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Time sharing in a traffic control program
The Toronto traffic-signal control system consists of a variety of logically distinct computer programs, all competing for machine time. To satisfy these demands, a time-sharing program has been written whose purpose is to execute, in the order of a predefined priority, the various subprograms within the real-time system. In this paper the more interesting aspects of the time-sharing program are outlined.
An executive system implemented as a finite-state automaton
The 473L command and control system used by the Air Force permits many operators to access large data files through the use of a computer. The man-machine interface is satisfied by several communication consoles from which operators may enter queries and view replies. A data link permits remote stations to send messages, status reports and inventories directly to the computer. The information received over the online data link is used to update the data files which are stored on disk.
The 473L programming system is divided into an Executive Control Program and five components with different processing priorities. These priorities permit the system to be most sensitive to the console inputs and permit the operators at all the consoles to time share the central processor. The Executive Control Program provides for the orderly transitions of control among the programming system components. The major emphasis of the paper is on the technique of using the definition of a finite-state automaton for organizing the Executive Control Program.
The Vocabulary Subcommittee of the International Standards Organization's Technical Committee on Computers and Information Processing (ISO/TC97/SC1) held its third meeting in New York City in May, 1964. (More precisely, this was the subcommittee's first meeting. Its earlier meetings in Geneva and Paris were as a Working Group.) The program of work agreed upon at the New York meeting marks a sharp reversal of SC1's earlier plans.
Patent protection of computer programs
Recently, the computer industry has been exploring anew the question of whether programs for operating an electronic digital computer are or should be patentable.
Copyright aspects of computer usage
This paper is concerned with the question of what constitutes infringement of a copyright on a book or other nondramatic literary work when the work is fed into a computer and is indexed, analyzed, partially reprinted, or otherwise utilized by the computer to produce eye-readable output. The question of copyrightability of programs and infringement of copyrights on programs is also discussed. The paper is directed primarily to a discussion of the present law. Some aspects of the proposed new copyright law are also included. General recommendations are made with respect to the proposed revisions of the copyright law.
Suppose a potentially very valuable experimental multi-computer system is being designed by you and your group. You feel you have made at least a system invention. In your Company scientists and engineers are responsible for initiating invention disclosures.
History and summary of FORTRAN standardization development for the ASA
The American Standards Association (ASA) Sectional Committee X3 for Computers and Information Processing was established in 1960 under the sponsorship of the Business Equipment Manufacturers Association. ASA X 3 in turn established an X3.4 Sectional Subcommittee to work in the area of common programming language standards. On May 17, 1962, X3.4 established by resolution a working group, X3.4.3-FORTRAN to develop American Standard FORTRAN proposals.
Joint inventorship of computers
The term joint inventorship asks but does not necessarily answer the question, “Who is the true inventor of a computer?” I will try to show how “wrong” inventors are joined, how such improper joinder can be avoided, and its dangers. While the law permits the addition or subtraction of improperly joined inventors, it does not permit the substitution of one set of inventors for another set of inventors. Thus, despite corrective weapons, there are some pitfalls which must be avoided.
Computer programs are patentable
It is not surprising that computer programs are not listed in the patent statutes as one of the categories of patentable invention. When these categories were defined many years ago, computers and computer programs were unknown. Therefore, if computer programs are to be patentable within the framework of existing patent law they must fall within one of the specifically defined categories of processes, machines, manufactures or compositions of matter.
Constraint-type statements in programming languages
A proposal is made for including in a programming language statements which imply relations between variables but which are not explicit assignment statements. The compiler sets up a Newtonian iteration making use for the purpose of a routine for formal differentiation.
A method of syntax specification
The addition of a few simple conventions to the Backus Normal Form specification of a language provides a mode of description which is more compact and easier to prepare and use than either the standard BNF description [1] or the corresponding syntactical chart [2].
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