Polish Hybrid computer WAT 1001

Hybrid computers are computers that comprise features of analog computers and digital computers. An analog computer (spelt analogue in British English is a form of Computer that uses continuous physical phenomena such as electrical mechanical A digital system uses discrete (discontinuous values usually but not always Symbolized Numerically (hence called "digital" to represent information for A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. The digital component normally serves as the controller and provides logical operations, while the analog component normally serves as a solver of differential equations. Table of logic symbolsIn Logic, two sentences (either in a formal language or a natural language may be joined by means of a logical connective to form a compound sentence A differential equation is a mathematical Equation for an unknown function of one or several variables that relates the values of the

In general, analog computers are extraordinarily fast, since they can solve most complex equations at the rate at which a signal traverses the circuit, which is generally an appreciable fraction of the speed of light. An analog computer (spelt analogue in British English is a form of Computer that uses continuous physical phenomena such as electrical mechanical On the other hand, the precision of analog computers is not good; they are limited to three, or at most, four digits of precision.

Digital computers can be built to take the solution of equations to almost unlimited precision, but quite slowly compared to analog computers. A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. Generally, complex equations are approximated using iterative numerical methods which take huge numbers of iterations, depending on how good the initial "guess" at the final value is and how much precision is desired. Iteration means the act of repeating Mathematics Iteration in mathematics may refer to the process of iterating a function, or to the techniques used Numerical analysis is the study of Algorithms for the problems of continuous mathematics (as distinguished from Discrete mathematics) (This initial guess is known as the numerical seed for the iterative process. ) For many real-time operations, the speed of such digital calculations is too slow to be of much use (e. In Computer science, real-time computing (RTC is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"—i g. , for very high frequency phased array radars or for weather calculations), but the precision of an analog computer is insufficient.

Hybrid computers can be used to obtain a very good but relatively imprecise 'seed' value, using an analog computer front-end, which is then fed into a digital computer iterative process to achieve the final desired degree of precision. With a three or four digit, highly accurate numerical seed, the total digital computation time necessary to reach the desired precision is dramatically reduced, since many fewer iterations are required. The significant figures (also called significant digits and abbreviated sig figs) of a number are those digits that carry meaning contributing to its accuracy

Consider that the nervous system in animals is a form of hybrid computer. The nervous system is a Network of specialized cells that communicate information about an animal's surroundings and itself Signals pass across the synapses from one nerve cell to the next as discrete (digital) packets of chemicals, which are then summed within the nerve cell in an analog fashion by building an electro-chemical potential until its threshold is reached, whereupon it discharges and sends out a series of digital packets to the next nerve cell. Chemical synapses are specialized junctions through which Neurons signal to each other and to non-neuronal cells such as those in Muscles or Glands Neurons (ˈnjuːɹɒn also known as neurones and nerve cells) are responsive cells in the Nervous system that process and transmit information The advantages are at least threefold: noise within the system is minimized (and tends not to be additive), no common grounding system is required, and there is minimal degradation of the signal even if there are substantial differences in activity of the cells along a path (only the signal delays tend to vary). The individual nerve cells are analogous to analog computers; the synapses are analogous to digital computers.

Note that hybrid computers should be distinguished from hybrid systems. The latter may be no more than a digital computer equipped with an Analog-to-digital converter at the input and/or a Digital-to-analog converter at the output, to convert analog signals for ordinary digital signal processing, and conversely, e. An analog-to-digital converter (abbreviated ADC, A/D or A to D) is an electronic integrated circuit which converts continuous signals to In Electronics, a digital-to-analog converter ( DAC or D-to-A) is a device for converting a digital (usually binary code to an Analog signal g. , for driving physical control systems, such as servomechanisms.

See also

• HRS-100, a hybrid computer from Mihajlo Pupin Institute
• neural network

External references

• A New Tool For Science By Daniel Greco and Ken Kuehl
• A hybrid computer system for use in cardiology. Overview HRS-100 was composed of universal Digital computer: central processor 16 kilowords of 0 Mihajlo Pupin Institute ( Serbian: Institut Mihajlo Pupin / Институт Михајло Пупин) is an institute based in Belgrade, Traditionally the term neural network had been used to refer to a network or circuit of biological neurons. by Nadel LD,Kramer MR,Shultheis DC,McCulloh TA.

Recent upsurge in the use of physiologic data for medical diagnostic and treatment procedures has prompted the medical profession to use the computer to automate and reduce the time required for data processing. Although the digital computer has traditionally been used to perform these tasks, a hybrid computer (combined analog and digital) has been found to provide many advantages over the digital computer, especially where on-line data processing is concerned. As a result, the Bio-Medical Engineering Center has installed a centrally located hybrid computer system at Ohio State University. One of the applications of this system has been processing cardiac catheterization data. Data is transmitted between the hospital and computer via infrared optics. The data can be analyzed in real time, with the results immediately available to the physician.
PMID: 865418 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]