Showing papers in "IEEE Spectrum in 1982"

Power/energy: Homeostatic control for electric power usage: A new scheme for putting the customer in the control loop would exploit microprocessors to deliver energy more efficiently

Abstract: Presents a new scheme for putting the customer in the control loop that would exploit microprocessors to deliver energy more efficiently. A homeostatic control scheme (homeostasis denotes a biological balance of separate functions in an organism) calls for continual updating of electrical rates, based on supply and demand, and continual communication of those rates to customers by the electric utility. Drawing heavily on today's load-management practices while greatly expanding the scope and nature of utility-customer interactions, homeostatic control would establish a marketplace for electric energy.

Software I: Function-level computing: A new programming method, linked to radically different architectures, may greatly simplify software development

Abstract: Describes a new programming method, linked to radically different architectures, which may greatly simplify software development.

Spaceborne imaging radars probe `in depth'

Abstract: Discusses spaceborne radar sensors which allow all-weather, day or night high-resolution imaging of the earth's land and ocean surfaces. The newest of these systems is the synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) which can penetrate dry sands covering desert regions revealing ancient topography buried meters beneath the surface. A comparison of airborne and space radar techniques is given. The Seasat SAR and the shuttle imaging radar-A (SIR-A) sensors are almost identical. They consist of four major electronic subsystems-transmitter, receiver, power converter, and control logic. These sensors are also compared.

Computer-aided design: Automating chip layout: New computer-based layout systems are faster than their human counterparts and produce designs that almost match those created manually

Abstract: Discusses how new computer-based layout systems are being used more and more to design LSIs. The new systems are faster than human designers and produce systems almost as good at reduced cost. Four basic methods in use are described.

Design case history: Speak & Spell learns to talk

Abstract: Describes how a hand-held, low-cost electronic spelling aid with a speech output was designed. A major problem was the synthesis of speech of a quality acceptable to the consumer.

Space and aeronautics: An alternative launching medium: Accelerating payloads by electromagnetic force may one day prove an alternative to conventional rockets

Abstract: Discusses the possibilities of electromagnetic launchers for space exploration and their advantages over the chemical rockets so far used. Looks at work done in the recent past and some now being done.

Medical electronics II: Seeing speech in real time: The deaf can now view tongue, jaw, and other vocal-tract movements on a CRT display

Abstract: Describes a speech-feedback system called the dynamic orometer, that permits the profoundly deaf to master proper speech reproduction patterns and talk in a relaxed way, that is being developed at the University of Alabama in the USA. The device allows the deaf person to view tongue, jaw, and other vocal-tract movements on a CRT display.

Beyond the supercomputer

Abstract: A NASA-directed development of massively parallel processor (MPP) computers is outlined, noting intended applications for data processing for near term earth resource and environment mapping, radar, and television transmissions. The MPP is designed to perform 100 billion operations/sec to obtain satisfactory image processing, while separate processing units correct distortions, register images, calculate correlation functions, and classify multispectral characteristics. Arrays of 1s and 0s will be manipulated in analog-to-digital conversions generating separate planes corresponding to powers of binaries. Data wires are replaced by fiber-optic tubes or thousands of wires, and single logic gates are replaced by thousands of logic gates and every memory element by thousands of memory elements. Features of the interconnections and the images control processor units are detailed, along with implementation of sliders for program flexibility.

Communications: Local area nets: A pair of standards: Confronted by marketplace needs, the IEEE 802 Committee is proposing standards for two kinds of networks: Contention access and token passing

Abstract: Discusses the work being done by the IEEE 802 Committee on preparing standards for data communication networks. Standards for two kinds of network are proposed: contention access and token passing.

Computers: Computing at the speed limit: Computers 1000 times faster than today's supercomputers would benefit vital scientific applications

Abstract: Discusses how unheralded efforts in the United States, mainly in universities, have removed major stumbling blocks to building cost-effective superfast computers for scientific and engineering applications within five years. These computers would have sustained speeds of billions of floating-point operations per second (flops), whereas with the fastest machines today the top sustained speed is only 25 million flops, with bursts to 160 megaflops. Cost-effective superfast machines can be built because of advances in very large-scale integration and the special software needed to program the new machines. VLSI greatly reduces the `cost per unit of computing power'. The development of such computers would come at an opportune time. Although the US leads the world in large-scale computer technology, its supremacy is now threatened, not surprisingly, by the Japanese. Publicized reports indicate that the Japanese government is funding a cooperative effort by commercial computer manufacturers to develop superfast computers-about 1000 times faster than modern supercomputers. The US computer industry, by contrast, has balked at attempting to boost computer power so sharply because of the uncertain market for the machines and the failure of similar projects in the past to show significant results.

Solid state: Integrated optoelectronics: The marriage of lasers, detectors, and transistors in a single monolithic package promises fact, reliable data transmission

Abstract: Describes how the marriage of lasers, detectors, and transistors in a single monolithic package promises fast, reliable data transmission.

Computers: Beyond the supercomputer: NASA is developing ultrafast machines to process satellite data that would choke a mere supercomputer

Abstract: Describes how NASA in the USA is developing ultrafast machines to process satellite data that will be up to 1000 times faster than current fast computers to deal with the radar or television pictures that satellites will be capable of broadcasting in the late 1980s.

Breaching system security

Abstract: Discusses the security of commercial computer systems and how it may be improved. The magnitude of the threat is claimed to be debatable.

Electromagnetic pulses from nuclear explosions

Abstract: Apart from their many other effects, detonated nuclear explosives become coupled to electromagnetic fields and send out electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) To the author's knowledge, the first observation of this effect was on 16 July 1945, by Enrico Fermi at the experimental Trinity explosion The expanding ionized gases in the fireball displaced the earth's magnetic fields and in this way created electromagnetic radiation It is now known that EMPs of at least several tens of kilovolts per meter might be generated over wide areas from high-altitude nuclear explosions Similar and even stronger internally generated EMPs have to be considered in spacecraft The immediate result is that the electronic memory of an exposed system might be erased If sufficient energy is concentrated on a semiconductor or on its electrical connections, some of this vital equipment may be permanently wiped out Today there is almost universal dependence on electronic computers They are used by first-graders as well as by research engineers Industry, communications, financial records - all are at stake here In the event of heavy EMP radiation, I suspect it would be easier to enumerate the apparatus that would continue to function than the apparatus that would stop In almost all cases, adequate protection can be provided in theory However, this would entail considerable expense A final point must be stressed: what is involved in a consideration of EMP is knowledge that, to a great extent, is classified today The military establishment can take the measures needed for defense because it possesses the classified information But without widespread dissemination of information to industry - and therefore without actual declassification of essential parts of the EMP discussion - the civilian economy faces the prospects of grinding to a halt in a nuclear encounter

Power/energy: Thyristors: Future workhorses in power transmission: Research is under way to cut energy losses and costs and to improve reliability

Abstract: High-power thyristors that can pass up to 3000 amperes and withstand, when turned off, up to 5000 volts are under development. Thyristors are being used in the control of reactive power flowing along AC lines, and the conversion of AC power into DC, and vice versa, for transmission over long distances or for tying together neighboring asynchronous power grids. Energy loss and cost reduction work is summarised.

Solid state: VHSIC: A status report: The first two years of the program's lifespan is viewed by some as gestation and others as incubation. When will the baby walk?

Abstract: Discusses the current state of the program, some of the problems that have arisen, their resolutions, and what changes they have brought about. Some hypotheses are added concerning both the future of the VHSIC project and what impact it may have on the future of the VLSI industry.

Power/energy: Automated power distribution: Increasingly diverse and complex power operation and distribution systems will mean a larger role for microprocessor and communications technologies

Abstract: Discusses the growing role of microprocessor and communications technologies in the control of electric power operational and distribution systems especially with the expected future growth of dispersed energy storage and generation systems.

Electronic countermeasures

Abstract: Ever since World War II, the major military powers have been waging a silent war for control of the “airwaves,” through electronic countermeasures (ECM). Techniques have emerged for disrupting either enemy communications or radar. Infrared and laser systems have been developed to detect or locate targets, guide missiles, or direct artillery fire. With mastery over the airwaves, one side could defeat a more powerful enemy by disrupting the electronic systems that modern military forces depend on.

Computers: Products that talk: Speech-synthesis devices are being incorporated into dozens of products as difficult technical problems are solved

Abstract: Discusses how speech synthesis, the production of intelligible speech from computer data, is no longer a novelty. Text-to-speech products with unlimited vocabulary are available as automated readers for the blind, and in the next two years they will be incorporated into telephone-based inquiry systems that will give users access to data bases from any phone. Though these devices do not yet have fully natural-sounding speech, their quality is improving rapidly. Speech chips with limited vocabulary are already at a quality level comparable to that of tape recorders. They can create phrases from 200 or 300 preselected words and are rapidly moving into all applications where taped messages might be used. Such progress is based on the transformation of relatively slow and elaborate laboratory algorithms into fast and cheap commercial ones.

Computer software: Software design: Breaking the bottleneck: A visionary approach is recommended in place of the piecemeal policy now in effect

Abstract: Discusses the manpower cost of programming new information systems which is caused by the labour intensive nature of current software design methods and suggests an approach capable of breaking this bottleneck.

Speech synthesis: Design case history: Speak & Spell learns to talk: Designers of an electronic learning aid mastered advanced speech technology and meticulously `prepared¿ the consumer

Abstract: Describes how a hand-held, low-cost electronic spelling aid with a speech output was designed. A major problem was the synthesis of speech of a quality acceptable to the consumer.

Air traffic control: Automating U.S. air lanes: A review: The Federal Aviation Administration's new 20-year plan to modernize air traffic control faces rough weather

Abstract: Discusses the Federal Aviation Administration plan to modernize and eventually automate the US air traffic control system over the next 20 years. The plan calls for replacing IBM 9020 computers with more powerful systems, automating ground-air communications systems and replacing very high- and ultrahigh-frequency instrument landing systems with microwave landing systems. After 1990, all critical ATC functions are to be fully automated. A number of questions and criticisms of the plane were raised by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and the Rand Corp.

Consumer electronics: Video games: The electronic big bang

Abstract: The video-games industry, the design of game hardware and software, and the psychology of games are examined in this special three-part report.

Medical electronics I: Hearing through sight and feeling: Microelectronic aids to speech and comprehension in the form of visual and tactile devices may soon be available

Abstract: Discusses the aids to speech and understanding for the deaf in the form of microelectronic visual and tactile devices that may soon be available.

Power/energy: Wind turbines at work: High-capacity wind machines are being integrated with the electric power grid in oil-dependent, wind-rich areas

Abstract: Discusses high-capacity wind machines which are being integrated with the electric power grid in oil-dependent, wind-rich areas.

Nuclear power: Control-room design: Lessons from TMI: Improved instrumentation plus computer-based decision aids under development should help minimize the potential consequences of accidents

Abstract: Discusses the design of nuclear power station control rooms since the accident at Three Mile Island. The lessons learned have led to improved instrumentation design and computer-based decision aids development.

Consumer electronics: Video disks: Three choices: Three incompatible approaches to video recording for playback are compared

Abstract: Compares three commercial video disc systems, two of which are available and one of which is still under development. The three systems are incompatible. They are: an optical pick-up system (Laser Vision), a capacitance electronic disc (CED), and a video high-density disc system (VHD) to be introduced later in 1982.

Technology in war and peace

Abstract: At about 10 a.m. last May 4, the H.M.S. Sheffield, a British destroyer cruising off the Falkland Islands with 262 sailors aboard, took an Argentine missile amidships and burst into flames. Twenty young men died, and with them died the myth that a big power could emerge unscathed from a head-to-head conflict with a second-rate military power.

Computers: Computer-aided engineering: Terminals that simulate, test, and debug logic designs promise to change radically the way designers do their jobs

Abstract: The development of computer-aided engineering (CAE) is discussed. Engineering work stations now available on the market provide tools to: simulate circuits that have been drawn, draw circuit designs on a screen by means of a graphics tablet, keep track of different stages of a design so that several designers working on different modules will all be using the proper version of each module, and integrate graphics with text documentation. Simulators are most commonly used to help design large systems, where the cost of building prototypes and debugging them justifies extensive design verification.

Technology: Holography: A reassessment: Holography enjoys a modest but secure and steadily growing position in areas, among others, such as nondestructive testing

Abstract: Discusses two-dimensional image storage, holographic nondestructive testing, optical elements such as lenses, gratings, mirrors, and scanners made by holography, pattern recognition and recording techniques. The author also discusses microwave holography, acoustic holography, and X-ray holography.