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A calendar of events for the Fall Joint Computer Conference 1968 technical program is presented. Information about several papers that will be discussed at a symposium including doctor Sanford Elkin's "Reliability, Maintenance, Error Recovery in Third Generation Systems" and doctor Glen Lewis "Applied Mathematics" is presented.

A previous paper presented an efficient algorithm, called the Recomputation Algorithm, for evaluating a rational expression to within any desired tolerance on a computer which performs variable-precision arithmetic operations. The Recomputation Algorithm can be applied to expressions involving any variable-precision operations having O(10-... + Σ ∣ε∣) error bounds, where p denotes the operation's precision and ε, denotes the error in the operation's with argument. This paper presents an efficient variable-precision exponential operation with an error bound of the above order. Other operations, such as log, sin, and cos, which have simple series expansions, can be handled similarly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on various chapters of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) across the U.S. The Greater Rio Grande Chapter of ACM has recently extracted from its files a list of the titles of all technical papers presented at Chapter meetings since its inception in 1957. Using a program developed by D.K. Robbins of Sandia Corp., a KWIC-type listing of permuted titles of these papers has been made. This listing has been distributed to all members of the Chapter. Topics and speakers at ACM Chapters across the U.S. indicate the current trends of interest in computer science and data processing. The ACM Tidewater Chapter is sponsoring this spring a professional development course on "Real-Time Computing." The course is given by the Chapter's professional development chairman, Cecil Frost, who is applications staff specialist for Control Data Corp. At its April 21, 1966 meeting, the Westchester-Fairfield Chapter heard William Orchard-Hays speak on "Linear Programming of Computational Techniques."

The consecutive retrieval property is an important relation between a query set and record set. Its existence enables the design of an information retrieval system with a minimal search time and no redundant storage. Some important theorems on the consecutive retrieval property are proved in this paper. Conditions under which the consecutive retrieval property exists and remain invariant have been established. An outline for designing an information retrieval system based on the consecutive retrieval property is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of the man as an Information-Processing System. The International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) will conduct a session regarding technological innovations in data processing. Computer system design which has been patterned on man as recently been moving away from totally central control system design concepts headed for decentralized control concepts. Chairman of the session will be Isaac L. Auerbach which is also the president of IFIP. The plans of this computer organization will make a big progress in information technology.

This paper discusses modularization as a mechanism for improving the flexibility and comprehensibility of a system while allowing the shortening of its development time. The effectiveness of a "modularization" is dependent upon the criteria used in dividing the system into modules. A system design problem is presented and both a conventional and unconventional decomposition are described. It is shown that the unconventional decompositions have distinct advantages for the goals outlined. The criteria used in arriving at the decompositions are discussed. The unconventional decomposition, if implemented with the conventional assumption that a module consists of one or more subroutines, will be less efficient in most cases. An alternative approach to implementation which does not have this effect is sketched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cellular array is a two-dimensional, checkerboard type interconnection of identical modules (or cells), where each cell contains a few hits of memory and a small amount of combinational logic, and communicates mainly with its immediate neighbors In the array. The chief computational advantage offered by cellular arrays is the improvement in speed achieved by virtue of the possibilities for parallel processing. In this paper it is shown that cellular arrays are inherently well suited for the solution of many graph problems. For example, the adjacency matrix of a graph is easily mapped onto an array; each matrix element is stored in one cell of the array, and typical row and column operations are readily implemented by simple cell logic. A major challenge in the effective use of cellular arrays for the solution of graph problems is the determination of algorithms that exploit the possibilities for parallelism, especially for problems whose solutions appear to be inherently serial. In particular, several parallelized algorithms are presented for the solution of certain spanning tree, distance, and path problems, with direct applications to wire routing, PERT chart analysis, and the analysis of many types of networks. These algorithms exhibit a computation time that in many cases grows at a rate not exceeding log2, n, where n is the number of nodes in the graph. Straight. forward cellular implementations of the well-known serial algorithms for these problems require about n steps, and noncellular implementations require from n2 to n3 steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various kinds of interference between communicating parallel processes have been examined by Dijkstra, Knuth and others. Solutions have been given for the mutual exclusion problem and associated subproblems, in the form of parallel programs, and informal proofs of correctness have been given for these solutions. In this paper a system of parallel processes is regarded as a machine which proceeds from one state S (i.e. a collection of pertinent data values and process configurations) to a next state 5' in accordance with a transition rule S ⇒ S . A set of such rules yields sequences of states, which dictate the system's behavior. The mutual exclusion problem and the associated subproblems are formulated as questions of inclusion between sets of states, or of the existence of certain sequences. A mechanical proof procedure is shown, which will either verify (prove the correctness of) or discredit (prove the incorrectness of) an attempted solution, with respect to any of the interference properties. It is shown how to calculate transition rules from the "partial rules" by which the individual processes operate. The formation of partial rules and the calculation of transition rules are both applicable to hardware processes as well as to software processes, and symmetry between processes is not required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an approach to writing specifications for parts of software systems. The main goal is to provide specifications sufficiently precise and complete that other pieces of software can be written to interact with the piece specified without additional information. The secondary goal is to include in the specification no more information than necessary to meet the first goal. The technique is illustrated by means of a variety of examples from a tutorial system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CODAS, a Customer Oriented Data System, is a user-oriented data retrieval and display system. The command language of the system provides the user with an easy means for specifying data retrieval and display requests. Data is displayed as tables and graphs produced in a format ready for publication. In this paper the statements of the request language and the general system design are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The class of reducing transition languages introduced by Eickel, Paul, Bauer, and Samelson was shown by Morris to be a proper superclass of the simple precedence languages. In this paper this result is extended, showing that, in fact, the first class is equivalent to the class of deterministic context free languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A brief description is given of the implementation technique for the replacement rule of the AMBIT programming language. The algorithm for the "AMBIT scan" and an example of its application are given. The algorithm is applicable to other members of the family of string transformation languages of which AMBIT is a member, and it provides a rationale for the design of the AMBIT language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a calendar of several conferences on computer science to be held in 1971 in the United States including ACM Allegheny Region Symposium Interface 71 on April 17 at Pennsylvania State University, 16th Annual University of Alabama Data Processing Conference on May 5-6 in Birmingham, Alabama, and 1971 Spring Joint Computer Conferences on May 24-26 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Presents the author's opinions on the progress that has been made in the field of computer science and engineering in the United States. Views on government policies related to computer engineering; Discussion on computer science research; Views on automatic data processing; Discussion on problems related to the field of information technology.

The article presents information on activities held in various chapters of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in the U.S. Richard T. Silberman, executive vice-president of Electronics Capital Corp., spoke on "Financial Trends in Electronic Data Processing" at a meeting of San Diego chapter in April, 1965. In the meeting of San Francisco chapter, professor Edward A. Feigenbaum spoke on "Soviet Cybernetics and Computer Science." I.E. Perlin has been chosen as the chairman of Mid-Southeast chapter for 1965-66.

The article presents news related to the publication of the journal "Communications of the ACM." Dr. M. Stuart Lynn, editor-in-chief of the journal has announced that the new editor for Scientific applications is Dr. Charles L. Lawson and the new editor for the Standards department is Charles Kerpelman. Dr. Lawson is a past chairman and an ardent member of the ACM Los Angeles Chapter's SIGNUM Group. William S. Dorm, editor of Computing Surveys is gratified that ACM's new periodical is being well received by the professional data processing community. On May 8, 1969, the Daytona Beach chapters of the ACM and the IEEE Computer Group conducted a Computer Science Theater for residents of the Daytona Beach, Florida area. The Special Interest Group on Symbolic and Algebraic Manipulation has formed a sub-committee on the computation of algebraic structures. The possibility of investigating algebraic structures with the help of computers is arousing increasing interest. The main objective of the sub-committee is to spread information on both the mathematical algorithm and the computing techniques used in programs for investigating algebraic structures.

The article reports on the correspondences of hollerith and 8-bit codes for computer environment. It solicits the comment that refers to the assignments of character(s) sets in the provided table as a basis for standardization. Hollerith is the name given to the 128-character, 12-row card code called USA Standard Hollerith Punched Card Code for Information Interchange. In relation, the USA Standard Code for Information Interchange's (USASCII) standard code assignment as well as other codes several correspondence tables are reflected.

The onward sweep of automatic processing of information is impeded by nine principal barriers: geography, cost, problem complexity, man-machine communication, inadequate sensors, lack of understanding, distance, time, and size. The main incentive for breaching these barriers is the universal need for processing information, ever more urgent of the greater port of human work activity changes from production to service. Computer developments in hardware, programming, timesharing, education, data communication, and displays are judged by how effectively they remove these barriers, and their barrier-smashing potentialities indicate continued rapid expansion. Problem-oriented languages are particularly effective over the entire front. Online computers and time-sharing also rate high by this measure. Education and increased understanding are basic to all progress with the computer. This complex but powerful tool is the most important one available to governments and scientists to use in studying the problems being created by the population explosion, and in analyzing possible solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method is described for implementing the productions of a context-free phrase structure grammar in a PL/l procedure whose structure and statements parallel the structure and notation of the grammar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a schedule of events related to computer science in the U.S. Association of Data Processing Service Organizations Conference from February 16-17, 1967 at the Sheraton Hotel, Chicago; Fourth Annual Meeting of the Numerical Control Society from March 1-3, 1967 at the Statler Hilton, Detroit; IEEE International Convention from March 20-24, 1967 at Coliseum and Hilton Hotel, New York City; Others.