News,

NotioesandMIlsollanea

MicroprogrammingWorkshopThe Computer Society's third and larg-

est workshop on microprogramming washeld in Buffalo, New York on October12, 1970.Over 150 attendees participated in a

full program of twelve full-length papersand over twenty short reports. This wasthe first attempt by the workshop toinclude both full length and open, shortreports. This led to a very full programof nine sessions - with several runningin parallel.The trend in the conference was a

shift away from industrial contributionsand toward graduate student reportingon thesis work.The conference opened with several

possibly significant new developments inthe field: Functional memory-a com-pressed truth table like logic usingassociative memory, and a report onStandard Computer Corporation MLP-900 - an effort at building a "universal"host computer for emulation. Enthusiasmfor this project was somewhat dampened*by rumors of waning support at Stand-ard. Finally, a report on System 370emulation was given.The conference seemed to clearly

prove microprogramming advantages intwo areas: emulation and microdiagnost-ics. The remaining topics and applica-tions stressed novel ideas and develop-ments but also indicated the need foradditional research to prove optimumimplementation. (This seemed especiallytrue in areas such as microprogrammingfor language support and systems archi-tecture.)The closing session reopened the

question of the meaning of micropro-gramming and future directions. The dis-cussion was inconclusive - but a goodtime was had by all.A special issue of Transactions on

Computers will contain many of the con-tributions.

CALL FOR PAPERS(continued from page 4

point for discussion and to summarizeor interpret important work. Rough draftsare due by April 1 to Jack M. McCor-mick, ASIS/'71 Convention Chairman,Box 1262, Boulder, Colorado 80302.

Cornell Conference on High Fre-quency Generation and Amplification -Devices and Applications, August 17-19,1971, Ithica, New York. Abstracts aredue by May 1, to Prof. Lester F. East-man, School of E.E., Cornell University,Phillips Hall, Ithica, New York 14850.

International Electrical, ElectronicsConference and Exposition, October 4-6,Toronto, Canada. Fifty-word abstractsand one-page summaries of papers aredue by March 15 care of the conference,1819 Yonge Street, Toronto 295, Ontario,Canada.

Joint Conference on Sensing of En-vironmental Pollutants, November 8-10,1971, Cabana Hyatt House, Palo Alto,California. Papers from all technical dis-ciplines emphasizing the physical andchemical processes involved in instru-mentation for detecting and measuringspecific contaminants. Preliminary draftsor 1000-word abstracts are due by May14 to Robert L. Chapman, Beckman In-struments, 2500 Harbor Boulevard, Ful-lerton, California 92634.

IEEE International Conference on En-gineering in the Ocean Environment,September 14-17, 1971, San Diego, Cali-fornia. Topics include communicationssystems; environment prediction sys-tems; transport systems; defense sys-tems; energy systems; and subjects re-lated to interface between ocean andland, air, and man. Abstracts (200-words) are due by March 30 to Dr.Maurice Nelles, Bissett-Berman Corp.,3939 Ruffin Road, San Diego, California92123.

WESCON Call for Sessions, August24-27, 1971, Cow Palace, San Francisco,California. Letters of proposal on ses-sions in: Computers and InformationTechnology; Instrumentation; MedicalElectronics; Management and Marketing;Manufacturing Technology; Componentsand Circuitry; and Communications aredue by March 15 to Raymond L. Leada-brand, WESCON, 3600 Wilshire Boule-vard, Los Angeles, California 90010.

Stewart Named DirectorIEEE Member ServicesCharles F. Stewart, Jr., for the past

four years Assistant Executive Secretaryof The Metallurgical Society of AIME,has been appointed to the newly createdposition of Director, Member Services ofthe IEEE.

Symposium on FeatureExtraction and Selection inPattern Recognition

This Symposium, sponsored by theSociety's Midwest Area Committee andPattern Recognition Technical Commit-tee and Argonne National Laboratory'sApplied Mathematics Division and HighEnergy Division, was held on October5-7, 1970 at Argonne National Labora-tory, Argonne, Illinois. There were 29regular papers, 34 short papers, and 5follow-up sessions discussions organizedin 12 technical sessions (the full techni-cal program was published in the Sep-tember/October, 1970 issue of the COM-PUTER Magazine). The topics of thesepapers varied from the fundamentaltheoretical aspects to various specialapplications, such as biomedical imageprocessing and analysis, speech pre-processing, optical character recogni-tion, high energy physics applications,etc. The great variety of application'sstudied in these papers indeed indicatesthe importance of this subject in somany different disciplines. The detailedsummaries of the regular papers and theabstracts of the short papers were pub-lished in the Conference Record, whichcan be ordered from IEEE ComputerSociety, 8949 Reseda Boulevard, Suite202, Northridge, California 91324. Theauthors of these papers were requestedto submit their full papers for consider-ation for publication in a special issueon the theme of the Symposium in theIEEE Transactions on Computers. Pro-fessor K. S. Fu of Purdue University, oneof the Technical Program CommitteeChairmen of the Symposium, is servingas the Guest Editor of this special issue.

All the technical sessions went smooth-ly. The follow-up panel discussions wereextremely stimulating because they notonly gave an immediate evaluation ofthe papers in the session, but alsocovered some related work performedby others. This kind of arrangement ishighly recommended for technical meet-ings with relatively unexplored themes,such as the one of this Symposium.

In addition to the technical sessions,there were special tours to POLLY (anAutomatic Bubble Chamber Film Measur-ing Device) and ALICE (a General Pur-pose Image Processor) at Argonne Na-tional Laboratory. The Banquet speakerwas Dr. Stuart A. Altmann, Professor ofAnatomy and Biology at University ofChicago. His talk, including a movie,was on "Primates in Their Natural Habi-tat" which was obviously considered to berelevant to the theme of the Symposium.There were more than two hundred

attendees. The outstanding meeting fa-cilities and the beautiful weather duringthe three days made the Symposium verypleasant. However, the success of theSymposium largely depended upon theexcellence of the technical program andthe enthusiastic support from ArgonneNational Laboratory.- Steve Yau, Symposium Chairman

38/COMPUTER/MARCH/APRIL

POSITIONS WANTED

MSEE, age 30, 5+ years experience indigital systems: communications, dataacquisition, automatic test. Last 3 yearsin state-of-the-art test systems, mini-computer applications. Total systemsdesign, including logic and circuit de-sign, switching systems, black-box spec-ifications and procedures, programming(assembly, FORTRAN, BASIC, COBOL),checkout, and application. Post-graduatestudy in information theory, systemsanalysis, management science, PERT/CPM, linear programming, etc. Seekchallenging position with managementpotential. Will relocate. Available forinterview any time. Contact care ofCOMPUTER, S-101.

MSEE-14 years experience in theComputer Research and Computer De-sign, mostly in CPU and peripheralLogic Design, PC Board Design Automa-tion including Placement, Organizer andRouter parts. Logic and Computed Tim-ing Simulation. Programming languages:FORTRAN IV, BASIC and ALGOL. Com-puter Systems familiarity: GE: 215 withTime-Share, 425, 635, Honeywell: 200,2200. Member of IEEE. S-102.

Ph.D. in switching theory, age 40, Lt.Colonel USAF, ten years on faculty ofgraduate engineering school, seeks uni-versity appointment involving work withgraduate students in switching theory,digital design, and linear systems. S-103.

MSEE+MBA. Five years system anddigital logic design experience. Under-graduate degree from England. In U.S.on permanent visa. Expects citizenshipshortly. Seeks challenging position inproject management with a minimumsalary of 15K. Shall relocate anywhere,Midwest preferred. Will consider any-thing. Single, aged 29, dynamic, goal-oriented. Fluent English. Knowledge ofGerman language. Traveled extensively.Published, several papers. Have securityclearance. Draft status 2A. Interests in-clude: flying, public speaking, and pho-tography. Won several awards. Variedtechni-cal and supervisory experience.Contact care of COMPUTER, S-105.

Data Communications Engineer, quali-fied as consultant, desires employment.Experience in Network Design, includinguse of computer programs like CNDPfor the optimization of data networks.Experience in Real-Time, Systems De-sign and Analysis, Satellite Communica-tions, Police Information Systems andRadio Communications. S-106.

Operations Manager, with BSEE and MSin Engineering Management. 14 Yearsfield service and large scale data proc-essing systems management. Desiremanagement challenge in northeast withDP or electronics firm. S-104.

International Symposium onComputers and AutomataApril 13-15,1971NEW YORK CITY"Computers and Automata" is the

topic of the twenty-first in a series ofannual international symposia organizedby the Microwave Research Institute ofthe Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn tobe held April 13-15, 1971 at the HotelCommodore in New York City.

This symposium has been organizedwith the participation of the ComputerSociety of the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers and with the co-operation of the Society for Industrialand Applied Mathematics. It is cospon-sored under the Joint Services Elec-tronics Program at PIB by the Air ForceOffice of Scientific Research, the Officeof Naval Research and the Army Re-search Office.The purpose of this symposium is to

bring together workers in the fields ofcomputers and automata. Most of thepapers deal with important current prob-lems in the design and utilization ofcomputers, but the methods used andtheir solutions were largely developed inconnection with automata and othermathematical abstractions. Two diverg-ent trends are represented: the verylarge multi-user computer systems andthe smaller special purpose computers.Matching of the computers with the. out-side world is very important in eachcase, and several papers are devoted todesigning convenient and efficient pro-gramming languages, and to the result-ing influences on computer architectureand hardware. Current developments inintegrated circuits have stimulated inter-est as noted in several papers on cellu-lar computing arrays. Aspects of artificialintelligence and computer reliability arealso touched upon in several papers.The symposium will open with an

introductory session of invited papers byProfessors Juris Hartmanis of CornellUniversity, Dana Scott of Princeton Uni-University of Oxford, England, and JackB. Dennis of Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology. The program will continuewith a series of consecutive sessions on"Programming Languages," "OperatingSystems," "Computation Complexity,""Logical Design" and, "Computer Mod-

els" with many other distinguishedspeakers including:

A. Avizienis, University of California,Los Angeles

R. B. Banerji, Case Western ReserveUniversity

E. G. Coffman, Pennsylvania StateUniversity

E. L. Lawler, University of California,Berkeley

P. M. Lewis, G.E. Research andDevelopment Center

E. J. McCluskey, Stanford UniversityR. J. Nelson, Case Western Reserve

UniversityJ. Nievergelt, University of IllinoisC. V. Ramamoorthy, University ofTexas

The international representation ofthis symposium includes authors of pa-pers from Belgium, France, Great Britain,Hungary and the Soviet Union as well asCanada and the United States.The MRI Symposium Committee,

chaired by Prof. A. E. Laemmel withCo-chairmen S. E. Gelenbe and D. C.Youla, have devloped this program ofconsecutive sessions from the invitedpapers and the many contributed papers.The complete program with informationon the Proceedings as well as registra-tion and hotel information is available onrequest.

Please address all inquiries about theprogram, registration and the "Proceed-ings" to:

Polytechnic Institute of BrooklynMRI Symposium Committee333 Jay StreetBrooklyn, New York 11201Attention:Jerome Fox, Executive Secretary.

Practical Side ofElectronics at MarchIEEE EventThe Technical Program Committee has

selected 28 broad-gauge practical sub-jects for an expanded Technical Applica-tions program to be presented at theNew York Coliseum during the March22-25 IEEE International Convention andExposition. These sessions are in addi-tion to the 54 regular program sessionsplanned for the New York Hilton.The Coliseum subjects will cover LSI

testing, the what and how of minicom-puters, computer-assisted manufactur-ing, multilayer boards, new connectordevelopments, the application of micro-wave semiconductors, IC reliability, as-sembly techniques, pollution control, andmany other timely subjects.An innovation for '71 will be the EIA

(Electronic Industries Association) spon-sored sessions on sales and marketingmanagemnt techniques, and how to starta new business.

Complete program details will befound in the Advance Program availablefrom the IEEE Convention Department,345 East 47th Street, New York, NewYork 10017.

COMPUTER/MARCH/APRIL/ 39

Situations WantedAdvertising AcceptedFree for Members

In view of the current economicsituation, COMPUTER magazine willprint situations wanted classified ad-vertising for any Computer Societymember without charge. If you're outof work or think you may be in thenear future, send your situation want-ed notice of 100 words or less toCOMPUTER magazine, 8949 ResedaBlvd., Suite 202, Northridge, Califor-nia 91324. Make sure to include yourIEEE Computer Society membershipnumber in your correspondence.

The 360/145Surprise PackageEd Note: In the Nov.IDec. issue Dick

Petschauer discussed trends in memoryelement and subsystem design. Onereader asked if Dick had written hisarticle before the IBM 370/145 had madethe scene. We put the question to Dickand here is his answer.Dear John:

This note is in response to our tele-phone call recently concerning whethermy article in the recent issue of COM-PUTER was written after the announce-ment of the IBM 370 computer line.

Actually, the article was based on atalk I gave to the Twin City chapter ofthe IEEE Computer Group last spring.I did very little to it before the finalpublication.

At the time the-IBM 370-155 and 165were announced, but the 370/145 wasnot. Since the Mod 155 and 165 use aCACHE organization, combining highspeed semiconductor with a large 2MSec core memory, it was easy toincorporate this announcement into thatpart of the article which foretold ofsystem improvements using semicon-ductor memory. It was no big surprisesince it followed along the lines of theprevious IBM 360 model 195.The announcement of the Mod 145

using all semiconductor memory was asurprise to me, as it was to many others.However, I would like to make a numberof points which I feel are significant.

Fi rst the Mod 145 has a memoryconsiderably smaller in capacity thanthat of the 155 and 165, so that anyexcess cost of the semiconductor hasless impact. Also the end user price foradd-on memory for the 145 is aboutdouble that of the 155/165.

Second, the use of the semiconductormemory gives IBM in the 145 a systembenefit they did not have in the 360/40-along lines I predicted in the article.This benefit is the ability to electricallyalter the control memory. The Read OnlyStorage (ROS) of the 360 is now theReloadable Control Storage (RCS) inthe 370. This allows future growth in theinstruction set of the computer and/orlogic optimization by sophisticated usersfor special applications. (I understand,however, IBM has not yet documentedhow this might be done and is not"selling" this feature.)

Third, the semiconductor memory inthe 145 uses a 128-bit bipolar chip.Presently, these chips are quite expen-sive on the open market. Whether IBMwill later switch to a large capacity MOSchip after they have more manufacturingand field experience on these is subjectto speculation.

Finally, it must be remembered thatwhat is right for IBM is not necessarilyright for other computer manufacturers.

It is a unique company in the busi-ness, due to its market control, manu-facturing capability, and financial re-sources. One should keep in mind thatIBM is manufacturing these memories

in house. This gives them managementcontrol over such things as schedulingand any forthcoming problems to 'besolved. It also keeps in its organizationall development and production know-how derived from and paid for themduring the learning phase of bringingthese devices on stream.Remember the SLT hybrid approach

IBM used for the 360 circuitry. Othermanufacturers did not follow, and thisdidn't seem to hurt them.Another recent computer announce-

ment deserves comment, the Univac1110. It follows somewhat a trend pre-dicted in the article-that of a lowercost and somewhat slower core memoryin large capacity sizes. To their platedwire internal memory capability, theyhave added an option of directly ad-dressable extended core. User price hasbeen reported to be about 2.6¢ per bit,a very competitive number. Cycle timeis 1.5 MSec.

-R. J.' Petschauer

C

I

&The Last Logo

Here's an entry that came in a littlelate for the Computer Society logo con-test. J. Nievergelt of the Computer Sci-ence Department, University of Illinoisis the artist. With the growing concernfor the potential dehumanizing effects ofcomputer technology, maybe this isn'tsuch a bad idea.

IEEE Board Reduces DuesFor Unemployed MembersThe Board of Directors of the IEEE

has authorized the reduction, by 50%,of all dues and fees for those membersof the Institute currently unemployed.This step was taken in recognition ofthe economic conditions currently pre-vailing.

IEEE members, who are currently un-employed through involuntary termina-tion and are actively seeking re-employ-ment, may continue their I-EEE member-ship throu'gh December 1971, with allprivileges, publications and services cov-ered by membership dues (and by Groupor Society fees, and subscription fees,if any) by payment of one-half of theestablished dues and fees. To takeadvantage of this arrangement, a signedstatement must be'- submitted to IEEEHeadquarters indicating that the membe-ris involuntarily unemployed and seekingre-employment. No action to reduce thedues or to rebate payribnts -alre'ad-made can be taken until uUch' notifica-tion is received at IEEE Headquarters.

If the unemployment notification had'been received at Headquarters by Febru-ary 28, 1971 (the established cut-off datefor all members whose dues have notbeen paid), services are being continuedwithout interruption. If it was not pos-sible to meet that date, the unemploy-ment notification can be accepted untilJuly 1, 1971. Membership will be re-sumed when the notification is receivedand publication services will be carriedback to the first of the year, subject toavailability of back issues.Any member, who is unemployed and

has already paid the full dues and feesfor 1971, will be sent a rebate for theexcess paid upon receipt of his unem-ployment notification and-a :request forrebate.When feasible, IEEE members can

assist IEEE to keep its operating ex-penses to a minimum by: sending theone-half payment with their unemploy-ment notification. Otherwise, IEEE willbill the member for the half paymentprior to the due date of July 1, 1971.

Third Annual ACMSymposium on Theory ofComputingThe ACM Special Interest Group in

Automata and Computability Theory willhold its annual conference on May 3-5,1971 at Stouffer's Somerset Inn, ShakerHeights, Ohio. Twenty-four papers cov-ering the areas of efficiency of algo-rithms, automata and languages, theoryof programming languages and datastructures, parsing, and computationalcomplexity will be presented.

All papers will be published in pro-

40/COMPUTER/MARCH/APRIL

ceedings available at the conference.They may be ordered after the confer-ence from the ACM order department for$10.00. Proceedings from the previousconferences may be obtained in thesame way.

Further information and pre-registra-tion forms may be obtained from:

Professor J. D. UllmanDepartment of Electrical EngineeringPrinceton UniversityPrinceton, New Jersey 08540

IEEE EntersEnvironmental Quality andSocial Problems Fields

In response to the recommendationsof its Vice Chairman in 1970, Dr. JohnR. Whinnery, for action on the impactsof electrotechnology on environmentalquality and social problems, the Tech-nical Activities Board (TAB) has author-ized two new TAB committees: The TABEnvironmental Quality Committee andthe Ad Hoc Committee on the Applica-tion of Electrotechnology to Social Prob-lems. The first Committee will be opera-tional and, therefore, permanent whilethe second will be active just so longas social problems need to be identifiedfrom an electrotechnical standpoint. TheEnvironmental Quality Committee is nowin process of being organized and willinclude representatives from all IEEEGroups wishing to participate.The Purpose and Activities of the

TAB Environmental Quality Committeehave been approved, as follows:PURPOSETo coordinate and stimulate the ef-

forts of the IEEE Groups in the field ofenvironmental quality to better applyelectrotechnology and make informationavailable to those that need it.ACTIVITIES

1. Arrange with other engineering, sci-entific and govemmental groups andsocieties for the establishment of tech-nical meetings on environmental qualitythat may be expanded later to interna-tional meetings.

2. Document the technical areas ofactivity and interest of the IEEE.

3. Plan the dissemination of informa-tion on IEEE activities in this field.

4. Arrange for sessions at IEEE re-gional meetings and conventions.

5. Document the availability of re-sources for use by the Institute andothers.The roles of the Ad Hoc Committee

on the Application of Electrotechnologyto Social Problems will be as follows:

(a) To identify more clearly and speci-fically the problems to which IEEE mightcontribute solutions;

(b) To identify relevant present inter-ests and activities of the Groups;

(e) To coordinate and otherwise facili-tate joint efforts, particularly to supportnew activities, program and projects;

(d) To serve on behalf of TAB andthe IEEE with respect to general inter-society arrangements that may need tobe negotiated;

(e) To recommend how TAB mightbest organize its efforts to support thissocial problem area on a continuingbasis.The first activity in which the Environ-

mental Quality Committee will participatewill be a Joint Conference on Sensingof Environmental Pollutants to be heldin Palo Alto, California, November 8, 9and 10, 1971. The Conference is beingsponsored by AIAA, ISA, ACS, IEEE,NASA and NOAA. A call for papers hasalready been issued; three copies ofdrafts or abstracts must be submittedby May 14, 1971 to the Technical Pro-gram Chairman:

Dr. Robert L. ChapmanBeckman Instrument Company2500 Harbor BoulevardFullerton, CaliforniaAll members of the Computer Society,

who wish to participate in the Society'scontributions to either of these commit-tees, or who feel that they can make animmediate electrotechnical contributionshould get in touch with the SocietyPresident, Prof. E. J. McCluskey, DigitalSystems Lab, Stanford University, Stan-ford, California 94305.

Short CoursesPCM COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS -

THEORY AND PRACTICE, June 7-11.Purdue University. Also IMAGE PROCES-SING, CODING AND TRANSMISSION,June 1-4. Write or call Paul A. Wintz,School of E.E., Purdue University, La-fayette, Indiana 47907, (317) 493-3811.DETECTION, ESTIMATION AND MOD-

ULATION THEORY: PART I AND 11, Prof.Harry L. Van Trees, a special summerprogram at MIT, June 14-25. Also, AP-PLICATION OF STATE - VARIABLETECHNIQUES TO COMMUNICATIONSYSTEMS, Prof. Van Trees, D. L. Snyder,A. B. Baggeroer, June 21-25. Write Di-rector of the Summer Session, RoomE19-35, M.I.T., Cambridge, Massachu-setts 02139.

SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN SMALL POW-ER PLANT APPLICATIONS AND DE-SIGN, May 3-5, Washington University.Write Washington University, Box 1048,St. Louis, Missouri 63130.REAL-TIME CONTROL AND MONI-

TORING OF POWER SYSTEMS, June1-11. University of Wisconsin. Fee is$395.00. Contact David P. Hartman, 725Extension Building, University of Wiscon-sin, 432 North Lake Street, Madison,Wisconsin 53706.COMPUTER SCIENCE, AN INTERNA-

TIONAL PERSPECTIVE, July 15-August29, University of Houston. The courseincludes a tour of six European coun-tries, lectures by leading European com-puter scientists, attendance at IFIP Con-gress in Ljublijana, Yugoslavia, travel,room, board, fees and materials. Cost is$1250.00. Contact Robert A. Sibley, Jr.,Department of Computer Science, Uni-versity of Houston, Cullen Boulevard,Houston, Texas 77004.

Pre-registrants for SJCCWill Save $10.00 onRegistration Fee

Montvale, New Jersey: Pre-registrantsfor the 1971 Spring Joint Computer Con-ference, sponsored by the AmericanFederation of Information ProcessingSocieties, will save $10.00 on the con-ference registration fee.

According to Dr. Richard I. Tanaka,AFIPS' President, "The Joint ComputerConference Board has set registrationfees for those who pre-register for theJCC's at $20.00 for members of AFIPS'constituent societies and $50.00 for non-members, starting with the 1971 SpringJoint. Fees for those who register at thetime of the conference will be $30.00for members and $60.00 for non-mem-bers. Students and military personnel inuniform may still register at the con-ference for $5.00."The deadline for receipt of 1971 SJCC

registration forms and accompanyingchecks is April 30. Registrations re-ceived at AFIPS' headquarters after April30 will be returned to the sender.

Information on the conference, includ-ing registration and housing forms, maybe obtained by writing to: 1971 SJCC,c/o AFIPS, 210 Summit Avenue, Mont-avle, New Jersey 07645.

Tanaka ElectedIFIPS Trustee

Dr. Richard I. Tanaka has been elect-ed a Trustee of the International Feder-ation for Information Processing (IFIP).As a Trustee, Dr. Tanaka will serve asa member of the eleven-member IFIPCouncil which is responsible for theongoing activities of the Federation. IFIP,founded ten years ago, is a multi-nation-al federation of 32 countries concernedwith computers and information process-ing.

InternationalConference Aims atBridging 'Computer Gap'

Prof. Gerald Estrin of UCLA, a leaderin advanced computer design, hopes tolessen the gap between the technologi-cal haves and have-nots by bringing to-gether computer experts from develop-ing and developed countries in an inter-national conference.As program chairman, Dr. Estrin Is

playing a key role in organizing theJerusalem Conference on InformationTechnology, which will be held in Israelfrom August 16-20, 1971.The conference is the first of its kind

to deal specifically with the impact ofinformation technology on developingcountries. It anticipates one of the majorgoals of the Second United Nations De-velopment Decade to meet the needs forcomputing facilities in developing coun-tries and to help provide the educationand training programs to make properuse of such facilities.

COMPUTER/MARCH/APRIL/ 41