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COMPUTER SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS L A D OGIC OF NALOG AND IGITAL MACHINES PAOLO ROCCHI Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York Copyright © 2010 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. For permission to use material from this book please contact us: Telephone 631-231-7269; Fax 631-231-8175 Web Site: http://www.novapublishers.com NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers‘ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Any parts of this book based on government reports are so indicated and copyright is claimed for those parts to the extent applicable to compilations of such works. Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. Additional color graphics may be available in the e-book version of this book. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Rocchi, Paolo. Logic of analog and digital machines / author, Paolo Rocchi. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61668-815-8 (eBook) 1. Computer logic--Popular works. 2. Logic design--Popular works. I. Title. QA76.9.L63R63 2009 005.101'5113--dc22 2010012213 Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York CONTENTS Foreword ix Peter J. Denning Introduction xiii Symbols and Acronyms xv Part 1 Chapter 1 A Rock Amid the Route 1 1. A Chameleon 2 2. Practical Perspective 8 3. Sharpness 14 4. Information Relativism 22 5. Anarchic Issue 30 6. Instrumental Acquisition of Information 37 7. Complete Catalogue 40 8. Concluding Remarks 40 Bibliography 42 Chapter 2 Two Courses of Action 47 1. Natural and Artificial 47 2. Analog is Close to Nature 48 3. Sharpness First 54 4. After fhe First Stage 57 5. Encoding 64 6. Concluding Remarks 72 Bibliography 73 Chapter 3 The Extravagant Realm 75 1. Eclectic Profile 75 2. Various Mathematical Theories 85 3. Meticulous Designers 90 4. Paradigms and Technologies 93 5. Concluding Remarks 100 vi Contents Bibliography 103 Part 2 105 Chapter 4 System Architecture 107 1. From Information to Units 108 2. Two Models for a Digital System 116 3. Concluding Remarks 118 Bibliography 121 Chapter 5 Nets and Spots 123 1. Analog Components 123 2. Channels 124 3. Systems for Transmission 128 4. Control of Computer Nets 132 5. Concluding remarks 135 Bibliography 137 Chapter 6 Storage 139 1. Efficient Logistics 139 2. Digital Memories 140 3. Files 141 4. Databases 144 5. Design of Data Organizations 146 6. Concluding Remarks 149 Bibliography 151 Chapter 7 Efficient Strategy 153 1. Compression 154 2. Encryption 155 3. Redundancy 157 4. Concluding Remarks 163 Bibliography 164 Chapter 8 Adapt for Survival 167 1. Software Programming 167 2. Adaptation 169 3. Work Organizations 176 4. Programmable Systems 181 4. Concluding Remarks 184 Bibliography 186 Chapter 9 The Galaxy of Programs 189 1. Variable Influence of the Context 189 2. Spectrum of Possibilities 192 3. Concluding remarks 195 Bibliography 202 Contents vii Part 3 205 Chapter 10 People Like to Communicate 207 1. Human Work 207 2. Poor and Rich Languages 208 3. No Worry for Information Techniques 211 4. One Sign One Sound 213 5. Hybrid Appliances 220 6. Concluding remarks 221 Bibliography 222 Index 225 FOREWORD By Peter J. Denning Computer Science is a very young discipline compared to most others. Alan Turing published the seminal paper of the field in 1936. Around the same time, the militaries in Germany, UK, and US commissioned the first digital electronic computer projects. One of these, the Colossus at Bletchley Park in the UK, was used to break the German Enigma code and help turn the tide of World War II; its existence was not made public until the 1970s. The other projects reached completion after the war: the ENIAC at University of Pennsylvania in 1946 and EDSAC at University of Cambridge in 1949 are prominent examples. The first academic degree in computing was University of Pennsylvania‘s program in computing in 1959. The first academic computer science departments were Purdue and Stanford in 1962. For many years, people in the other fields were not sure what to make of computer science. Depending on their background, they saw computer science as an outgrowth of mathematics, science, or electrical engineering. Although many people were delighted with the advances enabled in many fields by computing technologies, they did not see anything fundamental about computing to warrant a permanent seat at the table of science. It became a standing joke that any field using the name ―science‖ in its title could not be a real science based on deep, universal principles. In reaction, many people in the field today called it the ―computing field‖, a shorthand for ―computer and information science and engineering‖. Through the mid 1980s, when most computer scientists were focused on building computer systems and networks, an engineering perspective dominated the field. Many observers believed that in due course, once the infatuation with the newness of computing wore off, computer science would be absorbed back into electrical engineering. Other observers believed that the only part of computer science that worked with fundamental principles was the mathematics part; they believed that in due course, computer science would be absorbed back into mathematics. In the mid 1980s, a new development threw a wrench into these beliefs. A growing number of scientists declared that computational science was a new paradigm of science, a new way to approach scientific discovery, experiment, and validation. The computational science movement gained momentum when physicist Ken Wilson was awarded a Nobel Prize for his discovery of fundamental principles for phase changes in materials, using computational methods with renormalization groups. Under pressure from Wilson and other