implementing the programming language LISP for the DEC PDP-7 and PDP-9 computers.
Mr. Berkeley is: a founder of the Association for
Computing Machinery, and its secretary from 1947-53;
the author of eleven books on computers and related subjects; a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries; and an invited
lecturer on computers in the United States, Canada,
England, Japan, the Soviet Union, and Australia. He
graduated from Harvard College in 1930, A. B. summa
cum laude, having concentrated in mathematics.
WE BELIEVE
that the experience of:
• sitting at a computer;
• having the entire machine at your command;
• being able to look into any register you choose,
to see just what'information is there;
• experimenting first with simple programs, then
with more complicated programs; and
• having someone at your elbow to answer questions
when you are perplexed;
is one of the most exciting, interesting, and instructive
experiences of the computer age.
This experience is, we think, part of the essential
background of supervisory management. With such experience, supervisors of data processing departments
and divisions are better able to:
• make reality-based appraisals of computing and
data processing;
• form sensible judgments that are relatively independent of what the computer professionals in
their groups may tell them;
• avoid commitment to unworkable proposals and
costly errors.
If you are interested, or have questions, or are conSidering enrolling, write, wire, or telephone:
COMPUTER-ASSISTED INSTRUCTION CENTER,
815 Washington St., Newtonville, Mass. 02160
(617) 332-5453
COMPUTER GRAPHICS IN ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT DESIGN
]. Robert Logan~ Manager
Design Technology Dept.
Guidance and Control Systems Diu.
Litton Systems~ Inc.
Woodland Hills~ Calif.
"Combination of computer generated routing and one to one plotting
has cut the time needed to produce a reproducible circuit design from
24 days to 8Y2 hours, for a typical eight-layer laminate."
As large scale integration (LSI) continues to be a dominant factor in electronic circuit design, engineers find that
they must rely more and more on high-speed computers to
maintain the capacity design that is in keeping with LSI
technology.
Computer-Assisted Engineering
LSI circuits have become so complex that the engineer no
longer can take the time to concern himself with such details
as component layout or routing of interconnections, particularly where multi-layer laminates are involved. He now
must confine his attention to the creative aspects of the
design, letting the computer fill in the details needed to
optimize the physical circuit configuration.
Computer-assisted engineering is at its best, of course,
when there is an interactive "partnership" of man and machine, with direct two-way communication taking place.
For some time terminals with alphanumeric keyboards have
provided the interface needed for direct solution of equations
and other engineering problems. Until recently, there was
no simple, effective way to define the graphic information
important in circuit design, such as the gridded layout of a
circuit board and its components, in terms that could be
processed by a computer.
Now, however, man-to-machine communication of graphic
design is possible through use of a cathode-ray tube (CRT)
display unit. Here the engineer can actually "draw", move,
erase or change images on the CRT screen by means of an
electronic "light pen".
This display method is particularly valuable in defining
the graphic portion of circuit designs utilizing LSI technology, where single modules or chips perform several
logical functions. For example, an engineer can use the
display terminal to define and position: chips; individual
pins; pin patterns; obstacles; feed-thru points; and other
physical features. The circuit board on a grid pattern is
projected on the television-like screen. Once defined, such
data can then be processed by the computer to route the
interconnects so that cross-overs will not occur and so that
all logical functions of the design will be performed with a
minimum of modules.
The Cover Layer Automated Design Program (CtAD)
At the 9uidance and Control Systems Division of Litton
Systems, Inc., display unit, equipped with a 21-inch CRT
screen, alphanumeric keyboard, special function keys, and a
light-sensitive pen, is now essential hardware for the division's Cover Layer Automated Design Program (CLAD).
28
The display unit is on-line with one of the several computers in the division data center. With the display unit,
individual engineers use the CLAD program as an automatic,
graphic method of defining the cover of a multi-layer
laminate.
Once the cover layer is defined graphically in the computer,
it is transcribed to magnetic tape. Thereupon it becomes
input to another computer program called Design Automation Routing Tool (DART), which automatically routes the
interconnects of the laminate.
Prior Program
The CLAD program has replaced manual coding and
keypunching procedures previously employed to provide input
for the routing program; it has brought about a major saving
in engineering manhours. In the earlier version of DART
the user first had to prepare a gridded layout containing all
pin and chip locations, obstacles to routing, feed-thrus,
external pins, etc., that would appear on the laminate cover
layer; and all rows and columns of the grid pattern then had
to be numbered so that a coordinate identity could be
established for every grid cell.
The user then had to go through a seemingly endless procedure of filling out data forms used to keypunch the cards
which put cover layer description into the computer. The
program required the punching of separate cards to describe
each pin pattern, and for the placement of each module on
the grid. Additional cards also had to be prepared for
program instruction, and to define and locate external pins,
obstacles and feed-thrus.
Accuracy
Previously it would take at least 12 hours of an engineer's
time to prepare the coding forms for keypunching. N ow the
entire cover layer description for a typical laminate involves
an average of four hours' work at the display unit. In addition, errors that previously were made in coding and keypunching have been eliminated, because the engineer can
now inspect his graphic data on the screen immediately
after it is entered, and satisfy himself that it is accurate and
acceptable. If it is not, with the light pen he simply erases
an error and makes a corrected entry; he does not have
to change any other graphic data on the screen.
After receiving instruction in the use of the graphic display
and the CLAD program, engineers can schedule computer
time and use the display unit to convert the graphic portion
of a laminate design into machine readable data. At present,
about one-fifth of the computer's core capacity is set aside
for the CLAD program.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 196R
Albert Einstein had, perhaps, the
greatest mind of our time.
But he didn't have something
many college students now have.
A UNIVAC@ real-time computer
system.
With a UNIVAC computer system, an
average college student can work out
problems faster than any man ever could.
Even faster than a genius like Einstein.
Scientific and mathematical
experiments that were once much too
exhausting, or altogether impossible to
perform on campus, have now become
possible because of computer technology.
Students and researchers can use
the textile, petroleum, design engineering
UNIVAC computers to analyze and study and medical fields, to name a few.
biological experiments while the
Univac is at work on campuses
experiments are still in progress.
throughout the world in administration,
In graduate business schools
research and education.
students gain practical management
Can you imagine what the world
experience by using computers to simulate would be like today if the University of
Zurich had a computer, in 1904, when
actual business conditions.
Einstein was a student.
Faculty members also benefit from
on-campus computers. They can spend
more time teaching and less time
administrating.
Industry and government are other Univac is saving a lot of people a lot of time.
...JL
benefactors of on-campus computers.
-,rspEr-«.Y R.!\J\D
Advanced projects are now under way in
UNIVAC
Designate No. 8 on Reader Service Card
In a few days a colle~ student can re-do
the calculations that took this man a lifetime.
To define the cover layer of a laminate the engineer' first
activates the grid function key on the display unit. This
calls in the grid pattern, which the computer selects from its
magnetic disk storage system and projects on the 12 x 12
inch CRT screen. The CLAD program provides a 40 x 60
column grid section which contains from 1,000 to 1,500
usable positions or cells. The grid section can be set to any
desired coordinates. By selecting the proper coordinates, the
section can represent all or any portion of the total cover
layer grid.
Guided by a layout sheet of the physical board, the user
then uses the keyboard to enter the three-digit identity of
each module or chip specified on the layout. Then by pointing the light pen at the correct cell on the grid and depressing the proper function key, the pin pattern and location of
each chip on the grid is defined. Pin patterns and chips,
which appear on the screen as symbols, can be repeated on
the grid as many times as required, simply by repeating the
light pen and function key routine.
cards which are input to another computer where the string
list is generated and put on tape, also in the proper format
for DART program input.
The DART program, which is run on this second computer, comprises several processing runs. The computer first
associates the string list and CLAD laminate cover description to determine the coordinate assignment. It then determines the minimum number of interconnect trees needed,
organizes the trees according to optimum distances and slope
patterns, and then computes the actual routing, while assuring that no cross-overs will occur and that the interconnects
described· by the data are properly completed.
Finally, a plotting computation is made for each layer of
the laminate and the data is put on magnetic tape. This
tape becomes input to a precision plotter, where the actual
interconnect routing for each layer is plotted one to one on
a film negative by means of a light head, with the interconnect pattern recorded at the rate of 60 inches per minute.
Film positives produced from the negatives are used as
printing masks for actual production of the etched circuit
laminate layers.
Using the light senntlve "pen", the user proceeds to define
and locate pin patterns and modules on the grid section which
is projected on the display terminal's television-like screen.
The film positive, made from the negative produced on the
plotter, is used as the printing mask for the production of an
etched circuit layer in a multi-layer laminate board.
Releasing Data to the Computer
Evaluation
Through proper use of the 32 function keys and light pen,
pre-assigned connector pins and non-assigned external pins
are located on the grid pattern, as are required feed-thrus
and single-cell, vertical or horizontal obstacles. Chips can
be moved from point to point on the grid at will, pin identification can be changed, and any symbol on the screen can
be erased if necessary. Data can be released to the computer
either upon completion of the CLAD program or at any
time during the operation of the program. The cover layer
data is stored on magnetic tape and is automatically updated
ill the proper format for use in the DART program.
Meanwhile, the logical functions of the circuit design
have been mechanized, chip numbers and pin numbers are
defined, and the interconnect data is transcribed to punch
Implementation of the two design automation programs
has produced significant benefits. Man hours required for
various production stages of the multi-layer laminates have
been reduced, and engineering time has been saved through
lise of the display unit and CLAD.
For example, where it previously took an artist at least 24
working days to "tape" the interconnect pattern for a typical
eight-layer laminate board, the same job now involves only
about eight and a half hours, including computer routing
and plotting of all eight layers. What's more, because the
film mask is now plotted one to one and does not require
photographic reduction, the one-week turnaround time, which
was a major problem when manually produced drawings
were used, has also been eliminated.
•
Locating Points on The Grid PaHern
30
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
MACHINE-GENERATED SPEECH FOR USE WITH
COMPUTERS~ and the problem of fitting a spoken word
into one half second
W. D. Van Gieson, Jr., and W. D. Chapman
IBM Corp.
Systems Development Div.
P.O. Box 12275
Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27709
aM achine-generated speech makes the computer available to countless
numbers of people who never before have had access to the machine.
f!.eplies to routine requests for stock quotations) bank account balances)
znventory status) or traffic routes and rates are now no farther away than
a telephone call to a central computer."
A recent major step forward in computer technology has
been the development of audio response units which assemble
and transmit spoken messages in reply to queries keyed into a
central computer over regular telephone facilities. The inquirer simply dials the computer's number on the telephone
and then keys in his coded request on the parallel-tone attachment to his telephone. The computer extracts the required information from its storage files and codes a message
which directs the audio response unit to transmit a sequence
of spoken words answering the inquiry with the most recent
data on hand. These words are drawn from a pre-recorded
vocabulary stored in spoken form in the unit. Each vocabulary is created for the particular customer's application.
With this technique, the computer is now available to
countless numbers of people who never before have had
access to it. Applications of the audio response technique are
almost unlimited, particularly in the world of business and
industry. Replies to routine requests for stock quotations,
bank account balances, inventory status, or traffic routes and
rates, are now no farther away than a telephone call to a
central computer.
The people making inquiries fall into t\\'o broad categories - those who are experienced listeners, and those who
are not. A bank teller calling the computer is an experienced
listener - he knows generally what to expect in the spoken
Since JOInIng IBM in 1961,
William D. Chapman has directed
several projects in speech processing, including automatic speech
recognition, speaker verification,
and output of speech by a computer. He received the B.S.E. and
M.S.E. degrees in electrical engineering and the M.S. degree in
communications sciences, all from
the University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor. He is a member of the
Acoustical Society of America, the
Audio Engineering Society, the
Linguistic Society of America, and
the IEEE.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
reply from the audio response unit. On the other hand, a
housewife dialing a neighbor whose telephone number has
recently been changed is an inexperienced listener. She probably does not know or expect that a machine is providing
the information needed to complete her call. The bank teller
expects a machine response which is succinct and often rather
cryptic. The housewife must be given a message that is
natural and pleasant. Consequently, different kinds of audio
response vocabularies must be created, depending on the use
to which they will be put.
The Characteristics of Human Speech
In order to understand the techniques currently being used
to create machine-generated speech, it is first necessary to
review a few facts about some of the characteristics of human
speech.
A speaker of English creates speech by using various combinations of about forty classes of sounds called phonemes.
A phoneme can be defined as the smallest contrastive - or
meaningful - unit in the sound system of a language. The
sounds "t" and "d" in tin and din, for example, distinguish
the two words. The vowels in tan and ten operate similarly
to differentiate meaning. Thus, words are created by generating proper sequences of the various phonemes.
Spoken messages are made of sequences of sounds which,
unlike printed words, are continuous and thus may blend
together. That is, the words in a message typically are not
Walter D. Van Gieson, Jr. has
been working in digital data transmission, audio response, speech
analysis, and pattern recognition
at IBM Corp. for nine years. He
holds a B.E.E. from Manhattan
College, and is a New York State
Professional Engineer. Before joining IBM, he worked in the development of audio and video studio
equipment for eleven years at
RCA.
31
separated one from another as they are on the printed page.
For example, a spoken message, such as "The number you
have called is out of service," may not have appreciable
separation heween words.
Speech is highly redundant in that most words contain
sound segments or segments of silence which can be eliminated without affecting intelIigibility. If the word "delinquent" is spoken slowly, for example, an instant of silence
may be noticed as occurring between the "n" and "q" sounds.
Such speech can be masked, filtered, or chopped in various
ways and stilI remain highly intelligible.
or in its intelligibility. Some' of these environments and examples of them are as follows:
The end of an unstressed vowel at the end of a word alpha.
The beginning of a nasal at the beginning of a word nine.
Up to half of the gap of a stop consonant - suspend.
Up to one-third of a voiceless fricative - six.
Up to one-quarter of long-duration diphthongs - line.
Up to one-third of short-duration vowels - edit.
Device for Compression
Techniques for Producing Machine-Generated Speech
Several techniques have been devised to produce machinegenerated speech. Truly synthetic speech, where the input
has not been taken from human speech, has been created
,,·ith fair success in the laboratory by ,,"orking at the phoneme
level. That is, a library of the speech sounds or phonemes
has heen established, and then the sounds have been properly sequenced to create the spoken words.
Other synthesis. techniques have successfully extracted key
information from recordings of human speech and have used
this information to regenerate spoken messages. Here the
system takes full advantage of the fact that human speech is
highly redundant.
Another method is to maintain almost all the information
in the speech signal by storing the signal from a human
speaker ,,"here it can be economically accessed by the computer. The task of furnishing intonation, inflection, and
pitch is determined by the speaker ,,"ho makes the initial
recording.
An audio response unit at the Systems Development Div.
of In~I in Raleigh, N.C., employs this technique. The de\"icc stores up to 128 words on a pre-recorded magnetic drum
t hat rotates once e\"ery half second (500 milliseconds). Each
\,·orel is storeel on one narrO\," track around the drum. The
proper ,,·ords for a response are electronically selected and
sequenced. as directed by the computer, for transmission to
t he user over telephone facilities.
Creating Vocabularies
ocabularies for this audio response unit are created by
first l1a\"ing a professional elocutionist record the words individually and out of context in a rigorously controlled
recording em"ironment. The speaker is instructed to speak
quickly and clearly with a very slightly rising pitch. Each
\,"ord is spoken several times with a brief pause between
repetitions to obtain a variety of samples from which a "best"
utterance may be selected.
\Vhen a recording has been made, it is processed by technicians who select one of the utterances of each word, adjust
it for the proper duration, and add the words to an evergrowing library of processed words.
Each discrete word to be used with the audio response
unit must be less than 500 milliseconds or one half second
in length. This time interval is long enough to include most
monosyllables and some polysyllabic words. However, approximately 30 percent of the words as initially recorded are
longer than 500 milliseconds and must be compressed in
order to fit a single revolution of the drum.
\
T
Compressing Speech
Time compression of speech is possible because, in a given
,,"ord, there are likely to be redundant segments which can be
partially removed. Experience has shown that in a number of
phonetic environments, substantial time segments may be removed without any apparent change in the pace of the word
32
The process of time compression is accomplished with a
device known as a Speech Analog Compression and Editing
Loop, or SPACELOOP. 1 It is essentially a highly sophisticated two-channel tape recorder which makes possible the
storage of a spoken word on a tape loop for repeated examination and for extraction of time segments from any word
too long for the half-second time slot on the drum.
Mechanically, the SPACE LOOP consists of a 100-inch
magnetic tape loop, a three-speed drive assembly, and ten
magnetic heads (see Figure 1). Two of the heads - one
crase and one record/playback - are mounted to operate
on the upper track of the 1/4-inch tape and are used for
timing information. The remaining eight heads operate on
the lower, or audio, track. Six are used for playback alone,
one for both recording arid playback, and one for erase. The
seven heads used for playback are mounted on sliders on a
20-inch track so that they can be moved and positioned at
various points on the track.
Electrically, the SPACELOOP includes the circuitry for
performing the obvious operations of recording and erasing,
as well as that of playing back the signal from the loop using
the seven movable playback heads, one by one, in a controllable sequence. It is these movable heads that constitute
the unique characteristic of SPACELOOP, because, by moving them on the slider, the operator is able to remove very
short time segments from a word.
\Vhen ,,"ords in a vocabulary are being processed, the operator first listens to each of the several utterances of a given
,,"ord in the original recording. After selecting the word
that sounds best for clarity and completeness, he transfers
the word to the SPACELOOP tape and plays it back. In
order to determine whether the word requires compression,
he examines visually the amplitude waveform of the word
on a storage oscilloscope whose sweep is synchronized with
the revolution of the SPACELOOP tape.
The oscilloscope time axis is calibrated with the total
sweep duration equalling the 500 msec into which the word
must fit. If the waveform extends beyond the time limits, the
operator can observe the character of the amplitude waveform and can determine roughly the location of certain
phonetic environments (such as those in the foregoing list)
where deletions of minute time segments can be made.
The Extraction Process
The extraction process operates as follows: 2 After a word
has been recorded on the tape loop, it may be reproduced
by amplifying the signal from anyone of the seven playback
heads. The heads all reproduce the same signal, but at different times, the delay being proportional to the distance
between the heads. On the SPACELOOP, the heads are
numbered one through seven, beginning with the head which
the signal passes last. When a word must be compressed,
the operation is initiated by reproducing from Head # 1
until a point is reached in the utterance where the beginning
of a deletion is to occur. At this moment, the reproduce
amplifier is switched rapidly from Head # 1 to Head #2,
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
Figure 1
SPACELOOP showing the movable heads.
thereby skipping over and thus omIttmg the portion of the
word between those two heads at the instant of switching.
The deletion consists of the part of the sound signal that has
passed Head #2 but has not yet reached Head # 1. Reproduction continues from Head #2 until the beginning of a
second deletion is desired. The amplifier is then switched to
Head #3, and the portion of the word between Heads #2
and # 3 is removed. The process is repeated until the desired number of time segments have been deleted.
For a given compression task, the tape velocity is held
constant, so that the length of a deletion period is controlled
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
only by the distance between the heads. The usual tape
velocity is 100 inches per second, and the total length of the
tape is 100 inches. Thus the tape rotates its full length
in one second. At this velocity, one inch of tape is equivalent
to 10 milliseconds of time in the recording. For example, if
the spacing between two of the movable heads is 3.3 inches,
then 33 milliseconds of the original word will be skipped in
the switching process. Since the track upon which the movable heads are mounted is 20 inches long, up to a cumulative
total of 200 milliseconds may be removed from an utterance
in from one to six deletions.
33
Where and How To Compress a Word
Figure 2
Before Deletion Operation Begins.
Figure 3
After Deletion of 15 msec from the K stop-consonant.
By observing the waveform of a word on the oscilloscope
and by listening to it over a loud speaker, the operator can
determine how much compression is required and the locations in the word where compression is possible. He can then
adjust the distance between the heads to skip portions of
the word at the appropriate spots.
Figures 2-5 show a sequence of photographs of the oscilloscope made during the compression of the word DELINQUENT. (If the word is spelled in a pseudo-phonetic
fashion as DELINKH\VENT-H, the deletion environments
are perhaps more readily observable. The two H's in this
spelling represent the two momentary aspirations after the
K and the final T.) Three deletions were made, one after
the other, to remove a total of 35 milliseconds from the word.
Before storing the word as in Figure 2, the operator has
adjusted the oscilloscope sweep rate to a total length of one
second in order to inspect the word in a half-second window
in the center of the screen. He has seen that the word exceeds the limit of the half-second window to the extent
that the T is completely outside. Thus, in Figure 2, it is
not on the screen at all.
Figure 2 shows the word as the operator sees it prior to
the first deletion. The vertical lines mark roughly the limits
in time along the waveform during which each sound in the
word is being uttered. Two spelling peculiarities should be
noted here. Because of the presence of the Q sound, the
syllable preceding it, while spelled IN, actually has the sound
of ING. Secondly, because Q is always followed by U in
English, the two letters have the sound of a K followed by a
W. Furthermore, the Q here in the context of the word includes two moments of silence, one before and one after
the voicing of the letter, as indicated.
For the first deletion, the operator elects to remove a time
segment from the moment of silence of the K stop-consonant. He adjusts the heads to remove 15 msec, and the
word appears as in Figure 3. The moment of silence before
the plosive has been appreciably shortened.
The next step deletes 10 msec from the first aspiration, or
H-sound, and the word appears as in Figure 4. Figure 4
shows that the T is beginning to appear on the oscilloscope
at the right. The final deletion will occur in a segment of
silence before the burst of the T stop-consonant.
Figure 5 shows the word in its final form. The three
deletions have shortened the word sufficiently that the T is
now within the 500-msec limit.
Intelligibility of the Compressed Word
Figure 4
After Deletion of 10 msec from the H sound.
All words processed by the SPACELOOP are tested 'for intelligibility. For such testing, the audio response unit is attached to a computer, and the words are transmitted over
regular telephone facilities to the. listeners, each of whom
uses a standard telephone handset. In the· test, the modified
words are presented in typical message contexts. If a word
passes the test, it becomes part of a permanent library of
words from which vocabularies for individual computer applications can be drawn.
References
Figure 5
DELINQUENT in Final Form after removal of 10 ms befoTe
the burst of the T stop-consonant.
34
lW. D. Chapman, "Speech Compression by Tape Loop and by
Computer," Proceedings of the Louisville Conference of TimeCompressed Speech, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, May 1967.
2David H. Beetle, Jr., and W. D. Chapman, "Flexible Analog
Time-Compression of Short Utterances," IEEE Transactions on
Audio and Electroacoustics, Vol. AU-16, No.1, March 1968,
pp. 12-20.
•
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
MICROFILM COMBINED WITH COMPUTER FOR
INFORMATION HANDLING
George H. Harmon
Manager, Information Systems
Information International Inc.
545 Technology Square
Cambridge, Mass. 02139
"The effect of combining microfilm and the computer in a system for
information handling may turn out to be more dramatic than the effect
of either alone.))
Microfilm has been utilized for 40 years. The computer
has been used for nearly 25 years. The combining of the two
in a system for information handling is much more recent,
and its effect may turn out to be more dramatic than the
effect of either alone.
Microfilm is defined as a fine-grain, high-resolution film
containing an image which is greatly reduced in size from the
original image. The original is normally inferred to be data,
text, or graphics. Microfilm comes in varied forms - rolls,
sheets (sometimes with multiple images), or chips (sometimes mounted in an aperture cut in a punch card). There
are various sizes. Rolls and chips are usually 16 mm, 35 mm,
70 mm or 105 mm. Sheets are standardized up to 3.25 inches
by 7.375 inches.
usable form for human beings. The output can be printed
characters or a cathode ray tube image. It can also be electrical impulses for magnetic recording or for remote transmission using communication facilities.
Microfilm has certain advantages for handling information.
Equipment for generating microfilm is relatively inexpensive,
and is easily operated by inexperienced personnel. Exceedingly high density storage is realizable at a low cost. The
information can be cheaply transported to nearly any remote
location. Small inexpensive equipment can convert the information to a usable form.
Advantages of the computer are different. It can handle
information at very high speed. It can interrelate data, and
thus generate information. It can sort information and transform it for exceedingly fast transmission to a remote location.
Passive and Active Handling of Information
Microfilm is a passive tool for handling information. It
can store large quantities of information in a small amount
of space. It can then be transferred to nearly any remote
location. There the images can be enlarged to make the
information usable. The enlargement can be on the screen
of a viewing device or may be a paper reproduction.
The computer differs from microfilm in that it is an active
tool for handling information. It can convert, reconstruct
and even generate information. Data can be coded in a
computer language and stored in a memory unit. The data
can then be interrelated such that new data is created. This
converting, compiling, reconstructing, and problem solving
is accomplished at high speed. The resulting new information can be reconverted from its coded form to a more
36
Microfilming Computer Output
The problem we have been studying is how to combine
these two systems into the best method for handling information. When one considers combining more than one function
or procedure, it is normal to simply follow one function by
the other. This is what first took place when seeking to
obtain the advantages of both the computer and microfilm.
A common output of the computer is printing on paper,
and large amounts of printed paper can be created in a very
short time. Much of this output is used only as reference
information, and in many instances the quantity of printed
paper resulted in severe problems of storage and retrieval.
This paper output was microfilmed. Space requirements
were reduced and information retrieval time was decreased.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 196H
t
Engineering Lists
One large company put this technique to full advantage.
Many of the engineering drawings used by the company were
list-type drawings (parts lists, wiring lists, etc.), and required
extensive drafting department effort to create and update.
The information was placed in a computer and the print-out
\vas then pasted on a format sheet. This equivalent drawing
was then microfilmed.
To increase the effectiveness of combining the computer
with microfilm, automatic machines have been designed to
receive unburst computer print-out and simultaneously microfilm the information. Since an image could be placed on a
cathode ray tube for display, the image could be photographed directly and thus avoid the print-out operation and
save the paper supplies. Automatic control of the filming
resulted in much higher speed production than normal printout; this showed that the film recorder was a most effective
computer output device.
SIGNAL
PROCESSOR
AND
LOGIC
UNIT
PHOTO TUBE
REFERENCE
SYSTEM
________________ J
OPTICAL DIAGRAM
I II
1000
Figure 1
Computer-Generated Graphics
A block diagram of a Programmable Film Reader.
The ability to generate an image on a cathode ray tube and
then photograph it to make a microfilm encouraged development effort in computer-generated graphics. Since a computer can be programmed to generate the lines, arcs, and
characters required on engineering or architectural drawings,
programs were created, and line generators, vector generators
and character generators were designed. This resulted in extremely high speed production of graphics.
Complex Formats
Along with the creation of characters and line work came
the creation of complex formats. Simple formats such as
lines and column headings for tabular listed data have been
llsed to make a more usable print-out from computers. ·With
the microfilming of graphic presentations on the cathode ray
tube, complete replacement of existing forms was possible.
This allowed the same degree of control as was possible with
manual transcribing on forms. The format can easily be
changed by inserting a new program. Once a general form is
created, it is a relatively simple job for a programmer to
alter a part of that form. This should be contrasted with the
usual procedures for changing a form: redrawing the form;
having it reproduced and checked; and then printing the
form in large quantities. This means obvious savings in
having the computer generate the form.
In
A block diagram of a Programmable Film Reader is shown
Figure 1. The following is the process for film reading:
1. A source of light is produced at a programmed x-y
location on the face of the cathode ray tube.
2. Light from this spot is divided into two beams.
3. One beam passes through a lens, and is focused on
the film to be read, on a corresponding specified location.
4. Light transmitted through the film at this location
goes through a collector lens, is defocused, and is
sensed on the cathode of a photomultiplier tube.
5. The other beam, for comparison purposes, passes
through a second lens along a different path, which
does not include the film being read, but instead is
sensed on the cathode of a second photomultiplier.
6. The t\\-O signals are passed through a difference amplifier and a density comparison or density measurement is made.
7. The results are evaluated by the film reading program and the x-y location of the next light point is
determined accordingly.
Enhancement of Engineering Drawings
Programmable Film Readers
Film and the computer can interface in another manner.
The information that is on film can be scanned and digitized
for computer handling; then the computer can interpret the
information via a program. Recognition by the computer
progralll of the patterns and characters can CQmpress the
amount of information and permit faster transmission to remote locations.
Comhining the reading of film and interpreting with a
remote recorder can even act as remote reproduction. Two
approaches have been made to reading the film. The fiyingspot scanner reads every point on the film and determines
which points include the information.' A programmable film
reader will locate and read only the information. This means
that less time is taken and less storage required for
given
document. Programmable film readers can read any microfilm made according to Dept. of Defense specifications for
engineering drawings that are made in keeping with the latest
recommended drafting standards.
a
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
The ability to read microfilm information and store it in
a computer, combined with the ability to modify information by computer programming, has made it possible to
enhance engineering drawings. A drawing which is damaged
or· worn and no longer able to produce good microfilm can
be improved enough by these computer methods. to create a
satisfactory microfilm. Recording on the microfilm is made
with high contrast between line work and background. This
allows very good reproductions from the microfilm.
Substantial Savings
Microfilm has combined with the computer in several ways.
It has copied the paper print-out; it has recorded directly
the output; and it has been used as the input to the computer. Developments are underway to utilize it as a memory.
Each combination has produc~d substantial savings; and it is
reasonable to expect that future combinations will produce
additional marked savings.
•
37
REPORT FROM GREAT BRITAIN
General Electric/English Electric Merger in the Wind
Post Office Orders Machines Designed 6 Years Ago
It is always dangerous to prophesy when merger battles
are raging. However, at the risk of having to retract next
month, it does seem likely at the moment that the moves
to combine Britain's General Electric and English Electric
companies into a giant among European industrial concerns
will succeed, as both Government and the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation wish them to.
Should this indeed be the case, despite the bitter opposition
of the components-to-agricultural hydraulics group, Plessey,
(who started all this buzz two weeks back by a surprise bid
for English Electric) there would be formed among other
things an exceedingly experienced group in industrial and
military real-time control systems. Some assessments put
them well ahead of General Electric (USA) with an estimated total of over 450 installations, which would be 125
more than the latter. This would include a good number
of machines for unspecified defence applications, however,
believed to involve quite small computers with rather limited
pro,e;rams.
The GEC/EE automation empire would embrace the former activities of English Electric, Elliott-Automation, Associated Electrical Industries, Marconi and General Electric.
It "'ould, whatever rationalisation moves were made, still
demand the maintenance of a whole gamut of equipment including TRW designs, SDS machines, the 4000 Con Pac
range from AEI which are GE(USA) licenced, Marconi
~1yriads, a series of seven or eight different models from the
English Electric stables and the multitude of machines from
Elliott designed either for military or for industrial work.
Nor can this maintenance effort be simplified for some
time since the merged companies would have something like
500 to 600 machines on their order books - many small
military units - but still representing five totally different
developments with complex software requirements. The protagonists of the merger have been talking with tears in their
voices about the great "breadth of experience" the automation section would have.
It is to be hoped the experience will teach it to do just
what American management would be most likely to push
through if it inherited a "rag-bag" of these dimensions go for a single range and offer users of antique models replacements from this range as soon as decency permitted.
Unfortunately it is a devastating British characteristic to
"make do" for as long as possible - indeed I was once told
with great pride by a senior executive of Associated Electrical Industries that his apprentices had just hand-made a
spare part for an electric motor the company had exported
to India some twenty years or more earlier. It would just
not have been possible in a U.S. plant even to find a blueprint that old!
Be that as it may, the same hanging on to outmoded
equipment is not doing the new single business and scientific
computer group, International Computers, much good. It
has several orders for very large 4th generation machines
using emitter-coupled logic circuits to achieve fantastic
speeds. But there are at least six and more probably twelve
installations in the $10m class which could be junked here
and now and improve U.K. computing beyond all recognition. At the same time, and this is almost unbelievable, the
Post Office has ordered two Leo 326 machines (probably
designed all of 6 years ago) one for delivery in November
1969 and one for Spring 1970. They ultimately will take
over all 22 million Post Office Savings Bank accounts - but
heavens!, must they specify such an old machine?
38
Challenge to ICL
The wrItmg is on the wall for the Government to see.
Service in Informatics and Analysis (SIA) of the international Metra group has just staged the official opening of
its London centre based on a CDC 6600. University Computing Company (Great Britain), wholly-owned subsidiary
of America's UCC, is adding a Univac 1108 to the 1107
which has been carrying out contract computing for four
years. What is more, this very large 1108 configuration will,
hy the end of the year, have among other remote terminals in
Dritain and Europe such machines as Honeywell 200's, GEltO 11'1' MAIL, CAUIU OIOTHU MEANS
G
ACTUAL NUM8ER Of COPIES Of SINGLE
ISSUE PU811SHED NEAREST TO filiNG DATE
14,607
17,700
11,670
14,395
11,670
14,395
SALES THROUGH DEALUS AND CAUIUS, STIEH VENDORS AND COUNTER
SALES
Service to Industry
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
,hi,: I. _A",~.d.
PUBLISHER 'N..
E TOTAL DISTIIBUTION (SII", ole ."d/.))
Bearing this cost discussion in mind, we discover that a
central computing laboratory can serve industry in a number
of ways.
If an organization has too little work to justify buying a
computer, it can nevertheless enjoy the benefits of modem
computing by turning its applied mathematical problems over
of
Postmamr: Cornplrle vuilicllion
on page 2
TOTAL (S'UN 0/
£"
F_Jho",ld tq",.llft'I>,tll "'" IJ,.o .. ,,, '" ,'I,
1,056
679
12,726
15,074
1,881
2,626
14,607
17,700
(S"/f,IIl1rroltdIlOt'.p,,,blllht,. I>""",tll ",.".",. O",.,,,,,)
I u'rrify Cha' che uatemenu made by me lboy," Ire correcl...........--C' ~
and complete.
........
f:::~
•
-.
0:
.. OD ......
.s:)::lO
May 1968
SOME THINGS ARE .BETTER DONE OFF LlNEPaper Tape to
Magnetic Tape
Conversion
for example;
MODEL 1720
• 360 Compatible - 9/Track, BOO BPI or 7/Track
• Virtually any paper tape reader will limit the
speed of your computer, but now your computer can rUn at full speed.
• The Model 1720 uses center tape unwind for
simplest possible tape loading and handling.
• Performs error and validity checks.
• Broad programming capability handles virtually all code conversion or format conversion requirements •
• Minimal space required; any table or desk
will serve the purpose.
• Low cost.
• Easy on tape-mangled tapes are unheard of.
• Minimizes computer scheduling problems.
• Nationwide service.
- Low-cost Data Transmission;
In addition to our line of converters, Digi-Data Corporation manufactures card and paper tape
Data-Phone® transmission units such as the Model 2120 Magnetic Tape Receiver and the 2020 Card
Transmitter shown here.
DIGI-DATA
••
CORPORATION ••••••••••••••••••••
•
DIGITAL STEPPING RECORDERS •
•
DIGITAL DATA HANDLING EQUIPMENT
4315 Baltimore Avenue. Bladensburg, Maryland 20710 • Telephone (301) 277-9378
Designate No. 13 on Reader Service Card
ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK
Computing and Data Processing Newsletter
Table
APPLICATIONS
Power of Six Computers Probes the Sea for Oil
Scientists, Using Computer, Seek Solution to
Growing Refuse Problem
Complete Pages Produced in Ten Seconds or
Less -- at R. R. Donnelley & Sons
Radiation Therapy Analysis Speeded by Computer
TV, Radio Production, and Broadcasting Controlled by Computer in New Tokyo System
Environmental Control of Buildings Through
Use of Computers
Cleveland Jazz Spot Using Computerized Bartender
Regatta Winners Chosen by Computer
46
46
46
46
47
47
48
48
NEW PRODUCTS
Digital
NOVA: Small-Scale General Purpose Computer
Has Multi-Accumulator Organization
IRIS 50 -- First of Series of New French
Computers
Multiple Application Computer from Lockheed
Electronics
SCC 4700 --New Entry in 16-Bi t Computer Market
New Core Stacks Double Memory Size in
Hewlett-Packard's 2116 Series Computers
Multi-Language, Time-sharing Computer Systems
from Digital Equipment Corp.
48
48
49
49
49
49
49
Digital-Analog
Two interconnected Computers Analyze Vibrat.ion Sources
lOO-V Analog/Hybrid Computing System from EAI
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
53
54
54
Peripheral Equipment
Integrated Circuit Keyboard from Honeywell
Data Sets from Lynch Are Fully "Compatible"
With Western Electric Counterparts
Computer-Controlled Keyboard Input from
Computer Machinery Corp.
Graphic Display Subsystem Provides Digital
Deflection Technique
A-D Converter from EECO Provides 250,000
Conversions/Second
New Data Entry System Speeds Up Input and
Reduces Cost
CRT Display Terminal With Alphanumeric and
Graphic Capabilities
"Book Size" Oscilloscope by Measurement
Control Devices, Inc.
54
54
54
55
55
55
55
56
Components
Numeric Readouts, from Dialight, Are Mounted
on Printed Circuit Boards
Pluggable X-Y Matrix Board for Medical
Research Applications
56
56
Computer-Pak, for Computer-Printer Envelope
Addressing
PACK-SCAN I -- Disc Pack Tester and Certifier
Portable Air Spray for Delicate Dusting
56
56
56
COMPUTER RELATED SERVICES
50
50
52
52
52
Share Research Corp. Offers Scientific
Literature Service
Western Union Service for Securities Industry
56
56
TIME-SHARING SERVICES
Denmark's First Time-sharing Service
Westinghouse To Offer Computer Services to
Outside Users
57
57
AUTOMATION
Photoelectric Sensing Head Automates Waxing
of Cars
57
52
NEW LITERATURE
52
53
Software
AUTO-LEX -- Computer Resources Corporation
CMAP (Charge Materials Allocation Processor)
-- IBM Corporation
OOCUMATIC -- Data Usage Corp.
ExTENDED BASIC -- Digital Equipment Corp.
FLOWGEN/F-l- California Computer Products, Inc.
PMI (Personnel Management Information System)
-- Computer Sciences Corporation
53
50
Memories
ISl Introduces Low-Cost Medium-Capacity
~lelllory Systems
One Microsecond Core Memory by Lockheed
Electronics
Modular 3rd Generation Disc-Storage System
from Computer Peripherals Corp.
Short-Circuit Study Computer Program -Westinghouse Electric Corporation
SIGMA FMPS (Functional Mathematical Programming System) -- Scientific Data Systems
SYSTEM 010 -- Share Research Corporation
UNICRIM (Uniform Crime Reporting System) -The Dikewood Corporation
50
Special Purpose Systems
Credit and Inventory Control System for Retnil Store Management
Management Systems for Medical Data from
Sanders
Acquisition System Gathers Analog/Digital
Data in the Field or on the Bench
New Family of Data Acquisition Systems from
Hedcor Corp.
Portable Data Acquisition System from NonLinear Systems, Inc.
Contents
Data Processing Accessories
Analog
Annlog Computer Enhances Resolution of Continuous Curves Produced by Instruments
of
53
53
Visual Information Display Systems, from
U.S. Government
Glossary of Terms for Tape and Transmission
Formats
Specification Handbook for Supervisory Control
Systems, from Dresser Industries
57
57
57
ORGANIZATION NEWS
53
53
53
53
ADAPSO's New By-Laws Give Full Membership to
58
Software Firms
Newly-Establ i shed Posi tion of Full- Time Executive 58
Director Marks a Key-Point in AFIPS History
KYBE Corporation Is New Name for Cybetronics, Inc. 58
45
tl sts
APPLICATIONS
POWER OF SIX COMPUTERS
PROBES THE SEA FOR OIL
The power of six IBM computers
is helping researchers probe the
bot tom of the sea in a world-wide
search for oil.
The computers -System/360 Model 44s -- are being
used by Western Geophysical Company to produce cross sections of
the earth's layers to help experts
locate underwater oil deposits.
The Model 44 enables the firm to
produce very detailed cross-sections
of the earth's crust.
These sections point out the most likely
places for underwater oil deposi ts.
Data used to produce these
seismic sections are gathered by
nearly a score of marine crews in
Wes tern's fleet. At sea, a complex
mechani cal devi ce -- called AQUAPULSE -- is loweredintothe water.
The devi ce
produces underwater
~ound waves which penetrate deeply
Into the ocean floor, bounce back
and are picked up by a cable containing microphone-like devices.
The reflected sounds are recorded
on magnetic tape as a series of
numbers. and are 1 ater analyzed by
the computers to determine the kind
of earth layers below the sea. The
cross sections are given to oil
company geologi s ts who decide where
to drill.
.
\Vestern Geophysical, a diviSIon of Li t ton Industries, provides
a complete oil-exploration service
to the international petroleum indus try from offi ces in Shreveport
(La.), Los Angeles (Calif.), Houston (Texas), London (England) and
mlan (Italy).
SCIENTISTS, USING COMPUTER
SEEK SOLUTION TO GROWING
REFUSE PROBLEM
Man, overwhelmed by growing
mountains of garbage of his own
making is turning toward the sea
as a way out of his disposal dilemma.
A p~an to .loa.d refuse on specially
equIpped IncInerator ships, used
for burning and dumping garbage
far off shore, now is under study
at the Universi ty . of Rhode Island
(Kingston).
Scientists hope to
answer such questions as: What effect the incinerated residue would
have on the ocean and the millions
of life forms that swarm in it.
Can the ocean become polluted?
Where would the best dumping grounds
be?
To answer these and hundreds
of other vi tal questions, scien-
46
are scrutinizing a sea of
thei r own -- one that exi s ts entirely within an IBM computer.
A
mathematical model of a chunk of
ocean 50 feet deep is being developed in an IBM System/360 Model 50
at the university. Necessary data
for the computer is gathered from
a floating research station. Simulating conditions of the real sea,
the model reacts to various situations as nature would -- and allows
parts of the revolutionary dumping
proposal to be pre-tes ted wi thou t
disturbing a single clam or bai t
fish.
f~rm and arrangemen t of the page,
SIze and style of type,
spacinU
and other aesthetic requirements.
A selection of type sizes and styles
is available. Different sizes and
styles may be intermixed electronically -- on the same line if des ired. Type is genera ted in co 1 umn
form or as complete pages includinu
running heads, folios, foot notes
footlines, etc.
More than 1,00(')
characters a second are produced at
reproduction quali ty levels. Speeds
up to 4,000 characters a second can
be generated at quali ty levels adequate for proofreading purposes.
It has been found that incinerated was te produces only a lowgrade toxi ci ty on marine life in
the dump area. Addi tionally, hardshell clams and lobsters seem to
be very resistant to such waste.
Even in sensi tive species such as
sea scallops and shrimp, it generally takes a concentration of three
per cent by weight to cause mortality. It is the aim of this project
to minimize toxici ty by making sure
the incinerated waste is contained
within the dump site.
The study is being carried out
under a grant from The National
Center for Urban and Industrial
Affai rs.
COMPLETE PAGES PRODUCED
IN TEN SECONDS OR LESSAT R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS
. R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company,
leadIng national printers headquar~ered in C~icago (IlL),· has put
Into operatIon one of the most adv~nced compu ter-opera ted typesettlng systems in commercial use -complete pages can be produced in
ten seconds or less. The new character genera ting sys tem, of the Company's Electronic Graphics Division,
centers around an RCA Videocomp 832
electronic composing machine which
sets type on film ready for plate
making at 1,000 or more characters
per second.
The term 'Electronic
Graphi cs' was coined to describe
the merger of computer technology
and typographical skills.
The Electronic Graphics Divigenerating system
IS partlcularly sui ted to high volume typesetting requirements where
the basic information is now contained in computer readable files.
Existing data can be converted for
printing purposes by developing and
incorporating graphi c arts ins tructions wi thout limi ting further usefulness of existing data.
~ion's ~haracter
The Videocomp high-speed character generator operates by magnetic
tape from a computer.
Input tape
is combined wi th coded graphic arts
instructions which determine the
The picture shows an operator
setting controls of a special purpose computer that is built into
the Donnelley Videocomp 832. Pages
on paper are processed in the Videocomp and deli vered through the openi~g in the foreground.
Pages on
fIlm are removed from the Videocomp
and are processed in an automatic
film processor .
The key to the Donnelley Electroni c Graphi cs sys tem is the merger of the art of typography wi th
the science of computer technology.
Fine quali ty typesetting at COIIlputer speeds requires a joint effort involving both electronic computer experts and experienced typographers, according to the company.
RADIATION THERAPY ANALYSIS
SPEEDED BY COMPUTER
An IBM System/360 Model 30 comat St. Francis Hospital, WiChI ta, Kansas, is cutting radiation
therapy analysis times from one
month to a few seconds.
Hospital
radiological physicist, E.L. Darter,
said the computer performs 600 calculations per patient in 10 to 15
seconds. "These same calculations
would require a month's time if
performed manually by a radiological physicist," he added.
pu~er
The computer-based analysis
involves: (1) measuring a patient
by a contour (a protractor - typc
mechanism designed by Dr. Dartcr
and built to specification by St.
Francis Hospital personnel).
The
device measures the distance of the
C0MPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 19(iH
tumor from the skin's surface, at
15-degree intervals, around the
ci rcumference of the patien t. Next,
these measurements are read into the
computer along with information on
ench possible technique of treatment. The computer, following its
preprogrammed instructions, then'determines how much radiation is likely to be delivered by each technique
- in terms both of exposure of the
tumor and other tissues in the
cross-section.
"The goal of any radiation
therapy," Dr. Darter said, "i s to
irradiate tumors or cancerous tissue to the desired radiation level
needed for therapeutic response and
to minimize radiation to other body
ti ssues. Using the computer to determine the best technique for a
given case not only saves time, it
also gives tremendously more complete information about details of
therapy."
TV, RADIO PRODUCTION, AND
BROADCASTING CONTROLLED BY
COMPUTER IN NEW TOKYO SYSTEM
The most advanced information
and control system in the broadcasting industry, and one of the most
advanced such sys tems in the world,
has been inaugurated by the Japan
Broadcasting
Corporation
(NHK) ,
Tokyo, Japan.
The system, called
TOPICS (for Total On-Line Program
and lnformation Control System),
will coordinate all production and
broadcasting activities of NHK's
two television and three radio networks - a complex rougly equivalen t to a commercial network like
CBS, nn educational network like
NET, pI us an FM and two AM radio
networks.
TOPICS, developed by NHK with
the collaboration of IBM, will help
administer the simultaneous product i on of some 1800 programs by
1000 directors and 2700 technicians
at work in 26 TV and 33 radio studios and on location.
It will do
so wi thout the memorandums, letters
nnd phone calls that characterize
other, similar environments.
The
system also will provide management
reports and perform general accounting t.asks.
"
The heart of TOPICS is two
lU~1 System/360 Model 50 computers
(one being on-line; the other standing by) and dual IBM 1800 Data Acquisi tion and Control Systems. The
computers are guided by highly
complex computer programs.
Together, computers and programs perform the functions of several differen t kinds of systems: as a communications system; as an informat.ion retrieval system; as a simulator; and as a master swi tching
control. The performance of one or
another such function by computing
sys tems has become commonplace in
the pas t few years. TOPICS is unique
in that it performs all of them
simultaneously.
The center of TOPICS and of
NHK's broadcasting activi ties is
Broadcast Control Center (3CC),
shown above. Fewer than two dozen
personnel plan and supervise the
production of 640 TV shows and 1200
radio programs and moni tor the five
that are on the air at any given
time. The IBM 2250 Graphic Display
Unit (center in photo) gives managers access to all information concerning the some 1800 programs that
are constantly in production. They
as sign personnel, es tabli sh budgets,
resolve conflicts for resources by
simulating solutions on 2250s. They
enter their solutions into the system by means of th~ same device.
Other personnel learn of their as-
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
OF BUILDINGS THROUGH
USE OF COMPUTERS
A patent covering use of computers for environmental control in
buildings has been issued to Robertshaw Controls Co., Richmond, Va.
The company believes the patent is
significant because it appears to
cover most systems in larger buildings using computers to control temperature and other environmental
conditions.
Robertshaw has installed what is believed to be the
first such computer-controlled system, in the new headquarters building of the International Monetary
Fund in Washington, D.C.
The computer in the Washington
building determines air-conditioning needs and operates equipment to
provide the correct amount of cool-
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
signments by calling up displays on
any of 184 IBM 2260 Visual Display
terminals (right in photo) distribu ted throughout the corporation's
studios.
A line of television
screens (back) monitor programs
being broadcast by the two television networks and those of five
competing channels.
NHK President Yoshinori Maeda,
under whom the new system was developed, observed that with TOPICS
the computer reaches into a new
era.
NHK, he said, is not using
the computer simply in individual
applications, but for all applications, simul taneously and in a completely integrated way.
The new
system, he said, fulfills his ambition to reorganize his corporation
in such a way that "the mechanics
of running the organization would
be looked after by machines so that
our people could do human work."
ing; starts and stops ventilating
fans; turns lights on and off; and
moni tors operation of the heating
plant. It also keeps track of and
analyzes such data as power and
fuel consumption and prints out
concise daily summaries of facts
and figures important to the bui lding's operation.
The system has been in operation for more than a year. Washington consulting engineer Nash M.
Love estimated that savings resul ting from more efficient building
operation would pay for the compu ter
installation in a maximum of 27
months. He now believes that savings will be greater than at first
proj ected.
The inventor of the computercontrolled system is Paul A. Schumann, an engineer for Robertshaw's
47
Control Systems Division. Westinghouse supplied the compute~ a Prodac 50. It is designed for flexibili ty of application and is built
of standard modules which can be
assembled in a variety of ways. The
IMF computer has 12,000 words of
core memory wi th capabi Ii ty for expansion to 16,000 words. Mr. Love
says the installation is the forerunner of a new era in bui Iding
control which should bewidely used
in five to ten years.
CLEVELAND JAZZ SPOT USING
COMPUTERIZED BARTENDER
The Cat's Meow, one of Cleveland's (Ohio) jazz spots, is now
setting a new tempo with a computerized automatic bartender that
can dispense anyone of a thousand
drinks in four seconds.
This new
devi ce, named the "Comp-U-Bar 801 ",
provides faster service, better
drinks, and billing control, and
leaves the bartender to properly
attend his customers at' the bar.
Comp-U-Bar 801,designed and developed by Stephen R. Krause, President of K & M Electronics Co., Inc.
(Baltimore, Md.), is intended primarily for restaurants, nightclubs,
hotels and resorts - the servi ce
bar business where there is a heavy
volume of drinks served to tables
by waiters and waitresses.
As many as 36 quarts wi th 10
different mixes, such as soda,
water, ginger ale, collins and sour
mixes, can be stored by the Comp-Ui3ar. The device automatically mixes
and di spenses drinks - always perfectly because all measurements are
accurate to a 64th of an ounce. An
important feature of the Comp-U-Bar
is a bank of locked visual counters
which register each alcohol ingredient dispensed in 16ths of an ounce.
This eliminates the possibility of
pi lferage and assures bookkeeping
accuracy.
from one hour to 10 minutes. To
avoid the hazards of trying to decipher wai ter and bartender handwri ting on chi ts, the Comp-U-Bar
has an optional automatic bar check
printer which tells who served the
drink, how much it was worth - and
gives tallies for the day's gross.
Mr. Joyce said, "At first we
were anxious that the machine would
offend bar customers who like a
chat wi th each chi t. But the CompU-Bar is a great conversation-maker.
It allows the bartender to spend
more time wi th customers instead of
rushing breathlessly during peak
periods.
And who would start an
argument when he gets a perfect
drink every time?"
-- NOVA
REGATTA WINNERS
CHOSEN BY COMPUTER
All yachts are not created
equal, so a Honeywell Series 200
computer figured handicaps and posted winners during the annual Cowes
Week (Cowes, England) yachting regat ta last August.
Winners were
determined by comparing the actual
time it took each vessel to complete
a race against its handicap -- a
formula that took into account such
factors as size, sail and basic
speed of each yacht. The computer
also considered varying wind and
tidal condi tions for each race as
well as each yacht's handicap.
During the week's racing, there
were 36 such handicap events. Wi th
the handicap, a yacht did not have
to finish first to win a race.
Honeywell Controls Limited gave
its own award to the vessel wi th
the best four showings during the
week.
NEW PRODUCTS
-
NOVA: SMALL- SCALE
GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTER HAS
MULTI-ACCUMULATOR ORGANIZATION
Mi chael R. Joyce, owner-operator of the Cat's Meow,
says his
Comp-U-Bar has cut inventory-taking
48
The NOVA is one of the most
compact computers in its class. It
has within its basic configuration
more room for expansion than other
comparable computers. The;;t" tall
NOVA can accommodate 16,000 16-bit
words of memory, ei ther core or
read-only. (Expanded versions can
contain up to 32,000 16-bi t words
or 64,000 8-bit bytes.) Memory is
available in 4906 16-bit word modules; smaller 1000 word modules
also are available.
The central processor is contained on two 15"x15" boards.
A
4096 16-bi t word memory is contained
on one 15"x15" circuit. A 15"x15"
input-output board can handle up
to eight devices.
There is room
for seven 15"xI5" boards in the st"
tall package. Vacant slots may be
used for special I/O interfaces or
additional memory.
The NOVA will have a complete
set of software and will be available wi th a full line of options
and peripheral equipment.
(For more information, designate
11:41 on the Reader Service Card.)
IRIS 50 - FIRST OF SERIES
OF NEW FRENCH COMPUTERS
D igital
-- Comp-U-Bar 801 (rear)
and Michael R. Joyce
owner-operator of the
Cat's Meow
and logi cal operations wi thin the
ari thmetic uni t of the computer
without accessing memory.
NOVA, developed and manufactured by Data General Corporation,
Hudson, Mass.,
is a small-scale
general-purpose computer wi th mul tiaccumulator organization. (This is
the machine organization used in
such large-scale computers as the
IBM 360 Series.) NOVA has four accumulators, two of which may be
used as index registers.
These
accumulators
perform arithmetic
IRIS 50, the first of a series
of new French computers, has been
announced by La Compagnie Internationale pour l'Informatique.Louveciennes, France.
IRIS 50 is a
medi um scale computer and has all
of the characteristics of a true
third generation system: integrated
circuits throughout, modularity at
all levels, high processing and
input/output speeds.
The central processor functions
are shared by three autonomous modules. The command and control module includes a large set of instructions designed for business, scientific and real time applications.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
-
Floating point and decimal ari thmetic instructions are optional.
The modularly cons tructed main core
memory stores from 16,384 to 262,144
bytes, in four banks accessible independently
and simul taneously.
Cycle time is 950 nanoseconds for
a 2 byte word.
The data exchange
modules (from one to four) allow
an input/output rate of up to 1.5
mi 11 i on types per second through
standard peripherals and communications oriented devices.
FORTRAN I~ C030L and a Report
Program Generator are provided wi th
a complete package of utility routines for business and scientific
applications in multiprogramming
mode. The software also includes
a modular operating system, SIH1S 2.
(For. more information, designate
1t43 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
MULTIPLE APPLICATION COMPUTER
FROM LOCKHEED ELECTRONICS
MAC 16, a one microsecond
Multi-Application Computer, is the
first of a new family of computers
from the Los Angeles based (Calif.)
Vata Products Division of Lockheed
Electronics Company.
The MAC 16,
for the OEM systems market, offers
large scale capabili ty and versatili ty in a low cost, smaller scale
computer.
loader, debug and editor programs,
math library, I/O driver and hardware diagnostics. An ASA standard
FORTRAN IV compiler will be available for an 8K word MAC 16 using
paper tape or card peripherals.
The first showing of the MAC
16 computer will be at the Fall
Joint Computer Conference. Ini tial
deliveries of the new computer are
scheduled for March 1969.
(For more information, designate
+1=42 on the Reader Service Card.)
SCC 4700 - NEW ENTRY IN
16-BIT COMPUTER MARKET
Scientific Control Corp., Dallas, Texas, is entering the 16-bit
computer market with their new SCC
4700.
SCC 4700 is a 16-bi t, 920
nanosecond, digital computer.
Some of the features available
in the new SCC 4700 are: (l) mi croprogrammed to implement use of optional instructions; (2) up to two
mul tiplexor channels avai lable that
will handle 64 devices per channel
operating simul taneously in a block
transfer mode; (3) up to three high
speed selector channels that will
handle 64 devices per channel; (4)
double precision and floating point
ari thmeti c packages; (5) hardware
multiply/divide; (6) memory expandable to 65K wo-rds i and (7) Real
Time Moni tor and FORTRAN IV Software in addition to standard software package.
Deli veries on the machine wi 11
start next month.
(For more information, designate
+1=44 on the Reader Service Card.)
NEW CORE STACKS
DOUBLE MEMORY SIZE
IN HEWLETT-PACKARD'S
2116 SERIES. COMPUTERS
-- Lockheed's MAC 16
MAC 16 is a 16-bi t parallel
word computer with a 2 microsecond
add time and a 4096 word core memory, expandable to 65K words. The
basic system includes a Programmed
Data Channel servicing up to 255
devices with four true nested priority interrupt levels. This pri() r i t y s y s t e III aut 0 ilia tic ally s tor e s
the machine state upon interrupt
and can be expanded to a total of
()tl levels.
The standard MAC 16
repertoire includes 86 instructions with multiply and divide
available as options.
able
LEAP
The standard software availfor the MAC 16 includes the
symboli c assembler, program
New core stacks double the memory size in Hewlett-Packard's 2116
series computers, greatly increasing computational power while reducing price. A 16K memory can now
be contained entirely wi thin the
main frame of the new Model 21168,
making possible a price significantly below that of the earlier
Model 2116A wi th 16K memory (the
2116A required an extender to use
16K memory).
For $34,000, a cus tomer now
can have a small, general-purpose
computer with the computational
power of 16-bi t words and a 16K memory, and with the flexibility provided by 16 pre-wired circuit card
slots for interface hardware (a
feature unique to HP computers).
The new computer can be easily upgraded at nominal cost by insertion
of the appropriate circui t cards
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
at any time. A multi-level priori ty interrupt system is buil t-in
for the 16 pre-wired slots and for
the addi tional 32 slots available
in an optional extender.
Developed by Hewlett-Packard,
Palo Al to, CaliL, the Model 21168,
like its predecessor, has a cycle
time of 1.6 usec and a 3.2 usec add
time. The Model 21168 uses all of
the software developed for the Model
2116A. The power of the new Model
21168 is such that it supports the
Hewlet t-Packard 2000A Time-Shared
BASIC system, which accommodates
16 remote terminals simul taneously.
(For more information, designate
+1=45 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
MULTI-LANGUAGE, TIME-SHARING
COMPUTER SYSTEMS FROM
DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP.
A family of multi-language.
general purpose, time sharing computer systems, capable of handling
from 8 to 32 terminals simul taneousl~ has been introduced by Digi tal Equipment Corporation of Maynard, Mass. Constructed around the
company's popular PDP-8/1 computer,
the systems, called TIME SHARE-8,
all offer users "hands-on" contact
wi th the computer and the abi li ty
to utilize a wide variety of software.
In their basic configuration,
TIME SHARE-8 computers are equipped
with 8,000 words of core memory and
a 250,OOO-word memory disk.
Four
thousand words of core memory are
devoted to executive software, wi th
the remaining 4,000 available to
users.
The TIME SHARE-8 storage
system provides several levels of
file protection and permission., The
disk memory is available to all
USers for storing binary or source
language files. All peripheral input and output devi ces, such as tape
transports and line printers, can
be assigned to individual users under operator control. This permits
hardware resource sharing, as well
as time sharing.
(For more information, designate
+1=46 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
Analog
ANALOG COMPUTER ENHANCES
RESOLUTION OF CONTINUOUS
CURVES PRODUCED BY
INSTRUMENTS
A new specialized analog computer, which automatically scans
and then multiplies the resolution
of curves and continuous spectra by
deconvolution, is available from
Micro-Tol Engineering Corporation,
State College, Pa.
In the deconvolution mode, this portable selfcontained instrument serves as an
adj unct to increase resolution 5
to 10 times beyond the performance
of basic analytical instruments applied to quanti tative analysis of
major constituents.
Called the RM-6 Resolution
Multiplier, one unusual feature is
that no assumptions or computations
need be made regarding solutions
being sought and results are not
subj ect to operator interpretation.
Applications for the RM-6 Resolution
Multiplier include mass spectroscopy, gas chromatography, nuclear
magnetic resonance, infrared spectroscopy and other continuous spectra producing instrumentation.
(For more information, designate
+1:47 On the Reader Servi ce Card.)
lOO-V ANALOG/HYBRID
COMPUTING SYSTEM FROM EAI
below) accepts customer's charge
or credi t card and merchandise tags,
Electronic Associates, Inc.,
West Long Branch, N.J., has announced a new 100-V machine, the
EAI 7800.
The computer offers a
new degree of performance, flexibility and versatility combined
with low initial cost and economical throughput. The EAI 7800 is
designed to go hybrid or to be used
in any number of on-line or realtime applications.
and automatically displays price,
checks customer credit and records
accounts receivable data by customer and inventory data by item,
by clerk, and by store.
Digital-Analog
TWO INTERCONNECTED COMPUTERS
ANALYZE VIBRATION SOURCES
A completely computerized signal analyzing system has been developed by S. Sterling Compan~ SouthfielJi, Mich. The system was developed for the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, which
will use it to pinpoint the source
of vibrations in spaceships.
According to Sy Sterling, the firm's
president and chief executive officer, it will have many significant appli cations in industry and
science.
The system consists of two interconnected computers,
the Time
Data 100, a digital computer, and
the Varian Data Machines 620i, a
general purpose stored program digital computer. With this combination, analog or digi tal information
can be processed from such sources
as strain gauges, flow meters, and
accelerometers; and a visual display of their output can be shown
The system can reon a monitor.
ceive information continuously for
analysi sand it can tape record the
processed information for storage.
Some of the specific applications of this "production line"
signal analysi~ system include:
use In medical research to obtain
and analyze electrocardiograms and
electroencephalograms; and for vibration and subjective testing analysis of all types of engines.
The S. Sterling Company will engineer and assemble the entire system,
customizing it to the individual
needs of any potential user.
(For more information, designate
+1:48 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
50
Users may select an analogi
hybrid configuration from 30 to 294
amplifiers •.. as well as a wide range
of control and programming features.
The basic console, wired for a minimum analog/hybrid configuration,
can be expanded by adding functional
modules, easily installed in the
field or in the factory. The 7800
adds to a product line designed to
meet every analog/hybrid need of
the engineering and scientific community.
(For more information, designate
+1:49 on the Reader Service Card.)
The fact that each and every
purchase is checked immediatel~ in
real-time, eliminates the need for
floor limits. A person attempting
to make several purchases in different departments would be stopped
during the purchase at which the
credi t limi t was being exceeded.
The terminal automatically retains
the credit charge card if the customer is delinquent, beyond credit
limit, or if the card is stolen or
counterfeit.
System design is modular and
allows maximum flexibility in providing each retai ler wi th hi sown
custom-designed system.
(For more information, designate
+1:50 on the Reader Service Card.)
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR
MEDICAL DATA FROM SANDERS
An automated electronic medical data management system, developed by Sanders Associates, Inc.,
Nashua, N. Y., permi ts up-to-theminute patient information to be
maintained from admission through
discharge by providing high-speed,
access to computerized records,
forms and other information.
Special Purpose Systems
CREDIT AND INVENTORY
CONTROL SYSTEM FOR RETAIL
STORE MANAGEMENT
A credi t and inventory control
system has been developed by Ricca
Data System, Inc., Santa Ana, Calif.
The new system automatically checks
customer credi t and furnishes retail
store management with real-time
sales and inventory data.
The
credi t and inventory control system
can be installed either on a stand
alone basis or as a supplement to
existing data processing systems.
A Data Terminal at each sales
counter station is the key element
in the new system. The device provides all cash register functions
as well as the credi t and inventory
control functions. In conjunction
wi th a central computer and data
storage bank, the terminal (shown
The automated system, designated the CLINI-CALL® System, includes computers, noise-suppressed
printout machines, and electroni c
display terminals that can be located throughout a hospital or
clinic. The CRT terminals provide
immediate access to the central
computer where lab results, patient
data, admission and billing records,
drug order forms and doctor's orders
are stored. All operations can be
interlocked so that a doctor's identification card is required in those
cases when orders or information
should not be accessible or released wi thou t hi s approval or verification.
Doctors, nurses and others requiring information from the CLINI-
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 196H
If you're
acquiring data,
the703
can get it for you
wholesale. .
-
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And that means more of it faster, and with less cost, work
and worry. Raytheon Computer's $15,000 703 has system
characteristics built-in ... 1.75 usec cycle time ... 16-bit word
... memory expandable to 32K ... byte and word manipulation
... real-time priority interrupt ... options like direct memory
access, multiply/divide, expandable I/O bus.
Peripherals? Up to 256 including all the conventional high
and low speed, mass and non-mass devices plus- from
Raytheon Computer only-analog data acquisition instruments like the MINIVERTER§, 100KHz ADCs
and a long line of analog and digitallC modules
for expanded logic, interfacing and control.
Software? A real-time monitor, an executive, assemblers,
debugging aids, real-time FORTRAN IV and SENSOR, a
unique hardware diagnostic program that spots malfunctioning IC elements so you can plug in a new one and be back
on the air in a few minutes .
Aboutthe only other thing you'll need to get a 703 into your
system is a call to a sales engineer. Raytheon" Computer,
2700 S. Fairview St., Santa Ana, Calif. 92704; Phone (714)
546-7160. Ask for Data File CB-161. In Europe and the MidEast, write Raytheon Overseas, Ltd., Shelley
House-Noble
St., London E.C.2, England,
~AYTHEO~
_
_
Phone: 01 6068991, Telex 851-25251.
SEE US AT SJCC BOOTH K10
Designate No. 12 on Reader Service Card
CALL system insert their identification card into a card reader uni t
on the CRT terminals. An index of
formats containing general categories of all data stored in the
system then appears on the display
screen. The operator then touches
a PHOTOPENID uni t to the display
screen to indicate and select the
specific form desired.
The form
appears when the "execute" command
section is touched with the PHOTOPEN. The form can be updated, modified or erased via the keyboard,
and the new data can be proofread
before returning for storage in the
computer.
Personnel communicate wi th the
computer in English language text
using direct or branching access
to specific data.
Only minimum
keyboard operations are involved.
Virtually no special training is
needed.
(For more information, designate
11:51 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
ACQUISITION SYSTEM GATHERS
ANALOG/DIGITAL DATA IN THE
FIELD OR ON THE BENCH
The Incre-Data Mark II data
acquisition system, developed and
manufactured by Incre-Data Corporation, Albuquerque, N.M., utilizes
IBM-compatible magnetic tape cartridges to completely eliminate
digi tal playback conversi'on.
It
can be cartridge-loaded and programmed in the field.
The solid
state system has five basic components:
programmable data formater/controller, analog and digi tal
mul tiplexer, analog to digi tal converter, digi tal clock, and magnetic
tape recorder.
Data format handles up to 144
indi vidual digi tal characters. The
high-speed analog multiplexer sequentially samples 20 differential
or 40 single-ended inputs, wi th
single scan, continual scan or
start/stop scan rates. The digital
clock correlates all input data;
it can be used to drive external
controls or remote displays.
The
incremental magnetic tape recorder
is 7-track and compatible with IBM
NRZI at densi ties of 200 and 556
BPI; it records at speeds up to
2,000 characters per second synchronous speeds and up to 1,000
characters per second asynchronous.
All recorder controls can be mounted
remotely.
The Mark II, a complete ly portable system, measures 6 1/2" high,
7 3/4" wide and 13 5/8" long, and
weighs approximately 29 pounds.
(For more information, designate
11:62 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
52
NEW FAMILY OF
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS
FROM REDCOR CORP.
A family of three computerbased data acquisition systems,
designated the Series 685 Systems,
has been developed by Redcor Corporation,Canoga Park, Calif. Their
function is to acquire and digi tize
analog data, and' record the data
on magnetic tape in computer-compatible format. The stored program
flexibility of the systems permits
processing of raw data in the form
of limit checking, linearizing,
conversion to engineering uni ts,
etc., for logging or display. The
system also has on-line control of
experiments.
Each of the three basic systems consists of a high-level or
low-level mul tiplexer /A-D converter,
a stored program processor, a digi tal magneti c tape read/wri te uni t,
and a teletypewri ter wi th a paper
tape input/output. Complete, easyto-use programs are provided wi th
each Series 685 System.
Several
standard options are also available.
(For more information, designate
11:60 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
PORTABLE DATA
ACQUISITION SYSTEM FROM
NON-LINEAR SYSTEMS, INC.
The S-~ Data Acquisition Systems, manufactured by Non-Linear
Systems, Inc., Del Mar, Calif., are
designed on a modular "buildingblock" concept. The basic system,
mounted in a 10~" high console,
consists of a four digit, 0.01%
accuracy digital voltmeter; a 25channel, programmable reed relay
input scanner; a parallel-to-serial
converter; and a half-rack incremental magnetic tape recorder.
elude aerospace testing, air and
water pollution studies, oceanographic data gathering, biomedical
instrumentation petro-chemical processing research and many others.
(For more information, designate
11:59 on the Reader Service Card.)
Memories
lSI INTRODUCES LOW-COST
MEDIUM-CAPACITY
MEMORY SYSTEMS
The 7000 series disc storage
sys tem, designed and manufactured
by lSI (Information Storage, Inc.),
Detroit, Mich., is available in five
mOdels. ranging. in capaci ty from
0.15 million to 1.2 million bits-at a cost of less than 0.3 cents
per bit.
Fixed, non-positioning,
flying heads, in a head-per-track
configuration, allow the computer
system designer considerable freedom in selecting data formats. Average access time of 7000 series
memory systems is 16.5 milliseconds.
Each memory sys tem includes
head address, decode and selection
systems, bi t and sector clocking,
and complete "functionally packaged" integrated circui t boards;
one for the entire read function,
another for the write.
The 7000 series disc memory
systems, designed for easy interfacing with any digital processing
system, may be used to extend the
core storage on small and medium
size general purpose computers,
for buffer memory applications, as
the main storage for special purpose computer systems, as a refresh
memory for display systems, or as
extender memories on electroni c accounting machines (EAM) , calculators, or small business machines.
(For more information, designate
11:56 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
ONE MICROSECOND CORE MEMORY
BY LOCKHEED ELECTRONICS
-- S-2 Data Acquisiton
System
Portabi li ty is a prime feature
of the S-2; one man can easi ly
carry the entire system, even in
cramped quarters such as aboard
ship. Applications of the S-2 in-
A compact, rugged, one microsecond core memory has been developed by Lockheed Electroni cs Company's Data Products Di vi sion in
Los Angeles, CaliL The new memory,
designated as model CR-95, is available in capaci ties of 4096 and 8192
words wi th word lengths variable in
4 bit increments from 8t036 bits.
Full cycle time is one microsecond
wi th access time less than 500
nanoseconds.
The CR-95 is modular in design.
It employs field proven circui ts
used in the CE-IOO memory fami ly
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 19GH
repackaged onto smaller ruggedized
boards.
All circui ts have been
subjected to verifiable worst-case
~esign, analysis.
The new memory
IS desIgned for application as a
memory or buffer in small computers
or data systems and meets the applicable requirements of'MIL-E-16400
and similar specifications for mobile and shipboard equipment.
(For more information, designate
tt53 on the Reader Service Card.)
MODULAR 3RD GENERATION
DISC-STORAGE SYSTEM FROM
COMPUTER PERIPHERALS CORP.
Computer Peripherals Corp.,
San Diego, Calif., has introduced
a new concept in fast-access disc
memories .•• a modular 3rd generation design specifically intended
for progra~ swapping, time sharing,
message SWI tching and all real time
applications.
The DSU-8100 has standard 25
and 50 mi Ilion bi t head-per-track
and mov ing head Di sc Storage Modules
which can be randomly combined to
provide memories from 25 mi Ilion
to multi-billion bit capacities.
One disc drive serves up to 4 disc
storage modules.
Thus, a 40-inch
high chassis, slide-mounted to fit
a standard 19-inch rack, contains
from 25 to 200 million bi ts of memory. ~lul tiple drives are used where
larger memories are needed.
-
DSU-8100
Fnst access modules wi th individual heads for each track locate
dntn ill 16.7 msec average.. Ec'onomy
module!;, where each head services
't,dnta tracks, have a positioning
tlllle of only 25 msec. Ei ther module
or a combination of modules on a
single drive may be chosen.
Data
transfer rate is 3 MHz bit serial
The DSU-8100 can accommodate up t~
t~ree computers in a single operatIonal system.
(~or more information,
designate
It,)'t on the
Reader Servi ce Card.)
Software
AUTO-LEX / Computer Resources Corporation, McLean, Va. / Performs
all standard computer functions
required to establish and maintain a thesaurus based on guidelines of COSATI (Commi ttee on Scientific and Technical Information).
Auto-Lex will add new
terms, delete old terms, al ter
term relationships, and maintain
generic structures. The package
is available for the IBM System/
360 and RCA Spectra/70 compu ters.
(For more information, designate
tt63 on the Reader Service Card.)
CMAP (Charge Materials Allocation
Pr?cessor) / IBM Corporation,
WhI te Plains, N.Y. / Calculates
the most economic mix of raw materials for foundry melting operations. CMA~ designed to calculate the least cost ini tial charge,
takes into account raw material
inventory,
chemical data and
pri ce to arrive a t the optimum
mel t. The program operates under
the IBM 1130 Disk Moni tor System,
Version 2. It is scheduled to be
available in the fourth quarter
1969.
'
(For more information, designate
tt64 on the Reader Service Card.)
DOCUMATIC / Data Usage Corp., Fort
Lee, N.J. / A Report Program Generator documentation system is
now available for all IBM System/
360 operating environments on a
service basis. The original system, whi ch was announced las t June
for the 360/20, has been upgraded
to accept programs wri t ten in RPG
for all System/360 versions. DOCUMATIC produces English language
descriptions of programs written
in System/360 RPG. Large system's
users who have Model 20' s can purchase the system outright. Other
users may have the documentation
generated on a service basis.
(For more information, designate
tt65 on the Reader Service Card.)
EXTENDED BASIC / Digital Equipment
Corp., Maynard, Mass. / BASIC®
an easy-to-lear~ conversational'
problem - sol ving
language fo~
scientific, business and educational applications, was developed by Dartmouth College.
As
implemented on the PDP-lO, Extended BASIC requires 5K of core
memory and can automatically expand to the maximum capaci ty of
the system to meet growing user
needs. The DEC version includes
facilities which allow the user
to s tore hi s program on mas s
storage devices such as disk,
magnetic tape or DECtape.
(For more information, designate
tt66 on the Reader Service Card.)
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
FLOWGEN/F-I / California Computer
products, Inc., Anaheim, Calif. /
Produces automatic ink-on-paper
flowchart documentation of FORTRAN
source programs for users of the
IBM 1130 and comparable 16K memo:y computers. FLOWGEN/F-l perml ts the plot ting of completely
annotated flowcharts, di rectly
from program source cards.
The
flowchart program is forma t ted to
fi t 8~ x ll-inch pages, readily
storable in a three-ring binder
for permanent reference.
The
program is available to IBM 1130
and comparable computer users for
a one-time lease charge of $2000.
(For more information, designate
tt67 on the Reader Service Card.)
PMI (Personnel Management Information System) / Computer Sciences
Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif. /
A broadly-based generalized computer system for maintenance of
personnel records, PMI can generate any of 26 pre-determined
types of reports in the formats
and sequences desired by personnel
officers.
An English-language
shorthand whi ch can be mas tered
in an hour enables personnel managers ,wi th no knowledge of programmIng to communicate directly
with the computer. The PMI system is wri t ten in COBOL and operates on IBM System/360 computers
from Model 30 upward.
PMI is
priced at $25,000.
(For more information, designate
tt68 on the Reader Service Card.)
SHORT-CIRCUIT STUDY COMPUTER PROG~AM / ~Vestinghouse Electric Corp.,
PI t tsburg, Pa. / Provides a means
of performing rapid, accurate, and
economical short-circuit studies
of industrial electric power systerns. The program uses mesh analys is to cal cuI a te symmetri cal values of line current and bus vol tage
for three-phase and single lineto-ground faults. Printed output
f:om the program includes positIve-sequence symmetrical values
of fault current and voltage for
three-phase faul ts and zero sequence symmetrical values of faul t
current and vol tage for single
line-to-ground faults.
(For more information, designate
tt69 on the Reader Service Card.)
SIGMA FMPS (Functional Mathematical
Programming System) / Scientific
Data Systems, Santa Monica, Cal. /
An advanced :inear programming
(LP) package IS being jointly developed by SDS and Bonner & Moore
Associates, Houston, Texas, for
use wi th the SDS Sigma 5 and Sigma 7 computers.
Maj or uses of
the new software package include
production scheduling, inventory
control, product blending, process optimization, transportation
and distribution optimization,
a~d management decision making.
SIgma FMPS wi 11 operate under
53
the Batch Processing Moni tor in
a 32K-word memory system.
The
LP package, available in the
second quarter of 1969, will sell
at prices ranging from $12,500
to $22,500, depending upon options selected.
Price includes
initial traInIng for customer
personnel, start-up service, and
software maintenance.
(For more information, designate
u70 on the Reader Service Card.)
SYSTEM 010 / Share Research Corporation, 'Santa Barbara, Calif. /
Is designed to generate bibliographi c, au thor, and Keyword-Ou tof-Context (KWOC) indexes from
machine-readable report, journal,
etc., data. The KWOC index is a
quickly assembled alphabetic listing of significant words from
titles. The package, written in
COBOL (F), wi 11 opera te in 20K.
Al though wri tten primarily for
IBM System/360's, the program can
be adapted to other computers
whi ch have a COBOL compi ler and
a SORT package.
(For more information, designate
u71 on the Reader Service Card.)
UNICRIM (Uniform Crime Reporting
System) / The Dikewood Corporation, Albuquerque, N.M. / Police
may now process, by computer, all
reportable offenses under various
crime calssifications, as well
as arrest and judiciary activity
related to those offenses.
The
UNICRIM-systemprovides all monthly and annual crime reports requested by the FBI from ci ties of
100,000 or more in population.
UNICRIM operates on any computer
for which a C030L compiler is
available, incorporates device
independence and stand-alone features, and allows for adjustment
without reprocessing monthly activity reports. The entire program may be processed in less
than 30 minutes.
(For more information, designate
u72 On the Reader Service Card.)
Peripheral Equipment
INTEGRATED CIRCUIT KEYBOARD
FROM HONEYWELL
A significant advance in solid
state keyboard technology, developed
by Micro Switch, a division ofHoneywell Inc., Freeport, Ill., is expected to bring the price of electroni c keyboards wi thin the reach
of nearly every plant, office or
home.
The heart of the keyboard
is a "magnet-actuated integrated
circuit." Each key contains an IC
chip only 40 thousandths of an inch
54
square. The circuit is controlled
in each key by pressing a magnet
around the chip.
DATA SETS FROM LYNCH ARE
FULLY "COMPATIBLE" WITH
WESTERN ELECTRIC COUNTERPARTS
The integrated circui try housed
in the chip was developed by two
Honeywell engineers: Everett Vorthmann of Micro Swi tch and Joseph
Maupin of Honeywell's Solid State
Electronics Center in Minneapolis.
The chip makes use of the Hall Effect (named for Professor Edward
H. Hall who di scovered the effect
at Johns Hopkins University in
1879), to produce minute voltage
along the edges of a tiny bi t of
silicon. The voltage is then controlled through a special trigger
and later amplified to 3.5 vol ts
becoming, in effect, an electronic
swi tch. The swi tch is said to have
the reliabili ty inherent in solid
state electronics and the low cost
inherent in integrated circui ts.
Electrical bounce reportedly is no
longer a problem,
and the Micro
Switch keyboard is said to be compatible wi th all computer logic
circuits.
Lynch Solid State Data Sets,
L2103A and L2103F, provide "narrow
band", full duplex transmission of
data at speeds up to 300 bi ts per
second.
These Data Sets, from
Lynch Communication Systems, San
Francisco, Calif., will be fully
"compatible" wi th the Western Electric "103A" and "103F", respectively, even to the extent that they
wi 11 offer "plug" interchangeabi 1ity with their W. E. counterparts.
Through the use of such solid
state keyboards (shown below), a
housewife in the 70's will be able
to "talk" directly to computers to
do her shopping, her banking, balance her check book, order theater
and travel tickets, etc. The Micro
Donald E. Campbell, Lynch president, stated that these two Data
Sets are the forerunners of a complete line of Data Sets, fully "compatible" with equivalent -Western
Electri c type Data Sets, planned to
provide the Independent Telephone
Industry wi th the required equipment for connecting to the swi tched
network, or for private lines, for
all data applications using physical
pairs, cable carrier, or multiplex.
These two Data Sets are scheduled
for introduction at the United
States Independent Telephone Convention in Miami next December,
with off-the-shelf delivery beginning January of next year.
(For more information, designate
u75 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
COMPUTER·CONTROLLED
KEYBOARD INPUT FROM
COMPUTER MACHINERY CORP.
Computer Machinery Corporation,
headed by former sales and engineering executives of Scientific
Data Systems, has been formed in
Los Angeles to introduce "the first
computer-controlled keyboard input
system designed to substi tute a
combination disk/tape operation for
present keypunch and keyboard-totape methods." The new "KeyProcessing System" was announced by James
K. Sweeney, president.
Swi tch keyboard is linked to the
computer through the printed circui t encoding board shown on the
left, which translates man symbols
into electronic language.
By utilizing magnet-actuated
circuitry, Micro Switch is able to
offer a keyboard costing about $100,
according to James S. Locke, vice
president and general manager of
the Honeywell division.
Limi ted
production of the electronic keyboard has begun.
(For more information, designate
u74 on the Reader Service Card.)
The CMC KeyProcessor System is
composed of four principal hardware sub-systems:
(1)
inputtypewri ter-like keyboards, a display
and operator console housed in a
simple work table; (2) control a new, high-speed, digital computer
functioning basically as a mul tiplexor for data input-output under
stored program control; (3) storage
- a magneti c di sk uni t whi ch holds
7.25 million characters of data
(sections are assigned to input
keyboa:t:ds and all data is held on
di sk through completion and prior
to transfer to output); (4) output
- a magnetic. tape device which
wri tes data in a format allowing
the tape to be used as input to a
separate general purpose computer
system.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
KeyProcessing produces magnetic tape output for use as input
to any data processing system. One
sys tem can have up to 32 individual
keystations, all independently entering or verifying data simultaneousl~ on 32 different jobs.
Keystations are controlled by the new
computer containing proprietary programs provided by CMC as part of
the system.
(For more information, designate
u76 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
GRAPHIC DISPLAY SUBSYSTEM
PROVIDES DIGITAL DEFLECTION
TECHNIQUE
Utilizing the first announced
digital deflection technique to be
offered in commercial graphic displays, the new UNIVAC 1557/1558
Graphic Display Subsystem, introduced by Sperry Rand Corporation's
UNIVAC Division,Philadelphia, Pa.,
produces di splays of superior characteristics in terms of speed, resolution and accuracy.
The system
is designed for direct inter-connection wi th a large-scale computer
system or for remote operation wi th
connections to a central processor
vi a voi ce grade or wideband communication facilities.
The all digital techniques in
the 1557/1558 System enable speed
and accuracies, in excess of what
has been available to date, to be
achieved. This capability is high
enolHJh to design integrated circui ts
and detailed drawings of complex
mechnni cal parts.
Other sui table
applications would be automotive
desiun,
archi tectural drawings,
mathematical models and drawings of
animated cartoons on-line.
(For more information, designate
u77 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
are transformer coupled to eliminate
ground loops.
Analog input range
of 2:10 V is standard, wi th optional
ranges from 2:5 V to 2:100 V. Input
impedance is 1000 ohms/volt.
DC
operating power is supplied by integral power supplies. Continuous
overvoltage protection is standard
on all analog input circuits. Accuracy is 2:.01% of full range 2:1/2
LSB. EECO Model 1200 can be supplied
for either parallel or serial output.
The serial output has a 10
MHz bit rate.
(For more information, designate
If.80 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
NEW DATA ENTRY SYSTEM
SPEEDS UP INPUT AND
REDUCES COST
Logic Corporation, Haddonfield,
N.J., has developed the LC-720 Data
Entry System, a computer timeshared approach to da ta preparation.
The system accepts simul taneously
the data from as many as 120 keyboard operators and records it on
either two IBM/360-compatible magneti c tape recorders or an IBM magnetic disc pack recorder. Savings
of as much as 50% can be achieved
over conventional data ,input systems that use one-keyboard/onemagnetic tape recorder per operator.
The operator's input station
for the LC-720 Data Entry System
uses a standard 64-character keypunch layout requiring no special
operator training. An alpha-numeric
display panel shows the operator
in English the program being used
and the last information entered.
Double entry, one of a wide range
of operating modes, for the first
time, permits the simultaneous entry and verifi cation of data by two
different operators.
Available as a modular uni t
for mounting in a chassis along wi th
() ther ci rcui ts, the new ADC is i sointed from other circuits to minimize noise pickup and insure stabili ty. Unta outputs and control pulses
CRT DISPLAY TERMINAL WITH
ALPHANUMERIC AND GRAPHIC
CAPABILITIES
Series 400 family of standalone display terminals will be introduced by Computek, Inc., Cambridge, Mass., at the Fall Joint
Computer Conference.
The Series
400 has a curve generator for graphi cs, whi ch enables curves to be
drawn directly rather than approximated by straight-line segments.
The low cost Model 20 includes
a storage-type CR~ an alphanumeric
input keyboard, curve and vector
genera tors for graphi cs, a character
generator for alphanumerics, and
interfacing for standard data sets.
Various options also are available
including addi tional character sets;
special symbols; templates; program
function keyboards and overlays; and
interfaces for direct coupling wi th
computers.
(For more information, designate
u81 on the Reader Service Card.)
RANDOLPH
COMPUTER
CORPORATION
A·D CONVERTER
FROM EECO PROVIDES
250,000 CONVERSIONS/SECOND
EECO Model 1200, a new highspeed Analog-to-Digi tal Converter
from the Electronic Engineering
Company of California (Santa Ana),
is capable of 250,000 complete conversions per second with a resolut ion of 15 binary bi ts.
The new
AUC may be used as a direct input
to a computer for "on-time" data
processing, or for analysis of
rnpidly varying analog information.
Other applications include transient
analysis by loading a memory at a
25U,UUO/second word rate and readinU out at slower speeds.
of keyboard stations in his system
at any time.
First deliveries of
the LC-720 Data Entry System are
currently scheduled to begin in
January, 1969.
(For more information, designate
u73 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
ParvAm Building
New York, N. Y.10017
Offering
Short Term
Operating Leases for
IBM 360 Equipment
Through
As many as 30 different programs may be stored in the LC-720
system simul taneously and each program is immediately available to
any of the operators. Record size
is infinitely variable by each operator from 1 to 240 characters long
and an automatic incremental record
counter is included.
The LC-720
user can field-expand the number
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
Randolph Equipment
Corporation
and
A Camplete Range of
Data Processing Services
Through
Randolph Data Services. Inc.
(United Data Processing Divisions)
55
"BOOK SIZE" OSCILLOSCOPE
BY MEASUREMENT CONTROL
DEVICES, INC.
A new DC to 10 MHz oscilloscope
wi th measurements of just 1 3/4" x
7 1/2" x 14" - the Model 100 TransiScope - is avai lable from Measurement Control Devices, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa. The oscilloscope was
designed as a completely solidstate device with extensive use of
integrated circui ts to achieve both
reliabili ty and lightweight compactness. Small enough to be slipped
into a briefcase on field trips,
or incorporated into a system where
space must be conserved, this new
"mini" scope finds typi cal users
in: 1 aboratory, research, and production engineers i custom equipment designers i medical researchers i
and field service technicians.
(For more information, designate
+1:82 on the Reader Service Card.)
Components
NUMERIC READOUTS, FROM
DIALIGHT, ARE MOUNTED
ON PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS
'A seven-segment readout display, announced by Dialight Corp.,
Brooklyn, N.Y., has one inch characters mounted directly on a printed
ci rcui t board, together with selected neon lamps and the required
series and shunt resistors.
Displays are available in groupings
of from 2 to 8 modules, which can
include plus-minus, decimal, colon
or special caption module. Installation is achieved with the boards
plugging directly into standard
printed circui t board connectors,
wi th a terminal spacing of .156
inch.
Displays are available for
operation at 150-160V, DC or 110125V AC.
(For more information, designate
+1:84 on the Reader Service Card.)
PLUGGABLE X-Y MATRIX BOARD
FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH
APPLICATIONS
The Programming Devices Division of Sealectro Corporation,Mamaroneck, N.Y., has developed a new
30 x 50 pluggable Sealectroboard
which is supplied mounted in a custom slide-out drawer assembly for
standard 19" rack mounting.
The
new X-Y matrix programmer was designed to channel brain signals to
selective recorders in medical research applications.
The compact
uni t is available in a wide range
of custom configurations.
(For more information, designate
+1:83 on the Reader Service Card.)
56
Data Processing Accessories
COMPUTER-PAK,
FOR COMPUTER-PRINTER
ENVELOPE ADDRESSING
Computer-Pak, developed especially for computer systems applications by Continuous Envelope
Sales Division of Pak-Well Paper
Industries, Inc., Phoenix, Ariz.,
is a continuous web of envelopes,
in ro 11 form, tha t can be fed through
computer-printers at high speed.
The envelopes are shingled at the
outside margins, with pin hole
strips on both sides.
The overlapping feature reduces printer
skip-time to a minimum.
The finished appearance of a Computer-Pak
envelope is that of a conventional
envelope. There is no evidence of
a perforation line.
Computer-Pak
envelopes are available in all commercial sizes, including booklet
and announcement envelopes.
(For more information, designate
+t89 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
PACK-SCAN 1 - DISC PACK
TESTER AND CERTIFIER
Peripherals
Inc. ,
Phoenix,
Ariz., has announced PACK-SCAN I,
an IBM 2311 compatible, high speed
disc pack tester and certifier.
Four operational modes - two for
unskilled production test personnel
and two for skilled operatorsemploy three separate analog tests
to measure magnetic coating irregularities. The track width tester
permits use with most current disc
drives.
PACK-SCAN I stands about 40"
high, is 25" deep and 36" long.
It includes all logic, storage and
con trol functions, so no external
processing unit is needed.
PACKSCAN I contains a strip-printer for
a hard copy of error information
and takes about five minu tes to detect, interpret and record all errors on a total pack, noting track
position and number. The company,
a subsidiary of Wabash Magnetics,
Inc., says deliveries of the completely self-contained device will
begin in December.
(For more information, designate
+1:88 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
PORTABLE AIR SPRAY
FOR DELICATE DUSTING
"Extend-Air," a new aerosol
type source of pressurized air, by
Miller-Stephenson Chemical
Co.,
Danbur~ Conn., is intended for removing dust from delicate or hardto-reach places and is an improvement over
conventional aerosol
powered air sources.
In the "Extend-Air," the valve and extension
nozzle are located on a fountainpen size probe connected to a control cap on the top of the can by
When
a length of plastic tubing.
the control cap is turned to "ON,"
the aerosol propellant forces air
to the valve at the end of the
probe.
The operator can now work
the nozzle in to confined spaces,
such as electroni c assemblies, typewriters, etc. to blow dust away by
fingertip pressure on the valve.
One "Extend-Air" provides up
to 30 minutes of continuous air
spray, which is the equivalent of
several hundred normal applications.
(For more information, designate
+t90 on the Reader Service Card.)
COMPUTER RELATED SERVICES
SHARE RESEARCH CORP. OFFERS
SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE SERVICE
A computerized weekly literature search service reviews 200,000
technical and commercial articles
per year. The programmed sys tem is
run on an IBM 360/65. Input consists of bibliographic ci tation!i
and abstracts. The service is offered by Share Research Corp., Santa Barbara, Calif., on a corporate
contract basis.
Individual interest profiles
are constructed using an open vocabular~ Probable articles of interest are distributed via a computer-printed three-part card. Each
profile term is weighted and readjusted through direct user interaction (Port-A- Punch,
response
cards). Quarterly personai bibliographies are generated automatically of all arti cles whi ch were "of
interest" during that period of
time.
Each bibliography consists
of a chronological listing of selected ci tation data, an author index, and a "Keyword-out-of-Context"
(KWOC) index.
(For more information I designate
+t91 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
WESTERN UNION SERVICE
FOR SECURITIES INDUSTRY
A computer-controlled sys tem
designed for shared use by many
firms in the securi ties industry providing cross-country communication of buy and sell orders in seconds - is now being operated by
Western Union for its first Wall
Street customer I Shields & Company.
Called SICOM (Securi ties Industry Communications) Western Union I s
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 196H
new system serves the specialized
needs of brokerage fi rms. The system interconnects a subscribing
brokerage firm's headquarters wire
and order rooms, its branches and
correspondents, the trading floors,
of the New York and American Stock
Exchanges, and other special points
desired by the subscriber. It provides for the fast transmission of
buy-sell orders, execution reports,
market news reports, admini s trative messages and other record information.
Western Union engineered the
entire system and provides all components, including computers, circuits,
teleprinters,
outstation
equipment, programming and maintenance.
The only equipment located
on the premises of a SICOM subscriber is an automatic teleprinter
supplied by Western Union.
TIME·SHARING SERVICES
DENMARK'S FIRST
TIME-SHARING SERVICE
message transmissions.
The network of compu ters in the cen ter,
including two major new IBM systems
recently installed at an estimated
cost of $4.5 million, has a combined on-line or direct-access capaci ty of storing and retrieving
almost 2 billion characters of
information.
AUTOMATION
PHOTOELECTRIC SENSING HEAD
AUTOMATES WAXING OF CARS
Wayne Quick Wash, Inc. has installed a General Electric weather
resistant
photoelectric sensing
head to automate the application
of wax to the cars going through
its quick wash. The operation was
formerly handled manually.
Operators turn the car's head
lights on for those getting a liquid wax treatment. When the head
light beam strikes the sensing head
Denmark's first commercially
available
computer time-sharing
servi ce has been announced expandi I1g to nine the number of countries outside the Uni ted States
utilizing GE-265 computer systems.
The servi ce employs time-sharing
equiPlllent, techniques and programs
supplied by Bull-General Electric,
Denmark,
and General Electri c,
U.S.A. It is operated by 0K DATA,
a subsidiary of. the East Asiatic
Company, Ltd. (0stasiatiske Kompagnie) an industrial shipping
and trading company and one of
Scandanavia's leading firms.
WESTINGHOUSE TO OFFER
COMPUTER SERVICES TO
OUTSIDE USERS
Westinghouse Electric Corporation has announced it wi 11 offer
the powerful computing capacity of
its Tele-Computer Center to outside
users through its Westinghouse Information Systems Laboratory (WISL).
The Westinghouse Tele-Computer Center (Pi t tsburg, Pa.), one of the
largest of its kind in the world,
until now was operated exclusively
for Westinghouse corporate, divisional and select customer support
programs.
More than 500 tele-processing
terminals installed at Westinghouse
locations across the country are
I inked to computers in Pi t tsburg
over I eased telephone Ii nes for
remote computing and administrative
NEW LITERATURE
VISUAL INFORMATION
DISPLAY SYSTEMS,
FROM U.S. GOVERNMENT
Advances in displaying information from computers are described
in a new survey of technology used
by the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration.
Entitled,
"Vi sual Information Display Sys terns, "
the survey was undertaken for the
NASA Office of Technology Utilization by the Auerbach Corp., Philadelphia, Pa., to facilitate the
adaptation of such systems for use
in schools, municipalities and industry.
It discusses both the
hardware and software now available
to display information rapidly and
effi ciently to engineers, designers,
operating personnel, students, decision makers and others.
Examples are given of four
broad categories of uses for modern
visual information display systems:
those in which various kinds of
operations must be moni tored; those
involving engineering and design;
those requiring storage and retrieval of information; and those used
in communications and simulation.
"Visual Information Display Systems. tt is available as NASA SP-5049
for 60 cents from the Superintendent
of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,Washington, D.C. 20402.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS FOR TAPE
AND TRANSMISSION FORMATS,
FROM TALLY CORP.
the photoelectric equipment automatically turns on a set of high
veloci ty wax jets.
A time delay
feature keeps the wax turned on
whi Ie the car is passing through
the spray of wax.
The au toma ti c
operation assures a uniform coat
of wax.
The first in a series of Tally
"Tech Topics" is now available from
Tally Corporation, Seattle, Wash.
"Glossary of Terms for Tape and
Transmission Formats" is an B-page
glossary which details and defines
many of the terms most commonly
used in conj unction wi th magneti c
tape data storage technology.
(For more information, designate
1t-92 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
SPECIFICATION HANDBOOK FOR
SUPERVISORY CONTROL SYSTEMS,
FROM DRESSER INDUSTRIES
Wayne Qui ck Wash, Inc., a chain
operation, has another installation
using the same photoelectric setup
in Harri sonburg, Va., and has plans
for continued installations elsewhere.
A free brochure, designed to
assist supervisory control users in
WI rIng specifi cations, is now being
offered by the Dresser Controls DiVISIon of Dresser Systems, Inc.,
one of the Dresser Industries.
The photoelec tri c equipment is
manufactured by General Electric's
Specialty Control Department, Waynesboro, Va.
The illustrated 22 page brochure contains detailed information
on the numerous points that must be
considered in specifi cation wri ting
in the supervisory control and digital telemetry field.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
57
The booklet is designed for
wri ting specifi ca tions for any manufacturer's equipment.
Numerous
check lists are contained in the
brochure.
(For more information, designate
:tt93 on the Reader Servi ce Card.)
ORGANIZATION NEWS
obvious by looking at our roster of
members that we are in the full
line data processing services business, which includes software development," Mr. Dreyer stated.
The new By-Laws are the result
of ADAPSO's incorporation in New
York State this year.
NEWLY·ESTABLISHED POSITION OF
FULL-TIME EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MARKS A KEY-POINT IN
AFIPS HISTORY
ADAPSO'S NEW BY· LAWS GIVE
FULL MEMBERSHIP TO
SOFTWARE FIRMS
The membership of ADAPSO (Association of Data Processing Service
Organizations, Inc.) approved new
Association By-Laws which will now
enable software firms to take advantage of full membership in the
industry's trade association. "This
progressi ve step was taken as a result of the recent ianalysis of the
industry whi ch clearly defined it
as encompassing all aspects of the
data processing services business,"
Jerome L. Dreyer, Executive Vice
President of ADAPSO said.
Prior to the changes in the
Association's By-Laws, full membership was open to those organizations
that "'maintained physical control
of and prime responsibili ty for its
data processing equipment, faciliti es and methods. " Thi s portion of
the By-Laws was deleted.
It is
Paul Armer, President of AFIPS
(Ameri can Federa ti on of Informa ti on
Processing Societies), has announced
the appointment of Dr. Bruce Gilchrist to the newly-established
position of AFIPS Executive Director. Dr. Gilchrist served as president of AFIPS from 1966 to 1968,
and has been involved in computing
and information processing since
1952.
In hi s new capaci ty , Dr.
Gilchrist will be responsible for
developing increasedoAFIPS services
to the AFIPS member societies, governmental bodies and the general
public.
Mr. Armer noted that in its
decision to appoint an Executive
Director, the Board of Governors of
AFIPS recognized that this was just
the first step in responsibly meeting a number of long-felt needs.
The AFIPS Board has already approved
a proposal to start an AFIPS Press
to handle the publication of proceedings of AFIPS Conferences and
to meet Member Society publishing
needs.
At its December meeting,
the Board will be asked to approve
a Public Information program.
Dr. Gilchrist will be responsible for developing plans and programs and assisting in the implementation of approved projects. Mr.
Armer emphasized the word "assist,"
saying that the efforts of volunteers are, and will remain, the
mainstay of AFIPS activities. All
AFIP Headquarters functions will
report to Dr. Gilchrist.
KYBE CORPORATION IS NEW NAME
FOR CYBETRONICS, INC.
Cybetronics, Inc., Waltham,
Mass., a leading manufacturer of
magneti c tape cleaning and certifying systems, has changed its name
to KYBE Corporation. The change
came about due to the confusion
caused between the Company's name
and that of Cyber-Tronics, Inc., a
New York based public corporation
dealing in computer leasing.
The new KYBE Corporation is
maintaining its logo type (company
symbol), while the other company
is maintaining its original company identity.
The KYBE Corporation plans no changes in company
facilities, sales offices, or distribution channels.
°
AS WE GO TO PRESS
THREE MORE IBM SYSTEM 360 MODELS ARE NOW ON "LIMITED"
NEW PRODUCTION, according to information received at
press time. Effective October 15, 1968, the production status of IBM models 360/40, 360/50, and 360/75
was changed from "full" new production to "limited"
new production.
What this means to IBM customers is that if
their order is filled on a "limited" new production
basis, they may not receive a new CPU (central processing unit) - and if they don't, their purchase
will not be tax qualifying according to Internal
Revenue Service regulations. According to IBM
sources, existing orders scheduled for delivery on
or before September 30, 1969 will be honored with
new equipment, but new orders will be filled on a
"limi ted" basis, and therefore may not be tax qualifying.
What this means to the computer industry in the
long run remains to be seen. Another model 360, the
360/30, was put on "limited" new production earlier
this year. With the addition of models 40, 50 and
75, a total of four of the ten System 360 models
are no longer in "full" new production.
TWO FULL-DAY SEMINARS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTING MACHINERY (ACM) PROFESSIONAL
58
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOLLOWING FJCC in San Francisco
next month.
"Digital Simulation of Physical Systems" - to
be given Thursday, Dec. 12 - is a state-of-the-art
survey of the simulation of continuous systems with
emphasis on aerospace applications.
"File Structures for On-Line Systems" is an indepth tutorial for computer programmers, analysts,
and managers who are implementing or studying online retrieval and query-response information systems.
Both seminars will be held at the San Francisco
Hilton Hotel. Enrollment forms for these seminars
(and the two other ACM seminars on "Aerospace Software" and "Computer Systems Analysis Techniques"
which are also being held following FJCC) are available from the office of ACM Professional Development,
211 E. 43rd St., New York, N.Y. 10017.
ELBIT COMPUTERS LTD. HAS MOVED UP TO THE NUMBER TWO
SPOT AMONG SMALL COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS ON THE CONTINENT, with the receipt of their 45th order for an
Elbit 100 computer (first released early in 1968).
(Please turn to page 65)
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 19GH
NEW CONTRACTS
Computing and Software, Inc.,
Panorama City, Calif.
U.S. Department of Defense
Librascope Group of General
Precision, Glendale, Calif.
U. S. Navy
URS Systems Corp., San
Mateo,Calif.
Engineer Research and Development Laboratory, U.S. Army
Data Field Systems Command,
Ft. Belvoir, Va.
RCA, New York, N.Y.
U. S. Army
Sylvania Electric Products
Inc. (GT&E Subsidiary), Sylvania Electronic Systems,
Needham, Mass.
IBM Corporation (prime contractor for the Army project)
EMR-Computer, Minneapolis,
Minn.
Environmental Science Services
Administration (ESSA)
Link Group of General Precision Systems Inc., Binghamton, N.¥.
Link Group, General Precision Systems Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)
Babcock and Wilcox Co.,
Lynchburg, Va.
Planning Research Corp., Los
Angeles, Calif.
Data Systems Division of
Litton Industries
Core Memories, Inc., a subsidiary of Data Products Corp.,
Mountai II View, Calif.
Bunker-Hamo Corp., Stamford,
Conn,
Systems Engineering Laboratories, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Dynamics Research Corp.,
Stoneham, Mass.
Systems Engineering Laboratories, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Clary Corp., San Gabriel,
Calif •
EMR-Computer Division, Minneapolis, Minn.
California Federal Savings &
Loan Association
Natural Gas Pipeline of America, Chicago, Ill.
Perkin-Elmer Corp.
Hill AFB, Ogden, Utah
American Totalisator Co.,
Towson, Md.
System Development Corp.,
Santa ~onica, Calif.
National Science Foundation
Ampex Corporation, Redwood
City, Calif.
Burroughs Corporation
Redcor Corp., Canoga Park,
Calif ,
Bunker-Ramo Corp., Canoga Park,
Calif.
Avco Space Systems Division,
Lowell, Mass.
Materials Laboratory, Wright
Patterson AFB, Ohio
~npex Corporation, Redwood
Ci ty , Cali f.
Hailey Meter Co., Wickliffe,
Ohio
Litton Data Systems, Inc.,
Van Nuys, Calif.
Georgia Power Co.
Auerbach Corp., Philadelphia,
U. S. Army Research OfficeDurham
Pal
New York Ci ty
National Highway Safety Bureau
of the U. S. Department of
Transportation
COllll'UTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
Continuation of on-site data reduction sup- $8.7 million
port at U. S. Army White Sands Missile
Range, N.M. (related to Army's missile
test flights)
production of Fire Control System Mk 113
$6,743,188
Mod 8, an° antisubmarine warfare weapon
control system
Scheduled work during fiscal 1969 on the
$5,500,000
Army's Combat Service Support System, which
is designed to provide automatic data processing capabilities to tactical forces in
the field
Two computer-controlled testing systems
$4.6 million
that can check out complex electronic equipment 10 times faster than conventional techniques; systems are called DIMATE for Depot
Installed Maintenance AutomaticTest Equipment
Providing power and communications equip$4 million
ment, mounting data processing units in
specially-designed vans and shelters -- for
a mobile data processing and data communications s stem
over 1.6 million
A multi-computer digital data handlingsystem (DDH); includes two ADVANCE 6130 Computer Systems, two ADVANCE 6050 Computer
Systems, an ADVANCE 6050/cDC 6600 intercomputer link and 2700 Series ground telemetry equipment
over $1.5 million
A 707-340C flight simulator which will be
installed at PIA's training center located
in Karachi, in late 1969
Construction of a large-scale pressurized
over $1 million
water Nuclear Power Plant Training Simulator; training in all aspects of operation
of a nuclear reactor power plant will be
provided by use of the simulator
A sub-contract to assist in the design and
over $900,000
development of computer programs for the
U. S. Army's Tacfire (Tactical Fire Direction) system
MicroPACER memory systems which will be
over $850,000
used in conjunction with EMR's 6100
series computers
Electronic teller machines for all 18 of
$800,000
Cal Fed S & L offices
Eleven compressor control systems; each sys- $731,000
tem willbe controlled bySEL 810A computers
Continuation of the development and fabri$701,276
cation of optical digital encoders
An SEL 840MP Computer System
$570,000
Follow-on production of "Point of Sale
Devices" for the "Unitote System" used
by retail chain outlets
Further development of an author language
called PLANIT (Programming LANguage for
Interactive Teaching) which will allow
simultaneous use by 50 or more students
Additional Model ATM-13 digital tape
transports to be used in the CENPAC system, being developed by Burroughs for the
U.S. Air Force
Circuit modules for construction of photogrammetry and mapping systems used by the
U.S. Army
Lightweight, optically transparent armor,
applicable to protective systems where
weight is a critical performance factor
Magnetic core memory stacks to be used in
the TACFIRE system
A Bailey MINI-LINE 500 Pneumatic Analog
Control System for application to a pulverized coal and gas fired Foster Wheeler
3,620,000 PPH boiler
System engineering consulting support in
connection with the procurement and installation of the Tactical Automatic Digital Switching System (TADSS)
Improvement of its emergency ambulance
service by using computers; developing a
prototype system that can be adopted in
other urban areas of the country
$498,000
$433,000
$400,000
about $300,000
about $260,000
$200,000
about $200,000
$190,000
$130,000
59
NEW INSY ALLAYIONS
Burroughs B300 system
Control Data 1700 system
Control Data 6600 system
GE-4l5 system
GE-635 system
Honeywell Model 120 system
Honeywell Model 1250 system
IBM System 360 Model 30
NCR Century-IOO system
NCR 315-RMC system
SDS Sigma 5 system
SDS Sigma 7 system
UNIVAC 1108 system
UNIVAC 9200 system
UNIVAC 9300 system
UNIVAC 9400 system
60
Bankers Data Processing, Inc.,
Boston, Mass.
Use primarily in on-line savings operations providing computer services to 94 New England financial institutions
(System valued at over $400.000)
Univ. of California, Lawrence RadiMonitoring data from long-term environmental and maation Laboratory, Livermore. Calif.
terial-testing experiments
Free Reformed University. Amsterdam, On-line registration of nuclear physical experiments
with the University's cyclotron
The Netherlands
CDC Data Center. Waltham, Mass.
Providing business and industry throughout the Northeast and Eastern Seaboard with computer power and
service
Inventory control, production scheduling, and other
U.S. Steel. Gary Tube Works,
manufacturing applications
Gary, Ind.
Reducing data processing costs and providing hundreds
General Electric Co.'s Heavy Military Electronics Dept •• Syracuse.N,Y. of Company business and scientific computer users
with vastly increased computational capabilities
Management Information Services Inc •• Handling general accounting for several automobile
Columbus, Ohio
clubs, savings and loan associations and a central
Ohio pUbliShing house
Handling order processing. accounting and market
Littlewoods. Liverpool. England
analysis
(S stem valued at 3.1 million)
Omaha Metropolitan Utilities DisHandling customer inquiries. payroll accounting, intrict, Omaha, Neb.
ventory and general ledger reporting, and engineering problem solving
General Host Corp., Bond Baking Com- Route accounting and accounts receivable; also a company Division, Bronx. N.Y.
plete fleet analysiS program
Hanna Paint Mfg. Co., Columbus,
Inventory control of both raw materials and finished
Ohio
products; also payroll and billing
Exerpta Medica Foundation, AmsterAssisting in automation program to obtain permanent
dam, The Netherlands
indexing of the world's biomedical literature for
immediately available reference
Federal Aviation Administration, Na- Assist in development, testing, and evaluation of
tional Aviation Facili ties Experiimproved air traffic control teChniques, flight conmental Center
trol instrumentation, and pilot/navigation aids
University of Toronto, Canada
Library needs only: assisting in circulation control, administrative tasks, in part as an automated
library catalog. and developing bibliographic retrieval techniques
Sylvania Electronic Systems, Applied Studying advanced communications concepts and deResearch Laboratory, Waltham, Mass.
vices; developing character recognition and underwater communications equipment; design and develop
compact laser systems; and concurrently process general business data and prepare reports'
Shell International Petroleum Co.
Use as hub of a communications network serving Shell
Ltd. (SIPC), London, England
refineries, a chemical plant, and research facilities in England; also connected to offices of the
Royal Dutch/Shell Group on the European continent
(System valued at $4 million)
University of Wisconsin, Madison,
Providing extended services to students and faculty
Wis.
in various departments in Madison and distant U.W.
campuses throughout the State
Colorado Kenworth G.M.C. Inc.,
Processing accounts receivable, invoicing, and inDenver, Col.
ventory control
Gordon Johnson Co. Kansas City, Mo.
Replacing punched card maChines; will be used in as
many applications as practical
Kettler Bros. Inc., Washington, D.C. Scheduling of construction programs, payroll processing and various accounting applications
Key Drug Co., Pierceton, Ind.
Drugstore management, item order, purchase orders
and recording, accounts payable and receivable and
payroll processing
Helsingfors Sparbank, Helsinki,
Accounting tasks formerly run onpunched card maChine;
Finland
other programs now being handled on service bureau
basis will be added later
Hensel & Sons Inc., Harrisburg, Par
Inventory control, billing, accounts receivable and
payable. and statistical preparations
Utah State Uni versi.ty. Logan. Utah
Use by students in the Engineering Department
Whitley Products Inc., Pierceton,
Production contrOl, cost accounting, payroll, labor
Ind.
allocation, and inventory control on raw material
Advanced Computer Service Inc.,
Supplementing present computing and tabulating
Fort Wayne, Inc.
equipment
Texas State Teachers Assoc., AusPreparation of numerous statistical reports re edutin, Texas
cational matters, renewal notices for membership fees
and addressing labels for their monthly magazine
Data-Pack Inc., Waterbury, Conn.
Developing and using package application programs
for small manufacturers in financial and control areas
Associated Grocers, Phoenix, Ariz.
Handling billings on over 17,000 warehouse items.
for buyers' reports, payroll, and accounts payable
and receivable
Hasbro Industries, Inc., Pawtucket,
TV market analysis, inventory control. cost accountR.I.
ing, factory scheduling, controls, purchasing, budgeting, mailing lists, payroll and accounting tasks
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 19(iH
MONTHLY COMPUTER CENSUS
The following is a summary made by Computers and Automation of
reports and estimates of the number of general purpose electronic digi tal computers manufactured and installed, or to be manufactured and
on order. These figures are mailed to individual computer manufacturers
from time to time for their information and review, and for any updating or comments they may care to provide.
Our census has begun to include computers manufactured by organizations outside the Uni ted States. We invi te all manufacturers located
anywhere to submit information for this census.
We also invi te our
readers to submi t information that would help make these figures as
accurate and complete as possible.
The following abbreviations apply:
(R) - figures derived all or in part from information released directly or indirectly by the manufacturer, or from reports by
other sources likely to be informed
(N) - manufacturer refuses to give any figures on number of installations or of orders,
and refuses to comment in any way on
those numbers stated here
(S)
sale only
X - no longer in production
C
figure is combined in a total (see column to the right)
E - figure estimated by Computers and Automation
- information not received at press time
AS OF OCTOBER 15, 1968
NAME OF
~IANUF ACTURER
1.
NAME OF
COMPUTER
AVERAGE OR RANGE
OF MONTHLY RENTAL
DATE OF
FIRST
INSTALLATION
NUMBER OF
INSTALLATIONS
MFR'S TOTAL
INSTALLATIONS
NUMBER OF
UNFILLED
ORDERS
MFR'S TOTAL
UNFILLED
ORDERS
llni ted States Manufacturers
Autonetics (R)
Anahei m, Cali f.
Bailey Meter Co.
Wickliffe, Ohio
Bunker-llamo Corp. (R)
Canoga Park, Calif.
Burroughs (R)
Detroit, Mich.
Control Data Corp. (R)
Minneapoli s, Minn.
Oa ta (;eneral Corp.
Hudson,' Mass.
Digital Electronics Inc. (R)
1'1 n i n view, N. Y.
Oigi lnl Equipment Corp. (R)
Maynard, Mass.
RECOMP II
RECO~IP III
Bai ley 756
Bailey 855
BR-130
BR-133
BR-230
BR-300
BR-330
8R-340
205
220
13200 Series, 13100
13300 Series
13500
132500
133500
85500
136500
137500
88500
G-15
G-20
LGP-21
LGP-30
RPC-4000
636/136/046 Series
160':'/8090 Series
924/924A
1604/ A/B
1700
3100/3200/3300
3400/3600/3800
6400/6500/6600
6800
7600
NOVA
$2495
$1495
$60,000-$400,000 (S)
$100,000 (S)
$2000
$2400
$2680
$3000
$4000
$7000
$4600
$14,000
$5400
$9000
$3800
$5000
$14,000
$22,000
$33,000
$44,000
$200,000
$1600
$15,500
$725
$1300
$1875
?
$2100-$12,000
$11,000
$45,000
$3500
$10,000-$16,250
$18,000-$48,750
$52,000-$117,000
$130,000
$150 , 000
$7950 (S)
11/58
6/61
2/65
4/68
10/61
5/64
8/63
3/59
12/60
12/63
1/54
10/58
11/61
7/65
10/68
2/67
5/67
3/63
2/68
4/69
8/67
7/55
4/61
12/62
9/56
1/61
5/60
8/61
1/60
5/66
5/64
6/63
8/64
6/67
12/68
1/68
30
6
17
o
160
62
15
18
23
19
38
31
800
370
X
36
17
297
o
o
1430 E
18
o
31
150
70
117
190
8
31
13
5
550 E
X
X
X
295
20
165
322
75
29
610
29
59
100
311
79
77
o
o
o
o
X
57
44
74
4
1
X
3
15
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
C
X
X
1900 E
o
X
C
C
C
C
C
C
o
300 E
o
DIGIAC 3080
$19,500 (S)
12/64
11
1
DIGIAC 3080C
$25,000 (S)
10/67
1
12
1
PDP-l
$3400
11/60
48
X
PDP-4
$1700
8/62
32
X
PDP-5
$900
9/63
100
X
PDP-6
$10,000
10/64
21
X
PDP-7
$1300
11/64
99
X
PDP-8
$525
4/65
1352
C
PDP-8/S
$300
9/66
863
C
PDP-8/1
$425
3/68
398
C
PDP-8IL
11/68
0
C
$1000
12/66
271
C
PDP-9
PDP-9/L
0
C
PDP-I0
$7500
12/67
27
C
450 E
?
9/66
132
3343
C
LINC-8
640
$1200
4/67
42
18
Electronic Assoc., Inc. (R)
22
8400
$12,000
7/65
21
63
4
I.on'l Branch, N.J.
ASI 210
$3850
4/62
C
X
EMil ('0 I11p 1I ter Di v. (R)
ASI 2100
$4200
12/63
C
X
Minneapolis, Minn.
ADVANCE 6020
$4400
4/65
C
C
ADVANCE 6040
$5600
7/65
C
C
ADVANCE 6050
$9000
2/66
C
C
ADVANCE 6070
$15,000
10/66
C
C
_ _ ._.... _ _ _.,.....-,_ _ _ _-...:;A~D~VA~N~C:!::.E...c6~1~3~0_ _ _ _ _ _~=__'!:c$1~5!_':5~0----_~8"_;/7-67;_---_;:;_;:2~3_;:;_----8"-9'-----;_;2C'_;_;_---.!!3.!..7--{jeneral Electric (N)
115
$1370-$5000
4/66
720 E
600 E
130
$4350-$15,000
0
C
l'h(JI~nlx, Arix.
205
$2500-$10,000
6/64
C
X
210
$16,000-$22,000
7/60
C
X
$2500-$10,000
9/63
C
X
215
225
$2500-$16,000
4/61
200 E
X
$6000-$18,000
4/64
130 E
C
235
255 T/S
$15,000-$19,000
10/67
C
C
265 T/S
$17,000-$20,000
10/65
C
C
$5120:'$10,000
2/68
C
C
405
415
$4800-$13,500
5/64
380 E
70 E
420 T/S
$17 ,000-$20,000
6/67
C
C
425
$6000-$20,000
6/64
130 E
C
430 T/S
$15,500-$19,000
0
C
435
$8000-$ 25,000
9/65
C
C
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
61
NMIE OF
MANUFACTLJHER
General Electric (cont'd)
Hewlett-Packard UO
Palo Alto, Calif.
Honeywe 11 (R)
Computer Control Div.
Framingham, Mass.
Honeywe 11 (R)
EDP Division
Wellesley Hills, Mass.
IBM (N)
Whi te Plains, N.Y.
Interdata (R)
Oceanport, N.J.
National Cash Register Co. (R)
Dayton, Ohio
Pacific Data Systems Inc. (R)
Santa Ana, Calif.
Philco (R)
Willow Grove, Pa.
Potter Instrument Co., Inc.
Plainview, N.Y.
Radio Corp. of America (R)
Cherry lIill, N. J .
Raytheon (R)
Santa Ana, Cal if.
Scientific Control Corp. (R)
Dallas. Tex.
62
NAME OF
CmlpUTER
440 T/S
625 T/S
635 T/S
645
2ll6A
2ll5A
2ll6B
2114A
DDP-24
DDP-116
DDP-124
DDP-224
DDP-516
H632
H-110
11-120
11-125
11-200
H-400
H-800
H-1200
H-1250
H-1400
H-1800
H-2200
H-4200
H-8200
305
360/20
360/25
360/30
360/40
360/44
360/50
360/65
360/67
360/75
360/85
360/90 Series
650
1130
1401
1401-G
1401-H
1410
1440
1460
1620 I, II
1800
701
7010
702
7030
704
7040
7044
705
7070, 2, 4
7080
709
7090
7094
7094 II
Model 2
Model 3
Model 4
NCR-304
NCR-31O
NCR-315
NCR-315-RMC
NCR-390
NCR-500
NCR-Century-l00
NCR-Century-200
PDS 1020
AVERAGE OR RANGE
OF MONTliLY RENTAL
$22,200-$27,000
$31,000-$125,000
$35,000-$167,000
$40,000-$250,000
$600
$412
$650
~250
$2500
$900
$2050
$3300
$700
DATE OF
FIRST
INSTALLATION
4/65
5/65
7/66
11/66
11/67
5/68
5i68
5/63
4/65
3/66
3/65
9/66
~2700
$2500
$4000
$5000
$8500
$11 ,000
$28,000
$9500
$12,000
$14,000
$50,000
$26,000
$26,000
~50,OOO
$3600
$3000
$5330
$9340
$19,550
$15,000
$32,960
$69,850
$138,000
$81,400
$115,095
$4800
$1545
$6480
$2300
$1300
$17,000
$4300
$10,925
$4000
$4800
$5000
$26,000
$6900
$160,000
$32,000
$25,000
$36,500
$38,000
$27,000
$60,000
$40,000
$63,500
$75,500
~82,500
$200-$300
$300-$500
~400-~800
$14,000
$2500
$8500
$12,000
$1850
$1500
$2645
F500
$550-$900
8/68
1/66
12/67
3/64
1U61
12/60
2/66
7/68
1/64
1/64
1/66
8/68
12i68
12/57
12/65
1/68
5/65
4/65
7/66
8/65
11/65
10/66
2/66
°°
E
10/67
11/54
2/66
9/60
5/64
6/67
11/61
4/63
10/63
9/60
1/66
4/53
10/63
2/55
5/61
12/55
6/63
6/63
11/55
3/60
8/61
8/58
11/59
9/62
4/64
7/68
3/67
8/68
1/60
5/61
5/62
9/65
5/61
10/65
C
7700
C
7400
3500
C
C
C
C
C
0
C
C
4000
6300
1460
C
C
3360
1140
1500
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
3
105
6
24
10
700
105
1200
2000
2/64
145
6/63
10/58
li63
16
16
12
635
75
96
3
190
102
60
110
0
7
175
20
27
70
23
63
1000
2000-210, 211
2000-212
PC-9600
$7010
$40,000
RCA 301
RCA 3301
RCA 501
RCA 601
Spectra 70/15
Spectra 70/25
Spectra 70/35
Spectra 70/45
Spectra 70/46
SQectra 7Oi55
250
440
520
703
650
655
$7000
$17,000
$14,000
$35,000
$4500
$6500
$10,400
$22,000
$34,400
2/61
7/64
6/59
11/62
9/65
9/65
1/67
11/65
~34,300
lli66
12/60
3/64
10/65
lOi67
5/66
10/66
~52,OOO
NUMBER OF
INSTALLATIONS
0
C
C
C
106
140
34
55
93
200
64
52
155
0
0
650
22
800
52
59
175
0
7
16
88
MFR'S TOTAL
INSTALLATIONS
1900 E
335
564
1869 E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
42,100 E
114
4039
145
44
NUMBER OF
UNFILLED
ORDERS
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
X
30
30
8
150
?
90
240
75
87
X
X
130
20
X
X
71
20
5
X
4200 E
1800 E
2300 E
1100 E
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
X
4300 E
X
X
C
C
C
X
C
C
X
C
X
X
X
C
C
X
X
X
X
X
X
C
1
35
22
X
X
150
50
6
580
C
C
10
X
X
X
MFR'S TOTAL
UNFILLED
ORDERS
900 E
50 E
218
700 E
16,000 E
58
1050 E
10
0
$12,000 (S)
$1200
$3500
$3200
(S)
$500
$1800
1270 E
292
C
C
X
X
120
57
135
85
C
14
X
X
0
20
0
15
420 E
20
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 196H
]
NAME OF
MANUFACTURER
Scientific Control Corp.
(cont'd)
Scientific Data Syst., Inc. (N)
Santa Monica, Calif.
Standard Computer Corp. (N)
Los Angeles, Calif.
Systems Engineering Labs (R)
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
UNIVAC, Div. of Sperry Rand (R)
New York, N.Y.
Varian Data Machines (R)
Newport Beach, Calif.
AVERAGE OR RANGE
NAME OF
COMPUTER
OF MONTHLY RENTAL
660
$2000
670
$2600
6700
$30,000
4700
$700
6700
$30.000
SDS-92
$1500
SDS-910
$2000
SDS-920
$2900
SDS-925
$3000
SDS-930
$3400
SDS-940
$10,000
SDS-9300
$7000
Sigma 2
$1000
Sigma 5
$6000
Sigma 7
~12,OOO
IC 4000
$9000
IC 6000
~10, 000-~22, 000
SEL 810
$1000
SEL 810A
$900
SEL 810B
SEL 840
$1400
SEL 840A
$1400
SEL 840 MP
I & II
$25,000
III
$20,000
File Computers
$15,000
Solid-State 80 I, II,
90, I, II & Step
$8000
418
$11,000
490 Series
$35,000
1004
$1900
1005
$2400
1050
$8000
1100 Series (except 1107 &
1108)
$35,000
1107
$55,000
1108
$65,000
9200
$1500
9300
$3400
9400
$7000
LARC
~135,OOO
620
$900
620i
$500
520i
I.
II.
DATE OF
FIIlST
INSTALLATION
10/65
5/66
10/67
2/69
10/67
4/65
8/62
9/62
12/64
6/64
4/66
11/64
12/66
8/67
12L66
7/68
5L67
9/65
8/66
11/65
8/66
1/68
3/51 & 11/57
8/62
8/56
NUMI3ER OF
I NSTALLATIONS
9
1
0
0
0
120 E
225 E
200 E
C
235 E
C
C
95 E
C
C
0
7
24
74
2
4
37
7
23
77
13
8/58
6/63
12/61
2/63
4/66
9/63
12/50
10/62
9/65
6/67
7/67
5/69
5L60
11/65
6/67
10/68
MFR'S TOTAL
INSTALLATIONS
96
1045 E
7
148
210
135
200
3000 E
1150
280
9
33
105
230
125
0
2
75
238
2
U.S. Manufacturers, TOTAL
NUMBER OF
UNFILLED
ORDERS
6
0
1
2
2
10 E
25 E
20
C
30
C
C
160
50
C
2 E
12 E
X
48
13
X
24
22
X
X
X
MFR'S TOTAL
mWILLED
ORDERS
24
320 E
14 E
107
X
20
35
20
90
10
5592 E
X
X
75
850
550
60
X
0
430
315
67,100 E
1670 E
430
23,400 E
Non-Uni ted States Manufacturers
A/S Norsk Data-Elektronikk
Oslo, Norway
A/S I!cunecentralen (R)
CO(>l'nhagen, Denmark
E1bll Computers Ltd. (R)
11011 fa, Israel
Enullsh Electric Computers
Ltd. (10
LonLlon, England
GEC-AEI Automation Ltd. (R)
New Parks, Leicester, England
International Computers
Limi ted (R)
London, England
NORD 1
GIER
RC 4000
Elbi t-100
LEO I
LEO II
LEO III
LEO 360
LEO 326
DEUCE
KDF 6
KDF 8-10
KDF 9
KDN 2
KDF 7
SYSTEM 4-30
SYSTEM 4-40
SYSTEM 4-50
SYSTEM 4-70
SYSTEM 4-75
ELLIOTT 903
ELLIOTT 4120
ELLIOTT 4130
Series 90-2/10/20/25/
30/40/300
S-2
S-5
S-7
GEC-TRW130
GEC-TRW330
CON/PAK 1000 Range
1200/1/2
1300
1301
1500
1100
2400
Atlas 1 & 2
Orion 1 & 2
Si ri us
Mercury
Pegasus 1 & 2
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
$1000
$2300-$7500
~3000- ~ 20,000
$4900 (S)
$9600-$24,000
$ 9600-$ 28,800
$14,400-$36,000
$9600-$36,000
$1920-$12,000
$3600-$14,400
$7200-$24,000
$8400-$28,800
$9600-$36,000
$9600-$40,800
$640-$1570
$1600-$4400
~2200-~9000
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
8/68
12/60
6L67
10/67
-/53
6/57
4/62
2/65
5/65
4/55
12/63
9/61
4/63
4/63
5/66
10/67
5/69
5/67
1/68
9/68
1/66
10/65
6/66
3/63-1/68
1/68
$900
$3000
$5000
$6000
$5000
$23,000
$65,000
$20,000
$4000
$4800
$6500
$12,200
$13,000
12/64
3/63
10/65
-/55
-/63
-/61
-/62
-/60
-/61
-/63
-/61
-/56
9/66
7/65
7/65
5/65
12/64
5
37
1
35
38
35
2
15
348
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
110
9
2
12
1
0
0
2
C
0
C
C
X
X
q
321
62
79
127
125
23
4
6
17
22
19
33
328
189
99
58
31
2 E
1
1
15
3
11
39
8
11
32
17
12
28
8
8
3
52
82
23
2 E
346
?
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
112
24
20
5
3
8 E
63
NAME OF
MANUF ACTURER
International Computers
Limited (cont'd)
Jal2anese mfrs.
The Marconi Co., Ltd.
Chelmsford 1 Essex, England
N. V. Phi 1 ips' Computer Industrie
Al2eldoorn , Netherlands
Saab Aktiebolag (R)
Linkol2ing, Sweden
Si emens Akti engese11 schaft
Muni ch, Germany
Union of Soviet Socialist
Repub li cs
NA~lE
OF
CmlPUTER
1909
1906
1907
1904E
1905E
1904F
lY05F
1906E
1907E
1906F
1907F
1901A
1902A
1903A
1904A
1906A
Various models
Myri ad I
Myriad II
PI000
DATASAAB D21
DATASAAB D22
2002
3003
4004/15/16
4004/25/26
4004/35
4004/45
4004/55
301
302
303
304
305
BESM 4
BESM 6
MINSK 2
MINSK 22
MIR
NAIRI
ONEGA 1
ONEGA 2
URAL 11/14/16
and others
AVERAGE OR RANGE
OF ~lONTIILY RENTAL
DATE OF
FIRST
INSTALLATION
$5500
$28,000
$29,000
$16,000
$16,500
$17,000
$17,500
$29,300
$30,300
$31,200
$32,500
$3700
$3600
$10,600
$18,600
NmHlER OF
INSTALLATIONS
8/65
12/66
12/66
1/68
1/68
17
4
9
8
4
3/68
3/68
9/67
~54,000
£36,000-£66,000
£22, OOO-M 2,500
?
$5000-$14,000
~8000-~60, 000
54,000 (Deutsche
Marks)
52,000
19,000
32,000
46,000
75,000
103,000
2000
4000
10,000
12,000
14 , 000
II.
MFR'S TOTAL
INSTALLATIONS
3/66
10/67
6/68
12/62
5i68
6/59
12/63
10/65
1/66
2/67
7/66
12/66
9/67
4/65
11i67
C
26
8
0
32
1
42
34
67
30
59
53
3
10
65
7
17
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
1268
2074 E
34
0
33
387
NUMBER OF
UNFILLED
ORDERS
1
1
0
34
15
9
12
2
1
2
2
102
72
7
1
1
C
19
10
5 E
2
11
2
18
9
63
42
3
8
8
8
22
27
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
MFR'S TOTAL
UNFILLED
ORDEHS
426
500 E
29
5 E
13
210
2500 E
700 E
Non-U.S. Manufacturers, TOTAL -
7100 E
2000 E
Combined, TOTAL -
74,200 E
25,400 E
BOOK REVIEWS
Neil Macdonald
Assistant Editor
Computers and Automation
We publish here citations and brief
reviews of books and other publications
which have a significant relation to computers, data processing, and automation,
and which have come to our attention.
We shall be glad to report other information in future lists if a review copy
is sent to us. The plan of each entry is:
author or editor / title -/ publisher or
issuer / date, hardbound or softbound,
number of pages, price or its equivalent /
comments. If you write to a publisher
or issuer, we would appreciate your mentioning Computers and Automation.
Orr, William D., et al. / Conversational
Computers / John Wiley and Sons,
Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y.
10016 / 1968, hardbound, 227 pp., $?
"This volume is intended for the intelligen t, curious nonspecialist who, in one
64
way or another, has come to suspect that
something is up in the world of computing and would like to know what. The
way chosen to 'explain' Conversational
Computers is to bring together in one
volume some of the writings that have
had pivotal effects on the field." The 22
chapters are included in Part I, The
Vision; Part II, Problem-Solving Modes;
Part III, Instructional Modes; Part IV,
Retrieval and Query Modes; Part V,
Graphical Conversation Modes; Part VI,
Toward the Computer Utility; Part VII,
Psychological and Social Implications.
There is an index.
Gerard, Ralph W., Editor, and over 40
participants / Computers and Education / McGraw Hill Book Co., 330 W.
42 St., New York, N.Y. 10036 / 1967,
hardbound, 307 pp., $7.95
This book is apparently a verbatim report of a conference held at the University of California discussing the future
uses of computers with respect to education. It explores the uses of computers
as teaching devices, as a vehicle for storing information and written material, and
as a worksaver in administration. Session
titles: (1) "CAl - Learning Aspects";
(2) "CAl (Library) - Stored Information"; (3) '~Administration - Integrated
Records and Procedures"; (4) "Regional
and National Networks"; (5) "Administration-Integrated Records and Procedures"; (6) "Administration TopLevel Information Flow"; and (7) "Regional and National Networks".
Foster, J. M. / List Processing / MacDonald & Co., Ltd., Gulf House, 2
Portman St., London, W.l, England /
1967, hardbound, 54 pp., $2.50?The purpose of this book is to "describe the techniques of list processing to
those readers (really 'post-graduate students) with an elementary (really nonelementary) knowledge of computer pro-
COMPUTERS and AUTOMA nON for November, 1968
gramming". It ·describes these techniques
as they appear to the computer programIller and as they are implemented inside
the computer. The chapters include an
"Introduction"; "An Example of List
Processing" ; "The Representation of
Lists"; "Some Typical List Languages"
and "The Future of List Processing".
Y ourdon, Edward, Editor, and 7 authors / Real-Time Systems Design /
Information & Systems Institute Inc.,
14 Concord Lane, Cambridge, Mass.
02138 / 1967, hardbound, 205 pp.,
$10.50
This book seeks to show that "All
practical, well-designed real-time systems
are characterized by certain common features and universal components. The degree or extent of each component may
vary, but the structure is substantially
constant." A framework for the development of real-time computer systems is
established.
The 12 chapters are in four main divisions, which are: "Real-Time Systems
in Perspective" ; "Building Real-Time
Systems"; "Testing Real-Time Systems";
and "Managing Real-Time Systems Development".
About 2/3 of the chapters are reprints of articles from technical magazines. The remainder consists of chapters
especially written for this book. The
subject of course is important. Bibliographies are at the end of most chapters.
There is an index.
Pear, C. B., Jr., and 9 more authors /
Magnetic Recording in Science and
Industry / Reinhold Publishing Corp.,
430 Park Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022
/ 1967, hardbound, 453 pp., $19.50
This is a complete, detailed handbook
on magnetic recording technology. The
book is intended to provide current and
potential users of magnetic recording for
technical purposes with a reliable source
of detailed information defining its capabilities and limitations.
The twelve chapters include: "Recording principles"; "Magnetic recording
media"; "Analog recording methods";
"Digital recording methods"; "Analog
tap~ recording systems"; "Digital tape recording systems"; "Digital data recording
applications"; "Analog recording applications"; "Control applications"; "Accessories and auxiliary equipment". References are included at the end of each
chapter. There is an index, and two appendices: "Excerpt from interim Federal
specification reel, precision, aluminum
and magnesium, 3-inch center hole", and
"IRIG Document 106-66: telemetry
standards" .
Schultz, Claire K. (editor), Luhn, H. P.,
and other authors / H. P. Luhn:
Pioneer of Infonnation Science / Spartan Books, 866 Third Ave., New York,
N.Y. 10022 / 1968, hardbound, 320
pp., $18.75
This book presents selected writings of
Hans Peter Luhn, an inventor and prolific idea producer in computers and data
processing' including works both in and
out of print.
A feature of the book is biographical
sketches by four of his colleagues covering his career and personal life, emphasizing his work as an information scientist
from 1948 to 1964.
The book includes four biographical
notes, 30 publications of H. P. Luhn, a
list of his patents, and a bibliography and
index to all his publications. The volume
is a labor of love by those who knew him
and were much shocked by his sudden
death in April 1964 at the age of 68.
This book is full of useful information
for those persons who are interested in
the ideas of a main contributor to the
field of computers and information sciences.
Schmidt, Richard N., and William E.
Meyers / Introduction to Computer
Science and Data Processing / Holt,
Rinehart & Winston, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017 /
1965, hardbound, 380 pp., $?
The purpose of this book is to introduce students to computer science and
data processing in a general course to
serve as a first introduction to computers
for people early in their academic life.
The 17 chapters are grouped into seven
parts: Introduction; Number systems;
Boolean Logic; Concept of the Computer;
Flowcharting; Programming; Systems.
Among the chapters are "Career Opportunities", "Binary Arithmetic", "Boolean
Algebra", "Fortran", and "Cobol". Short
bibliography. Index.
(As We Go To Press)
(Continued from page 58)
In keeping with the "we try harder" number 2
position, the company (based in Haifa, Israel) announced a new Model "u" Elbit 100, with a completely
new instruction list. This instruction list, which
is achieved by changing the microprogrammable Read
Only Memory portion of the computer, is a result of
an extensive market survey to determine just what
instructions the small computer user wants. Both
Elbit 100 models feature up to 75 different conditional jump operations, logi~al operations, ~nd
real-time interrupt.
VARIAN DATA COMPUTER SYSTEM WHICH WILL SPAN DOWNTOWN· SAN FRANCISCO wi 11 be one of many displays'
set up f or the Fa 11 Joi nt Computer Conference (F JCC)
next month.
Varian Data Machines is planning a telephoneline link between their reception center at a Nob
Ifill hotel and their FJCC booth at the San Francisco
Civic Center to demonstrate the batch-terminal capabilities of the Varian Data 620i and the new,
smaller Varian 520i computers.
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, 1968
The 620i will serve as a Central Batch Terminal
at the company's reception center. Its function
will be to receive batches of data from remote data
sources, temporarily store the information in a bulk
memory device, and feed the data to a large computer.
The 520i will act as a Remote Batch Terminal,
collecting information from, or transmitting data
to such peripheral devices as card readers, line
printers, teletype machines, magnetic tape, and high
speed paper tape units. The computer will funnel
the information onto the telephone line that links
the Remote Batch Terminal with the Central Batch
Terminal. The system is designed for standard
voice-grade duplex telephone links, one per Remote
Batch Terminal. The 620i Central Batch Terminal
can handle up to eight remote lines simultaneously.
More than 230 620i's have been put into service
since its first installation in June of 1967. Two
deliveries have been made on the new 520i since it
was announced earlier this fall, with a reported
substantial backlog.
65
NEW PATENTS
Raymond R. Skolnick
Patent Manager
Ford Instrument Co.
Div. of Sperry Rand Corp.
Long Island City, N.Y. 11101
The following is a compilation of
patents pertaining to computers and associated equipment from the "Official
Gazette of the U. S. Patent Office,"
dates of issue as indicated. Each entry
consists of: patent number / inventor (s)
/ assignee / invention. Printed copies
of patents may be obtained from the
U.S. Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D.C. 20231, at a cost of 50 cents
each.
September 3, 1968
3,400,370 I Masahiko Fukamachi, Shiba
Mita, Minatoku, Tokyo, Japan I Nippon Electric Company Limited, Shiba
Mita, Minatoku, Tokyo, Japan, a
corporation of Japan I Probability
comparator.
3,400,371 I Gene M. Amdahl and Gerrit A. Blaauw, Poughkeepsie, Elaine
M. Boehm, Wappingers FalIs, Peter
Calingaert, Poughkeepsie, Richard J.
Carnevale, Union, Richard Paul Case,
Lagrangeville, Arthur F. Collins and
Jack E. Greene, Vestal, William P.
Hanf, Endicott, Jacob R. Johnson,
Poughkeepsie, Albert A. MagdalI,
Vestal, Charles B. Perkins, Jr., Endicott, John W. Rood, Vestal, Bruce M.
Updike, Union, and Anthony E. Villante, Binghamton, N. Y., and Helmut
Weber, Sunnyvale, Calif. I International Business Machines Corp., New
York, N. Y., a corporation of New
York I Data processing system.
3,400,372 I William F. Beausoleil and
William C. Hoskinson, Poughkeepsie,
Lewis E. King, Highland, and Herbert G. Weber III, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
I International Business Machines
Corp., Armonk, N. Y., a corporation of
New York I Terminal for a multidata processing system.
3,400,376 I Eugene E. McDonnell, Yorktown Heights, N. Y. I International
Business Machines Corp., Armonk,
N. Y., a corporation of New York I
Information transfer control system.
3,400,379 I Michael Godfrey Harman,
London, England I The National Cash
Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, a
corporation of Maryland I Generalized
logic circuitry.
3,400,383 I Robert A. Meadows and
Lawrence J. Housey, Jr., Dallas, Texas
I Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas,
Texas, a corporation of Delaware I
Trainable decision system and adaptive memory element.
September 10, 1968
Telephone Laboratories, Inc., New
York, N. Y., a corporation of New
York I Logic arrangement employing
light generating diodes, photosensitive
diodes and reflecting grating means.
3,401,380 I Hamish Vernon Bell, Orran
Terence Pate, and David Hartley,
Liverpool, England I Automatic Telephone & Electric Company Limited I
Electrical systems for the reception,
storage, processing and re-transmission
of data.
3,401,382 I Andrew H. Bobeck, Chatham, N. J. I Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York I Magnetic waffle
iron memory structure.
apolis, Minn., a corporation of Delaware I Data processing apparatus.
3,402,397 I James F. McDonald, Lexington, Ky. I International Business
Machines Corp., Armonk, N. Y., a
corporation of N ew York I Communications terminal with internal circulation of data.
3,402,398 I Ralph J. Koerner, Canoga
Park, and Alfred D. Scarbrough,
Northridge, Calif. I The BunkerRamo Corporation, Canoga Park,
Calif., a corporation of Delaware I
Plural content addressed memories
with a common sensing circuit.
September 17, 1968
3,403,267 I Robert O. Winder, Trenton,
N. J. I Radio Corporation of America,
a corporation of Delaware I Flip-flop
employing three interconnected majority-minority logic gates.
3,403,385 I Gerhard Dirks, 12120 Edgecliff Place, Los Altos Hills, Calif.
94022 I - - / Magnetic storage device.
3,403,389 I Allan Henry Ellson, Whyteleaf, and Alexander Donald Main,
Sutton, England' I North American
Philips Company, Inc., New York,
N. Y., a corporation of Delaware I
Magnetic information storage matrix
employing permanently magnetized inhibiting plate.
3,403,390 / Peter Frederic Thomas Cryer
Stillwell, Aldershot, England I RankBush Murphy Limited, London, England, a British company / Message
storage.
3,402,392 I Eugene N. Schroeder, Bethesda, Md. I United States of America as represented by the Secretary of
the Air Force I Time division multiplex matrix data transfer system having transistor cross points.
3,402,394 I Ralph J. Koerner, Canoga
Park, and Alfred D. Scarbrough,
Northridge, Calif. I The BunkerRamo Corporation, Canoga Park,
Calif., a corporation of Delaware I
Content addressable memory.
3,402,395 I Glen J. Culler, Santa Barbara, and Roland F. Bryan, Chatsworth, Calif. I The Bunker-Ramo
Corporation, Stamford, Conn., a corporation of Delaware I Data compression and display system.
3,402,396 I William J. McBride, Wayland, Mass. I Honeywell Inc., Minne-
September 24, 1968
ADVERTISING INDEX
Following is the index of advertisements. Each item contains : Name and address of the advertiser / page number
where the advertisement appears / name of agency if any.
American Telephone & Telegraph Co. ,
195 Broadway, New York, N. Y.
10017 / Page 2 IN. W. Ayer & Son
California Computer Products, Inc.,
305 N. Muller, Anaheim, Calif.
92803 / Page 67 / Carson Roberts
Computer Machinery Corp., 2000
Stoner Ave., Los Angeles, Calif.
90025 / Page 35 / Hall & Levine
Computers & Automation, 815 Washington St., Newtonville, Mass.
02160 1Digi-Data Corporation, 4315 Baltimore
Ave., Bladensburg, Md. 20710/
Page 44 I R & J Associates
Digital EqUipment Corp., 146 Main
St., Maynard, Mass. 01754/ Page
10 / Kalb & Schneider Inc.
Hewlett Packard Corp., 1501 Page
Mill Rd., Palo Alto, Calif. 94304 /
Page 68 / Lennen & Newell, Inc.
Houston Instrument Division of Bausch
& Lomb, 4950 Terminal Ave., Bellaire, Texas 77401 I Page 3 I Ray
Cooley
Interdata, 2 Crescent Place, Oceanport, N. J. 07757 I Page 7 I Electronic Advertising Inc.
Randolph Computer Corp., 200 Park
Ave., New York, N. Y. 10017 I
Page 55 I Albert A. Kohler Co., Inc.'
Raytheon Computer Corp., 2700 S.
Fairview St., Santa Ana, Calif.
92704 I Page 51 I Martin Wolfson
Scientific Control Corp., 14008 Distribution Way, Dallas, Tex. 75234 I
Page 9 I The Hal Mayer Co.
Scientific Data Systems, 1649 17th St. ,
Santa Monica, Calif. I Page 21 I
Doyle, Dane, Be rnbach, Inc.
Univac, Div. of Sperry Rand, 1290
Ave. of the Americas, New York,
N. Y. 10019 I Page 29 I Daniel &
Charles, Inc.
3,401,266 I Edmund H. Cooke-Yarborough, Murray Hill, N. J. I Bell
66
COMPUTERS and AUTOMATION for November, l%H
Do you know what
it takes to make your
computer draw like this?
A CalColDp SystelD
that's what.
All it takes is a CalComp Plotter and CalComp Software. You supply
the computer and the problem, CalComp will supply the graphic solu·
tion. Call or write: Dept. A-ll California Computer Products, Inc.,
305 Muller St., Anaheim, California 92803. Phone (714) 774-9141.
•••••••
Standard of the Plotting Industry
,Designate No. lIon Reader Service Card
\
;',' :" ""';~"
"::"~::':~':ll
·.f····.· • "''''r~ {.
:)S-i, po.ssible,to get a really. ~Q9d
.
. puter10r lessthan$10K?
...
.&;"I'~"""
•••
aoout$9,950 and'.some
()d~change1
That'swhafthe·neWHewlett-packard
14Awill be pegged at.E~ut it'll heave to
just like its big brothers. ThroWing
around big 16-bit words. Storing 4000
(or 8000) of them at a tirnein nierTlory. Fetching them out
of memory in two miCroseconds.lt'lftie ihl!Odevices with
standard plug-ins and use the same set ofprogramniJng
languages - FORTRAN,ALGOLal1dCqnversatiol1(ifSA$IG.ltmay·
be the littlest computer in the HPfgrnilY ... bute'lenatth:p.tlt more
than holds its own against its big· brothers.
That's right. The HP 2114A offers the mostdesirable
price/performance ratio of any computer on the
market. And it won't take up much room, either, not
even on your desk. One compact package 12% tall
houses both processor and power supply.
Yet the economy model is fully compatible with all
the 2115/2116 software and I/O interfaces. The main
frame accepts either 4K or 8K memory, has eight
1/0 plug-in slots and operates within a Wide temperature ninge. Low-cost options include parity error
check . and power-fai I protection.
Ify()u think this powerful little computer is right for
you,gelmore information from your local HP field
engineer.9r write Hewlett-Packard, f'aloAlto, Calif.
94304; Europe: 54 Route des Acacias,Geneva~
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D ·• IG.IT~AIUG OM PlJiFER···S
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