A Modular Organization of a Digital Integrating Computer for the Numerical Solution of Differential Equations

摘要

The automatic solution of differential equations may be accomplished by either modeling the equation on an analog computer or by solving it numerically on a general-purpose computer. Both methods are cumbersome and have the disadvantages of low accuracy and slow speed, respectively. The development of the digital differential analyzer promised a machine with improved accuracy and speed. The difficulty in programming and the reliance on complex switching networks or patch boards brought about by ever-increasing parallelism, however, have prevented the full exploitation of the DDA capabilities. A modular machine structure employing serial-parallel processing and using incremental integration as its basic algorithm has been developed. The system consists of self-contained modules which may be operated independently or may be operated independently or may be combined to solve numerically one or more differential equations. Modularity and serial-parallel processing simplify the communication methods within and between modules to permit automatic programming; the hardware requirements are reduced as in seriel processing, but the iteration time cannot exceed a fixed maximum regardless of the problem. (Author)