A function dependent on the solution of a set of differential equations containing adjust~ able parameters, can be minimized by systematic search procedures in parameter space. Such procedures can be implemented by a hybrid system consisting of a general purpose analog computer and a digital expansion providing parallel logic building blocks. Programming of such a system is illustrated for a si...

197 A versatile computer system with interactive graphics is being used for the numerical modelling of antennas on aircraft. The POP-I I based system has been interfaced into an extensive computer network and to laboratory experiments, providing several stand-alone and terminal modes of operation supported by corresponding software. The special man-computer relationship made possible, overcomes...

We consider the General Purpose Analog Computer (GPAC), introduced by Claude Shannon in 1941 as a mathematical model of Differential Analysers, that is to say as a model of continuous-time analog (mechanical, and later one electronic) machines of that time. We extend the model properly to a model of computation not restricted to univariate functions (i.e. functions f : R → R) but also to the mu...

We propose a new general-purpose computer architecture based on programmable logic. It consists of a dual-structured array of cells accommodating a fixed “built-in part” and a freely programmable “plastic part”. We call this composition the “Plastic Cell Architecture” (PCA). The built-in part with its fully connective two-dimensional mesh structure serves as a communication platform based on th...

Many common types of language understanding depend on situational context. In the extreme, utterances like ”the one to the left of the green ones”, ”let’s do that again” or ”can you help me?” provide little content or restrictions through their words, but can be readily understood and acted upon by a human listener embedded in the same situation as the speaker. We describe a series of computati...