A flexible standard programming system for hybrid computation

Abstract

The combined operation of analog and digital computers in hybrid computer systems requires a special hardware interface because of the different modes of operation and the different ways of data representation in both computers. Generally, in such a symbiosis all the functions of the analog computer, which are normally under manual control by the user, here have to be under control of the digital program, except for one case: once the digital program has started an analog computer run, the analog computer is on its own. In the case of combined simulation, i.e., if both computers operate simultaneously, from the viewpoint of the analog computer its digital partner now plays the role of a single, but very complex, computing unit to which some analog signals go and from which other signals come back.