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Cover Design: Mike Sweeny and Louise Carr

Increasing Your EffectivenessIntegrator n. 1. one who or that which integrates. 2. aninstrument for performing numerical integrations.

One dictionary defines an integrator as a computer unit thattotalizes variable quantities in a way comparable to themathematical integration or solution of differentialequations. But returning to the word's Latin roots, we findthat an integrator is also a person who forms or blends theelements of experience into a unified whole.

Our cover design and the con -=RCA Engineer tents of this issue highlight

both definitions. The iterativequality of the cover designevokes a world of computerswhere the machine solvesquickly because it can repeatquickly. And inside this issue,papers on highly effectivecomputerized tools for theengineer merge with papersthat point the way to anengineer's professional andeducational development.

Maybe the scenario starts something like this.Your boss says: "I want a clearcut, black -and -white

solution to this problem by Monday, down on paper."All of the colors of the rainbow are "hidden" in black and

white. That's like your engineering problem. There's aninfinite amount of research on your subject (too much toknow) and yet there are zero answers to your particularproblem (nothing known). So you start looking for patterns.You use your engineering tools-your own files, yourpeers, computers, mathematical formulae, your un-derstanding of underlying principles of physical scienceand engineering, previous experience that might apply,management and organizational skills, literature searches,continuing education experiences, recollections fromprofessional society conferences, and even this issue of theRCA Engineer. You begin to find a way to integrate whatyou know with what you don't know and you start finding apattern.

Eventually you'll resolve the cluster of random informa-tion into an orderly concept, and you'll have something inyour head -a profile of the problem and its possiblesolutions. Like the profile on the cover, the solution to theproblem facing you-your concepts to enclose it-will"pop out," becoming unrelentingly visible areas, once seen.You will wonder why you failed to see the solution before.But that's why engineering is a satisfying challenge, andwhy you always work to increase your effectiveness. Yourintegrity in responsibly fulfilling your mission for society ison the line. -MRS

Oftener, Vole...Merano.

"It is worth noting that there are no natural resources untilhumans discover a use for a particular substance.

Until then the substance is merely a part of the scenery."

- Edward Teller, The Pursuit of Simplicity,Pepperdine University Press

MEM EngineerA technical journal published byRCA Research and EngineeringBldg. 204-2Cherry Hill, NJ 08358TACNET: 222-4254 (609-338-4254)

Tom KingMike Sweeny

Louise CarrFrank StroblBetty GutchigianDorothy Berry

Pete Bingham

Jay Brandinger

John Christopher

Bill Hartzell

Jim Hepburn

Hans JennyArch Luther

Howie RosenthalEd Troy

Bill Underwood

Joe Volpe

Bill Webster

Ed Burke

Walt Dennen

Charlie Foster

John Phillips

RCA Engineer Staff

Editor

Associate EditorArt EditorContributing EditorCompositionEditorial Secretary

Editorial Advisory Board

Division Vice -President, Engineering,Consumer Electronics DivisionDivision Vice -President, SelectaVision®VideoDisc OperationsVice -President, Technical Operations,RCA AmericomDivision Vice -President, Engineering,Picture Tube DivisionVice -President, Advanced Programs,RCA GlobcomManager, Engineering InformationDivision Vice -President, Engineering,Commercial CommunicationsSystems DivisionStaff Vice -President, Engineering

Director, Operations Planning andSupport, Solid State DivisionDirector, EngineeringProfessional Programs

Director, Product Operations,Missile and Surface RadarVice -President, Laboratories

Consulting Editors

Administrator, MarketingInformation and Communications,Government Systems DivisionManager, Naval Systems DepartmentCommunications and Information,Missile and Surface RadarManager, Systems and Procedures,RCA LaboratoriesManager, Proposals and Publicity,Automated Systems

To disseminate to RCA engineers technical information of professional value Topublish in an appropriate manner important technical developments at RCA. and the roleof the engineer To serve as a medium of interchange of technical information betweenvarious groups at RCA To create a community of engineering interest within thecompany by stressing the interrelated nature of all technical contributions To helppublicize engineenng achievements in a manner that will promote the interests andreputation of RCA in the engineering field To provide a convenient means by which theRCA engineer may review his professional work before associates and engineeringmanagement To announce outstanding and unusual achievements of RCA engineersin a manner most I.kely to enhance their prestige and professional status.

J.D. Rittenhouse

A shared engineeringand management responsibilityA generation ago the engineer often could be seen as a solitaryfigure bent over a drafting table. There was little to work withexcept his hard-won technical competence and a few basic tools -notably the faithful slide rule.

In contrast, today's engineer is surrounded by a spectrum of newand efficacious electronic tools, a seemingly limitless variety ofdevices and systems that both inspire and enhance creativity.Indeed, each engineer's initial challenge is to recognize thepotential of these electronic helpmates, to understand theirlimitations, and to select those he can best use to achieve hisobjectives. Thus, as always, the indispensible ingredient is reallythe experienced individual who has the motivation and thecommon sense to apply a combination of his training and thecorrect electronic tools in a synergistic fashion.

In this decade, the new -generation partnership of engineer andcomputer supports the nation in a world of constantly shiftingcompetitive forces. But that partnership stands not naked andalone- management must be there toc. Engineers and manage-ment must share the responsibility for improving our nation'scorn petitive punch in the world market. Management must providethe needed tools, and the engineer must make the most effectiveuse of them.

Management must recognize its obligations to be sensitive to thechanging human and technological needs of our engineers, tomake learning programs available on and off the job, and toprovide modern facilities and equipment essential to effectiveperformance.

This issue of the RCA Engineer illustrates how this snaredresponsiblity works. Six articles on computers as tools for theengineer, with topics ranging from software to personal computersand literature searching, cover a small sample of the myriadcomputer -based tools available to the creative engineer.

In a "Future Shock" world where it often is necessary to run justto stay in place, improving our efficiency is no longer a matter ofchoice. We simply must increase our personal and collectiveproductivity to keep pace with -and surpass- those of ouraggressive and dedicated foreign competitors. Together, manage-ment and engineering can meet that imperative need by makingthe most imaginative and effective use of the professional toolsavailable to do our jobs.

John D. RittenhouseDivision Vice -President and General ManagerRCA Picture Tube Division

CRICWAip EngineerVol 26 No 5 1981

system overview 4 The RCA SelectaVision® VideoDisc SystemH.N. Crooks

computerized tools 11 Program planning for a commercially oriented divisionfor the engineer J.C. MillerIW.T. Kelley

14 The New Renaissance Man:Can we find a "super -manager" for C2 systems?J.B. Tindall

21 RCA PRICE System-the engineer's flexible toolM.H. Burmeister

28 Software from CISS for the engineering communityR.E. Steinmeyer

34 On-line computerized literature search at RCAW. ChuIR.E. Honig

40 Personal computers pervading RCA's engineering populationH.K. Jenny

professional 48 Quality and Productivity: The case for motivationdevelopment F.G. AdamsIF.T. McGough1B.F. Rogers

52 Professional Societies: Why not go active?M.W. Buckley

54 RCA, patents and youJ.S. Tripoli

60 Corporate Engineering Education Resource GuideF.E. Burris

66 Electrical Engineering Education: From static to what's currentB.A. Eisenstein

on the job/off the job 73 Motorcycle turn -signal beeperK. Traub

departments 75 Patents

78 Pen and Podium

80 News and Highlights

Copyright (= 1981 RCA CorporationAll rights reserved

in this issue ...

Increasing Your Effectiveness

Crooks "This article will provide RCA personnel with addedinformation so that they can talk knowledgeably about theVideoDisc System with their friends and neighbors."

Miller Kelley "The key factors in the acceptance and use ofMUSCLE have been its simplicity and accuracy, as well as theemphasis placed upon the human aspects of the system."

Tindall "We have no alternative but to produce better managementthrough training over the full spectrum-program management,software management, and hardware management."

Burmeister "Using PRICE, you can determine the most cost-efficient way to proceed and still meet specification requirements."

Steinmeyer "In addition to its extensive computing capacity, CISSprovides numerous software packages designed to increaseproductivity."

Chu I Honig "The computerized search is cost- and manpower -effective and will, when properly executed, produce literaturesurveys far more complete than those produced by manual means."

is Jenny "This growing computer literacy may have a profoundand positive impact on future engineering job assignmentsand conduct."

Adams' McGough I Rogers "Employee morale has shown aperceptible upsurge, indicating an increasing sense of involve-ment."

Buckley "Monetary reward is not the long suit of professionalsocieties and neither, with rare exceptions, is fame. But there aredefinite pluses, and they are substantial."

Tripoli "My intention here is to provide a practical guide to thepatent process and possibly increase participation."

Burris "RCA was among the first to use a videotape -basededucational delivery system to provide continuing educationprograms for technical personnel in widely scattered locations."

Eisenstein "I believe that industry and universities should unite in aprogram to improve engineering education and to assure continuityof the research -oriented departments."

Traub "The construction of the entire circuit can be accomplishedin roughly an hour's time...."

in future issues...

computer -aided design and manufacturing,anniversary issue,microprocessor applications,SelectaVisiong VideoDisc,manufacturing engineering

'RPBuried Subcarrier Encoding

COMPLETION TARGET: 6 /01 '8211 r7OMPLET I ON ES T . : 5/le/F32

34 41 ..11011.1/1144 'Joe,nT41.01.410,...,,. .1.

,4.1/1101t/~11V,1114;:,!,04/ I,,,./.444.14.1.10.0411=7...

1.41.'

14 New Renaissance Man

H.N. Crooks

The RCA SelectaVision® VideoDisc System

In March 1981, after years of research, develop-ment, and design, RCA put the CED (CapacitanceElectronic Disc) SelectaVisiont VideoDisc Systemon the American market. The system is for sale atapproximately 5,000 RCA dealerships across theUnited States. The most massive advertising cam-paign ever undertaken by RCA to introduce a newproduct is now underway. This article will provide

RCA personnel with added information so that theycan talk knowledgeably about the VideoDiscSystem with their friends and neighbors. TheNov./Dec. RCA Engineer will be a comprehensivespecial issue devoted to in-depth SelectaVision®VideoDisc articles on the design and manufac-turing engineering achievements described here.

4 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Abstract: The author gives a technicaloverview of the RCA SelectaVision@VideoDisc System, including the concept,the disc, the stylus, buried subcarrier en-coding, the player and the operation.

The system

The SelectaVision® VideoDisc Systemcomprises a disc upon which televisionsignals have been prerecorded and a playerthat reads those signals from the disc andconverts them into a form suitable fordriving TV sets found in American homes.

To make installation quick and easy, theVideoDisc player is designed to connect tothe antenna terminals of the TV set. Inturn, the antenna connects to theVideoDisc player. When the player isturned off, antenna signals are fed throughthe player to the TV set so that it operatesnormally. When the player is turned on, theantenna signals are disconnected andreplaced by signals from the disc on eitherchannel 3 or 4 - at the discretion of theowner-to avoid possible interferencefrom other TV signals in the area.

Except when being played, the discs arehoused in protective sleeves or caddies toprotect them from dust, fingerprints, andother contaminants. The disc is depositedon the player turntable, ready for play,when the loaded caddy is put into theplayer. An empty caddy inserted into aloaded player retrieves and stores the disc.Each disc will play for up to an hour oneach side, depending upon the length of theprogram on the disc.

The disc

Information appears on the disc as fre-quency modulated vertical undulations in aV-shaped spiral groove. A small portion ofthe disc is shown in the disc -stylus model,Fig. I. The signal pattern is recordedinitially on an electro-deposited coppersurface. Then, the recorded pattern isreplicated by one or more successive nickelelectroplating operations to produce anegative - or stamper - which ismounted in a multi -ton compression -molding press on which records are moldedof carbon -loaded PVC (polyvinylchloride).

Copper is used for the original recordingbecause of our ability to cut very smoothsurfaces in it. A diamond cutting stylus

Reprint RE -26-5-1Final manuscript received Feb. 23, 1981

with a V-shaped cutting surface is drivenperpendicularly to the copper surface by apiezoelectric transducer to cut themodulated groove in response to signalsderived from a taped program via a videotape machine. The recorded wavelengthsvary from 0.5 to 1.5 micrometers. As thecopper surface rotates in a clockwise direc-tion past the stylus, the stylus advancesradially from outside to inside with about a2.5 micrometer advance per rotation so asto provide about 10,000 grooves to theinch. The disc is designed to be played backat 450 revolutions per minute, at whichspeed the signals from the disc vary from4.3 MHz at sync tips to 6.3 MHz at peakwhite. The discs are 12 inches in diameterand 70 mils in thickness, roughly the samedimensions of an audio LP disc.

The styles

During playback, a metal electrode at-tached to a diamond stylus, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2, reads signals from the disc.The end of the diamond fits the groovecross-section and is long enough to coverseveral of the longest recordedwavelengths. As a result, the diamond rideson the crests of the recorded waves muchlike a sled runner rides over small hillocks.As it does so, the surface of the disc risesand falls under the end of the styluselectrode, causing variations in electrical

Fig. 1. Disc -stylus model. A diamond stylusrides in a "V" shaped groove on the disc.Because the end of the stylus extends overseveral of the longest recorded waves, thestylus rides on the crests like a sled runnerriding over small hillocks. As the grooveundulations pass under the stylus, a metalelectrode on the trailing edge of the stylusexperiences capacity variations, whichprovide the signal readout. The "Keel"shape of the stylus tip reduces the tendencyfor it to become wider and read signals fromadjacent grooves as the tip wears. The discsare coated with about 300 A of oil tolubricate the disc -stylus interface in order toextend the playing life.

capacitance between the electrode and thedisc surface. The disc is made conductiveby the addition of carbon to the compoundfrom which the disc is pressed in order toenhance these capacitance variations.

As shown in Fig. 2, the end of the styluselectrode is about 2 micrometers wide by

Fig. 2. Stylus tip. This inverted view of the stylus tip shows the relative sizes of the diamondtip and the readout electrode. Since the wavelength on the disc is 1.5µm maximum, thestylus shoe always rides on the crests of several waves. The end of the metal electrode acts asone plate of a capacitor; the disc is the other plate. As the surface of the disc rises and fallsunder the stylus electrode, the varying capacitance provides the readout of signalinformation.

Crooks: The RCA SelectaVision® VideoDisc System 5

AMPLITUDE PEAK

MODULATED DETECTOR DETECTEDCAPACITYARRIER

DISCAC

STYLUSCAPACITY

UHF 1OSCILLATOR

-.I I.- RESONANT FREQUENCYVARIATION

(,)

OSCILLATORFREQUENCY

1915 MHZ

910 MHZ

DETECTEDCAPACITY

7\7\AMPLITUDE

4- MODULATEDCARRIER

Fig. 3. Signal pickup. The disc -stylus capacitance is made part of a tuned circuit resonant at910 MHz. This tuned circuit is excited by a signal from a 915 MHz oscillator. As the disc styluscapacitance changes, the resonant frequency and the response to the 915 -MHz signal alsochange, causing amplitude modulation of the 915 -MHz signal passed through the circuit.The amplitude modulation is detected by the diode to provide a voltage that rises and falls asthe disc surface rises and falls under the stylus.

0.2 micrometers thick. The sides of thestylus tip are cut away as shown, providingthe "Keel Lapped" shape, to prolong the

useful life of the stylus as the tip is abradedduring play. The waves pressed into thedisc have a peak -to -peak amplitude of

SKIPPER MAGNETSKIPPER

FLYLEAD

SOFT IRONLATCH PLATE

ALUMINUM TUBE

PLASTIC STYLUS MOUNT

STYLUS

RUBBER COUPLER

Fig. 4. Stylus arm. The diamond stylus is held in a plastic member attached to a 3 -inch -longthin -wall aluminum tube. The rubber coupling provides high compliance so that the styluscan track the groove properly. The flylead provides coupling to the pickup circuitry and alsoserves as a spring to hold the stylus against the disc with a force of 65 mg. The smallpermanent magnet reacts with magnetic fields of skipper coils to cause sideways motion ofthe stylus as required to provide visual search and to correct locked -groove conditions.

about 850 angstroms. The change incapacitance experienced by the stylus elec-trode is very small, perhaps 1 x 10 -I'farads, or about a ten -thousandth of onepicofarad.

The stylus -disc capacitance is made partof a resonant circuit with resonance peak atabout 910 MHz, as shown schematically inFig. 3. As the disc -stylus capacitancechanges, the frequency of the resonantpeak changes. Signals from a 9 I 5-M Hzoscillator are coupled through the resonantcircuit and amplitude modulated by thevarying response of the resonant circuit at915 MHz as the stylus -record capacitancechanges. The amplitude -modulated 915-M Hz signal is then demodulated by a diodedetector to provide a frequency modulatedsignal that rises and falls in voltage as thesurface of the disc rises and falls under thestylus.

The diamond stylus is mounted on theend of a 3 -inch -long stylus arm made fromthin -wall aluminum tubing , as shown inFig. 4. A flexible rubber mounting sup-ports the stylus arm with enough com-pliance at the stylus end so that the styluswill follow irregularities in the disc in boththe vertical and lateral directions. A smallpermanent magnet mounted on the stylusarm near the stylus imparts small lateralmotion to the stylus when acted upon bythe magnetic fields of the stylus kicker coils(see stylus kicker discussion later). The rearof the stylus arm is fitted with a soft ironplate that is attracted to and held by a cupmagnet on the arm -stretcher transducer(see arm -stretcher discussion later). Theelectrode on the diamond stylus is con-nected to the circuitry by a flexible flylead,which also serves as a spring to hold thestylus against the disc with about 65milligrams of force. The stylus arm,flylead, and compliant support aremounted in the stylus cartridge, shown inFig. 5, a plastic case that allows easyreplacement of the stylus in a player. Thereplacement of a stylus cartridge requiresno tools or adjustments of any kind. Thestylus is designed to provide years ofservice in normal use.

Buried subcarrier encoding

To provide a color television signalmatched to consumer -TV receivers,VideoDisc engineers limited the luminanceband to 3 MHz and the color band to 0.5MHz. Limited bandwidth on the discrequired compacting the color televisionsignal to the 3-M Hz luminance band using"buried subcarrier encoding." Buried sub -

6 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

carrier encoding depends for its operationon the fact that the luminance signals onone horizontal line tend to be very similarto those on the adjacent line. In otherwords, much of the signal repeats at thehorizontal line rate.

As is well-known from Fourier analysis,a periodic waveform contains only fre-quency components that are harmonics ofthe fundamental frequency. In a quasi -

periodic waveform such as a televisionvideo waveform, the signal energy is con-tained in narrow frequency bands centeredon the harmonics of the fundamental,which in this case is the horizontal linefrequency. Because of this, the video signalcan be passed through a comb filter havingpassband peaks at multiples of line fre-quency and nulls at intermediate fre-quencies without suffering seriousdegradation. Such a comb filter is appliedto the luminance signal before recording. Afrequency at one of the nulls, namely 1.53MHz, is chosen as the color subcarrier andthis is amplitude modulated by the colorsignal. Because the color signal also repeatsat horizontal line frequency, its spectralenergy is bunched at multiples of the linefrequency. Thus, when the color subcarrieris amplitude modulated by the color signal,sidebands fall at multiples of line frequencyon either side of the subcarrier. The colorsidebands fall on the nulls of the combedluminance signal. The same situationapplies when we use two subcarriers inphase quadrature and two independentcolor signals.

The modulated color subcarriers aresubjected to comb filters with nulls atmultiples of line frequency. The combedluminance and combed color signals arethen added together to form a compositevideo signal in which the luminance andchrominance spectral components are in-terleaved. We have called this processburied subcarrier encoding because thecolor subcarriers are located in the middleof the luminance band. The compositevideo signal is applied to a frequencymodulator such that a peak white inputproduces an output frequency of 6.3 MHz,black level produces 5.0 MHz, and synctips produce 4.3 MHz, as shown in Fig. 6.Because the composite video signal con-tains components as high as 3 MHz, thefirst -order sidebands of the video FMsignal extend from 2 to 9.3 M Hz, as shown.The audio signal is applied to a secondfrequency modulator with center frequen-cy at 716 kHz and produces a maximumdeviation of -±50 kHz. The audio FM signalis added to the video FM signal to providea single voltage waveform, as shown in Fig.

Fig. 5. Stylus cartridge. The stylus -arm components (see Fig. 4) are mounted in a plastichousing for ease of handling. The semicircular spring holds the stylus arm firmly in placeduring shipping and handling. When the cartr dge is installed in a player, the spring isdepressed to allow the stylus arm to move freely and track the groove.

AUDIO

Amp FREQUENCY

MODULATOR

AriArV. - -AUDIO

-100K HZ1'1

1 !;

0 716 2

VIDEO

FREQUENCY

MODULATOR

f- -

- - -1 - - -

1

1

SYNC

VIDEO

SIGNAL

9.3FREQUENCY

MHZ

Fig. 6. Frequency spectrum. In recording, the audio and video signals drive separatefrequency modulation circuits. The frequency modulated signals are added together toprovide a single voltage waveform to drive the cutterhead. The spectrum of this signal isshown above. Note that the audio -carrier amplitude is 20 dB below the video -carrieramplitude.

AUDIO FM VIDEO FM SIGNAL

AUDIO FM SIGNALAMP A

TIMEFig. 7. Cutterhead signal. The audio and video FM sigrals are added together to provide awaveform of the type shown here to drive the cutterhead. The amplitude of the audio FMwave is exaggerated so that it can be seen easily.

Crooks: The RCA SelectaVisione VideoDisc System 7

0

STYLUS

DEFECTDET

AUDIODEMOD

TRACK& HOLD

4 5 MHZFM MOD

AMDET DEFECT

DETLUMA

DE-EMPH

VIDEO VIDEO1-HDISC DEMOD V DETAIL

DELAY LPF

1.53MHZF LTER

LIFTER

KICKER

STYLUSPOSITIONSENSOR

\-ARM ADVANCE MOTOR'DISPLAY

CONTROLCIRCJITE 4111

CHANNEL3 OR 4

03.58 MHZ

FILTER

_r5 11r MHZTIME BASEERRORCORR.

ARM STRETCHER

TO RCVR

ANT INPUT

Fig. 8. Player block diagram. The principal parts of the player electronics are shown in this diagram. The circuitry includes sixcustom -integrated circuits, including a microprocessor in the control circuit.

7, which is used to drive the cutterheadduring mastering.

The player

The VideoDisc player consists of a turn-table driven - at 450 rpm - syn-chronously with the 60 -Hz power line;a mechanism for inserting and retrieving adisc; a stylus cartridge mount andassociated circuitry; signal processing cir-cuitry; and control elements. A simplifiedblock diagram of the player is shown inFig. 8. At the left is the 9 I 5-M Hz oscillator,the output of which is modulated by thestylus -disc capacity and then rectified toprovide the FM signal that emulates therise and fall of the disc surface. This signalis fed to both video and audiodemodulators. When either the audio orvideo FM carrier is lost, measures aretaken to prevent a noticeable disturbancein the resultant audio or video output.When no audio disturbance is detected, theaudio feeds through the track -and -holdcircuit to the 4.5 -MHz frequencymodulator to generate the audio portion ofthe NTSC signal. When a defect is

recognized, the audio level is held at its lastvalid value until the defect is corrected.

When no defect is recognized in thevideo signal, it is passed directly to a I -Hdelay line, the principal component in the

comb filter. The input of the delay line andthe output are added together to realize theluminance comb filter. After appropriatede -emphasis, the luminance signal is com-bined with other signals to make up thecomposite NTSC signal.

The output of the delay line is subtractedfrom the input to realize the color combfilter. The output of this filter, containingthe I .53-M Hz color subcarrier, is mixedwith a 5.11 -MHz oscillator signal to con-vert the color subcarrier to 3.58 MHz asrequired for the NTSC signal. The up -converted 3.58 -MHz color signal is addedto the luminance and audio to provide thecomposite NTSC signal, which is then puton a carrier for either channel 3 or 4, aschosen by the operator, and delivered tothe output jack on the rear of the player.When the player is turned off, the antennainput signal is fed directly to the outputjack.

The passage of the luminance signalthrough its comb filter will remove verticaldetail from this signal. For example, theluminance video signal required to writealternate black -and -white lines is com-pletely obliterated when the input andoutput of the delay line are added together.To regenerate the complete low -frequencysignal required for vertical detail in thepicture, the low -frequency portion of thecombed chroma signal, which is trulyluminance information rather than

chrominance information, is added to thecombed luminance signal to provide anuncombed signal below 500 kHz.

When a disturbance to the video isnoted, the automatically controlled switchat the delay line input causes the output ofthe delay line to be fed back to the input sothat the signal is recirculated. Thus, when adefect is detected on any one horizontalline in the picture, the throwing of therecirculation switch causes signal from theprevious line to be substituted for the badvideo. In most cases such substitution isnearly invisible. As a result, defects on thedisc that would otherwise be objectionableare made unobtrusive.

As a result of tolerance buildup duringthe manufacture of the disc and player andthe placement of the disc on the turntable,the disc can be slightly off -center forplayback. A non -centered condition resultsin surface speed variation along a groovewhich, if not corrected, may cause serioushorizontal picture jitter at a once -aroundrate. Off -centering causes groove speed tobe too high on half of each rotation and tooslow on the other half of each rotation.

The arm -stretcher shown in the lowerleft corner of the diagram has been in-cluded in the player to correct for theeffects of off -centering. This device is

similar to a moving -coil loudspeakermechanism which is fastened by a flexiblecoupling to the rear end of the stylus arm

8 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

and moves the stylus arm tangentiallyalong the groove. When the groove speed istoo low, the stylus arm is moved oppositeto the groove velocity to increase therelative speed. When the groove speed istoo high, the stylus arm is moved in thedirection of the groove velocity to reducethe relative speed. The signal for drivingthe arm stretcher is obtained by comparingthe 3.58 -MHz color burst from the discwith a fixed oscillator at the same frequen-cy. The net result is that off -centeredconditions as great as 10 mils do notproduce detectable jitter in playback.

During the play of a disc, the carriage forthe stylus cartridge is moved in such a wayas to keep the stylus arm and flyleadcentered in the cartridge housing. This isaccomplished by sensing the lateral posi-tion of the stylus relative to the cartridgehousing by capacitive coupling of the stylusflylead to varactor diodes driven out -of -phase by a 260-k Hz oscillator. As thecapacitance of one diode increases, theother decreases and vice -versa. Thesediodes are located, one on each side of thestylus flylead, so that a fraction of theircapacitance is added to the styluscapacitance as a function of how close thediodes are to the flylead. When the stylus iscentered, the capacitance variations of thetwo varactor diodes, being out -of -phase,cancel one another. However, in off -centered conditions the effect of one diodeis greater than that of the other. Theresultant capacitive variations cause achange in the tuning of the stylus resonantcircuit giving rise to 260 -kHz componentsin the output of the 915 -MHz amplitudedetector, indicating an off -center condi-

tion. The amplitude and phase of the 260 -kHz signal indicate the amount and direc-tion of the stylus off -centering. A dc arm -advance motor is driven in response to the260 -kHz error signal to center the stylusarm and return the error signal to zero.

The stylus kicker shown in the lower leftof the block diagram is included in theplayer to provide small, rapid lateralmovements of the stylus during play. Asmall permanent magnet mounted on thestylus arm near the stylus is forcedsideways by magnetic fields from smallcoils mounted in the stylus cartridge hous-ing. When movement of the stylus is

desired, an appropriate pulse of currentthrough the coils causes the stylus to jumpsideways one or more grooves in either theforward or reverse direction. This opera-tion is activated during the visual searchmode. When the visual search button isdepressed, a pulse is applied to the kickercoils just prior to each vertical blankinginterval with an appropriate magnitude tomove the stylus two grooves. Since thereare 8 fields per rotation, the programmoves at 16 times normal speed. However,since stylus movement takes place justahead of the blanking interval, the TVsynchronizing pulses are continuous andno picture breakup occurs.

The stylus kicker is also used to correctfor locked -groove defects on discs. Tofacilitate this operation, a unique numberis recorded with each TV field on the disc.The numbers increase monotonically fromthe beginning to the end of the disc.Circuits built into the player decode andkeep track of the field numbers. Duringnormal play, these numbers progress

regularly. When locked -groove situationsarise and the numbers jump backwardsinstead of progressing normally, playerrecognition of this fact causes the applica-tion of pulses to the kicker coils to move thestylus ahead by two grooves. These pulsescontinue until field numbers read from thedisc equal or exceed the numbers predictedby the player circuits. In most cases,locked -groove defects are corrected beforean observer is aware of the problem. Nocorrective action is taken when forwardgroove skips occur. In general, theseforward skips cause little disturbance to theviewer.

Another use made of the field numbersrecorded on the disc is to convert them totime of play in minutes from the beginningof the disc and to show them on the LEDdisplays on the front of the player.

The stylus lifter is activated to raise andlower the stylus as required for properplayer operation. The stylus is loweredduring normal play and visual search, andit is lowered momentarily onto a styluscleaner each time a disc is removed fromthe player. In all other conditions, in-cluding power off, the stylus is lifted off thedisc.

Player operation

Figure 9 is a photograph of the SFTIOOWplayer introduced in March 1981. Itmeasures I7 -inches wide by I5.5 -inchesdeep by 5.75 -inches high. It weighs 20pounds and consumes 35 watts of power.Jacks for antenna input and RF output, achannel selection switch, and power -line

Crooks: The RCA SelectaVision® VideoDisc System 9

cord are on the back. As shown in thefigure, a function lever switch on the rightside of the front panel has positions forLOAD/ UNLOAD, PLAY and OFF. Inthe LOAD/ UNLOAD position, a caddy -entry door is opened to permit the loadingor retrieving of a disc by means of caddyinsertion. In the PLAY position, thecaddy -entry door is closed, the turntable isenergized and the disc is played.

During the play of a disc, player opera-tion is controlled by five push buttons. ThePAUSE push button causes the stylus tolift from the disc and the arm advance tostop. A second push of this button causesplay to resume. The PAUSE button allowsone to interrupt the program for as long asdesired without missing any of the programcontent and without harm to the disc. Thetwo VISUAL SEARCH push buttonscause the stylus to be kicked two grooveseither forward or reverse during eachvertical blanking interval so that theprogram action proceeds at 16 times nor-mal rate without picture breakup. TheseVISUAL SEARCH buttons are used forlocating a precise section of the program.The two RAPID ACCESS push buttonslift the stylus and move the stylus carriageat about 150 times the normal speed ineither the forward or reverse direction.During this operation both video andaudio signals are muted.

The PLAY TIME indicators (LED) givean indication of the stylus positionmeasured in minutes of play from thebeginning of the disc. These indicators alsoshow an "L" for the LOAD/ UNLOADposition of the function lever, "P" forPAUSE, and an "E" to indicate that theprogram has ended.

After a disc has been inserted into theplayer, the SIDE indicator shows whichside of the disc, I or 2, is uppermost in theplayer and is being played or ready to beplayed.

The removable door on the top of theplayer provides access to the stylus car-tridge so that it can be changed whenrequired.

The stylus is designed to operate foryears in a normal home environment. Discscan he played many hundreds of timeswithout deterioration. All other parts ofthe system are designed for extended life.

Prog ram s

At least 100 program selections areavailable. Additional selections will beadded each month to provide an extensivecatalog to satisfy every taste.

DIGITAL L E DPLAYTIME INDICATOR

DISC -SIDE INDICATOR

THREE -POSITION

FUNCTION LEVER

PAUSE CONTROL

VISUAL SEARCH CONTROLS

RAPID ACCESS CONTROLS

Fig. 9. VideoDisc Player- Model SFT100. The player measures 17 x 151/2 x 5314 inches,weighs 20 lbs. and draws 35 watts from the power line. The disc -caddy is inserted in the slot inthe front of the player with the function lever in the "LOAD -UNLOAD" position. Withdrawal ofthe caddy leaves the disc in the player. The disc is played by moving the function lever to the"PLAY" position after which the play is controlled by pushbuttons. Reinsertion of the caddyafter the play puts the disc back into the caddy.

System specifications

Playing Time:

Player Weight:

Power Input:

Size:

Stylus Material:

2 hours (I hourper side)

20 pounds

35 watts

17" x 151/2" x 53/4"

Diamond

Signal -SensingTechnique:

Disc Material:

Disc Handling:

Disc Diameter:

Rotation Rate:

Revolutions PerSide:

Capacitance

Conductive PVC

Protective sleeve

12 inches

450 rpm

27,000 (one hour)

tef t -E0sion

H. Nelson Crooks is Director, TechnicalLiaison, SelectaVision® VideoDiscOperations, Indianapolis, where he isresponsible for the technical interfacebetween RCA and VideoDisc licensees. Hejoined RCA's Advanced Development Sec-tion in Camden, New Jersey, in 1949. Sincethen he has been associated with theApplied Research Section in Camden;Government Systems Division in Cam-bridge, Ohio; Graphic Systems Division inDayton, New Jersey; and most recently,RCA Laboratories in Princeton, New Jersey,where he was involved with the developmentof the VideoDisc system and research onmanufacturing -related problems.Contact him at:RCA SelectaVision Video Disc OperationsIndianapolis, Ind.TACNET: 426-3164

10 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar Apr. 1981

J.C. Miller W.T.Kelley

Program planning for acommercially oriented division

At Picture Tube Division managers are using a desk -topcomputer in a new program -planning system calledMUSCLE that helps them efficiently deploy resources, meetcritical dates, resolve interprogram priorities and improvecommunications.

Abstract: The Picture Tube Division( PTD) has developed a unique product -planning system that operates well within adynamic commercial business environ-ment. After surveying available planningand control systems, PTD chose to adapt aversion of CPM (Critical Path Method),coupled with a desk -top computer, toimprove Engineering planning. Adapta-tion and implementation of the systemtook .five months. It now encompasses allaspects of PTD's new product projects,from conception through to production.The system requires minimal staffing, andcould be readily adapted to other RCAdivisions.

Program planning for a large commerciallyoriented business requires unique planningtools. A customized, computer -aided ver-sion of the Critical Path Method (CPM) isbeing well -received within RCA's PictureTube Division (PTD). The system that hasevolved may have applications in otherRCA divisions.

RCA's PTD is a dynamic, high-technology, multinational operation.Domestically, PTD provides primary sup-port for the RCA Consumer ElectronicsDivision (CE). In addition, many otherU.S. television -set manufacturers con-sistently use RCA color -picture tubes, anda large portion of the tubes exported fromthe U.S. are from PTD plants. Through

Reprint RE -26-5-2Final manuscript received Dec. 17. 1980.

subsidiaries, joint ventures, and technicalequipment contracts, PTD technology andproducts have a major presence in LatinAmerica and throughout Europe.

The color -picture -tube market has

become very competitive. As the cost -pricesqueeze intensified, TV -set manufacturerstended to eliminate circuits designed tocompensate for picture -tube variations.Today, tube sales depend on improvinguniformity, performance, and reliabilitywith on -time delivery. As PTD's sales baseexpanded to many customers withdiversified requirements, and color -tubetechnology matured, the nature of PTD'sengineering programs underwent change.Over the past ten years there has been ashift from running several large concurrentprograms to having as many as 25 smallerprograms at one time. A typical new -product -engineering program now lastsless than a year and encompasses productand process innovation. It usually involvessix or more functional organizations inseveral locations, under continual pressureto meet dates dictated by production plansfor customer -TV sets. But these programsare simpler (from a planning viewpoint)than those encountered in large military oraerospace projects.

The program -planningsystem

A new PTD program -planning system(dubbed "MUSCLE") is aimed at meetingthe information needs of management atall levels. Use of MUSCLE aids in the

efficient deployment of resources, im-proves confidence in meeting critical dates,helps resolve interprogram priorities, andimproves communications betweenoperational organizations.

Of prime interest to PTD managementwas the efficient application of resourceswith confidence that critical program dateswill be met. The need for improvedprogram planning became apparent as thesize and complexity of the PTD businessincreased. The key objectives for a newprogram -planning system included:

To direct attention to critical areas. To recognize logical relationships

between tasks.

To operate with minimal planning staff. To update easily. To give results readily understood by

operating personnel.

The alternative systems

Alter a careful review of available projectplanning systems, PTD developed a

customized version of the Critical PathMethod (CPM). Among the alternativesconsidered were:

PERT (Program Evaluation & ReviewTechnique) The sophistication ofthree durations per task and theresulting probability assessments wasnot needed. It was also felt that thesomewhat complex output would not bereadily understood by many programpersonnel.

RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981 11

22V 120 Deg Hi Pot - In -Line - Matris<

Scheduled for Merlon Plant COMPLETION TARGET: 6/01412 i-npLICST DPTE, I 1

modifltd 91-37 Gun COMPLETION EST.: 5/18/92 LPTEST OFITE1

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Last New Data Input on: NOV 25. 1380 9:33 AM. .

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191rIPTTEST TUBE9 4'18Y81-/11/81

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59 MAKE PRODU(

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27 APPLICATIONS EVALUATE TUBES 2/10/81

PPC tUDES:SIE 81

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11

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Pr.Tpared by. R.I. 9atkovich, Engr Adm

11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 8

81 81 82 82 82 82 82 02 9202

Fig. 1. Graphic presentation of program plan. Tasks are arranged by criticality and starting date. Blackened bars show "criticaltasks." Dotted bars indicate allowable task -completion dates that would not jeopardize a program completion date. Calendaracross the bottom considers PTD holidays.

Gantt Charts (time -phased barcharts) Relationships and constraintsbetween program tasks are not apparent.Manually prepared Gantt charts aredifficult to keep updated.

CPM (Critical Path Method) TheCPM system of documenting a

program's inter -task relationships anddetermining areas of criticality wasreadily adapted to the PTD new productenvironment. Through use of a smalldesk -top computer, informationstorage, analysis, and presentation canbe updated quickly and easily.

Initially, the PTD CPM system was setup to use McDonnell Douglas/ McAuto's"MSCS" (Management Scheduling andControl System) package via the IBM -370large mainframe computer in Cherry Hill,New Jersey. It was accessed on time-sharing, with batch output. It immediatelybecame apparent that 24 -hour turnaround

was a severe limitation to iterative plan-ning. Also, the graphics output was onlymarginally acceptable and difficult toadapt. In addition, since PTD programswere typically depicted as small networks(several hundred tasks each), the costs andpower of a large computer system as well asthe complexities of more comprehensiveproject -planning software packages werenot necessary or desired. Sporadic inabilityto access the Cherry Hill system became acritical problem when prompt decisionswere required.

MUSCLE

After review of available small -computerprogram -planning systems, PTD selectedHewlett-Packard's "System 45" desk -topunit and their "Program Management"software package. The software, written inan enhanced BASIC language, was ex-

tensively modified and adapted to uniquePTD requirements. The resulting systemmakes it easy to run back-to-back programchanges to optimize results. The excellentgraphic output immediately highlightscritical program areas. A sample is shownin Fig. I. The allowable "float" (work daysthat a job can be shifted without impactinga program end date) can be readily seen bycomparing solid and dotted boxes for anyone job. Desk -top computer use has theadded benefit of essentially no on -goingmachine -use costs after initial purchase ofthe unit. Table I summarizes and comparesthe HP System 45/ Program Managementsoftware and the McAuto package asevaluated in the PTD environment.

During adaptation of the Hewlett-Packard software, extreme care was takento humanize the output reports. The con-tent of the reports was limited to theinformation wanted, and only terminologyreadily understood by the users was in -

12 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

James Miller (right) joined RCA in 1958 andhas held a number of Engineering andManagement positions at the PrincetonLabs and the Solid State Division. He iscurrently Manager of EngineeringAdministration and Technical Projects atthe P,cture Tube Division. He holds 23patents and has received various awardsincluding the David Sarnoff Medal.Contact him at:Picture Tube DivisionLancaster. Pa.TACIT ET: 227-2412

William Kelley (left) joined the RCA/ECMicrowave activity in 1950. He has held avariety of Engineering, Program Manage-ment, Business Analysis and Administrativepositions in EO&D and PTD. He is currentlyconcentrating on Program Managementsystems within PTD's Engineeringorganization.Contact him atPicture Tube DivisionLancaster. Pa.TA CNET: 227-3059

eluded. The graphics capabilities of the H Psystem were fully exploited to presentprogram -status information in a clearfashion. Users require no knowledge of thecomputer. A small administrative staffservices the computer and providescoordination and follow-up on all items inthe system. This allows line managers tobest use their time and expertise, focusingon the logic of the plan and its implementa-tion.

As expected, successive program plansfollowed a very similar task -logic pattern.After six months of experimentation, abasic model for new -product programs wasestablished that fits most cases. Note that

the program plan logic model was createdand optimized by technical managementpersonnel working on the new -productprograms (not by computer personnel). It,therefore, became "their" plan, a criticalaspect of the success of MUSCLE.

A feature recently added to the MUS-CLE system facilitates critical skill -centeranalysis across many programs. By

"lifting" all data (including dates and job"float") associated with a specific similarjob from a group of programs, bottle -neckareas can be examined by management.Work schedules can be adjusted foroptimal use of available resources withknown impact on program end dates.

Table I. Comparison of the Hewlett-Packard and the McAuto computer -aided programmanagement systems. When evaluated in the PTD environment, note that the HP system isjudged best for "small" networks, while McAuto appears suited for "large projects.

Feature

Hewlett-Packard"System 45Program Mgmt"

McDonnell DouglasMcAuto "MSCS"(with"CompuNet")

Computer running costs None

GraphicsGanttLogic diagram

Turnaround time

Adaptability

Resource allocation

Operator training

Maximum jobs/project

Software system support

Inter -project analysis

ExcellentNone

5 mio (100 jobs)15 min (750 jobs)

Good

None

I week

1,800

Good

Good

CMS charges plusshare of MSCS lease

MarginalGood/Costly (with

"CompuNet")

24 hour (batch)

Fair

Good/ complex

2 months

42.800

Good

Difficult

Tailored graphic reports eliminate the needto review lengthy comprehensive listings.

Why it worksThe key factors in acceptance and use ofMUSCLE have been its simplicity andaccuracy as well as the emphasis placedupon the human and pyschological aspectsof the system. PTD managementrecognized the value of the system at anearly stage of its development. The tempta-tion to use MUSCLE as a whip wasmeticulously avoided, so as not to fosterpadded job -time estimates. Although thecomputer reduced much of the drudgery ofoperating the system, it has been kept at alow profile with a minimum of computerjargon. The rapidity of the system allowsmany iterations of a plan in a single day,each with a meaningful graphic output.This allows managers to make changesfreely and gauge their impact immediately.The importance of this cannot beoveremphasized.

The MUSCLE system has found widestacceptance within PTD as a tool formanaging new -product designs, but thesystem is applicable to a broad class ofproject planning areas. The simplicity ofthe system makes it easy to introduce tonew users and applications. It is interestingto note that the use of MUSCLE grew fromgrass -roots support, not from managementedict. The management results noted fromthe use of the MUSCLE system includetimely execution of programs, fewer slip-pages, better communications, and clearercontrol of priorities.

Miller/Kelley: Program planning for a commercially oriented division 13

J.B. Tindall

The New Renaissance Man:Can we find a "super -manager" for C2 systems?

Command and Control (C2) software has been rife withalarming failures and cost overruns. What's needed is a NewRenaissance Man skilled in project management, softwaremanagement, and hardware management.

Even 20 years ago when computertechnology was in its infancy, it was clearthat computers would play an importantrole in Command and Control (C2). Thisinitial optimism has been largely fulfilled,and the recent advances stimulated bymicroelectronic circuitry have promptedspeculation on the additional wonders wecan expect because of computertechnology. The computer, after all, notonly amplifies the power of the humanmind, but extends that power into realmsunthinkable a generation ago. Thesetremendous achievements have becomereality because of advances both in com-puter design and in software engineering.

Unfortunately, the record for softwaredevelopment has not been as sanguine as

the record for computer hardware develop-ment. The discussion below explores theevolution of software engineering in anattempt to discover why its failures havehad such a traumatic effect on the develop-ment of military systems, particularly C2systems. This discussion traces the com-monly suggested reasons for pastdifficulties down to the probable rootcauses, examines trends in softwaredevelopment, and explores recommendedmodern programming practices and somenew technologies that impact softwaredesign. More important, the qualificationsof the "super -manager" capable ofdirecting this complex and interrelatedeffort are examined. The development ofsuch managers, skilled in the many

Abstract: The long, complicateddevelopment cycle for command andcontrol systems is particularly susceptibleto problems. Improvements in four keyareas will minimize the problems: (I) anintegrated systems approach must be takenfrom the start; (2) modern softwareengineering discipline (including top -downdesign, structured programming, andhigher order languages) must be appliedfully; (3) proper judgment, keeping in mindthe realities ofevolving requirements, must

be exercised in sizing the hardware; and (4)the development effort must be managedby someone who understands all thetechnological and managerial disciplinesinvolved. This paper provides an overviewof the many complex trade-offs that mustbe assessed if command and controlsoftware development is to be improved,and suggests that a New Renaissance Manis required as super -manager" of softwaredesign's transition from an art into theworld of system engineering.

technological and management disciplinesrequired by C2, challenges the resources ofgovernment and industry. Is it possible foranyone to achieve all the skills required ofthis New Renaissance Man?'' 2

Traditional systemdevelopment problems

During the development of a system withan embedded computer, the user anddeveloper seem to be forever at each other'sthroats.'' 4' S The user complains that thesoftware is late and doesn't satisfy hisrequirements; the machine is too small forthe job; changes cost too much and taketoo long, and so on. The developer, on theother hand, complains that the user reallydoesn't know what he wants; the Statementof Work may require premature selectionof hardware; requirements are constantlychanged; and, finally, the user imposesconstraints incompatible with usualmanagement procedures.

These complaints evoke the followingfacts:

User is unsure of requirements; re-quirements will constantly change.

Reprint RE -26-5-3Final manuscript received Sept. 24. 1980.

14 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Inputs

Cor,D.e.Nme reow, ,

Concept Formulation(Analysis and Feasibility Demonstration)

ear

AdvancingComputer Sena°,

Technology

AbstractNature ofSoftware

InadequateSystems Anarysts

Increasing

Demands onSystem Software

Insuflocrent

Understandrngby Managers

Lack orSoftwareV.Sibiltry

Program Validation(Advarced Development)

Lack Of MetteXlsfor Snag

Software Tasks

Inadequate

P,OcessorCapacity

Inefficient

Processingarchitecture

inadequatenadware Softwar

Tradeotls

inaurficrent

SoftwareDebt -Won

Non -Modular

SoftwareArchitecture

InadequateManagementProcedures

Lack ofE stabasned

Standards

^WeededSupport

trequirernents

UnspecaredMaintenance

Provisions

UnrealisticCost 6 Schedule

Ornate

Preproduction Prototype(Engineering Development)

No ',Towsonlot ChangtngRegutnwnents

Larg ComplexPrograms

Unwarranted

New Processors

Bottom -UpDesign

-net:toque*Interface

Management

'von -Standard

Languages

SupportNol Establ,snec

Fig. 1. Historically, the complex relationships inherent in the software development cycle forC, systems have contributed to late deliveries and major cost overruns.

Few managers understand hardware andsoftware and management.

Programming is still treated as an art. Early hardware selection forces pre-

mature functional partitioning.

Parkinson's Law leads to strainedmemory and costly programming.

Hardware constraints motivate use oflow-level languages.

Support software development fails tomaintain the pace of hardware develop-ment.

Excessive standards, rigid programminglocation proscriptions, and securityclearance requirements hamper effectivesoftware development.

Need for advanced operating systemspushes the state of the art.

User requires automation of highly com-plex processes.

Cost estimating has been by rule ofthumb.

Figure 1 shows one author's view of themany interrelated software problems.6

Four factors cause most softwareproblems. First, it is nearly impossible tofind a manager who is available, trained,and capable of handling all aspects ofsoftware design.

Second, failure to use modern software

engineering discipline oftenly development cycles and lack of programmaintainability. Top -down design, struc-tured programming, and the use of higher -order languages (HOLs) are the majoringredients of the new discipline:* 8

Third, failure to anticipate exoticdemands, complex executive programs,and evolving requirements results in selec-tion of a computer too small to satisfysystem requirements. The costs of thismisjudgment are prohibitive.°

Finally, the separate acquisition ofhardware and software with the hope ofintegration later is almost certainlydoomed to failure. Experience has shownthat an integrated system approach mustbe taken from the start.

Other problems, largely unresolved,

100

80

60

40

20

1955 1970 1985

Fig. 2. Mushrooming life -cycle softwarecosts necessitate more attention to costreduct.on during the development cycle.

Long CostlyDesign Ptwse

Devegprnent OrNew Succor,

Systeme

Low UralProduct,' rty

infiembleDe,.gn

Inadequate

r)Ocurnentato

Cost ofDemon Charges

Cost '

New Pro,PerlphO' r

COST

Hasa Sayre -

Cost ofnuppott Facilities

-ost of ChangesFor Maintenance

Prowssons

Availabrirty

nd ReltableyProblems

Logistics andTraining

Cost

Updating Lostsand Obsolescence

MaintenanceCosts

plague software developmentmanager:

Multilevel securityl° Operating systems for distributed

processors' Data base management for distributed

data'' 14. Ic.

Verification and validation''' 19

Possible over-regulatioe

Future trends

Elements of the Air Force Systems Com-mand have estimated that in the next ISyears there will be eight times as muchmilitary software produced as in the past 15years. The demand will grow at a rate inexcess of 20 percent per year. Considerableefficiencies are expected to accrue throughthe use of program design languages andmodern software discipline; but even ifprogrammer productivity rises an expected300 percent, there will still not be enoughprogrammers to meet the projected de-mand. Furthermore, the trend to do morewith software continues!' Figure 2 showsthe hardware/software cost trend withapproximately 90 percent of the systemcost being the development andmaintenance of computer software. As

Tindall The New Renaissance Man: Can we find a "super -manager for C- systems? 15

Input

Process A

Process B

Sequence Output

Input

True FalseDecision

Process A Process B(Then) (Else)

If -Then -Else Output

Input

Process A

Decision

Do Until Output

Input

Process

Decision

Do While Output

Input

A B CCase Case Case

Case Output

Fig. 3. Efforts to improve software produc-tion and to increase its maintainability haveresulted in the use of structured program-ming with limited logical constructs, such asthose shown above.

both the amount of work to be done andthe cost of doing the work mount, allindicators point to a need for concentratedefforts for improving software develop-ment.

A disciplined design

There are four distinct elements in any C2system: people, procedures, software, andhardware. From a system designer's pointof view, this list provides a spectrum ofsystem flexibility with the greatest flexibili-ty residing in people and the least flexibilityin hardware. Of course, the greatest com-putational power resides in hardware andthe challenge to the designer is to utilizethis capability to its fullest. (The modernnotion of firmware fits consistently into thespectrum as an extension of capabilitygenerally performed by hardware.)I9'Other design trade-offs are mentionedlater.

Total system management seems to bethe central and overriding need. Thesystem designer must view the fourelements on the flexibility spectrum as anintegrated package. He must achieve atotal system design early in the conceptualstage after rigorous assessment of system

oftasks. He must view software as an integralsystem attribute rather than as an isolatedtool, while weighing carefully the trade-offs among flexibility and power. In sum -

SystemRequirements

Definition

mary, the system designer must design thesystem from the top down to achieveproper functional partitioning amongtasks allocated to people, procedures,software, and hardware. Then and onlythen can he make a judicious choice ofhardware.

Finally, once it is determined whichfunctions software should address, thesoftware must be further partitioned intomodules. The benefits of this approach aremanifold, but testability and adaptabilityare among the most prominent. This typeof partitioning can lead to much simpleroperating systems and to compatibilitywith distributed hardware. Indeed, the newDepartment of Defense (DOD) standardlanguage, Ada, stresses modularity andmay be implemented without an operatingsystem.

A disciplineddevelopment environment

The Rome Air Development Center effortsto improve software production haveresulted in several significant studyprograms including compiler implemen-tors, error analysis, and quality assuranceprocedures. Work on a disciplinedenvironment has led to specifications onstructured programming and program sup-port libraries.--

Structured programming usuallyrecognizes that top -down software designis needed before detailed coding can be

SoftwarePerformanceRequirements

Test PlansProceduresTest Results

PerformanceRequirementsSpecifications

(1151

SoftwareDesign

(Preliminaryi

SoftwareDesign(Deter)

Code

DesignSpecificationsIC5 Product)

1 I Preliminary)

InterlaceSpecifications

Code To

DesignSpecificationstC5 Procuit

Detailed I

UnitTest

-( As Bu

SoftwareInteg awn

6 Test

SystemAcceptance

Test

UsersManual

SystemOperationMaintenance

Fig. 4. A top -down approach to system definition and resolution, coupled with well-structured documentation developed to support program milestones, is essential to orderlycomputer program development.

16 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar Apr 1981

started. This automatically leads topartitioning, although there are methodsfor improving the partitioning. Structuredprogramming also includes adherence to aspecific set of rules that allows only limitedlogical constructs such as simpleprecedence (sequencing), comparison testsand branching, and repetition (loops). Oneoperation is sometimes banned - the GOTO instruction - since it leads to overlycomplex feedback loops andinterdependencies. Figure 3 shows a com-monly accepted set of constructs.5

The use of HOLs (higher -orderlanguages), such as Pascal and Jovial, isanother facet of the drive toward dis-cipline. Transferability is one possiblepayoff from the use of HOLs; that is,software can be moved (more easily)between computers and sometimes evenadapted to new applications. Programmaintainability has been firmly establishedas a real payoff!'

A disciplined environment also includescontrol over the host computer and itsdevelopment tools, together withmaintenance of a program support libraryin which a librarian records and controls allcode and documentation. Figure 4 showssome typical product documentationnecessary for a maintainable system."

Other development tools have been usedsuccessfully to reduce rising costs. Notableamong these is the program designlanguage, which "provides for natural ex-pression of procedural definitions( programs) at a level of completeness and

detail appropriate to the designer's currentknowledge of requirements."24 It is es-timated that use of a program designlanguage can reduce production costs by 20percent.

Still another technique, not yet tested, isthe software architecture design work ofAndreu and Madnick of MITs Center forInformation Systems Research.25 Theprinciple here is the structured refinementof requirements to determine dependenciesand the application of algorithms to grouprequirements so that intergroupdependencies are minimized. This leads toa rational partitioning of software intomodules; unexpected interdependencieshave historically led to trouble late inprogram development (after the design isrigid). Figure 5 illustrates the major steps inthe process.

In addition to work being done todiscipline the people who performprogramming, effort is being made tostandardize the entire software acquisitioncycle. Agencies, such as the ElectronicsSystems Division of the Air Force SystemsCommand, have provided guidebooks foruse by program managers. These covertopics such as contracting, documentation,configuration management, qualityassurance, estimating, and other relatedtopics as a means to standardize thesoftware acquisition cycle as much aspossible.

Modern discipline should also include avastly improved method for estimatingsoftware costs. RCA PRICE S parametric

Alternative Design ConceptInnovation & Technical Opportunity

Requirements .4111.

Step 1

IndividualRequirementAnalysis

Solution IndependenceSystem IndependenceNonredundantSimplePlausiblePertinent

Step 2

InterdependencyAssessment

Pawwise Analysisfor

Trade -on lcOnflicts)and

Concurrences(satisfied bysame designfeature)

ImplementationConceptRefinements

3

Second PassInterdependencyAssessment

ConsideringRefinedImplementationConcepts

Step 4

GraphDecomposition

Model identifiesgroups ofrequirementswith minimalgroup inter-dependencies

Potential Iteration

cost estimating does precisely this; it usesinformation such as the number of lines ofexecutable object code (or code in anylanguage), the mix of code type (operatingsystems and real-time command controlsystems cost twice as much as data baseretrieval systems and twelve times as muchas mathematical operations), andschedules. Figure 6 shows a typical PRICES output sheet for a mobile radar. Figure 7shows the effect of too long a schedule.'For additional information on PRICE S

systems, read the article by M. H.Burmeister on page 21.

New approachesto military systems

Perhaps no other technology has had as bigan impact on software as the revolutionarydevelopment of microelectronics. Reduc-tions in the cost, size and weight of circuitryare staggering; lower processing speed, theunfortunate side effect of these im-provements, is rapidly being eliminated.Other effects are also important to the newsoftware architect. The reliability of LSI,VLSI, and VHSI circuitry is significantlyhigher than that of the older hardware thisnew technology replaces. In addition, thereare collateral gains in radiation hardeningin certain cases (CMOS/ SOS).

Microprocessors have had the mostobvious impact on software since theiradvent permits emulation of many largecomputers. This capability permits reuse of

Step 5

DesignSubproblems

ill104 Identification

Requirementsgroups areinterpreted asdesign sub-problem

DesignImplementation

Step 6

DefineMissingRequirements

Suggested bySteps 1-4 andby Experience

Benefits Provides Disciplined Structure for Front -End Software Architectural Design Avoids Pre -Determined Design Implementation Avoids Surprise Interdependencies Late in Implementation Provides Partitioned Software Modules

Fig. 5. Rigorous attention to the identification and minimization of moduleinterdependencies decreases downstream problems In the test phase.

Tindall. The New Renaissance Man: Can we find a "super -manager" for C2 s /stems? 17

SAMPLE CASE

FILENAME: SAMPLE

DESCRIPTORSINSTRUCTIONSFUNCTIONS

360000

APPLICATION CATEGORIESMIX

DATA S/R 0.0ONLINE COMM 0.08REALTIME C&C 0.08INTERACTIVE 0.23MATHEMATICAL 0.28STRING MANIP 0.26OPR SYSTEMS 0.07

SCHEDULECOMPLEXITYDESIGN STARTDESIGN END

1.250OCT 77DEC 78

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATIONYEAR 1977MULTIPLIER 1.000

COST ELEMENTSSYSTEMS ENGINEERINGPROGRAMMINGCONFIGURATION CONTROLDOCUMENTATIONPROGRAM MANAGEMENT

TOTAL

DESCRIPTORSINSTRUCTIONSFUNCTIONS

SCHEDULECOMPLEXITYDESIGN STARTDESIGN END

INPUT DATA

APPLICATION 0.0STRUCTURE 0.0

NEW DEVELOPMENTDESIGN CODE1.00 1.001.00 1.001.00 1.001.00 1.000.50 0.701.00 1.001.00 1.00

IMPL STARTIMPL END

ESCALATIONPLATFORM

JUL 78AUG 79

MOBILE RADAR

DATED: 07'22/77

RESOURCE 5.500LEVEL 2.600INTEGRATION 0.500

SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONTYPES QUANTITY

0 0

1 1

2 2

1 2

NMN 6.9MOIN 99.MMN 99

TOO START DEC 78T61 END JUL 80

0.0 TECH IMP 1.001.4 UTILIZATION 0.80

PROGRAM COSTS

DESIGN392.51.90.66.37.

636.

ADDITIONAL DATA

IMPL16.76.23.7.

7.

129.

T 8 I

290.119.179.72.36.

695.

36000 APPLICATION 5.299 RESOURCE400 STRUCTURE 4.961 LEVEL

1.250OCT 77DEC 78

IMPL START JULIMPL END AUG

78 TOI START79 T&I END

"OTAL698.246.292.145.80.

1461.

3.5002.600

DEC 78JUL 80

SCHEDULE GRAPHOCT 77 JUL 80SNMMMMNNNNNM DESIGN NNMNIEN9999999

NIMENNNNMN IMPLEMENT **914910(910(9NNMNNMNNNNNN TEST i INTEGRATE NNNNNNNNNNNMNN

Fig. 6. Typical PRICE S output lists the inputs (number and type of instructions, application,resources available, amount of new design, etc.) along with the proposed schedule et top.Bottom half of output gives the program cost and graphs the program schedule for the threedevelopment phases - design, implementation, and test and integration.

time -tested software, with potentialsavings in cost and time. In addition, a newlook at software architecture from the totalsystem point of view will show that manyfunctions previously accomplished withsoftware can now be lodged in firmware or

even hardware. In the latter case, it may bepossible to exploit low-cost general-purpose microprocessors.26' 27 Re-programming could then be accomplishedby substituting one microprocessor foranother. It is again clear that the necessary

ACTIVITY LENGTH IN MONTHS

COMPLEXITY = 1.250 : DESIGN IMPL T II I TOTAL

SPECIFIED SCHEDULE : 14.0 13.0 19.0 33.0(OVERLAP) ( 5.0) 8.0)

TYPICAL SCHEDULE 21.9(OVERLAP)

COMPLEXITY = 1.250

SPECIFIED SCHEDULE

TYPICAL SCHEDULE

ESTIMATED PENALTY

9.6 10.0 13.95.7) 5.9)

DEVELOPMENT COSTS

DESIGN IMPL T 8 I TOTAL

636.

500.

136.

129. 695.

110. 611.

19. 84

1461.

1222.

239.

Fig. 7. Schedule effect summary compares user -specified schedule and schedule generatedby PRICE S, and also lists cost penalties associated with the user -specified schedule.

and interrelated trade-offs and decisionscannot be made by using old techniquesthat cleanly separated hardware andsoftware development. The decision re-quires knowledge of both worlds.

Distributed data processing is a term sobroad in its interpretation that con-siderable discussion is needed to determinewhether two speakers are talking about thesame concept. For the operational militaryenvironment, the term means any multiple -processor configuration that achievesredundancy and physical distribution ofprocessing so that the supported systemhas no critical nodes.28' 29, 30. 31 Thus, systemcapability may gracefully degrade whennodes or links are attacked, and a lucky hitor two cannot eliminate the system'seffectiveness. Figure 8 shows a structuredtaxonomy.0

The military market's unique re-quirements for system survivability fromboth physical and electromagnetic threatsis driving a major effort to distribute thedata processing for many systems depen-dent on computers. Significant cost savingscan be accomplished through distribution,although this result is frequently not fullyexploited because of other system re-quirements. The Ada language is designedto permit multiprocessor operation.

The Military Computer Family is amanifestation of the drive within theDepartment of Defense to improve thebattlefield survivability and interoperabili-ty of data processing systems. Its designobjectives are aimed at providing compati-ble hardware, software, and supportsystems. The concept involves modularityvia form, fit, and function specifications;the development of the common DODlanguage called Ada; and standards forinterfaces, computers, and instruction setarchitectures.

Some difficult questions remain. Atwhich level should modularization be ac-complished? What will be the effect onmajor defense contractors if modular (off -the -shelf) configurations are used by theservices? Can the Government procure-ment system and program managementsystem accommodate this modular ap-proach?

Man's ability to accumulate informationhas proved to be limited only by his budget.Unfortunately, the ability to access, move,analyze, present, and purge this informa-tion is relatively archaic, especially in themilitary environment where information iswidely dispersed and highly dynamic.

The abstruse world of artificial in-telligence has produced a handful of ex-perts who, in trying to emulate the human

18 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

TransferStrategy

Transfer (None)ControlMethod

Transfer Dedicated SharedPath Path Path

Structure

System Loop Complete Central GlobalArchitecture Interconnection Memory Bus

Interconnectionfor Communication

In irct

CentralizedRouting

DedicatedPath

r-1-7Star Loop

With

CentralSwitch

DecentralizedRouting

SharedShared

-Dedicated Shared

Path Path Path

Bus Regular Irregular BusWith Network Network Window

CentralSwitch

Fig. 8. Select on of the proper distributed data processing architecture can contributesignificantly to system survivability.

thought process, have developed severaltechniques for improving the utility ofstored data. One of these is knowledge -based data bases. The concept is anenhancement of "associative" data bases.Special languages, such as LISP, have beendevised to treat facts as data and to enable anon -quantitative mathematics on lists ofsemantically related data. This, in turn,permits pattern -directed informationretrieval. Furthermore, LISP objects cansimultaneously be data and programs( functions), and an inherent recursive func-tion capability3233 leads to a powerfuldescriptive technique. The new DODlanguage Ada will also possess many ofthese qualities.

An extension of knowledge -based database theory leads to virtual machines,where the user accesses not only data butalso programs and tools of widely diversenatures through a virtual machine monitor( V M M). This approach makes onemachine 'I unction as though it were multi-ple, physically isolated systems." Thisoccurs through control over inter-connections between an array of modelingmachines and data base machines. All theinterfacing is transparent to the user.

A manager of many disciplines:the New Renaissance Man

The significant point here is that a newbreed of manager is required, a NewRenaissance Man, one who understandsand appropriately applies all thetechnological and managerial disciplinesinvolved in developing tomorrow'ssophisticated C2 systems. With one hand,this super -manager must ensure the design

of a totally integrated C2 system with all thecomplex technological tradeoffs that sucha design implies and with optimum alloca-tion of tasks to people, procedures,hardware, and software. With his otherhand, this super -manager must plan anddirect a disciplined system developmenteffort to meet not only the system re-quirements existing today but also thosethat will evolve over the long system lifecycle.

An individual so erudite is difficult toimagine, but his emergence is critical ifgovernment and industry are to continuethe present thrust in C2 systems.

Conclusion

We have briefly discussed the most basicproblems in C2 development. Theseproblems include the utilization of modernsoftware development discipline; trade-offs in allocating tasks among people.procedures, software, and hardware; trade-offs between micro- and minicomputers;trade-offs between centralized and dis-tributed processing; and the skills andknowledge of the managers charged withdirecting this complex effort.

Many questions remain:

Is software development alreadyovennanaged/ overspecified?

Do the dynamics of microelectronicsmake commitments to specifictechnologies pointless?

What are the payoffs in distributed dataprocessing?

How cam a manager be trained to be aNew Renaissance Man? Is it even feasibleto he so widely capable?

We have no alternative but to answerthese challenging questions. We have noalternative but to produce better manage-ment through training over the fullspectrum - program management,software management, and hardwaremanagement. Industry and governmentalike must provide incentives to attract topquality people.

The New Renaissance Man must beversed in the disciplines listed above.Equally important, he must be able toaccept changing and evolving requirementsas a way of life. Finally, he must be able toemploy new tools in the task of systemdesign. In particular, early functionalpartitioning will require improvedscientific analysis.

The bottom line is that software design ismoving out of the realm of occult art andinto the world of system engineering.

ReferencesI. De Rom. B.C. and Nyman. T.H.. "The Software

Life Cycle." Signal. pp. 5-8 (Nov. Dec. 1977).2. Sleek. S.A.. "What is Software?". RCA Engineer.

pp. 20-27 (Apr. May 197K).

3. Davis, R.. "Reducing Software ManagementRisks" Defense Systems Management Review.Vol. I. No. 6. pp. 16-23 (Summer 1978).

4. Madnick, S.E., "Trends in Computers and Com-puting," The information Utility. Center for Infor-mation Systems Research, CISR No. 29. MITI Maxch 4. 1977).

5. Willoughby, W.J., "Software Reliability byDesign." Defense Systems Management Review.pp. 59-70 (Summer 197K).

6. Farrell, D.W., "Navy Airborne Weapon SystemSoftware Acquisition," Defense SystemsManagement Review. pp. 47-53 (Summer 1978).

7. Steele. S.A.. "Structured Programming Tech-niques. Experiences." RCA Vugraphs fromProgram Managers Training Program (1977).

8. Salisbury, A.B.. "MCI': A Military Computer

Tindall: The New Renaissance Man: Can we find a "super -manager" for C1 systems? 19

Family for Computer -Based Systems," Signal. pp.42-45 (July 1976).

9. Freiman. F.R., "Using PRICE S to EstimateSoftware Costs," RCA Engineer. pp. 78-82(Apr. May 1978).

10. RADC Computer Software DevelopmentSpecification. General Specification for Specifica-tion No. CP07877-961001), RADC, Appendix 80(Mar. 31. 1978).

I I. Wecker. S.. "A Design for a Multiple ProcessorOperating System," Distributed Processing,Second Ed.. IEEE, Cat. No. EHO 127-1,Liebowitz. B. H. and Carson, J. H.. eds., pp. 252-255(1978).

12. Fulton. D.L.. "The Design of a MinicomputerNetwork Operating System," - Trends andApplications 1976: Computer Networks (1976).

13. Lowenthal, E.I., "A Survey The Application ofData Base Management Computers in DistributedSystems," Proceedings of the Third InternationalConference on Ven Large Data Bases, IEEE(1977).

14. Bray. 0.H.. "Distributed Data Base DesignConsiderations," Trends and Applications 1976:Computer Networks (1976).

15. Zembrowski, K .M., "Problems of Data Base Use ina Distributed Data Network," Fifteenth AnnualTechnical Symposium, Assoc. of ComputingMachinery. Inc. (1976).

16. Rothnie, J.B.. "A Survey of Research and Develop-ment in Distributed Database Management,"Proceedings of the Third International Conference(111 Ven large Data Bases (1977).

17. Tzudiker. J., "Software Configuration Manage-ment Testability and Traceability." DefenseSystems Management Review. pp. 24-31 (Summer1978).

18. Weisbein. "LI p -To -Date Approach toSoftware Quality Assurance," RCA Missile andSurface Radar Technical Paper (1977).

19. RADC Computer Software DevelopmentSpecification. Appendix 70.

20. Marciniak. J.J.. "Software Acquisition Within AirForce Systems Command -- A Management Ap-

New Publication from theRCA Engineer

According to the RCA EngineeringInformation Survey conducted in1977, the RCA Engineer is the se-cond most important source oftechnical information about RCA(the most important informationsource being the engineer'sassociates). The back issues of theEngineer (150 of them) provide arecord of RCA's progress in inven-

proach," Defense Systems Management Review,pp. 32-39 (Summer 1978).

21. Solomon. I..A. and Block. D., "Why Not Do It InSoftware?" RCA Engineer. pp. 62-67 (Apr. May1978).

22. RADC Computer Software DevelopmentSpecification. Appendixes 20 and 30.

23. DiNitto, Jr., S.A.. "High Order LanguageStandardization," AGA RD Conference PreprintNo. 251. Techniques for Data Handling in TacticalSystems II (Oct. 1978).

24. RADC Computer Software DevelopmentSpecification, Appendix 40.

25. Andreu. R.C. and Madnick, S.E.. Completing theRequirements Set as a Means Towards BetterDesign Frameowrks: A Follow -Up Everrise inSo%tsare Architectural Deisgn, MIT Center forInformation Systems Research (Dec. 1977).

26. Cole, B.C.."The Impact of LSI Microprocessors onthe Military." Electronic Warfare! Defense Elec-tronics. pp. 73-83 (July 1978).

27. Petrit7. R.I., "The Pervasive Microprocessor:Trends and Prospects." IEEE Spectrum, pp. 18-24(July 1977).

28. Akoka, J., Centralization versus Decentralizationof Information Systems: A Critical Survey andAnnotated Bibliography. CISR #36. MIT Centerfor Information Systems Research (Nov. 1977).

29. Joseph. E.E., "Distributed Function ComputerSystems: Innovative Trends," Digest of Papers.COM PCON (1974).

30. Blanc. R.P., "Network Configuration andVocabulary," Computer Networks: A Tutorial.IEEE (1976).

31. Anderson. G.A. and Jensen, E.D.. "ComputerInterconnection Structures: Taxonomy.Characteristics, and Examples." ACM ComputingSurvey, pp. 197-213 (Dec. 1975).

32. Bawden, A., Greenblatt, R., Holloway, J.. KnightT.. Moon. D., and Weinreb, D.. LISP MarlProgress Report, MIT Artificial IntelligenceLaboratory (Aug. 1977).

33. Winston, P. H., Artificial Intelligence. Addison-Wesley, Reading. Mass. (1977).

tion, development, and manufac-turing. To make this wealth oftechnical information accessible tothe engineers, the Twenty-five YearIndex to the RCA Engineer has beenpublished.

The index can help you find specificinformation that is needed in yourwork. Or the index might provice avital contact in another RCAbusiness who has related ex-perience and who would be willingto consult with you. The index gives

Ben Tindall joined RCA in 1977 as Manager,Advanced Systems Technology in the Ad-vanced Programs Development group. Hisprincipal activities have been related tomilitary command and control andoperations/missions analysis.Contact him at:Government Systems DivisionCherry Hill, N.J.TACNET: 222-6328

34. Donovan. J.J. and Jacoby, J.D.. t irtual MachineCommunication /or the Implementation of Decision Support Systems. C1ST 28, MIT Center forInformation Systems Research (Dec. 1976).

you the opportunity to profit fromRCA's technical heritage, to reuseknowledge, and to build on pastaccomplishments.

The Twenty-five Year Index to theRCA Engineer is available, in limitedquantities, at all RCA technicallibraries. Recipients of the RCAEngineer can obtain their personalcopies by writing to:RCA EngineerBuilding 204-2Cherry Hill, NJ 08358

20 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

M.H.Burmeister

RCA PRICE Systemthe engineer's flexible tool

Programmed Review of Information for Costing and Evalua-tion (PRICE) means more cost-effective engineering.

Abstract: Ihe PRICE System, fourparametric cost -estimating models offeredby RCA, provide the cost estimation es-sential to the successful development of anew product.

What is PRICE?

PRICE is an acronym for ProgrammedReview of Information for Costing andEvaluation. The PRICE System is a uni-versal family of four parametric cost -estimating models for use in the militaryand commercial environment.

PR ICE was first developed in 1962 as anRCA in-house model. It is used in es-timating engineering and manufacturingcosts for electronic, mechanical andelectro-mechanical items or entire systemswhile they are still in the conceptual stage,and also as the program progressesthrough the development and productionstages. PRICE Lisa Life -Cycle model thattakes data from the basic PRICEHardware model and computes supportcosts. PRICE S uses the PRICEparametric modeling methods to estimatesoftware costs through design, coding andintegration and testing. A new Software -Life -Cycle model, PRICE SL, has justbeen developed to provide cost estimatesthrough the life of a program.

Cost estimation, especially in the con-ceptual stage, is essential to the successfuldevelopment of a new product. Based on

Reprint RE -26-5-4Final manuscript received March 5. 1981

accurate cost estimation, management canmake decisions on whether to proceed,alter or cancel a product or program.Accurate front-end cost analysis, based onthe proposed design, allows changes inparameters prior to finishing the systemdesign criteria, and it can be done in far lesstime than conventional methods. Table 1shows an example of man-hours that canbe saved by estimating the cost of a projectwith PRICE.

Who uses PRICE?

Since August 1975, PRICE has beenavailable to outside corporations on a

contractual basis. All of the models areaccessed through commercial time-sharingcomputer networks. Twenty-seven of thetop 50 defense contractors subscribe to thePRICE models. The Army, Navy, AirForce. NASA, other government agencies,and some European governmental andindustrial organizations are also users. Asthe Department of Defense and theGeneral Accounting Office adopt a multi-year contracting principle, the ability tocorrectly price a product and determine theoptimal production schedules becomes asignificant part of a proposal. Trade-offsand their economic ramifications can beidentified early, and cost-effective changes

Table I. Typical resources needed to estimate the costs of an avionics system containing 20subsystems.

A. Secure descriptive information(scope of work)

B. Select and analyze comparativecost experiences. (forestimating purposes)

C. Adjust historic cost data fordifferences in scope of work,technology, economics, resources,scheduling, tooling, etc.

D. Develop the estimate includingpotential engineering changes,schedule factors, etc.,through assembly and test

Total for basic estimate

With Withconventional methods parametric models

160 man-hours

40 man-hours

80 man-hours

400 man-hours

24 man-hours

8 man-hours

Included in Bby automated models

8 man-hours

680 man-hours 40 man-hours

Perform Sensitivity Analyses andTechnology Trade-offs.

200-400 man-hoursif done, but timeseldom permits

1-8 man-hours

RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981 21

Table II. Applications of PRICE.

Evaluations of bids and proposals Design -to -Unit -Production -Cost

analysis

Estimates of cost to complete Bid preparation and submittal Estimates of cost to modify "Should" cost analysis Bid, no -bid decisions Long-range planning Procurement planning Cross-checking of design concepts Microelectronic cost estimating Application to life -cycle cost analysis Design cost trade-offs analysis

determined. PRICE is a proven system formeeting those requirements. Table II out-lines those and other PRICE applications.

PRICE methodology

Many parametric cost models existthroughout industry and governmentagencies. Each is designed to cover aspecific range of products or systems, andrequires its sets of unique inputs (includingperformance features, technologies, andquantities). Many models are requiredbecause different systems have differentcost -significant characteristics that requireunique mathematical regressions toquantify the costs.

PRICE was formulated as a universalsystem to generate appropriate products orsystems, and is the only system widelyaccepted in the marketplace.

The method used in PRICE to model theestimating procedure is parametric.Therefore, when the model calculates acost for manufacturing, it does not use aparts list and labor resource chart, butrather a parametric representation of theeffects of parts, labor, and maintenancecosts. Parametric methods are common inmany businesses. Real-estate and taxassessments are regularly derived fromparametric estimates of property values.The number of rooms, type of constructionand even the zip code of a home areparameters used to estimate real value.

The fundamental characteristic of theparametric inputs is that of direct andindirect interrelationship with other inputsand outputs. A change in any oneparameter is usually not localized in onecost element, but rather. may have a directeffect on some cost elements, and an

indirect effect on many more. For example,consider the impact of a change in quanti-ty. Certainly this would cause a change inmanufacturing cost. But, it might alsoaffect the fabrication process and, hence,the cost of tooling. In addition, a change inquantity would probably have a scheduleeffect and so the cost due to escalationwould differ. A filtered impact on integra-tion and testing, sustaining engineeringand project management, would almostcertainly result from a change in quantity.This dynamic effect is characteristic ofmost input variables.

The PRICE model contains thousandsof mathematical equations relating theinput variables to cost. Each specific set ofinput parameters uniquely defines thehardware for cost modeling. The resultantcost output is determined from themathematical equations alone. PRICE,therefore, does not perform the function ofa table look -up model.

PRICE has been designed to estimatecosts with a minimal amount of hardwareinformation. This feature makes it a usefultool for cost estimation of programs in theconceptual stage of development, since themodel uses its internally generated valuesfor any missing input variables.

Of course, it is always preferable for thePRICE user to supply the inputs, whentheir values are known, to reduce thestatistical uncertainty of the parametricmodel. A description of the genericparametric inputs used in PRICE is givenin Table III. A sample PRICE input sheetis shown in Fig. 1.

PRICE System description

The PRICE System consists of fourmodels. The basic PRICE Model reliablyestimates system acquisition costs basedupon: physical parameters such as quanti-

Filename:Shoat of

0_._0--n

Input DataWorksheet Basic Modes_I

'PRICE 84 This must be used only as the first line of the file ,

Tide' NAN, i GAT tole Sys. Wt. -SPEC (stwfasAltO Cush) D''' Nov. 12,1919

General A

.........Quanta, Protetvoes 1.196, 116V Volume 1.0,

CIT V PROTOS WI VOL MOCK

25o 10 1 1 3 2.5 I

General e

Own., EN., NBA Intprallon Fetters Speedocovan 'V OW Oi V OW 7 'PO 41'

H,,P Auernbiv I Halton.< Strucivtai L..1 Emman, TecItnology

01,NHA INTEGE ...EEGS PLTFM `IMMO% VRTECH

i 1.0 / 0 /.8

Mechanical,Structura l

s..... Menulamome P0* 0.4.1 EIT.O.B.1 MockarvulWeght Cemple..v S l/PPNI CIANdwaton RollaBlar

Ws IAMBS NEWSY DE SRPS MEC ID /ABEL

G ct 5G .7 2

Electronics

,......... MormImBovis Now Devlin Eauyonpol 1101von.PIE.61/113 CorTNEMdy (H.1Bn.. FINN. CImaIweon N.I..681.4v

PIECE BIM BE NEWEL MS.( CMPID EBEL

45 7 , 4

DIBIEtIODMODE

........... In Pr e..... DewHop....... Enernm. one TeohnE 6 Rawer..Start CompHle ComBIon Coon.m..ft Tea E.* All...[STARE DEPEND °LIMO ECMPL 11 OTLGTS PROSoP

Go '79 880 (1, 8 I c

Production

Prodectoon Fres/ AHHI Proavgoon OEN Proem Tool/PIG RomfMenthSM. Delvmv ConvEIHE Facto. Tea SOP* Toehni

'START PF AD PEND CPI BILGES RATOOL

G8 I C. 584 9AdditionalData(Mode 10)

Elpa-Bonv stmetymiyoke". F rat -1.0n WINENVIO T.T. CosuSE VOL MCF 'ANGST

Notes, CONDUCT AkbOiTIAPJA.s..5Tubses To CoatiltorsittolL EFFECTOF ascALsam...6.4.4.e.T.614)A.s TM NIA,Lis:PAMIR imigELoPsvieNTA140 Peopuer114 SCPREuutS 4110 1-06611Assway CURVE.

BASIC MODES

1 UFA ITEM

2 MECHANICAL ITEM

6 MODIFIED ITEM10 DESIGN 70 COST

GC 1613 2/79 Note Inputs in shaded area are optional [nilaFig. 1. A sample PRICE input sheet for an electronic assembly developed over a two-yearperiod with production of 250 units during the three years after the development program.

22 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar Apr 1981

Table III. Fundamental parameters in thePRICE model.

Quantities of equipment to be developed,produced, modified, purchased,furnished and/or integrated and tested.

Schedules for development, production,procurement, modification, integrationand testing, including lead time for set-up,parts procurement, and redesign.

Hardware geometry consisting of size,weight of electronic and structuralelements, and electronic packaging densi-ty.

Amount of new design required andcomplexity of the development engineer-ing task.

Hardware structural and electronicdesign repeat.

Operational environment and specifica-tion requirements of the hardware.

Type and manufacturing complexity ofthe structural/ mechanical and electronicsportions of the hardware.

Fabrication process to be used forproduction.

Pertinent escalation rates and mark-upsfor General and Administrative charges,profit, IR&D, cost of money, andpurchase item handling.

Technological improvement. Yield considerations for hardware

development.

ty, size, weight, environmental specifica-tion, type of technology, and level ofintegration; and schedule parameters suchas months to first prototype, manufac-turing rate, and amount of new design(Table Ill).

PR ICE can predict costs for many alter-natives before designs and bills of materialare finalized. It is also used extensively forindependent assessment of conventionallyprepared cost estimates.

When properly applied to an organiza-tion, PRICE can accurately reflect the pastdollar -to -product relationships of thatorganization, and, thus, can provide anunbiased baseline for comparison toconventionally prepared cost estimates.When PR ICE and the conventional es-timates do not coincide, the rationalizationprocess should pinpoint the area of dis-agreement and, therefore, the area ofdeparture from past -established patterns.This may represent risk from a schedule,technical or cost standpoint, and should beclearly identified to management.

Inputs to PRICE cover a wide range ofsystems. Since all products must haveweight and size, these are used by PRICEas the principal descriptors. Electronicareas are characterized by technology,

application and packaging. Mechanicalstructures can be described in terms oftypes of material, construction anddensities. Procedures have been developedto PRICE -process situations in whichweights and sizes are not known. In thesecases, the physical characteristics aregenerated by the model. The PRICE modelcan use other inputs to estimate weight andsize if these are not known. The model willcheck for input appropriateness and warnthe user if an input value is "out of line."

PRICE outputs

PRICE generates costs for the develop-ment and production phases. Outputs arecategorized by such elements as Drafting,Design, Project Management, Prototype,and Special Tools and Test Equipment.PRICE can also develop an engineering

schedule or measure the reasonableness ofan input schedule. Variations ofparameters such as physical features, com-ponents. percentage of new design, andreliability ( MTBF), can be quicklyassessed. Integration and test costs for bothengineering and production can bedeveloped by PR ICE at any level of thework breakdown structure.

PR ICE has provisions to include thecosts for G FE and purchased items. Itevaluates the cost of testing, modification(if necessary), and integration and test withother equipments.

Figure 2 shows a PRICE output for acost study on a hypothetical military air-borne radar. The top -third of the outputlists the program inputs. The rest of thesheet includes the derived estimates.schedules, supplemental information andcost ranges.

- - PRICE 84 - - -

ELECTRONIC ITEM

DATE 31 -MAR -80 TIME 1645(800087)

NAVIGATION SYSTEM MIL -SPEC (STANDARD RUN)

FILENAME, ABRDR

MAR 31.1980

PRODUCTION QUANTITYPROTOTYPE QUANTITY

UNIT PROD COST 33.61

PROGRAM COST($ 1000)ENGINEERING

250 UNI T WEIGHT10.0 UNI T VOLUME

COST PROCESS FACTOR

DEVELOPMENT

113.002.50

0 MONTHLY

PRODUCTION

MODE I

QUANTITY/NHA

PROD RATE 11.49

TOTAL COST

DRIFTING 159. 32. 191.DESIGN 587. 96. 683.SYSTEMS 98. 98.PROJECT MGMT 165. 562. 727.DATA 47. 119. 166.

SUBTOTAL(ENG) 1056. 809. 1865.

MANUFACTURINGPRODUCTION 8403. 8403.PROTOTYPE 973. 973.TOOL -TEST EQ 98. 125. 223.

SUBTOTAL(MFG) 1071. 8528. 9598.

TOTAL COST 2127. 9337. 11464.

DESIGN FACTORS ELECTRONIC MECHANICAL PRODUCT DESCRIPTORSWEIGHT 53.000 60.000 ENGINEERING COMPLEXITY 1.221DENSITY 45.000 24.000 PROTOTYPE SUPPORT 1.0MFG. COMPLEXITY 7.900 5.600 PROTO SCHEDULE FACTOR 0.250NEW DESIGN 0.300 0.700 ELECT VOL FRACTION 0.471DESIGN REPEAT 0.400 0.200 PLATFORM 1.8EQUIPMENT CLASS YEAR OF TECHNOLOGY 1979ENGINEERING CHANGES 0.045 0.014 RELIABILITY FACTOR 1.0INTEGRATION LEVEL 1.0 1.0 MTBF(FIELD) 121

SCHEDULE START FIRST ITEM FINISHDEVELOPMENT JUN 79 ( 15) AUG 80 ( 10) JUN 81 ( 25)PRODUCTION JUN 81 ( 14) JUL 82 ( 22) MAY 84 ( 36)

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATIONYEAR OF ECONOMICS 1979 TOOLING i PROCESS FACTORSESCALATION 0.0 DEVELOPMENT TOOLING 1.0'T-1 COST 74.11 PRODUCTION TOOLING 1.0AMORTIZED UNIT COST 37.35m RATE TOOLING 0

DEV COST MULTIPLIER 1.00' PRICE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR 0.900PROD COST MULTIPLIER 1.00 UNIT LEARNING CURVE 0.884

COST RANGESFROMCENTERTO

DEVELOPMENT1874.2127.2489.

PRODUCTION8123.9337.10999.

TOTAL COST9997.

11464.13488.

Pg. 2. The actual PRICE output resulting from the sample input previously shown.

Burmeister: RCA PRICE System -the engineer's flexible tool 23

Design -to -cost

[here is a mode of PRICE which is adesign -to -cost procedure. The target cost,quantities, product class, and level oftechnology are entered as inputs. Outputsinclude design limits. If the design is held tothe PRICE -derived limits, there is a goodchance that the cost target will be met.

Product calibrationSuccessful use of PRICE is predicated oneach user's calibration of the model and theresulting adaptation to his particular lineof equipment. With the continued increasein the use of PRICE on varied productsthroughout the world, one fact becomesevident: PRICE is applicable to a diverserange of equipment and situations.

Calibration can be accomplished byusing an organization's past projects toprovide a technical and cost -historicalbasis as inputs to PRICE. From thishistorical information, PRICE can deriveempirical scalar values which relate anorganization's past performance to itsproducts and costs. Several past projects ineach product line can accuratelycharacterize an organization and itsproducts, and the derived scalar values,with new product descriptors, can then beused to estimate "should -cost" values fornew projects.

Considering the variety of situationspresented by the different electro-mechanical hardware in the world, it is

really no surprise that a cost -estimatingmodel should need "fine tuning." In fact,one would have to be suspicious of a modelthat could not be calibrated. Consider thedifferences between methods used tofabricate microprocessors and laser optics.The technology used for design andproduction of some microprocessors is tothe point where they are practicallystamped out on an assembly line. Scientificcalculators, initially selling for $250 nowretail for as little as $25. On the other hand,high-grade laser optics are still being madeone at a time with considerable amounts ofmanual labor to grind the optics to precisespecifications. These two products repre-sent different situations requiring differentadaptations of PRICE.

The PRICE L model

The PRICE Life -Cycle -Cost(PRICE L) is a method forcomputing -support costs for

Modelrapidly

many

varieties of systems. PRICE L operates inconjunction with the basic PRICE model,and offers many advantages not availablefrom other life -cycle -cost models.

The PR ICE L model was designed tosignificantly reduce the effort required inpreparing life -cycle -cost estimates. PRICEL's user inputs can be limited to factors forthe equipment's employment, deployment,and levels of support capability, equipmentand maintenance locations, and totalnumber of years to be considered. Allhardware inputs are developed by thePRICE model. PRICE L is exercised inconjunction with the PRICE modelthrough an on-line interactive computerterminal. Response is within minutes,permitting rapid evaluation and sensitivityanalysis. PRICE L cost ouputs, depicted inFig. 3, have been human -engineered so thatthey can be read and understood withouttechnical interpretations. These outputsare, as shown in Fig. 3, grouped underProgram Cost, Development, Production,Support, and then totalled. Additionally,

the Operational Availability andReadiness are outputs leading to a cost-effectiveness list. As a run is completed, it iseasy to check it, and changing parametersto test for desired variations is easy becausethe input parameters are shown at the topof the sheet.

Many life -cycle -cost models require aninordinate amount of time to develop orprepare their inputs. Typically, "batch"computer methods are used, which aretime-consuming, and serve to inhibitsensitivity analysis. The typical life -cycle -

cost model computer outputs are alsocomplex. In many cases, trainedtechnicians must interpret the outputsbefore they can be analyzed by the programmanagers.

Automatic inputprovided by PRICE

During the use of the PRICE model, theuser may request the system to generate a

PRICE LIFE CYCLE COST

POWER AMP

INPUT FILENAME' CRADRDEPLOYMENT FILENAME' AMPLE/

MTBFRATIO (I)

554 MTTR-LRU1.00 -MODULE

MAINTENANCE CONCEPT 10REPLACE PARTS AT ORGANIZATION.

PROGRAM COSTEQUIPMENTSUPPORT EQUIPMENTSUPPLYSUPPLY ADMIN.MANPOWERCONTRACTOR SUPPORTOTHER

TOTAL COST

PRICE L2 03/20/80

GLOBAL FILENAME'CONCEPT FILENAME'CHANGES FILENAME.

1.5 MOD TYPES/LRU 31 LRUS/EQUIP 23.0 PART TYPES/LRU 141 LRU FAIL ALLOW 0

DEVELOPMENT77911.10

1111

N NW

PRODUCTION SUPPORT TOTAL12317 44. 130962047 3071 51181130 1252 2382

7 106 113*MIN 816 816UN o 0

o NUNI I

779 15501 5246 21526

OPERATIONAL AVAILABILITY 0.9893

SUPPORT EQUIPMENT ORGNUMBER OF SETS 15UTILIZATION 8.273LOAD FACTOR 0.414

SUPPLY UNITSINITIALBALANCE CONSUMED 0.0

COST EFFECTIVENESS LIST (8)

1o.

14.21.26.

100117146194256

23.5.

11.3=

15=

108125151196278

7.9.

12.28'20.

ITO127156197

1105

OPERATIONAL READINESS 0.9893

INT0

0.00.0

DEPOT0

0.00.0

MODULES/TYPE PARTS/TYPE0 41

0.0 39.363

6= III17. 1371S. 16022. 2021. 1333

25= 11427. 14116= 17219. 217

24. 11518. 1422. 1864= 218

COSTMCNO.

AND READINESTOTALCOST

TABLEPNL.EADI.

MCNO.

TOTALCOST

PNL.EADI.

MCNO.

TOTALCOST

PNL.EADI.

228248 .7868 11 32831 .9996 20 202545 .84242 39929 .9893 12 33997 .9996 21 41680 .98853 41634 .9763 13 34843 .9996 22 42510 .9652

42581 .8973 14 31761 .9996 23 23258 .98855 26863 .9893 15 56695 .9386 24 24691 .98856 23855 .9893 16 37353 .9996 25 24009 .96517 23325 .9763 17 29401 .9893 26 54103 .97198 24757 .9763 18 30260 .9763 27 30236 .9885

24743 .8970 19 44366 .9383 28 41560 .971810 21526 .9893

Fig. 3. PRICE L has selected the most cost-effective maintenance concept for one theater ofoperation in this example.

24 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar.; Apr 1981

DEPLOYMENT

AND

EMPLOYMENT

DATA

PRICE

INPUT

FILE

CUSTOMMAINTENANCE

POLICIES

PRICE ID

PRICE

DEPLOYMENT

FILE

PRICE

'PT OUTPUT

MCMIX?

PRICE L

INPUT

FILE

USE R

MODIFICATIONS

CONCEPT

FILE B

CUSTOM

PROGRAM

CONSTANTS

PRICE L

VARIATIONSFOR

SENSITIVITYANALYSIS

PRICE L

OUTPUT

Fig. 4. This block diagram illustrates the relationship of PRICE to PRICE L, and depicts the general ca egory of input and outputdata in both models.

life -cycle -cost (LC) data file consisting ofvirtually all the required life -cycle -costvariable inputs. Alternatively, a user cancreate a PRICE L data file directly, if hewishes to input the governing parameters.He may also modify the PRICE -generateddata before or during the life -cycle -costexercise. Figure 4 illustrates the data flow.

Values developed by PRICE for input toPRICE L include:

Number of module types and part typesand the weight, volume, and cost ofmodules and parts;

Development and production costs andschedules;

MTBF and MTTR for all repairableassemblies; and

Costs of test equipment.

In addition, PRICE L incorporatesmany Global values that, although seldomvarying between projects, can be readilychanged to represent various servicemaintenance and supply organizations.

Three theaters of operation

In the Vietnam era, the Air Force had B -52s deployed in the U.S. and Europe, aswell as southeast Asia. Each of thesetheaters of operation required that a

different scenario be drawn to model thelife -cycle -cost factors involved. For exam-ple, MTBF is undoubtedly different for thesame equipment in each theater. Equip-ment operating time, number of unitsdeployed, required operational readiness,supply -line times, repair turnaround timeand countless other factors could be

different in each heater. PRICE L isunique in its capability to handle up tothree scenarios simultaneously.

Three theaters of deployment andspecification of equipment deploymentand employment capability permit moreaccurate modeling of Navy deploymentson carriers and naval air stations; Armyand Air Force overseas depots sendingwork back to CON US depots; and forcelevels for each year, and planned levels ofoperation for each year. This also applies

to civilian firms, say oil companies withdrilling rigs deployed all over the world.

Design to LCCOne major advantage of thePRICE/ PRICE L method is its ability torapidly assess the life -cycle -cost effects ofdesign changes, while the hardware is stillin the concept development stages.

When known, costs for training, fieldinstallation and test -site preparation andoperations, software, and energy can be"thru-putted" to be included in the LCCtotals.

Twenty-eight standardmaintenance concepts

A unique feature of the PRICE L model isthe use of 28 built-in standard maintenanceconcepts that can be examined by the userduring a single run. The model willdetermine and print out the most cost-effective support configuration, accom-

Burmeister: RCA PRICE System-the engineer's flexible tool 25

panied by an assessment of the relativecost-effectiveness of the other candidateconfigurations. Specific maintenance con-cepts may be dictated by the user as well. Inaddition to the 28 standard maintenanceconcepts, users can specify hybrid conceptsas combinations of the 28 standard ones.The PRICE L model can therefore be usedto determine cost-effective support con-figurations, when such trade-offs are ap-propriate.

What does PRICE S do?

PRICE S derives and displays projectedcosts of software for each of three develop-ment phases: Design, Implementation, andTest and Integration.

In addition to costs, the model computestypical schedules for the size, type anddifficulty of the project described. Ifdesired, manpower and scheduling con-straints that apply to the software develop-ment effort can be specified. The conse-quences of these constraints are examinedinternally, and costs are adjusted to ac-count for apparent accelerations, stretch -outs and phase -transition inefficiencies.

Four modes of operation are available:Normal Operation, Resource Calibration,Application Calibration and Design -to -Cost.

The Normal mode is the one used todevelop estimates for new software pro-jects. In this mode, project descriptors andcalibrated parametric values are combinedwith economic and technological growthfactors to produce cost and schedule es-timates. The Normal mode is supported bytwo optional sensitivity analyses. Figures 5and 6 illustrate these analyses.

Two Calibration modes instruct PRICES to run "in reverse" to calculate empiricalfactors from historical costs. The Calibra-tion modes are tools enabling an estimatorto quantitatively organize and describereal -world experience in a systematic waythat permits extrapolation to new softwaredevelopment projects.

The Design -to -Cost mode uses specifiedtarget costs to compute typical programsizes and schedules consistent with givencost constraints. This mode permitsPRICE S to be applied to investigatefeasibilities and to set scope -of -work goalswhen faced with limits on total resourcesand allowable expenditures.

All four modes are supported byoptional reports that summarize the pro-jected monthly status and the cost conse-quences of inefficiencies induced byresource and schedule constraints.

- -- PRICE SOFTWARE MODEL ---

SAMPLE CASECOSTS IN INFLATED DOLLARS/1000

1.150

SENSITIVITY DATA(RESOURCE - COMPLEXITY)

COMPLEXITY

1.250

COMMAND i CONTROL

1.350

COST 1495. ! COST 1695. COST 1974.

MONTHS 18.0 : MONTHS 18.0 MONTHS3.400

18.0R

E

S : :

0 COST 1563. :: COST 1775. :: COST 2076.!U 3.500 :

R : MONTHS 18.0 :: MONTHS 18.0 :: MONTHS 18.0!C

E

COST 1632.

O

1864. COST 2173.3.600 :

MONTHS 18.0 MCONSTTHS 18.0 MONTHS 18.0

Fig. 5. This is an optional output of PRICE S which shows a sensitivity analysis of twoimportant variables.

- -- PRICE SOFTWARE MODEL ---

SAMPLE CASECOSTS IN INFLATED DOLLARS/1000

COMMAND & CONTROL

SENSITIVITY DATA(APPLICATION - INSTRUCTIONS)

INSTRUCTIONS

32400 36000 39600

COST 1523.5.199

A MONTHS 18.0P

P

I COST 1557.C 5.299A MONTHS 18.0

0N COST 1591.

5.399 :

MONTHS 18.0

COST 1734. COST 1985.

MONTHS 18.0' MONTHS 18.0

COST 1775.

MONTHS

COST 2035.

18.0 :, MONTHS 18.0

COST 1817. COST 2084.

MONTHS 18.0 MONTHS 18.0 :

Fig. 6. Another optional output of PRICES. The standard output format of PRICE S is similarto PRICE and PRICE L.

Because the interactive procedures ofPR ICE S permit rapid analyses, manyalternative conditions can be quicklyassessed.

PRICE SLPRICE SL is the most recent addition tothe PRICE family of parametric cost -estimating models. The new model is

designed to provide life -cycle -cost es-

timates for customers using the PRICE Ssoftware model.

Life -cycle costs occur after a softwarepackage has been developed, tested and putto use. These costs include:

Repairing defects missed in testing; Making changes needed to improve

operating efficiency; Adding capabilities and features that

were not included in the originalspecifications.

26 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

The ISPA News

This professional journal ispublished by the InternationalSociety o4 Parametric Analysts.ISPA is a professional organiza-tion origirally started by a groupof PRICE users and now con-sists of approximately 600parametric analysts. The major-ity of the ISPA members are RCAPRICE Jsers.

Limited quantities of thisquarterly publication areavailable to readers of the RCAEngineer.

PRICE SL receives most of its inputsfrom a computer run of the basic PRICE Smodel, with some additional inputs todefine the support activity. As with otherPRICE models, SL can be made to match aparticular customer's needs by varying itsgrowth, enhancement and maintenancelevels. The only other inputs needed are theyears of support required and the numberof systems installations.

RCA engineer PRICE use

PRICE is available to all PRICE -trainedengineers researching and developing anynew product. Using PRICE, you candetermine the most cost-efficient way toproceed and still meet the specificationrequirements. You can quickly and easilytry out alternative designs, materials, andcomplexities to determine what is best.

You can plan the production runs toinclude start -to -end timing based onquantities desired. This also allows you todetermine the most economicaltechnology. The average cost to RCA per

Mark Burmeister is the Director of RCAPRICE Systems. As Manager of operations.Mr. Burmeister was one of the founders ofthe PRICE organization in 1975. He laterbecame Manager of PRICE Operations andMarketing. the position he held until hisJune 1980 appointment as Director. Prior tothe formal organization of PRICE Systemsas a separate business unit, he worked withthe inventor of PRICE, Mr. Frank R. Freiman,in the first practical applications of thePRICE model. These applications servedNASA and the U.S. Air Force in the SpaceShuttle and B-1 programs.

From 1961 to 1971, Mr. Burmeister servedin the Program Management Office onseveral major programs at RCA inBurlington, Massachusetts. From 1955 to1961, he had various assignmentsthroughout the United States with the RCAService Company.

He was recipient of the 1970 David SarnoffMedal for APOLLO Lunar Module efforts.

Contact him at:RCA PRICE SystemsCherry Hill, N.J.TACNET: 222-4123

PRICE run is minimal compared to con-ventional cost estimation.

PRICE training

Over 100 RCA personnel have been trainedin the PRICE System. Engineers desiringto be PRICE -trained must attend coursesgiven at Cherry Hill, New Jersey. PRICEoffers a two-week Hardware class, a one -week Life -Cycle class and a one -weekSoftware class. Each attendee receives acomplete set of reference material.Trainees learn how to develop theparametric data, and how to correct erraticinputs. Requests to be trained and to usethe PRICE System should be clearedthrough your supervisor. Then call Ms.

Geri Devlin, (609) 338-5215, PRICEMarketing, for enrollment details.

PRICE-an engineer'sflexible tooll'RICE's flexibility, speed and economicaluse are available to RCA engineers whoneed it. Its accuracy can be determined byrunning the appropriate model, getting theestimated data and then comparing it to theactual results. Since so much of industry,especially our competitors, are PRICEusers, it behooves all of us to use it forpricing our proposals.

PR ICE is a viable, growing system. GivePRICE a call.

Burmeister: RCA PRICE System-the engineer's flexible tool 27

R.E.Steinmeyer

Software from CISS

for the

engineering community

An extensive, varied software menu, fast efficient andeconomical service at two locations, and customer servicefacilities ensure that Corporate Information Systems andServices (CISS) aids the RCA business and scientific com-munity.

Abstract: The author lists C'/SS softwareprograms and programming languages fortelecommunications and computerservices; engineering; math libraries;plotting utilities; data management andmanagement. CISS training is alsoavailable.

As today's pressures on the engineerbecome increasingly severe, the challenge isusually to make the product - satellite,radar, TV camera, LSI circuit - stronger,lighter and more efficient. At the sametime, the engineer's productivity comesunder even closer scrutiny.

At Corporate Information Systems and

Reprint RE -26-5-5Final manuscript received March 3. 1981

Services (CISS), we are aware of theseproblems. We offer to help you to a bettersolution - in a shorter time - at a moreeffective price, with data processingcapabilities (or facilities) to enhance theproductivity of the engineer.

The forerunner of CISS was formed in1975 to service the major operating units ofRCA in the area of information processing.The organization was a result of theCorporate Computer Study, whichrecommended that RCA take advantage ofthe economy of scale resulting from thepooling of computer equipment andrelated resources. As a result of thatrecommendation, a shared -computerfacility was created in Cherry Hill toprovide cost-effective computer service tothe RCA business and scientific com-munities.

The Corporate Computer Centerpresently operates two sites - one inCherry Hill, New Jersey, and the other inSomerville, New Jersey. The presenthardware configuration includes threeIBM 370 I 68s, one IBM 3033, an IBM3032 and two Univac 90/80 processors.The two centers operate around the clock,seven days a week and can pass data toeither site through the communicationnetwork (see Fig. I). The IBM computersmake use of both the Virtual MachineFacility/ 370 (V M 370) and the MultipleVirtual Storage ( M VS) operating systems.The V M operating system is primarily usedfor time-sharing using the ConversationalMonitor System (CMS). The MVSsystems are used for batch, Time -SharingOption (TSO) and Customer InformationControl System (CICS) processing.

28 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Engineering

CSDP, the COSMAC SoftwareDevelopment Package, consists of across -assembler, a COSMACsimulator, and symbolic debuggingfacilities which provide anaugmented means for developingand proving out programs to beused on COSMAC-based systems.A prime advantage of this system isthat is saves considerable programdevelopment time because of thesupport provided by the time-sharing system in file management,storage, editing, and the like, andthe support provided by the CSDP,its quick cross -assembler, its error -checking simulation, and its power-ful debugging facilities. In addition,CSDP permits the use of extendedmnemonics and D -sequences,the rapid incorporation of changesin system specifications.

Programs developed with the lidof CSDP can be transferred to ahardware system such as CDS arthe COSMAC Evaluation Kit forfinal system checkout.

CSDP was developed at RCA

SOMERVILLE, N J

Solid StateDivision in Somerville,New Jersey.

CSMP III. the Continuous SystemModeling Program, allows a digitalsimulatioi of continuous prccessesfrom morels prepared directly fromblock diagrams or ordinarydifferential equations.

DYNA3 is a large finite -elementstructural analysis programdeveloped by RCA Missile andSurface Radar. It incorporatesmuch of the experience gained in 10years of work with finite -elementprograms from various sources.The program has all of the basiccapabilities of comparable com-mercial programs and also fulfillsthe specific needs of MSR static anddynamic structural analysis tasks.Its advantages over commercialprograms are its convenient formatand its adaptability to the te-quiremeits of a specific jot.DYNAQ is the interactive versionof this program.

DYNA3 is maintained and im-proved by its principal users, and in

9600 BPS

IBM COMTEN

370,168 FRONT ENDPROCESSOR

IBM370/168

IBM370. 168

CDQ_

OD

cDrn

IBM3032

IBM3033N

COMTENFRONT ENDPROCESSOR

L_CHERRY HILL. N.J.

Fig. 1. Geographically dispersed customers can gain access to the IBM Computer Networkthrough the COMTEN nodes.

CHINA AND MAYLASIASERVICES FOR

TIMESHARINGONLINE SYSTEMSREMOTE JOB ENTRY

COMTENREMOTEPROCESSOR

BRUSSELSBELGIUM

PRINCETON. N J

FORTIMESHARINGONLINE SYSTEMSREMOTE JOB ENTRY

(2) 9600 BPS

COMTENREMOTECONCENTRATOR

U)cL00

0a)

COMTENREMOTECONCENTRATOR

SUNBURY. U.K.(LONDON)

the coarse of performing specialtasks, they incorporated manylabor-;aving routines not foundelsewl-ere. It has a very powerfuldynamics section that incLidessteady state, 3-D shock and randominputs. Its static section permits theanalysis of various loads: line, area,spin, sway and g loads. A wind andice load routine and a procedure fortherncl analysis have beet incor-porated to greatly simplify the inputeffort

MIMIC is an interactive logicsimulition program used for logic -design verification and test -patterngeneration of large logic nets. Theuser specifies run options via aninteractive command language.Netwz.rk description is also used togenerate artwork for LSI chips.MIMIC is available on CMS.

MOTHA , a general programwritten in FORTRAN IVdevebped by RCA Missile andSurface Radar, solves flow or ther-mal 7ietworks consisting 3f up to

Backup is provided in the case of anymachine malfunctions or in the case of adisaster at either site.

The three IBM computers in Cherry Hillshare five drum units and 150 disk drives.They also share 32 tape units and make useof three impact printers and two 3800 laserprinting systems. The 3800 printingsystems are each capable of printing 215pages per minute.

The two IBM computers in Somervilleshare three drums, 78 disk drives and 24tape units. There are three impact printers,one 3800 printing system and a microficheunit

The Univac computers in Cherry Hillshare a drum, 22 disk drives. 12 tape drivesand three line printers. The Univac com-puters can also access the 3800 printingsystems in Cherry Hill.

The combined sites have well over 65 -billion bytes of on-line storage available.They process over 6000 batch jobs per day,print more than 400 -million lines of outputeacti month and support approximately2708 time-sharing users.

In addition to its extensive computing

Stemmeyer: Software from CISS for the engineering community 29

400 nodes and 1200 resistors. Forthermal analysis the resistors can beof the conductive, convective orradiative type, and may includeone-way flow resistors.

The program has a number ofinput and output options, the latterincluding punched -card output, aplotting tape, and a map of finaltemperatures. Multiple runs may bemade.

R -CAP is a circuit -simulationprogram that can analyze either thedc operating points, or the transientor small signal responses of bipolarand MOS transistor circuits.

capacity, CISS provides numeroussoftware packages designed to increaseproductivity. A text -processing capability,SCRIPT, has been used to significantlyreduce proposal preparation time. TheCOSM AC Software DevelopmentPackage has provided substantialreductions in development time forCOSM AC -based systems. A user-friendlystatistical package, SAS, has been used byboth design and marketing groups for datamanagement and statistical reporting. Aversatile graphics package, D1SSPLA, ispresently providing displays of user dataand. using the world mapping feature,provides maps of the continental coastlineand political boundaries in any of 15projections. Data -base managementsystems, such as FOCUS and RAMIS,have been used in areas such as qualitycontrol and research to provide rapidanalysis of data. And MEMO, used to sendand forward messages to one or more usersof the V M / 370 system, is providing im-mediate communication with London.

R -CAP uses highly efficient non-linear modeling techniques forbipolar transistors (extended Ebers-Moll) and COS/ MOS transistors(including bulk charge, channel -length modulation and bias -dependent mobility effects).

R -CAP handles networks whichcontain any of the following com-ponents: linear resistors, capacitorsand inductors, junction diodes,MOS and bipolar transistors.

R -CAP runs either batch or in-teractively on the computer. Itsfeatures are user -oriented and in-clude pre -built models for bipolarand MOS transistors, and a free -format description and componentcommand language. R -CAP wasdeveloped at RCA Solid StateTechnology Center in Somerville,New Jersey, and is supported bythat organization.

SPICE2 is a general-purposecircuit -simulation program for non-linear dc, nonlinear transient, andlinear ac analyses. Circuits maycontain resistors, capacitors, induc-tors, mutual inductors, independentvoltage and current sources, four

Anchorage and Brussels, as well asnumerous domestic locations. These, andother products discussed in this article, cansubstantially contribute to the productivityof the user.

Telecommunications andcomputer services

Corporate facility users are supported bythe Telecommunications and ComputerServices group (TACS). Through thisorganization a multitude of analytical andtechnical skills and services are available.

Within TACS, the Computer CustomerServices organization is the focal point forall customer liaison. It is set up to beresponsive to customer needs as well as toprovide support to ensure customersaisfaction. The Customer Servicesorganization provides a "hot-line"telephone number to ensure immediateresponse to customer requirements.

The Business Development organization

types of dependent sources,transmission lines, and the fourcommon semiconductor devices:diodes, BJTs, JFETs, andMOS FETs.

SPICE has built-in models forthe semiconductor devices, and theuser need specify only the pertinentmodel -parameter values. Themodel for the BJT is based on theintegral charge model of Gummeland Poon; however, if the Gummeland Poon parameters are notspecified, the model reduces to thesimpler Ebers-Moll model. In eithercase, charge storage conductancemay be included. The diode modelcan be used for either junctiondiodes or Schottky -barrier diodes.The JFET and MOSFET modelsare both based on the FET model ofShichman and Hodges.

Programming Languages

APL is an advanced interactivegeneral-purpose language whichfacilitates development of conciseprograms in a short time using well-known mathematical symbols. It is

seeks new and prospective usersthroughout the United States, Canada, andEurope. Business analysis and specialstudies provide prospective users withmeaningful financial information andanalysis of potential savings through use ofthe Corporate Computer Center.

TACS is responsible for providing thefollowing services:

Education. Education is available for thepotential user, the current user, andmanagement. During 1980, over 1100student days of education were provided.

Publications. Manuals and monthlynewsletters keep the user technicallycurrent.

Conversions. Conversion of majoroperating units to the CISS Center in-cludes evaluation, planning, developmentof conversion tools, program conversion,and project management. Also, applica-tion development and programmingmanpower contracts are available tocustomers.

30 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

particularly strong in matrixoperations. APL has a library ofprograms to aid in a very largenumber of applications.

ASSEMBLER is a low-levellanguage with a one-to-one cor-respondence of assembler -languagecommands to machine -languagecommands, thereby making it moreefficient than high-level languages.

BASIC, an interactive program-ming language, is designed for usein preparation, testing, execution,and debugging from a terminal.Data can be supplied from theprogram, the terminal, or externalfiles. The CISS version,WATERLOO BASIC, featuresvariable length names, the ability tostore programs in compiled form,"structured programming"statement -types, and a substantialnumber of built-in functions.

COBOL is a high-level languageparticularly applicable to businessapplications.

Technical Services. Technical Serb icesresolves customer questions, coordinates,and evaluates new software releases. Over50 software products are available to aidin the application of computers toscientific, engineering, and businessproblems.

Business Teleprocessing ApplicationsServices. This function supports the userin an on-line transaction -oriented en-vironment providing timely data access atuser terminals.

Telecommunications Customer Services.This group coordinates the resources ofCISS and its vendors in providingtelecommunication services to all RCAactivities.

Even though it is impossible to list all thesoftware available to the engineers withinRCA, some of the more frequently usedsoftware is described in this article. Thereare many software programs available tothe engineer which have been developed orobtained at various MOUs throughout

FLECS is an extension of theFOR I RAN language for use as aprogramming tool. It allows easierand more natural code as well asstructured programming tech-niques, such as "do while."

FORTRAN is a high-levellanguage especially useful inscientific and high-levelmathematica. applications. BothGI- and H -level compilers areavailable.

PASCAL .s a general-purposestructured programming languagedesigned for ease of learning anddiverse machine compatibility.

PL/1 is a high-level language thatcombines the features of FOR-TRAN and COBOL. It is hignlysuited to ei:hzr business or scientificapplications. and in addition af-fords the advantages of "structuredprogramming."

SPITBOL, a programminglanguage wi:h extremely powerfulstring manipulation capabilities, isa fast-compler implementation of

RCA. The Technical Services organizationis currently initiating a catalog of sharedsoftware. Contributions to the library thatare of general use to the CISS-user com-munity should be forwarded to your CISSrepresentative. Technical Services willmaintain this on-line catalog for access byall users. Your CISS representative, whomay be reached through the CustomerServices hot line (TACNET 222-6666), is agood place to start when trying to locate aparticular software package or a generaltype of software.

On these pages we present a partial list ofthe software currently running on thecomputers in Cherry Hill and/orSomerville.

Training

I o assist new users CISS offers training inthe use of their computer systems andselected software products. For a scheduleof current offerings contact your CISS

the SNOBOL-4 computerlanguage. SPITBOL is very usefulin the parsing of lines of informa-tion (strings) into their basic com-ponenm, creating complex natternsand original data types. An exampleof this is the use of SPITBOL incompiler design.

-ESTFORT is a FORTRAN in-teracti.v debug that permi:s theuser tc debug FORTRAN G Iprograms using CMS (Conver-sational Monitor System) in a con-versat onal manner. It consists of aset of subcommands that a.low youto stop and start a progra:n as itexecwes, to examine values ofvariatles, change them, trace:ransfzrs, maintain frequencies, andcontrol action for errors.

WATFIV is a programminglanguage and fast FORTRAN com-piler that has a one -pass load -and -go processor. WATFIV has stringmanipulation capabilities and isadaptable to structured program-ming techniques. WATFIV alsoprovides extensive error diagnosticsto help in debugging programs.

Customer Representative at TACNET222-6666. To register for class callTACNET 222-6400.

Classes are currently scheduled for thefollowing products:

VM/CMS APL EXEC CICS JCL IDMS SAS M VS Utilities FOCUS RAMIS BASIC . SCRIPT

Other classes will be scheduled as

necessary. Suggestions are gladly accepted.In addition to our regular training, an

overview of our hardware and softwarecapabilities is available to be given at yourlocation. If you are interested, callyour CISS customer representative atTACNET 222-6666.

Through appropriate use of the com-puter facilities offered at RCA, an engineeror scientist can improve his productivityand expand his results.

Steinmeyer: Software from CISS for the engineering community 31

Math Libraries

BMDP/BMD is a package ofstatistical and mathematicalprograms developed by UCLA.

IMSL, a library of subroutines thatare applicable to engineering com-putations and statistics, is used bypassing parameters from a callingroutine.

NAG (Numerical AlgorithmicGroup), a package of scientific sub-routines available on CMS, iswritten in FORTRAN and must beused by a calling routine that readsthe input and prints the results. TheNAG library covers such topics asquadrature, operations research,simultaneous linear equations, andmatrix manipulations.

PRSL, a library for scientific andengineering computationsdeveloped at the RCALaboratories, Princeton, NewJersey, provides FORTRAN sub-routines and functions.

SAS, the Statistical AnalysisSystem, is an easy to use statisticaland data management package withreport writing and graphing. It canhandle a range of analyses fromsimple data reduction to non-parametrics and complex mul-tivariate techniques. Theeconometrics routines give the ex-tended capability of time series andsmoothing techniques. SAS can berun in an interactive mode.

SLMATH is a collection of sub-routines developed by IBM dealingwith matrix algebra and numericalmathematics. These routines areinput-output free and can beaccessed by passing parametersfrom a calling routine.

TWODEPEP is a small, easy -to -use, finite -element program thatsolves a large class of elliptic,parabolic, and eigenvalue partialdifferential equation problems ingeneral multidimensional regions.

Plotting UtilitiesAPL*PLUS PLOT is an APL -based system containing functionsfor obtaining graphic output at theterminal. Without the need forspecial graphics equipment, the usermay control the scale, axes, limits,display size, plot -characters scaleand annotation. The user may alsochoose histogram output.

CALCOMP is a series of callableroutines which produce plots onany CALCOMP plotter using a900 -series controller.

DISSPLA, a versatile softwaresystem composed of FORTRANsubroutines, is called by the user'sprogram. These routines are used toproduce data displays for bothbusiness (bar charts, line charts,etc.) and scientific (maps, scatterdiagrams, etc.) applications.DISSPLA is device -independent. Itsupports, among others, theTektronix 4006, 4010, 4013, 4014,4025, 4027 graphics terminals, theTektronix 4662 and 4663 graphicsplotters, the Hewlett Packard 7220and 7221 graphics plotters, andvarious CALCOMP plotters. Thisis not an exhaustive list, but showsdevices that have been used on ourversion of DISSPLA.

HP PLOT/21, a series of callableFORTRAN subroutines used tocontrol plotting on the Hewlett-

Packard model -7221 plotter, isdesigned to support a wide varietyof applications, to provide a meansof writing applications without ex-tensive knowledge of the fundamen-tal disciplines of the hardware andto provide flexibility to scale, orientand draw data.

PLOT -10, the name given to aseries of graphics productsproduced by Tektronix, includesroutines to generate softwarecharacters and symbols on a displayscreen, to preview routines forCALCOMP plotters and to do ad-vanced graphing.

SAS/GRAPH is an interactivecomputer -graphics system forproducing color plots, bar charts,graphs and other displays onscreens and plotters. SAS/ GR A PHprograms are actually SASprocedures. All SAS retrieval, datamanagement, analysis and othercapabilities may be used withSAS/GRAPH. Data values are putinto SAS data sets beforeSAS/GRAPH procedures usethem.

TELL-A-GRAF is an interpretive"front-end" to DISSPLA. TELL-A-GRAF may be used by bothprogrammers and non -programmers. It provides flexibilityand ease -of -use through a system ofoverrides and options, to produceintricately tailored plots.

ZETA PLOT is a series of callableFORTRAN subroutines to controlplotting on ZETA plotter models30, 230, 1240, and 3640. Thisplotting capability is added by con-necting a ZETA plotter to aterminal and coupler.

Data Managers

FOCUS is a comprehensiveinformation -management systemincorporating the facilities of adata -base -management system with

32 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

For information regarding RCA'scomputer systems, call:

Computer Customer ServicesCherry Hill. N.J.

TACNET 222-6666(609) 338-6666

the retrieval and reporting facilitiesof a file -management system.Among its features are naturallanguage query, pie -chart and bargraphs, interface to IDMS andAPL, file encryption, and screenformatting.

IDMS is a data -base -managementsystem based on currentCO DASY L specifications. It comeswith a data dictionary capability, afull set of utilities, an on-line querylanguage, a report writer and auditsoftware. It interfaces with C1CS, aswell as with most high-levellanguages.

MARK -IV is a data -file -manipulation system that canfacilitate the programming ofalmost any business data processingproblem. It provides effectivefacilities for file and data -base crea-tion, maintenance, informationretrieval system implementationand report writing.

RAMIS is a comprehensive infor-mation management system thatincorporates the facilities of a datbase -management system with the

Ron Steinmeyer has been a member of theCISS TACS organization since 1977. He hasserved as an Account Representative for theGSD community and is presently theManager of Technical Services in CISS. Hisresponsibilities include the support of alluser -related software and the service desk(hot-line) function for Customer Services.

Contact him at:Corporate Information Systemsand ServicesCherry Hill. N.J.TACNET 222-4213

retrieval and reporting facilities of afile -management system.

Management Tools

ADRS II, A DepartmentalReporting System, is an APL -basedsystem containing functions forsetting ur, modifying, and printingcolumn -oriented managementreports. It provides a single :Om-prehensive system to assist inapplications involving dataanalysis, inquiry, and reportgeneration'.

GPSS-V is a simulation tocl formodeling and examining thebehavior of systems that aredifficult co describe mathematical-ly. Many applications have com-plex logical or procedure -orientednatures.

MEMO is a system which allowsusers of RCA's VM /370 system toexchange messages in a formatsimilar to standard businessmemoraica. Features of theMEMO system include the abilityto: Send messages to one or more

users of the VM /370 system; Send "carbon copies" to users who

would normally get them; Take tie message input from the

terminal or from a CMS file; Forward messages which you have

received to other users; and Manage the contents of your

private "mailbox."The user's end of the MEMO

syster: is the MEMO command,whicl- is entered in CMS. It isdesigned to be logical and easy touse, and to assist the user by: Enarling the user to use MEMO

effectively knowing only a smallsubset of the commands;

Pro-ipting for argumen:s whichthe user does not enter;

Prosiding assistance whenever theuser enters a question mark inrespanse to a prompt;

Allowing the user to "quit" at anytime if he feels uncomfortable; and

Ha -ding no effect on your virtualmaifine's global environment.

MIMS ( Mitrol Industrial Manage -men: System) is a system to max -

manufacturing prcfit byproOling accurate and timely in-formation for decision making andcontrol.

MSCS is a critical path programdesigned to handle planning,scheduling, and monitoring of corn-pler projects. MSCS uses eitherPD vI or ADM networks andproduces a variety of ca endar andscheduling reports.

SCFIPT/370 provides a text-proeessing capability that formatsinput files created by the CMSeditor. SCRIPT can be used toproduce letters, documents,ma -uals, proposals, and distribu-tion lists. SCRIPT is very good forproducing any document that issutiect to revisions.

Steinmeyer Software from CISS for the engineering community 33

W. ChuIR.E. Honig

On-line computerizedliterature search at RCA

Information is only as valuable as it is acces-sible. That's why RCA librarians are helpingengineers and scientists throughout the com-pany, using computer searching.

Abstract: Today's information explosionmakes it increasingly difficult to haveaccess to and search the technical literaturecovering even a single topic. Such a taskcan no longer be achieved by manualmeans, but requires the assistance of acomputer. The present article outlines theapproach taken at RCA Laboratories touse on-line computerized literaturesearching in a cost- and manpower -effective mode. The authors present anexample to illustrate how an appropriatestrategy will produce ultimate success.

Before embarking on a new project, orwriting an article, you would do well tocarry out a thorough literature search -Nobel Prizes are not handed out forreinventing the wheel. In the "old days"prior to 1976, following standard practice,you went to the library and consulted theappropriate abstracts, say ChemicalAbstracts. You first looked up the desiredsubject matter in the most recent annualand five-year cumulative indexes, thenlisted all applicable entries by number,checked out each abstract one at a time,and finally copied out the pertinent infor-mation by hand (or else lugged the 10 -pound tomes to the nearest Xeroxmachine). This procedure was painful andtime-consuming even in 1950 when thetotal number of entries amounted to a mere75,000. Compare this with a present annualharvest of about 450,000 entries, a sixfoldincrease during the past 30 years.

It is obvious that in today's world, an on-line computerized literature search is notonly desirable, but is a must. A few test

Reprint RE -26-5-6Final manuscript received Feb. 10. 1981.

runs we made recently showed convincing-ly that the system is cost- and manpower -effective, but that success or failuredepends on the initial choice of thekeywords or descriptors and any subse-quent modifications as needed. A typicalcomputer search, such as the one shown inthe "Results" section of this paper,produced 24 references printed on-line and115 references, including abstracts,ordered off-line. It took about 10 minutesto run and cost under $40, which at firstsight may appear high. But contrast this toa manual search made by a typical staffmember at a cost, including overhead, of$40/ hour - the staffer may end up withperhaps half a dozen pertinent entries inone hour, which is at least one order ofmagnitude below the computerized outputrate.

Furthermore, a manual search dependson the availability of the abstracting jour-nals, yet few libraries today can afford theconsiderable expense involved-the pre-sent annual subscription cost for ChemicalAbstracts alone amounts to $5500, and itsfive-year cumulative index sells for a cool$9,000.

Background information

Computerized literature searching has

been done for a number of years in the so-called "batch" mode, which especially in-terests those who wish to keep abreast ofcurrent technical developments. Severalorganizations offer this service on a sub-scription basis - for example, the Institutefor Scientific Information (ISI) and theAerospace Research Applications Center( ARAC). The subscriber selects ap-propriate descriptors and receives a

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periodic readout. The batch -mode systemis basically non -interactive since changescan be made at most four times per year,and is no substitute for a fully interactiveon-line search that exhaustively covers agiven topic over a specific time period. Thefully interactive search is the subject of thisarticle.

We have already mentioned some of theadvantages of the fully interactive on-linecomputerized search service. Technicalstaff members can save time. But thesystem also allows any library to functioneffectively without having to subscribe to afull complement of technical andabstracting journals.

On-line computerized literature -searching services are now available at 11RCA locations. These are listed in Table I,together with the names and phonenumbers of the librarians who are involvedin carrying out the search. If your locationdoes not yet have this facility, call DorisHutchison, Manager, Technical Informa-tion Systems, Cherry Hill, New Jersey,(TACN ET: 222-5412) for assistance.

Although interactive on-line com-puterized literature -searching systems ex-isted in the 1960s, the first computerizedsearch at RCA Laboratories was carriedout in late 1976. Of the many systemsavailable, two were selected in Princeton asthe most suitable for our technical needs -Lockheed's "DIALOG", and SystemsDevelopment Corporation's (SDC)"ORBIT." In addition, Camden andMoorestown have Defense Technical In-formation Center's (DTIC) "DROLS"(Defense Research and Development Testand Evaluation On -Line System).

Well over 100 data bases or files cover-ing all subjects are available. Some of thesehave been generated for on-line searching.

34 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Table I. RCA libraries providing computerized literature searching services.

Major operating unit Location Librarian(s) Phone

Astro-Electronics Princeton Mary Pfann 229-2247

Automated Systems Burlington Veronica Hsu 326-3322

Consumer Electronics Indianapolis -Sherman Susan Tamer 422-5925

David Sarsoff Research Princeton Wendy Chu 226-2608Center Larry Eubank 226-2609

Government Communications Camden Olive Whitehead 222-3488Systems Virginia Mattice 222-4046

Missile and Surface Radar Moorestown Natalie Mamchur 224-3394

Research Laboratories Tokyo S. Mogi

SelectaVision VideoDisc® Indianapolis -Rockville Pennie Lumley 426-3397Operations

Solid State Division Findlay John Platt 425-1502

Solid State Division Lancaster Mary Kathryn Noll 227-2220

Solid State Division Somerville Barbara McCoy 325-6017

Those of interest to technology and Engineering Index exists at Camden,business researchers are listed by name inTable 11, together with starting years andbrief descriptions. Of the top five mostimportant entries, four are available inhard -copy at Princeton, while the

Moorestown, and Burlington. But, manyof the RCA libraries do not have access toany of the indexes except through com-puter searching, which again points out itsusefulness. To date, the Princeton

Table II. Data bases or files used in computerized searching.

librarians have done a total of some 700computerized searches for 187 individuals.

Procedure

The first step in starting a computerizedsearch is to go to the library and talk to thelibrarian. The librarian may suggest yousupply a charge number and fill out a form(Fig. 1) which elicits from you the informa-tion required to formulate the appropriate"strategy." This includes the choice ofappropriate keywords, truncations, databases. and the time period to be covered.

The success or failure of any searchhinges on the proper selection and trunca-tion of keywords.

What is the most effective approach?First, identify the technical subject thesearch is to cover. Then break up thissubject into separate terms or groups ofkeywords with Boolean operators "and,""or," and "not."

Proper truncation of each keyword is

Code or name Starting year Description

CA SEARCH 1967

INSPEC 1969

SCISEARCH 1974

NTIS 1964

COMPENDEX 1970

CHEMNAME

CLAIMS/U.S. PATENTS 1971

COMPREHENSIVE DISSERTATION 1861ABSTRACTS

ENERGYLINE 1971

ISMEC 1973

METADEX 1966

NON-FERROUS METALS ABSTRACTS 1961

RAPRA ABSTRACTS 1972

SPIN 1975

SSIE CURRENT RESEARCH 1978

SURFACE COATINGS ABSTRACTS 1976

WELDASEARCH 1967

WORLD ALUMINUM ABSTRACTS 1968

AM/INFORM 1971

DISCLOSURE 1977

EIS INDUSTRIES PLANTS current

FROST & SULLIVAN DM' 1975

PREDICASTS 1971

Chemical Abstracts

Science Abstracts

Science Citation Index

Government Reports, Announcements and Index

Engineering Index

Dictionary of Chemical Substances

U.S. Science and Engineering Patents

U.S. Ph.D. dissertations, and some Canadianand foreign entries

Energy Information Abstracts

Information Service in Mechanical Engineering

Metal Abstracts Alloys Index (American Society for Metals)

(British Non -Ferrous Metals Technology Centre)

Rubber and Plastics Research Association Abstracts

Searchable Physics Information Notices (AIP)

Smithsonian Science Information Exchange

(Paint Research Association of Great Britain)

(Welding Institute, England)

(Aluminum Industry)

Business management and administration

Reports filed with U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission

Current information on U.S. industrial plants

Announcements of U.S. Government contract activities

All phases of business and marketing

Chu/Honig: On-line computerized literature search at RCA 35

David Sarnoff Research Center, Library

On -Line Literature Search

Subject. quit_ ktit- 'ta ikKeywords: (Includ synonyms and acronyms; indicate truncati s with "?' where necessary)

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INSPEC (Science Abstracts)

CA Search (Chemical Abstracts)

X COMPENDEX (Engineering Index)

SCISEARCH (Science Citation Index)

NTIS (Government Reports Announcements and Index)

Others:

Time Period Covered

All Most Recent

Search Requested by:

Approved by:

Charge to Section: , S.O. #

(Specify Years)

Date:

Fig. 1. A typical form, to be filled out after discussion with the librarian, is simple to follow.

36 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Boolean Operators

The Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT are likeintersection, union and negation in elementary settheory. These logical operators act on, or connect, twoconcepts or sets.

The OR operator enlarges the number of citationsincluded in a search. By combining concept 1 ORconcept 2 we get a set with all, and only, those citationsrelating to concept 1 or concept 2or both. This new unionset generally contains more citations than either conceptholds alone.

By combining concept 1 AND concept ewe get a set

with oily those citations relating to both concept andconcept 2 . The resultant intersection set will contain lessthan the number of citations for either concept alone.

The NOT operator also tends to diminish the numberof citations selected. Combining concept and NOTconcept 2, we get a set that contains those citationsrelating to concept 1 but not to concept 2. This is a partialnegative intersection.

Combinations of the elementary Boolean operatorscan reach any level of complexity desired.

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ChuiHonig: On-line computerized literature search at RCA 37

important because it enables you toretrieve all possible variants based on agiven root system. For example, "librar?"will include "library,""libraries,""librarian," etc. Remember to also includeall applicable synonyms and acronyms.Remember, your librarian is not a

specialist in your own field and will needyour assistance in developing the mosteffective strategy.

Once the strategy has been defined, theappropriate information is entered via aterminal into the computer. The mosteffective approach is for the requester to bepresent at the search to take full advantageof the interactive capability of the on-linesystem. A printout of the number of entries(on which cost estimates can be based) andthe first few references help determine thevalidity of the keyword choice. If the

references retrieved are not fully relevant,keywords may be added, deleted, ormodified at any stage of the run by tryingdifferent words and or combinations.Also, depending on the data base used,different limits may be imposed, such as:searching by title only; by subject headingonly; over a specific time period; in a givenlanguage; and including or excludingpatents. The volume of entries willdetermine whether the remainder of therun is done on-line (fast, but expensive) oroff-line. In the latter mode, results areavailable within a few days and, for somedata bases, can be supplied with fullabstracts. The full output should he ex-amined to establish whether furtherkeyword changes are desirable.

So far, we have discussed only searchesbased on keywords. In addition, the

following alternative access points areavailable: authors; corporate sources; jour-nal titles; and report or contract numbers.Finally, we should mention the SelectiveDissemination of Information (SDI)system which stores the search profile andupdates the file automatically.

Results

In this section. we present a typical on-linesearch (Fig. 2) with numbered calloutscovering the topic "Computer -AidedDesign of l.arge-Scale Integrated Cir-cuits." using the COM PENDEX (11 database for the period 1970 to the present (2).

When the keyword groups "Computer -

Aided Design?" (3) and "Large Scale In-tegrat?" (4). together with their acronyms.

User Comments

On several occasions I have used our library's com-puterized literature search and I found it very efficient inproducing the information I needed. Knowing theauthor's name, I could find not only the one paper I waslooking for, but also the related work that I was not awareof. Asking I had quickaccess to far more references than I could have found inbound indexes. The computerized literature search is agreat time saver and a powerful helper.

J. PankoveFellow Technical StaffRCA LaboratoriesPrinceton, N.J.

I have used the RCA Library computerized literaturesearch in my research on crystal growth and semicon-ductor lasers and have found it to be an extremelyefficient and time -saving system. Over the past years, Ihave written two review chapters on this work and haveused the search to help insure that I did not overlook anymajor paper in the field. I also have periodic searchesperformed on "Indium Gallium Arsenic Phosphorus"alloys (the material employed in our newest lasers, LEDsand photodectors) to keep up-to-date with the literature.So many articles are published on this topic that it isalmost impossible to stay current by scanning individualjournals.

G.H. OlsenMember Technical StaffRCA LaboratoriesPrinceton, N.J.

The computerized search you performed forpublications relating to (pocket) pagers turned up somefifty abstracts of recent articles. Although some were notof interest to me, as was to be expected, a few wereexactly what I had hoped to find. Your search saved meseveral hours of manual searching and covered manysources that would not have been available to me.

H. ChristoffersenDirectorPatent AnalysisPatent OperationsPrinceton, N.J.

Computer retrieval is a boon to a small library, such asours here in Japan, which does not have the largenumber of readily accessible journals found in largecentralized libraries.

E.O. JohnsonDirectorResearch Laboratories, Inc.Tokyo, Japan

During a long stay at RCA Laboratories in Princeton,New Jersey, I had the opportunity to use the DIALOGsystem for searching literature. At that time I wasentering a new field in research. Using DIALOG with aminimum effort, I could access all the basic literature toget me started. Now as I am back at the RCA Laboratoriesin Zurich, Switzerland, I can only hope that we will haveaccess to the system one day not too far in the future.

Karl KnopMember Technical StaffLaboratories RCA Ltd.Zurich, Switzerland

38 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

were entered, the computer produced 134entries (5). At this point, we decided tonarrow the search by modifying the secondgroup to "Very Large Scale Integrat?" (6)which netted 24 entries (7). These weretyped on-line (8), while off-line prints wereordered for the remainder. The on-line runtook 10 minutes and 16 seconds (10), andthe total charge amounted to 536.69 (II),which includes the off-line prints. The on-line computer output, including the firstreference printout, is reproduced in Fig. 2.One of the off-line entries, complete withabstract, is reproduced in Fig. 3.

Conclusions

On-line computerized literature searchingis a professional tool of great intrinsicvalue. Quite a few staff members do agree,as brought out by their volunteered com-ments (see sidebar). The computerizedsearch is cost- and manpower -effective andwill, when properly executed, produceliterature surveys far more complete thanthose produced by manual means. But, thesuccess of a computerized search does

10850115 Iii NO.- EI801185P10COMPUTER -AIDED CCD/LSI PHOTOMASK LAYOUT AND DOCUMENTATION

TECHNIQUE USING NESTED CELLS.Gcer. Ronald G.RSD Gear Inc Lawndale, CalifSolid State Technol v 23 n 5 May 1980 p 86-90 CODEN:

SSTEAPISSN 0038-111XA comprehensive computer -aided mask layout and documentation

technique has been developed which simplifies the conversichof Charge -Coupled Device (CCD)/LSI circuits into workingphotomasks. This flexible approach facilitates the creation ofhigh -density cell layouts through the use of a standardizednested cell building block library. It Is an efficientsolution to the unique problem of interconnecting pipelinedCCD circuitry. The nested cell concept permits the designerto quickly generate complex layouts and associateddocumentation using easily drawn symbols which can be directlydigitized into computer memory. Demonstrations have shownthat this technique reduces the overall die design time by afactor of .hree, permitting addiional time to be devoted tothe circuit design and check effort. 2 refs.DESCRIPTORS: (SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES. CHARGE COUPLED.

Computer Aided Design).CARD ALERT: 714. 723

Fig. 3. Typical off-line entry, complete with abstract.

depend critically on the instructions the puter which has a fabulous memory, but nothinking staff member gives to the corn- brain.

Rick Honig is Group Head, MaterialsCharacterization and Research, RCALaboratories. Since 1950 when he joinedRCA Laboratories, he has been engaged insolid state research, including the analysisof solids by mass spectrometry, vaporiza-tion studies of Group 4B elements and thesputtering of surfaces by low -energypositive ions. He has published over 50papers in the fields of mass spectrometry,ion physics, and ultrahigh vacuum. He hasbeen in charge of the MaterialsCharacterization Group at RCALaboratories since 1966.Contact him at:RCA LaboratoriesPrinceton. N.J.

TACNET: 226-3241

Wendy Chu is Manager, Library Services,RCA David Sarnoff Research Center. Shejoined RCA in 1974 after holding severalpositions in local, state and industriallibraries. She is a member of the AmericanLibrary Association, the Chinese AmericanLibrarians Association, and the AmericanSociety for Information Science and she ison the program committee of the SpecialLibraries Association. She was chairpersonof the Positive Action Program for MinorityGroups, Princeton/Trenton chapter.

Contact her at:RCA LaboratoriesPrinceton. N.J.

TACNET: 226-2608

Chu/Honig: On-line computerized literature search at RCA 39

H.K. Jenny

Personal computers pervadingRCA's engineering population

And within ten years, every engineer may have one to replacehis calculator.

Abstract: There is a substantial ownership of personal computersamong RCA's engineering population. Many different uses arebeing pursued, but overriding all applications appears to he theeducational aspects of familiarization with operating computerhardware and software. This report shows the types of systemsowned, their uses and some characteristics of the user population .

It also covers participation in users groups and recommendationsfor support. The growing computer literacy and its potentialeffects on RCA are touched on.

At the 1979 Advisory Board meeting of the RCA Engineer,several of the Chief Engineers, who are also Advisory Boardmembers, recommended that a determination be made as to howmany RCA engineers were involved in off -the -job personalcomputer usage. A questionnaire was inserted in the May 1980issue of TREND and, to date, 223 replies have been received. It isnot known how many owners of personal computers have notreplied. From comments received, it appears that the number ofpersonal computer owners will be growing substantially.

This report reviews the survey returns and, hopefully, will serveto "cross communicate," to help establish connections to usergroups, and to stimulate added support, recognition and use ofthe specific skills of personal computer users.

What kind of personal computers are owned?

I he answers ranged trom programmable calculators andmicrotutors to complete systems containing disks and printers.Also, some respondents own several systems. In percentage oftotal, arranged in frequency of ownership, we find:

36% RCA Cosmac VIP 5% Commodore PET20% Radio Shack TRS-80 3% Motorola 6800

Reprint RE -26-5-7Final manuscript received March 19. 1981.

=2.4.77:4

IRCR COSPIRCCOMPUTER

9% Apple II 3% Ohio Scientific C4PMF7% Kim - I 3% Heath H895% "Home Brew" 2% Digital Group, Inc.

Also, we find one or two of: T199/4, Bally, Explorer 85, Vytec1400, Southwest Tech. Products, 6502, AIM65, IntelligentSystems Corp.. Sorcerer, North Star Horizon, CDP 1 8S7II,Cromenco Z80. DATAC 1000, SOL, Altair 8800, Imsai 8080,SDK 85. Table 1 shows the distribution of personal computersreported by respondents' business unit and location.

What is the major use made of these computers?

The following responses were received in the categories offered(most respondents checked more than one):

85% for educational purposes (50% self: 35% family)70% to learn about computers64% for entertainment53% to learn about computer languages38% for scientific/ technical projects26% for home management projects17% for home controls/ security12% for small business use

This provides a fairly clear indication that learning represents aprime incentive for acquiring a personal computer.

Engineering personnel are usually rather frugal in the use oftheir time and money, and when they get involved in projects, theyare very result -oriented. There are numerous indications that theresults of the cited learning have found direct application to therespondent's job. For instance, hardware engineers have in-dicated that personal computer activity has provided them someneeded software education.

40 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

What has been achieved withpersonal computers?

It appears :hat much ol the personal computer ellort is directed atanswering the lolltming questions:

How does the computer work and hots do I operate it!. What corstitutes a system and ho do I get the pieces to work

together.'

How can I latch computers to other subsystems and systems?

What languages. from assembly to high -le\ el languages (andthere are many). can I learn?

What this means is that much learning has been achiesed inassembly. interlacing. debugging 01- equipment and workingknowledge of languages. Many respondents are proud ol their"home brew" achievements. others of their early programmingsuccesses. and yet others are into rather sophisticated systems andapplications. Here are some of the specific applications that halebeen pursued:

VIP (SSD-14: GCS -13; Labs -8: AS. Broadcast. PTD. CE -6each: MSR-4; Service Co., Staff -2 each: Americom. AE,Globcom. VideoDisc-1 each)

usic ss nth csis: teaching aid: Morse code keer: interlacing \\ ithhome heat i rg stem: Morse code teaching do ice: burglar alarm.remote I control: math problems: automotic cruise control:water sprinkler timer and /one control: home ens ironment

A display at Moorestown advertised the activities of the Microcom-puter Club of RCA. Moorestown.

monitor: word processing; use as terminal: automatic phonedialer for security system: time clock stop watch for event timelogging.

TRS-80 (MSR-8: GCS -6: AS -5: Labs. SSD-3: CE. ServiceCompany. PTD. VideoDisc-2 each: Globcom. Americom.AE. NBC. Patents, Staff -1 each)

Stock tinalsis program: regression pi ogiams: ham radio: accessto micronet time sharing system: de\ clop software lur small

Table I. Types of respondents' systems by location.

Loca ion VIPTRS80

APPLEII

Comm.PET

Ohio Mptor.Heath IMSAISci. 6E00 H98 SOL 8080

DATAC Digital1000 Altar Group KIM Other Total

Bloom. 2 2 4

Burl. 6 4 1 2 2 15

Calif 1 1

Camden 19 8 4 5 2 2 2 6 48

Cherry Hill 3 1 5

Findlay 1 1

5 4 3 1 2 1 17

Lancaster 11 3 1 2 18

Maricn 1 1 1 1 4

Mrstcwn. 4 8 1 1 1 2 4 22

Mourtain. 2 2

N.Y. 1 1 3

Princeton 8 5 3 1 1 1 1 1 22

Scrar ton 1 2

Somerville 5 1 1 1 1 9

Staff and

Others 8 5 5 1 1 4 1 2 2 4 33

206

Jenny: Personal computers pervading RCA's engineering population 41

Sampling of Popular MicrosystemsNote that all the following products are 8 -bit (single -character) machines unless otherwise indicated.

Model Standardfeatures

Price (basic Optionsconfiguration)

Vendor

ACI-90

Alpha Micro/AM -1010 Busi-ness System

APF ImaginationMachine

Apple IR

Atari 800

Commodore PETCBM 8032

Computer DevicesModel 1206

Cromemco 22H

DEC Data -system 208

Digi-LogSystem 1000

Durango F-85

Gnat -10

Heath H-89All -in -One

Hewlett-PackardHP -85

IBM Model5120

16 -bit Pascalcomputer, 64Kmain memory,2 floppy disks

16 -bit compu-ter, 64K mainmemory, 2 floppydisks

9K mainmemory, 8 -colorcrt, cassettetape deck

96K mainmemory mini -floppy 12" crt,Keyboard, interface

Main memoryexpandableto 48Kintegral keyboard

32K main memory,2 minifloppy diskdrives, 9" crt,keyboard

An intelligentportable terminalcan be used as adesk -top

64K main memoryexpandable to512K; minifloppies11M -byte disk

65K main mem-ory, crt, 2minifloppiesprinter, keyboard

32K main memory2 minifloppies,12" crt, keyboard

64K mainmemory, 2floppy disks,printer

64K main memory2 floppy disks,compl. busi-ness system

Up to 48K mainmemory, crt,keyboard, singleminifloppy

16K mainmemory, 5"crt, keyboard,printer

64K mainmemory, 2floppies12" crt

$5,695-$6,550dep. on config-uration

$12-15,000, dep.on configuration

$599

$4,240

Without periph-erals, $1,080; withperipherals, to$5,000

$1,795

$5,386 in basicconfiguration

$9,995

Under $5,000

$5,495

$11,975complete

$5,950

In kit form,$1,695; wired(from Zenith),$2,895

$3,250

From $9,340 to$23,990, dep.on memory,peripherals

Reprinted by permission from Computer Decisions. Vol. 13, No.2, February 1981, pp1981 Hayden Publishing Company

Hard disks,line printers,communications

Add') 8K mainmemory, mini -floppy -diskmodem

128K mainmemory, printer,3 add'I. mini -floppies

Crt, minifloppy

Printers,communications

Up to 4diskettes

Crt, printer,additionalhard -diskcapacity

Terminals, harddisk, addedfloppy disks,communications

64K mainmemory, add'I.communications

Hard disk

Floating-pointprocessor

2 more mini -floppy disks,printers, commu-nications

Floppy disks,32K mainmemory

Printers,built-in sortingfor files

70. 71, 74. 158. 159. 160

Associated Computer17751 Sky Park EIrvine, CA 92714(714) 557-0560

Alpha Micro Systems17881 Sky Park N.Irvine, CA 92714(714) 957-1404

APF Electronics, Inc.1501 BroadwayNew York, NY(800) 223-1264

Apple Computer, Inc.10260 Bandley Dr.Cupertino, CA 95014(408) 996-1010

Atari, Inc.1346 Bordeaux Dr.Sunnyvale, CA 94086(800) 672-1404

Commodore International950 Rittenhouse Rd.Norristown, PA 19403(215) 666-7950

Computer Devices, Inc.25 North Ave.Burlington, MA 01803(800) 225-1229

Cromemco, Inc.280 Bernardo Ave.Mountain View, CA 94043(415) 964-7400

Digital Equipment Corp.Continental Blvd.Merrimack NH 03054(603) 884-5111

Digi-Log Systems, Inc.Babylon Rd.Horsham, PA 19044(215) 672-0800

Durango Systems3003 N. 1st St.San Jose, CA 95134(408) 946-5000

Gnat Computers7895 Convoy Ct., Bldg. 6San Diego, CA 92111(714) 560-0433

Heath Co.Benton Harbor, MI49022(616) 982-3285

Hewlett-Packard Co.1000 N.E. Circle Blvd.Corvallis, OR 97330(503) 757-2000

IBM GSD4111 Northside Pkway.Atlanta, GA 30301(404) 238-3000

42 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Model Standardfeatures

Price (basic Optionsconfiguration)

Vendor

Intelligent Sys-tems Model3650

MicromationZ+

Minimax

North Star/Horizoncomputers

Ohio Scientific/ChallengerC3 -OEM

Onyx C8001

Quay 500

Radio Shack/TRS-80Model II

Sharp Micromini

Smoke Signal/Chief tan 9822

SWT

Tektronix 4052

Vector Graphics/VIP (VectorIntelligentPartner)

Xerox -Diablo3000

Wang 2200SVP

Zilog Model249

16K, mainmemory, crtwith 8 -colors,minidisk with92K memory,keyboard

65K mainmemory, 2floppy disks

108K mainmemory, 2floppy disks

64K mainmemory

48K mainmemory, 2floppy disks,integral

64K mainmemory, 10 -or 20M -bytedisk, cartridge

64K mainmemory,diskettes

64K mainmemory. 1floppy disk,crt

64K mainmemory, 2floppies, printer,crt, keyboard

32K mainmemory double -sided, 2floppy disks

56K mainmemory, 2floppy disks,crt

32K mainmemory, 11"crt, key-board

Crt, singledisk drive,integral

48K mainmemory, 2floppy disks,12" crt

32K mainmemory expand-able to 64K;diskette,crt, printer

64K mainmemory, 2floppy disks.11" crt

$2,495 complete

$5,500

$7,700

$2,700 to $4,400for basic cpu

$3,995 stripped

About $11,000

$3,000

$3,899

Under $6,000complete

$4,675 complete

$5,100

About $9.800,dep. on memoryand peripherals

$3,995 complete

$14,000-$30.000,dep. on memory,peripherals

About $6,000

$9,500 complete

Multi-usersyst., multi-processors.hard disks

Minifloppy diskshard disks, crts,printers

Hard disks,printers,terminals

Hard -diskmulti-usersystem

128K mainmemory, addi-

32M-bytehard disk

128K mainmemory,hard disk

Data-comm inter-faces, up to 64Kmain memory,plotters, printers,storage devices

Qume SprintIII printer

Printers, addedterminals, com-munications

4M -bytedisk, printergraphics ter-minal, add] disk

2 additional diskdrives, capa-bility for harddisk

Intelligent Systems Corp.225 Technology ParkNorcross, GA 30092(404) 449-5961

Micromation1620 Montgomery St.San Francisco, CA 941111415) 398-0289

Computhink, 965 W. MaudeSunnyvale, CA 94086(408) 245-4033

North Star Computers1440 Fourth St.Berkeley, CA 94710(415) 527-6950

Ohio Scientific, Inc.1333 S. Chillicothe Rd.Aurora, OH 44202(800) 321-6850

Onyx Systems, Inc.73 E. Trimble Rd.San Jose, CA 95131(408) 946-6330

Cuay Corp., P.O. Box 386Freehold, NJ 07728(201) 681-8700

Radio Shack900 2 Tandy Ctr.Fort Worth, TX 76102(800) 433-1679

Sharp Electronics Corp.10 Keystone Pl.Paramus, NJ 07652(201) 265-5600

Smoke Signal3'336 Via ColinasWestlake Village, CA 91362(213) 889-9340

Southwest Technical219 W. RhapsodySan Antonio, TX 78216(512) 344-0241

Tektronix, Inc.P.O. Box 500Beaverton, OR 97077(800) 547-1512

Vector Graphics, Inc.31364 Via ColinasWestlake Village, CA 91361(213) 991-2302

Shasta General Systems1329 Moffett Park Dr.Sunnyvale CA 94086(800) 538-8718

Wang Laboratories, Inc.3 Industrial Ave.Lowell. MA 01851(617) 459-5000

Zilog, Inc.10411 Bubb Rd.Cupertino, CA 95014(408) 446-4666

Jenny: Personal computers pervading RCA's engineering population 43

,An interest group called the VIPers. Technical support and anewsletter are advantages of membership.

business (records and payroll); data handling and analysis; salesanalysis: amateur TTY + CW; auto satellite tracking; personalschedules; reading and language learning; word processing;computation; computer language translation; personal financemanagement; learning for kids; log drawings; work schedule ofgroups; design aid; home management control; security; energysaving; games; home record management; word processing forletters and reports; stock market (performance of coveredoptions); text editing (advanced); business modelling for longrange planning; color graphics and animation; income tax; schoolgrading; stock forecasting.

Commodore PET (Broadcast -2: Labs. MSR. Service Co. -1each)

Teach, test and grade students; use in college masters program;payroll; inventory control; membership: mailing lists: accountsreceivable: stock market data; small scientific programs.

Attention: TRS-80 Users

The results of a survey in TREND showed a large numberof TRS-80 owners among RCA's personal computerusers. These owners voiced a strong interest in exchang-ing programs. As a result, a Corporate TRS-80 UsersGroup has been formed with the purpose of, initially,providing a means for program exchange and, later,offering other services.

If you are interested in this activity, contact theorganizer:

George E. HaasTRS-80 Users GroupRCA Laboratories, W -238BP.O. Box 432Princeton, NJ 08540TACNET: 226-2491

He will mail you membership and software information.

Apple II (Service Company -4; GCS, CE -3; Labs, PTD-2; AS -1)

Graphics games; cross assembler; investment decisions; Morsecode translator; text editor; precision math (if to 7,000 digits);analyze communication theory problems; personal financemanagement; word processing; more efficient data manipulation(200 -fold improvement in time over manual); handle quality data;plot numerical data; analyze data; games; spacecraft attitudemotion simulation; color graphics and animation.

Motorola 6800 (Service Co. -2; Labs, PTD, VideoDisc-1 each)

Interconnect several systems; play music; Morse codehome CMS terminal.

Kim - 1 (Labs, AS, PTD, Broadcast -1 each)

Chess programming; ham radio; robotics; music.

Digital Group, Inc. (MSR, Service Co. -2 each)

ome I Mance control; astrology and planetary programs.

Ohio Scientific (CE -2; AS, MSR, Service Co., SSD-1 each)

Statistics; home management; voltmeter: video graphics forautomotive interface.

Altair (MSR. SSD-1)

Stock analysis; recoup acquisition cost through various smallsoftware jobs.

Imsai 8080 (AE. MSR-1 each)

Text processing; home accounting; color graphics; games.

Intelligent Systems Corp. (SSD-1)

Word processing: games; finance; elaborate graphics.

Southwest Tech. Products Corp. (Service Co. -1)

Home heating 'air conditioning control; checkbook; text editing;use as terminal to access computer networks.

What are the characteristics of theRCA personal computer user?

Following is a cross-sectional view of some respondentcharacteristics. We can compare the various distributions of thissurvey with that of the 3000 engineers who responded to ourEngineering Information Survey conducted in 1977. All figuresrepresent percentage of total respondents.

Age Distribution(rears)

Personal ComputerSurvey

Engrg. Info.Survey

Under 21 1% 1%

21 -30 16% 11%

31 - 40 24% 24%

41 - 0 30% 36'751 - 60 266 251iOver 60 31i 31.

44 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar ;Apr 1981

The age distribution of personal computer users approximates thetotal engineering population.

Educational Level Personal ComputerSurvey

Engrg. Info.Survey

Non Degree 27% 13%

B.S. 44% 49%

M.S. 25% 31%

Ph.D. 4% 6%

More than twice the percentage of non -degree respondents areinvolved with personal computers. This is because technicians(and several other non -engineering occupations) are involvedwith personal computers but did not participate in the Engineer-ing Information Survey.

Major Field ofHighest Degree

Personal Computer Engrg. Info.Survey Survey

Electrical Engineering 50% 56%

Computer Science 8% 2%

Physics 8% I I%

Mechanical Engineering 4% 13%

Mathematics 4% 4%

Chemistry I% 5%

Others 25% 9%

Computer scientists are higher, mechanical engineers andchemists are lower users than their representation in theengineering population.

Job Classification Personal Computer Engrg. Info.Survey Survey

EngineerLeader or first level

supervisorManager above first

level

75%

15%

10%

It is interesting to note the much greater involvement ofmanagers above first level. Some of the more mature managerswho have not had computer -related educational experience areusing the personal computer as a vehicle to get oriented andacquire a computer -working capability, particularly in software.

About one -fifth of the personal computer survey respondentsare in job classifications other than engineers and engineeringsupervisors.

How do the respondents cross communicate?

Thirty percent of the respondents are members of established usergroups and fifty percent feel a need for a local user group.

User Groups Attended by Respondents

Plant user groups are active at:

Moorestown - MSR Computer ClubFor information: George Poletti, ext. 3802Camden - Informal Users GroupMeets Mondays 12:00 in 10-2 conference roomFor information: A.B. Kaiser, ext. 3495

Checking out a COSMAC.

System Dedicated Groups:

1802 Users GroupTRS-80 Users Group (local chapters -

Cherry Hill/Eastern Massachusetts)6502 Users GroupHeath Users GroupPET Users GroupPPC (HP personal programmable users group-

local chapters)Apple Puget Sound Program Library Exchange,

Seattle, WashingtonMelbourne Apple Core (FL)Cromenco Users GroupNorth Star Software Exchange

Language Users Groups:

PUG Pascal Users GroupFIG Forth Interest Group

Microcomputer ecucation soars

Nearly 60 percent of thE 1,614 participants in RCACorporate Engineering Education (CEE) classes in 1980chose tl-e following courses in microcomputers and inprogramming techniques "C51. Microcomputer Fun-damentals" was the most :opular CEE course, %ail h 294enrollees, followed close ./ by "CL51: Microccrr outerFundamental Labcratcry Exercises" at 179 and"C70/CL70: Programming Techniques" at 102.

The demand clearly shows that interest in micro-computers and their applications runs higl- amongRCA's technical staff. Cf the 68 course -packagesavailable during 1980, eigt accounted for 66 pe-cent ofthe enro Iment. And six o- these most popular coursesoffer microcomputer or sctware tra ning.

Jenny: Personal computers pervading RCA's engineering population 45

A personal computer with color graphics capability is used foreducational, financial and home accounting applications.

Geographical User Groups:

New England Computer SocietyACG N.J. Amateur Computer Group of N.J.Computer Club of N.J.Valley Computer ClubNE Penna. Computer ClubUniversity Pioneer Computer Club (Scranton, Pa.)Space Coast Microcomputer Club (FL)PACS (Phila. Area Computer Society)

According to the survey, local user groups are not too wellpublicized and there is additional potential membership of: 20 atCamden: and 10 each at Moorestown, Princeton, Indianapolis,Somerville. Lancaster. and Burlington.

Respondent recommendations

Following are direct respondent quotations regarding desiredsupport of personal computer effort:

"An RCA -sponsored software library, in HP or Level II RadioShack BASIC, on paper and cassette, would generateadditional interest and spread the usefulness of personalsystems throughout the Company."

New interactive terminal from RCA

RCA MicroComputer Products' new VP -3303 interactivedata terminal handles a wide variety of industrial,educational, business, and individual applications re-quiring interactive communication between computerand user. At $389, the microprocessor -controlledterminal, with color graphics, reverse video, program-mable and resident character sets, selectable baud ratesand data formats, a built-in RF modulator and a light -touch, flexible -membrane keyboard with finger -positioning overlay and aural feedback, will be awelcome addition to the microcomputing population.The terminal can interconnect via standard RS -232modems for communication across telephone lines. TheVP -3303 is compatible with most time-sharing and data-base computer networks such as those provided byCompuServe Information Services and Source Telecom-puti ng Corporation.

For more information, call or write:

MicroComputer ProductsElectro-optics and DevicesNew Holland AvenueLancaster, PA 17604TACNET: 227-7661

"I feel a need for much more software support from RCA. Thenon -availability of educational software for the VIP isparticularly frustrating."

"I would like to see software and other computer equipmentavailable through RCA family stores at discount. While it maynot be feasible to stock such items, a catalog could be availablefor ordering items via family store manager."

"Since RCA has computers, chips. books, why not offer themat a discount through the family stores?"

"I would like RCA library subscriptions to popular computerand do-it-yourself publications, and especially magazines forup-to-date information."

"Recognize extracurricula computer activities in employeeperformance evaluation and job offers into computerprogramming for RCA."

"All RCA engineers (and technical personnel) should beencouraged and supported as much as possible in the use ofpersonal computers."

"I feel it would be beneficial to RCA and to employees toprovide small computers similar to personal computers, withthe engineering groups for problem solving."

"There is a large field of use for small minicomputers in themanufacturing field which could provide much data, and at areduced labor cost. This type of application would be to thebenefit of RCA."

"I work as an Equipment Services electrician and am exposedto various microprocessor -controlled devices as part of my job.Any type of formal education that could be provided in the fieldof microprocessors and microcomputers at this location, I'msure would be greatly desired."

16 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Learning languages

Typical respondent comments provide a good flavor forthe efforts in planning, acquiring, scrounging, inter-facing, debugging and getting systems working.

"I used the VIP for CEE courses. I have programmedsome extra games, but like controlling external devices.I've built a simple burglar alarm and interfaced anADC0816 data acquisition chip to the VIP."

"Data manipulation capability has permitted fasteranalysis of product sales and has allowed us to trydifferent changes on paper before they are im-plemented."

"The computer logs tool -design drawings. It aids inscheduling."

"The computer is giving my family (especially children)familiarity with computer technology, and establishingan interest in my children for both computer andelectronics career fields."

"It reduced about 30 years of manual manipulation ofdata to roughly two months."

"I'm building on a program library. Programs developed

Conclusions

I his survey indicates that personal computers have foundsubstantial entry into the ranks of RCA's engineering population.The use is fairly independent of age and educational level, butsurprisingly high for managers above first level.

The survey conveys a fairly vivid picture of the many oft -the -job hours spent in acquiring computer (hardware and software)familiarity by choosing, buying, setting up, interfacing, debug-ging, and other activities. A great deal of the effort is

educational -- learning to do something new and to do it betterand then to apply it to a variety of uses. Here, too, it is probablymore from the learning and practicing point of view than for pureutility.

This growing computer literacy may have a profound andpositive impact on future engineering job assignments andconduct. Encouragement and support of personal computer useappears to be very supportive of professional growth of :heindividual as well as the competitiveness of the Corporation.

include a graphics program for plotting numerical data,several numerical analysis programs, and several gameprograms. My next project is to develop a simulation ofspacecraft attitude motion."

"I had the computer for four weeks. I wrote one programand used it in RCA to calculate quality data. Thisprogram has decreased the calculation time by 65percent, in addition to being more accurate. This systemwas demonstrated to the Quality Manager."

"I learned logic and computer basics (aided by after-hours courses). I'm conversant in BASIC, FORTRAN andFORTH languages: learning PASCAL, LISP, andCOBOL. I'm producing assembly language, BASIC andFORTH programs for home management, controls,security, energy savings, games; application programsin record management (home) and computations(business); letter and report writing using word process-ing programs. I'm active in advising local governmentand schools in use of computers for teaching, recordmanagement and security. '

"A personal computer network accessing other personalcomputers or mainframes seems to have much potential.I'm using the 6800 microprocessor chip. It seems veryeasy to work with and can be used for both control and

arithmetic operations."

Hans Jenny has experienceas a design engineer,engineering leader andmanager, and ChiefEngineer and OperationsManager of RCA's solid-state microwave productline. In his present positionas Manager, EngineeringInformation, he uses thisbackground to assist RCAengineers in their and theCorporation's efforts to re-main viable and com-petitive.

Contact him atEngineering InformationCorporate EngineeringCherry Hill.N.J.TACNET: 222-4251 - Asia:NAN _

Jenny: Personal computers pervading RCA's engineering population 47

F.G. AdamsIF.T. McGough B.F. Rogers

Quality and Productivity:The case for motivation"If we are going to be effective ... we must challengeourselves to move people - to persist - to accompli;.h -and to excel. To meet this challenge we need collectively tosupport an effective motivational program nationwic'e.-

...I:94.4%

Wayne E. Meyer, R ADM USN_abject Manager, AEGIS Shipbuilding

Quality and Productivity: Two words that reflect thebasic ideals of industrial progress. Everyone usesthem and recognizes the need for them. But gettingthere is difficult unless people want those ideals. Andonce this attitude is achieved, sustaining it over thelong haul is just as, if not more, difficult. The effortinvolved is frustrating and demanding; the resultstend to be illusory, with little that is concrete showingon the bottom line. Yet the potential benefit is morethan worth the effort.

Today's systems invoke levels of sophistication andcomplexity unthought of just a few years ago,representing hundreds and even thousands of manyears of the best scientific and engineering talentdirected to the synthesis and design of operationallyeffective, highly reliable systems. All of this effort cango down the drain if everyone involved in themanufacturing process isn't totally committed to theexcellence of the end product.

Reprinted with permission from Overview. Spring. 1981.Published by U.S. Naval Material Command.

On AEGIS, the entire team-Navy and industry-is committed to excellence. The nurturing andmaintenance of motivation over a ten-year engineer-ing development period have been made possibleonly as a direct result of continuous managementsupport and attention.

Today AEGIS Excellence stands as the unifier foreveryone involved with AEGIS, from the sailorspreparing to take the system to sea to the engineeringand manufacturing staffs of every contractor, sub-contractor, and vendor associated with the program.And with the shift in emphasis from development toproduction, RCA is using the AEGIS ExcellenceProgram as a springboard for an intensified "Involve-ment in Quality" campaign emphasizing procurementand the equipment manufacturing process.

The AEGIS Excellence Program

The principal objectives of the AEGIS ExcellenceProgram are to build and maintain a sense of

48 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

involvement and team spirit among the hundreds ofparticipating companies and their thousands ofemployees. The mechanism is public recognition-for firms and individual employees whose perfor-mance demonstrates a special awareness of the needfor quality and productivity on AEGIS.

Begun in early 1971, the program has grown andachieved national prominence, in large part by con-tinuous, overt management support and direction.The Navy Project Manager has provided personalleadership in this area from the outset. One sure-firemeasurement of success is the fact that the AEGISExcellence Program is being used as a model by otherDoD-industry teams involved in major developmentprograms. Here are some program mechanics:

Individual Awards Everyone involved in AEGIS iseligible. To date more than 200 individuals havebeen cited for outstanding performance,representing Navy personnel and Navy civilians aswell as RCA and subcontractor people.

Contractor Awards Top AEGIS Program manag-ers make special public presentations to firms (oftensmall businesses) showing special awareness ofquality and productivity - 31 contractorsnationwide through mid -1980.

Newsletters Five thousand copies of AEGIS Ex-cellence Newsletters circulate worldwide to shipsand shore installations, Navy Department and otherDoD organizations, and all involved contractors.This communication vehicle publicizes awardwinners and program progress, and provides thecontext for individual understanding of the size,scope, and importance of AEGIS.

Posters Very widespread distribution and frequentupdates provide a continuous visual reminder of theneed for excellence in AEGIS.

The AEGIS Excellence Program remains a solidmotivational force on AEGIS, and in addition servesas a foundation on which smaller, specificallydirected programs can be built. With the change inprogram approach from engineering development toproduction, RCA has launched a derivative program,"Involvement in Quality," to build increasedawareness of the need for quality and productivity.

The IQ ProgramThe Invoivement in Quality (IQ) Program specificallytargets material suppliers and internal manufacturingoperations for achievement recognition. In fact, IQ isa way of life, not merely a program. It has beencomfortably merged into, and will remain a part of, theregular RCA factory work pattern. IQ accommodatesthe basic feelings of pride in accomplishment that allworkers have to varying degrees by providingchannels of communication for improvement ideas

and visibility of the results they produce. Two-waycommunication is a key element: given a voice andvisibility, the individual worker gains both recognitionand increased pride of accomplishment.

The IQ structure

The IQ structure involves awareness, informationfeedback, leadership, involvement, teamwork, pride,recognition, achievement, and commitment. The in-itial effort, begun early in 1980, concentrated onprocurement operations (suppliers) and movedgradually into manufacturing operations as the fac-tory workload increased for AEGIS production.

Project and engineering managers hold informa-tion exchanges with suppliers and with factory workteams. Films and other visual aids, expanded orienta-tion, training programs, bulletins, and posters areused to spread the I0 message.

In the Procurement area, special IQ awards aregiven to outstanding suppliers. An IQ -sponsoredMaterial Problem Avoidance Program and a SupplierCounseling Service are directed to helping vendorsmaximize efficiency and avoid potential problems. IQAlerter memos and IQ Announcements are sent tosuppliers (about 1000 on distribution). Audio/visualprograms augment the information and educationalflow.

IQ in the factory has concentrated on groupinvolvement, such as for small -group and individual -task development projects. Participation by factorypersonnel is encouraged by worker interviews("What's your RP") published with pictures in theemployee news magazine. This effort is supported byongoing activity in the areas of audio/visual aids,surveys, and motivational publicity. RCA manage-ment participates actively in this effort.

IQ measurement criteria have been established forsupplier and manufacturing quality performance,while other measurement criteria are still underdevelopment. To date, supplier response has beenpositive-even enthusiastic. Employee morale hasshown a perceptible upsurge, indicating an in-creasing sense of involvement. As an example, earlyreturns from a recent campaign combining IQ withRCA's internal suggestion program showed a 45percent increase in the number of suggestions forimproved operations; preliminary results of dollarvalue of the suggestions submitted indicate a 14percent increase.

The Work Center concept

Another major thrust of the IQ Program is a team -building approach to factory quality, cost, andschedule control. The Work Center concept involvesa new look at organizational structure and the way

Adams, et al.: Quality and Productivity: The case for motivation 49

AEGIS ExcellenceOngoing Nationwide Motivation Program

AEGIS EXCEL LEN, t A. ,

for Outstanding INsdonsansituatsts JOHN A DOE

Newsletters

Citation

PUT you Ea-rl %NTO THE

EMPLO EE SJG oROGRAM

C:EXCELLENCE

Awards

Moorestown Award Winners

50 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

What is AEGIS?AEGIS is a program, it is a Navywarship, it is a weapon system, it isa combat system that includes theweapon system; but most of all, it isan integrated shipbuildingprogram.

The AEGIS Combat System is anintegrated array of weapons, sen-sors, and computers that enablethe AEGIS ship to handle air, sur-face, and undersea threats. Theprimary defense against air andmissile attacks is the AEGIS

Weapon System, developed toprovide the required reaction timefrom initial target detection toengagement by the ship's missilebatteries.

RCA in Moorestown, NewJersey, is the combat system agentand principal manufacturer ofweapon system equipment.Specia facilities in Moorestownare devoted to development,system engineering, and integra-tion of the combat systemengineering model and testing of

the weapon system productionequipment before shipment to theshipbuilder, the Ingalls Ship-building Division of Litton ll-dustries in Pascagoula, Mis-sissippi. The entire program is un-der the direction of the AEGISShipbuilding Project in the NavalSea Systems Command,Washington, D.C. The first AEGISCruiser, CG 47, has been namedTiconderoga. Shipment to Ingallsof Ticonderoga's AEGIS WeaponSystem is scheduled for mid -1981.

manufacturing operations are conducted. Teams ofpeople are brought together with all the essentialskills-and a sense of dedication for producing areliable, maintainable product on schedule and withinthe prescribed cost parameters.

Five Work Center teams are currently inoperation - Printed Circuit Fabrication, ModuleAssembly and Test, Wire and Cable Fabrication,Phase Shifter Assembly, and Beamformer and Anten-na Assembly and Test. Total factory implementation(six more areas) is scheduled in 1981.

The team approach generates a sense of unifiedparticipation and cooperation, and recognizes in-dividual contributions and responsibilities. Problemsare uncovered sooner. In fact, many problems aresimply avoided, before they materialize, by thoughtfulgroup planning. The individual worker has been givena voice, visibility, encouragement, and recognition -plus an opportunity for personal growth.

The Future: Continue building

The strong foundation of the AEGIS ExcellenceProgram, combined with the objectives of theInvolvement -in -Quality concept, provides continuedemphasis on quality and productivity leading to areliable, maintainable product. Subcontractors,suppliers, and vendors, large and small (and there aremore than 500 such companies on the AEGIS team)are people-just like the RCA people who are nowconvinced that each group is important to success.

Motivation is a personal, individual characteristicthat can be externally inspired, nourished, andpreserved. This is the challenge RCA is meeting-commitment to quality and productivity as the per-sonal goal of each person on the program.

The ultimate measurement of our effectiveness willbe the quality, the reliability, the maintainability, andthe system readiness of the AEGIS Ship CombatSystem as the Ticonderoga -class ships join the fleet.

Left to right: Frank Adams, Bertram Rogers, and Frank McGough.

Frank Adams is Manager, Program Operations in the NavalSystems Department. He has 30 years of inter -disciplinary ex-perience in engineerng, project management, general manage-ment, and engineering education. He joined RCA in 1959 and wassuccess vely involved in the TRADEX-PRESS Program, the AADS-70/SAM -D Army air defensesystem development, and as one of theoriginal group that proposed and captured the original AEGISProgram.

Contact him atMissile and Surface RadarMoorestown, N.J.TACNET: 224-3903

Frank McGough is Manager, Manufacturing Operations in Missileand Surtace Radar, with ove-all responsibility for all MSR manufac-turing activities. including Planning and Control and Cost andBudget tunctions. Since joining RCA in 1954, he has been involvedin a wide variety of programs and activities. with experience inmanufacturing, materials management, and program manage-ment. He assumed his current position in January 1980.Contact him at:Missile and Surface RadarMoorestown, N.J.TACNET: 224-2573

Bertram Rogers is Manager Business Management for the NavalSystems Department of Missile and Surface Radar. He has 20 yearsof service with RCA in a variety of project engineering and businessassignments and has held his current position since 1978. In thatcapacity, he is responsible for contracts, subcontracts, programadministration, and planning for Naval Systems.Contact him at:Missile and Surface RadarMoorestown, N.J.TACNET: 224-2046

Adams, et a/.: Quality and Productivity: The case for motivation 51

EDITORIAL INPUT

M.W. Buckley, Jr.

Professional societies:Why not go active?

Invest in your professional future.

Professional societies trace their roots back manyyears to the early days of scientific endeavor, whensmall groups came together to exchange views and tosatisfy their mutual curiosity about things scientificand technical. This inclination for meeting and com-municating with one's technical peers has expandedmanyfold, and we have seen professionalorganizations grow and subdivide into thousands ofspecialized areas.

Professional societies abound today, with formalconstitutions and bylaws, and memberships that insome cases number in the hundreds of thousands. Asa rough rule of thumb, about 50 percent of thosequalified to join these societies actually seekmembership. But regardless of membership, everyengineer and scientist is affected by the work of theseorganizations.

Industry and government recognize the value of thetechnical information interchange and the otherbenefits afforded by these societies and generallyencourage their employees to become involved. RCAhas an especially strong reputation for supporting theprofessional aspirations of its employees and canclaim an impressive list of individuals who havecontributed to their professions through thesesocieties and who have won many society awards.

With all these advantages, why don't we have amuch larger and much more active professionalsociety involvement? That question, of course, begsanother: "What's in it for me?"

Reprint RE -26-5-9Final manuscript received March 13. 1981

The benefits of active involvement

We all know that there really are benefits in involve-ment, but a few of them bear repeating. Heading thelist is staying current with the state of the art in one'sown specialty. Attendance at conferences is anenjoyable and cost-effective way to stay current.Some of our eminent engineers and scientists givetheir time to present current topics- a specialbargain in this era of rising costs and high prices. Thepeer associations fostered at conferences and localmeetings are another plus factor in professionaldevelopment. Study after study has verified that theprimary means of technical communication is directperson -to -person contact.

Those who present or publish technical papers gainan even greater benefit-in the form of recognition,reputation, and the opportunity to influence thedirection of technology.

Still another area of interest to many engineers andscientists is direct involvement in social issues. Inrecent years, professional societies have shown anincreasing involvement in broad issues such as thepublic and private investment in research anddevelopment, pensions, ethics, accreditation ofengineering curricula, technical positions on energy,and other matters of social concern.

Getting involved

To expect every member of every professional societyto be actively involved is unrealistic. But the involve-ment in the last decade has for the most part been on

52 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

the low side and it is time for the pendulum to swing inthe other direction.

Getting involved is easy. And it is possible to testthe waters without overcommitment. One way to startmight be to take on a small task for an obscuresubcommittee of a local chapter. Offer to serve on apanel, or to find someone to make an informalpresentation. Encourage a co-worker to write a paper.Work with a publicity or arrangements committee fora conference. Serve on a papers -selection panel.Every society needs help, and it doesn't necessarilytake a lifetime commitment to be a part of the action.But a warning - it's catching. You'll probably becomehooked on it and stay active for the rest of your career.

Reaping the rewards

Monetary reward is not the long suit of professionalsocieties and neither, with rare exceptions, is fame.But there are definite pluses, and they are substantial.First is the increase in confidence that always comesfrom involvement, from having done something tohelp. Another dividend is the self -development thatcomes automatically with doing something in thecompany of one's professional peers. This comes notonly in the form of professional growth in your ownspecialty, but also in other areas where your interestsare awakened. Making the society a little better,through your contributions, will bring recognitionfrom others who benefited from your volunteerefforts.

Perhaps the most important reward, though, is an

intangible -a self -perception of being a

professional. Anyone who has invested the time andeffort in an engineering or scientific education andhas worked effectively in the rigors of its practicedeserves to be recognized and treated as aprofessional. But this does not happen automatically.It must be earned. And one route to this special statusis through a direct, conscious involvement in

professional society activities.

Why not go active?

Merrill Buckley is Administrator, Planning and Measurement atMSR. After joining RCA in 1953, heserved in managerial positions on theTerr er, Tartar, ATE, Talos, Atlas,Minuteman, and BMEWS programs. Inthe past 15 years he has applied the latestmanagement sciences techniques tomany projects including TRADEX,Cobra Mist, LEM, Apollo, Viking,AN,TPQ-27, CAMEL, AEGIS, HR -76,AASP, and MCF. A frequent seminardirector at universities anc professionalsocieties, he lectures on both engineer-ing and management subjects. Mr.

Buckley has actively participated in the IEEE for many years andhas held Doth appointed and elected positions in the EngineeringManagement Society and the Philadelphia section. He was recentlyelected tc the IEEE Board of Directors as Regional Director for theeastern states.

Contact him at:Missile and Surface RsdarMoorestown, N.J.TACNET: 224-2554

Buckley: Professional societies: Why not go active? 53

J.S. Tripoli

RCA, patents, and you

0

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vg,.611Nre.tae.61.:'

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From notebook ...to disclosure...to application...to patent

"A large part of what makes the engineeringprofession grow is the willingness of itsmembers to contribute - in the form of apresentation, a published paper, or a dis-closure that leads to a patent. These arethings that are given to the profession andyet remain personally identified with theoriginator."

- B.J. MatulisChief Engineer, RCA Missile and Surface Radar

Reprint RE -26-5-10Final manuscript received Feb 23. 1981

The Radio Corporation of America, now known as theRCA Corporation, was originally organized to es-tablish a U.S. corporation for handling transcontinen-tal communications. Among the chief assets of thisfledging corporation were the talents of its employeesand a number of patents in the radio field. Thesepatents played an important role in the early history ofRCA Corporation, and today patents continue to bean important element in our corporate planning andperformance.

Every member of the RCA technical communityshould know at least a few fundamental patentconcepts in order to participate effectively in thepatent process. My intention here is to provide apractical guide to the patent process and possiblyincrease that participation. I will approach the subjectfrom three levels, all of equal importance. The firstlevel is an exposition of the mechanics of the patentprocess and a discussion of related topics. Thesecond level is the development of a sensitivity in thetechnical community for some of the important issuesaffecting the patentability of inventions worldwide.The third level is the improvement of communicationsand understanding between the members of the RCAtechnical community and members of RCA PatentOperations.

54 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

History

A brief look at some of the history of patents mighthelp to put the patent issue in the proper perspective.In the early days, patents were grants by sovereignsor other governmental entities that provided rights tomake, use or sell articles of manufacture orprocesses. For example, in England in 1331, KingEdward III granted exclusive rights to Flemishweavers to encourage them to bring their weaving artto England. With such exclusivity, the weavers madegreat profits, and, as a direct result, Englanddeveloped a major textile industry. Note that thisparticular weaving art was not previously practiced inEngland, although the art was well developedelsewhere.

During the reign of Elizabeth I in the early 1600s, thegranting of patents-the exclusive rights to make,use and sell articles - had become a rather arbitrarysystem controlled by the Crown. Articles that weremade in England, such as playing cards, were takenout of the public domain through the grant of a patentin exchange for a percentage of the profits resultingfrom the monopoly. The grant of patents had becomea revenue -raising tool for the Crown.

These abuses grew more flagrant, and Parliamentfinally had to act. In 1624, Parliament passed theStatute of Monopolies, which provided that theCrown could grant patents only for a fixed term of 14years and that the subject matter had to be new inEngland.

In America, the Founding Fathers recognized theimportance of securing rights for inventors andauthors in and to their discoveries and writings. Afterseveral drafts, the present language of Article I,

Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution wasadopted. This Clause states that

Congress shall have Power ... To Promote theProgress of Science and the Useful Arts, by Secur-ing for Limited Times to Authors and Inventors, theExclusive Right to their respective Writings andDiscoveries.

RCA's Resident Patent Counsel

Name Location TACNET

Robert OchisLeroy GreenspanHenry SchanzerJoseph Laks

Dilip Kulkarni

Moorestown, New JerseyLancaster, PennsylvaniaSomerville, New JerseyIndianapolis, IndianaSherman DriveIndianapolis, IndianaRockville Road

224-2784

227-3191

325-6830422-6631

426-3327

Abstract: The author provides the basic concepts ofthe patent process as an aid and an inducement forgreater participation. There are three types ofpatents: utility patents, plant patents, and designpatents. The most important to RCA is the utilitypatent, which has a life from date of issue of 17 years.Patents are national in nature, and every countrymakes its own patent regulations. An inventor whoplans to apply for a patent should be aware of theseforeign regulations. This paper also describes theInvention Disclosure form and provides a suggestedoutline for filling it out.

From the Constitutional point of view, our patentsystem requires "progress" in the sense of advance-ment in knowledge. Thus, nothing can betaken out ofthe existing public domain. The Constitutional rightgranted is an "exclusive" right. That is, as a patentee,you have the right tc prevent others from making,using, or selling your patented invention. No right isgranted to use your own patented invention. Thus, ifsomeone holds a valid generic patent and you hold avalid improvement patent, the generic patent holderhas a right to exclude you from practicing yourimprovement and you would have the right to excludeall others (including the generic patent nolder) frompracticing the improvement.

What is a patent today?

A patent is considered to be personal property. Assuch, the rights in a patent can be assigned (forexample, in accordance with the RCA employer -employee Invention Agreement), licensed, sold,treated as a business asset, and even passed to alegatee under a will United States patents areenforceable only in tt.e United States, its territories,and its possessions. The patentee receives the right toexclude others from making, using, or selling thepatented invention for a limited period of time (17years from the date of issue of a utility patent).

In the United States, there are three types ofpatents. Utility patents are the most common type,and they are the subject of this paper. The other twotypes are plant patents, which have a life of 17 yearsfrom the date of issue, and design patents, whichprotect ornamental surface configurations of objectsand have a life of 31/2 7, or 14 years from the date ofissue, depending on the amount of the issue fee paidby the applicant.

In the patent statute, Congress defines what isdeemed to be patentable subject matter. The patentstatute describes as patentable any new and usefulprocess, machine, article of manufacture, composi-

Tripoli: RCA, patents, and you 55

tion of matter, or any new and useful improvement ofan item falling within these categories, if certain otherconditions and requirements are met.

One of the conditions for patentability in the UnitedStates is that the invention must not have been sold oroffered for sale, used commercially, or published in aprinted publication more than one year prior to thefiling date of the application. That is, if an item is soldor offered for sale, used commercially or non -experimentally, or published in a printed publication,the inventor has one year to file his application in theUnited States Patent and Trademark Office (P. T. 0).If he does not file within the one-year period, then the

statute bars him from filing the application.The requirements for patentability in the United

States are, basically, that the invention must fallwithin the defined statutory subject matter, must notbe barred by a condition of the statute, and it must benew, useful, and unobvious. "New" means notidentically disclosed in a single prior art reference."Useful" means that the concept or item must work oroperate as claimed. "Unobvious" means that theinvention, as a whole, must be significantly differentfrom the prior art when viewed by a person of ordinaryskill in the appropriate technology at the time theinvention was made.

Logical flow from invention to patentResearch and Development work on a problem willoften lead to the conception of an invention. Furtherwork may result in a reduction to practice of thesolution to the problem. An Invention Disclosuremay be submitted even if there is no reduction topractice.

Patent Operations considers a number of factorsin selecting inventions upon which patentapplications are based. Sometimes the evaluation

RESEARCHAND

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leads tc the publication of a Technical Note insteadof the filing of an application.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office(P.T.O.) examines the case and, if allowed, theinvention is patented. If the claims are rejected, thenthe case may be amended and the amended claimsare examined. When the case reaches a final rejec-tion, the Applicant may fold or appeal to the Board ofAppeals in the P. T .0.

If the Board agrees with the Applicant, then thepatent will issue. If the Examiner's final rejection is

upheld by the Board, then the Appli-cant can fold or appeal to the Courtof Customs and Patent Appeals or,at his option, the Applicant canappeal to the District Court for theDistrict of Columbia.

Again a successful appeal by anApplicant leads to a patent and anunsuccessful appeal leads to a deci-sion to fold or to further appeal (it ispossible to appeal all the way to theU.S. Supreme Court).When claims have been allowed inan application, it is possible that thecase may become involved in anInterference. This can also happenwith issued patents. An Interferenceis a priority contest between two

INTERFERENCEPTO

parties disclosing and claiming thesame invention.

In the absence of all appeals andInterference proceedings andassuming the case has allowablesubject matter, a patent shouldissue in about eighteen months totwo years from the date the applica-tion was originally filed in theP.T.O.

The chart shown here is a generalpictorial representation of the flowof an invention, from conception tothe issuance of a patent.

56 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Foreign rights

So far the focus has been on U.S. patent law. Quiteoften, RCA patent applications filed in the UnitedStates form the basis for corresponding patentapplications filed in foreign countries. Again, patentsare national in nature and the special conditions andrequirements for patentability in each country mustbe met.

In several of the important industrial nations of theworld, the issue of divulgation must be addressed.Divulgation means that if an invention is divulged toany member of the general public in an unrestrictedfashion, that invention cannot be patented in thatcountry.

In this country it is possible to have a publication orsale of an invention, and if the one-year grace periodhas not expired, to file a patent application. However,under these conditions the very same inventioncannot be patented in those countries where adivulgation constitutes an immediate bar.

In today's world, foreign patent rights are impor-tant, and care must be given to preserve the option tofile patent applications abroad. It is, therefore, veryimportant to inform your patent attorney of any prioror planned divulgations of your invention.

Initiating the process

The first step in filing a patent (after the invention, ofcourse) is the preparation of an Invention Disclosureform for submission to RCA Patent Operations.

An Invention Disclosure should be prepared andsubmitted whenever a problem has been solved orwhenever you feel that a useful concept or device hasbeen generated that is different, in an unobviousrespect, from the prior art. As I said earlier, thesolution, concept, or device must fall within thestatutory class of subject matter for patents.

The Invention Disclosure form, which is generallyavailable in local stationery supply cabinets, com-prises two parts. The first part is a one -page question-naire that requests information, such as name andlocation of the inventor and a descriptive title of theinvention. The second part consists of one or moresubstantially blank pages for describing the inven-tion. These pages should be used to tell the story ofthe invention. Every page of the Invention Disclosure,including any attachments, must be signed and datedby the inventor and a witness.

The following is a suggested guide for the prepara-tion of the second part of the Invention Disclosure.

1. Problem -a very brief statement of the problemthe invention overcomes or cures, if applicable.

2. Prior Art Solutions-briefly indicate priorsolutions to the problem, if known.

3. Brief Summary-in one or two sentences, try todescribe the key `eatures or elements of theinvention.

4. Detailed Description - describe the best mode orembodiment of the invention, presently known bythe inventor, with reference to sketches if ap-propriate.

5. Advantages-briefly state the advantages of theinvention over any known prior art.

This is only a suggested outline for an InventionDisclosure. When the form has been completed,including the dated signature of the witness on eachpage, it is sent to RCA Patent Operations, Princeton,New Jersey.

Disclosure...Application ... PateitWhen the Invention Disclosure is received by PatentOperations, it is assigned to a patent attorney forprocessing. An evaluation is begun by the attorney,and it may include some or all of the following steps: asearch of the prior art to determine the level ofpatentability; a technical evaluation review with keyRCA technical personnel; a consultation with keyRCA business personnel; an evaluation of therelationship of the invention to present or future

the use of theinvention by RCA; and an evaluation of the potentialfor future use by others.

When a case is selected for filing as an applicationin the P .T .0 . the attorney prepares the formaldocuments. These include a specification containinga detailed description of the best embodiment of theinvention known to the inventor at the time of filing, aset of claims defining the metes and bounds of theinvention, a drawing showing the elements describedand claimed in the case, and an oath.

The oath, which is executed by the inventor (orinventors) in the presence of a notary, states, amongother things, that the inventor believes himself(herself) to be the first inventor of the subject matterclaimed and that he (she) is unaware of anything thatwould bar the valid filing of an application in his (her)name.

An Examiner in the P. T .0. receives the applicationand conducts a search of the prior art. The Examinerthen prepares an Office Action that indicates accep-tance or rejection of the claims presented and thereasons for the action taken.

The Applicant, through counsel, has the right torespond to a rejecticn by arguing against the positionof the Examiner or by modifying the rejected claim. Inmany cases, there will be only two Office Actionrejections and two responses permitted. Thus, therejections and responses must be well thought outand carefully written.

Tripoli: RCA, patents, and you 57

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All entries in the notebook should be dated and signed by the researcher and by the witnesses.

The proceedings before the P .T .0. may be, andoften are, much more complicated than I've outlined,and they may even involve appeals to higher legalauthority if the Examiner and the Applicant cannotfind a mutually acceptable solution. If a mutuallyacceptable solution is found, then the claims are"Allowed" by the Examiner and the application is sentto the Issue Branch of the P. T .0., where it is printedand subsequently made available to the generalpublic on the date of issue of the patent. Again, autility patent has a life of 17 years from the date ofissue.

The proceedings in the P .T . O. are ex-parte innature. That is, it is not an adversary proceeding. TheExaminer and the Applicant's attorney may disagree,but they work jointly toward a common goal. Thisgoal is the issuance of a valid patent, and patentspossess a distinct public interest element. The Appli-cant, his attorney, and everyone else substantivelyconnected with the preparation and filing of a UnitedStates patent application has a legal duty of candor indealing with the P. T .0. There is an obligationimposed on all of these people to bring to theExaminer's attention any information, including, butnot limited to, prior art, which might be material to theexamination of the application. An intentional failureto fulfill this duty of candor is fatal to the enforceabili-ty of any patent that might be issued under thesecircumstances.

Infringement

A patent infringer is anyone who makes, uses or sells

IDA/. -

R.- I.-,

1119

another's patented invention within the United Statesduring the term of the patent. In order to determinethe existence of an infringement, the accused articleor process is measured against all of the elementsrecited in at least one claim. If a claim has fourelements, then an infringer would have to make, use,or sell all four of the elements in an article or processthat performs the same function as the patentedarticle or process.

In the United States, a judicial doctrine has evolvedthat constitutes an exception to the general require-ment that all elements of a claim must be found in aninfringement. The "Doctrine of Equivalents" statesthat an equivalent element may be substituted for arecited element of a claim when the equivalentelement performs substantially the same function insubstantially the same manner as the recited claimelement.

The remedy at law for patent infringement is theright to enjoin or stop the infringer from making,using, or selling the patented invention, or thepatentee may collect a reasonable royalty for theunauthorized use of the invention.

Keeping a notebook-Interference proceedings

There are several important technical reasons forconscientiously maintaining an EngineeringNotebook, but it is perhaps even more important tokeep a proper laboratory notebook for patentreasons.

58 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

The United States is one of the few industrialcountries of the world that is a "first to invent" country(Canada is the only other major country). All theothers are "first to file" countries. That is, when itappears that two or more people have filed patentapplications claiming the same invention, most coun-tries of the world would hold that the first inventor tofile the application is the one who is awarded priority.In the United States, the issue of priority isdetermined by which of the inventors was first tocomplete his invention in this country. An invention is"completed" when a concept is followed by an actualreduction to practice, or when a constructive reduc-tion to practice is made by filing a patent application.The patent applicants who are "first to conceive" butlast "to reduce to practice" may still be awardedpriority if it can be shown that the "first to conceive"diligently worked on the invention during the periodbetween conception and reduction to practice.Diligence may be thought of as an elastic bandconnecting conception and reduction to practicewhich permits the "first to conceive" to prevail overthe "first to reduce to practice."

The laboratory notebook, when properly kept, is anexcellent format for creating a body of evidence tosupport allegations of conception, diligence, andreduction to practice. Indeed, such evidence is oftenused in an Interference.

An Interference is a procedure used by the P .T . O.to determine priority. It is conducted just like a trial,but without a jury. Every element of the case forpriority must be proven and corroborated bysomeone other than the inventor. This is why a boundnotebook, kept up to date and witnessed by someoneother than an inventor, is so important. The notebook,if properly used, may be the evidentiary base for asuccessful priority contest.

The notebooks provided by RCA Corporation areobtained from the local librarians in those areashaving a technical library. The librarians also see to itthat completed notebooks are properly stored forfuture reference.

Joseph Tripoli is Managing Patent Attorney, Consumer Productsand Broadcasting Equipment, VideoDisc Group. In 1965, he joinedRCA MSR at Moorestown, as a microwave engineer. In 1969, hetransferred to Patent Operations, Princeton, as a Member of thePatent Staff. After he was graduated from the Temple UniversitySchool of Law with the J.D. degree, he was appointed PatentCounsel. He served as Resident Patent Counsel in Camden from1972 through 1974. In Decerber 1974, he was appointed StaffPatent Counsel. He served in this post until February 1978 when hewas promoted to his present position where he supervises a groupof attorneys functioning on behalf of the RCA CEO SelectaVisionr,VideoDisc system.

Contact him atRCA LaboratoriesPrinceton. N.J.TACNET: 226-2992

ConclusionRCA has a long history of activity in the patent field.The patent process can be a mechanism for achievingindividual professional recognition, and patentsmake a significant contribution to the Corporation.

Tripoli: RCA, patents, and you 59

F.E. Burris

Corporate Engineering EducationResource Guide

The Manager of RCA's in-house continuing educationprogram wrote a "bluebook" to answer the questions hehears most frequently from prospective course participants.

Abstract: Corporate Engineering Education (CEE)provides corporate leadership for the continuingeducation of the RCA engineering and technicalcommunity. It provides videotape -based courses andeducational consultation services to all RCAlocations. CEE maintains a videotape library and hasa color -equipped TV studio. The staff of CEE haveboth engineering and technical educationbackgrounds, and they are qualified to offerassistance and guidance on a wide variety oftechnical education problems.

A recent survey of 2,000 randomly selectedElectronics magazine subscribers indicated thatengineers believe that companies have an obligationto plan and support the professional growth ofelectrical engineers.* Of the survey respondents,those under the age of 30 felt the strongest about suchcorporate support - 89.7 percent felt that companiesshould provide such support.

RCA has long been active in providing programs forthe professional development of its technical per-sonnel. One such program, offered by the CorporateEngineering organization to virtually all RCAtechnical personnel, is Corporate EngineeringEducation or CEE.

Hamilton, P., "Engineers Ot The '80s Look To The Future With Optimism."Electronics, Vol. 53. No. 24, pp. 134-144 (Nov. 6, 1980).

Reprint RE -26-5-11Final manuscript received Dec. 1. 1980

During the past 13 years, CEE has enrolled over16,000 employees in videotape -based continuingeducation courses. RCA was among the first to use avideotape -based educational delivery system toprovide continuing education programs for technicalpersonnel in widely scattered geographic locations.

The purpose of this article is to guide you to moreeffective use and more complete understanding ofthis CEE resource.

What is CEE's charter?

The principal charter of CEE is to provide primarycorporate leadership for the continuing technicaleducation of RCA engineering and technical per-sonnel.

What services does CEE offer RCA technical per-sonnel?

CEE Services Percent of Total Effort

Videotape -Based CEE Courses 85%CEE Videotape LibraryEducational Consultation 8%Contractual TV Studio Services 2%

5%

Who is eligible for CEE course participation?

Employees of RCA and its subsidiaries, domestic andforeign, are eligible to participate in courses offeredat their locations. Non -employees are not eligible forCEE participation.

60 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

What is the cost of CEE course participation?

There is no monetary cost to the individual. Thecourse participant's Division is assessed a fee thattypically ranges from $40 to $80 for each participant.Most of this Division Assessment covers the cost ofprinted materials (study guides, texts, etc.).

What is the format of a typical course?

A typical course consists of thirteen or fourteen two-hour weekly sessions; 12 are instructional sessionsand one or two are examination sessions. Theinstructional sessions typically use the allotted twohours in the following manner:.40-60 minutes of video presentation; and 60-80 minutes of supplemental lecture, class ex-ercises, questions and answers, and class discus-sion led by an Associate Instructor.

What elements make up a typical CEE coursepackage?

A complete CEE course package typically consists ofthe following elements:

On -site Associate Instructor Set of 12 videotape lectures Study Guide Textbook(s) Homework solutions Examinations Certificate and CEU Record (transcript)

Each of these elements is provided by CEE, with theexception of the Associate Instructor, who is

designated locally to deliver the course. Upon coursecompletion the set of videotapes is returned to CEE.All other materials, including the Study Guide andtext(s), are retained by the course participants.

What is the role of the Associate Instructor?

The Associate Instructor, or Al, is a "classroommanager" who possesses some knowledge of thesubject matter and works at the location offering thecourse. The Al provides supplementary instruction,examples relevant to a particular location's needs,discussion leadership, and course administration andcoordination. In effect, the Al is the principal courseinstructor, who is merely using a learning packagesupplied by CEE.

Indeed, it is the Al who makes the system run. RCAowes a lot to the many employees who serve as Als,giving of their time and expertise for the benefit ofothers.

How can I become an Al?

Register your interest in teaching a particular coursewith the person responsible for CEE courses at yourlocation.

What level of effort is expected of courseparticipants?

While the level of effort will vary depending on theparticular course and the individual's background,participants are expected to attend sessions regular-ly, complete assignments on schedule, and generallyengage actively in the learning experience. One ortwo examinations are administered in each course toassist in the evaluation of participant progress.

How are CEE courses publicized?

CEE publishes a catalog of courses every year, andduring the summer months CEE uses the RCAEngineer mailing list to distribute copies of thecatalog for the forthcoming academic year. If you donot normally receive tne RCA Engineer but want aCEE Catalog, consult the CEE Contact Guide. Inaddition to the RCA Engineer distribution, advancecopies of the Catalog are sent to the CEE Network andother key individuals who will aid in the advanceplanning of fall course offerings.

As new courses are added during the academicyear, formal announcement of availability of thesecourses is made in the CEE News section of TREND,and advance announcements of new courses aremade to the CEE Network.

What is the CEE Network?

The CEE Network is a corporate -wide network ofapproximately 100 key personnel in IndustrialRelations (IR) and Engineering. This Network helpsto keep us posted on educational needs of the RCAtechnical community. CEE supplies information tothe Network periodically to help keep the educationalprograms at all locations functioning smoothly.

Burris: Corporate Engineering Education Resource Gi.ide 61

May I take a CEE course as an individual rather thanas a member of a formal class?

There are circumstances, such as frequent businesstravel, which make regular course participationdifficult. It is not, however, currently possible to makecourses available to individuals.

CEE courses are designed to be delivered in aformal classroom atmosphere with an on -siteAssociate Instructor aiding in the achievement oflearning objectives. The courses are not designed toserve as individualized learning packages.

How will my course participation be recognized?

Participants who satisfactorily complete a course areawarded an RCA Engineering Education Certificate.For unusual excellence, the certificate will carry thenotation "With Distinction." Certificates are awardedby Corporate Engineering through the participant'slocal management. A copy of the Certificate isforwarded to IR for entry into the employee's per-sonnel file.

Participants who satisfactorily complete a coursewill also be awarded the number of CEUs (ContinuingEducation Units) specified in the course description.A CEU Record (transcript) of all courses satisfactorilycompleted is kept on file in the CEE office and a copyis sent to each participant upon successful comple-tion of a course.

In addition to these CEE-initiated actions, somelocations sponsor local recognition programs such as"graduation" dinners, publication of names ofsuccessful course participants in newsletters, etc.

What is a CEU?

The CEU has evolved nationally to recognize andcatalog adult education outside the formal academiccredit system. The CEU is officially defined as

Ten contact hours of participation in an organizedcontinuing education experience under responsi-ble sponsorship, capable direction, and qualifiedinstruction.

The number of CEUs earned for a given course alsodepends on such things as the amount of homeworkrequired, whether the course is lecture or laboratory,etc.

CEE adopted the CEU as a measure of continuingeducation achievement in 1976 and we are currentlytracking the development of other, perhaps moreappropriate, measures within the engineering educa-tion community.

What can I do if I want a particular course offered atmy location?

Local course offerings are determined by IR trainingpersonnel, Technical Excellence Committees,Education/Training Committees, and personneldesignated by Engineering to act as liaison with CEE.The manner in which decisions are made to offer acertain course varies widely from location to location.

Register your interest in a particular offering withyour supervisor and whichever group determinesofferings at your location. The staff of CEE can assistyou with the identification of appropriate channels forregistering your interest.

What are CEE's requirements for making a coursepackage available?

Any CEE course may be offered to an organized classat any RCA location. CEE requires that a formal classwith a minimum of three participants and a regularmeeting schedule be formed. In addition, a qualifiedAssociate Instructor must be designated to lead thecourse and to be responsible to CEE and to the localtraining administrator.

Further details of course administration, such asregistration and space, are the responsibility of localtraining administrators.

How does CEE determine which educational needsare to be addressed?

CEE course -development personnel assess RCA'stechnical needs through frequent contacts withAssociate Instructors, IR training personnel,Technical Excellence Committees, Education andTraining Committees, and through meetings andconversations with engineers and engineeringmanagement. The inputs from these sources helpCEE develop educational programs to meet the mostsignificant needs. Once a plan of action has beenestablished, contact is maintained with key technicalcontent advisors, and they provide critical reviewthroughout the course development effort.

62RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Where do the video instructors for an internallydeveloped course come from?

When a course is to be developed internally and thecourse material is within the field of expertise of aCEE staff member, the videotapes and study guidemay be developed by this staff member with contentadvice from key contacts within the Corporation.

More frequently, RCA engineers are sought whoare known experts in a particular area and who havepromise as teachers. The development of thevideotapes and study guide by these engineers isguided, managed, and evaluated by one of the CEEstaff members. Thus, the technical expertise of thesevideo instructors is spread throughout the Corpora-tion. The engineers who serve in this role benefitgreatly from the experience and the resultingcorporate -wide recognition. CEE is constantly on thelookout for potential video instructors. If you are anexpert in an area where there is a broad -basedcorporate educational need and would like toparticipate in an internal course development effort,let us know.

Another source of video instructors, tapped onlywhen internal sources cannot be found, is the pool ofknown content experts from academic institutionsand consulting practices outside RCA.

Do you purchase videotape -based packagesoutside vendors to meet course needs?

from

Only recently has the selection of videotape -basedtechnical course packages become wide enough tomake course package purchase feasible. Once acorporate -wide technical education need has beendefined, CEE routinely searches for a suitable coursepackage available for purchase from an outsidevendor.

Your CEE Contact Guide

To inquire about: Contact: Extension:

Course Administration ProceduresScheduling/Ordering CEE CoursesScheduling/Ordering Library TapesTranscripts

Teaching ConsiderationsTechnical Content of Course Orferingsl

Contractual TV Studio Services

To request:

Margaret Gilfillan 5255

Frank Burris, 4326Bob Horen, or 5020Ed Duffy 5141

Frank Burris 4326

CEE CatalogsCEE Videotape Library Catalogs

Consultation on Educational Problems

To submit:

Margaret Gilfillan 5255

Frank Burris 4326

Ideas for new coursesSuggestions/criticisms of current coursesNew tapes to CEE Videotape Library

Frank Burris,Bob Horen, orEd Duffy

432650205141

CEE's offices are in Building 204-2, Cherry Hill, NJ 08358. Use telephone number (609) 338 -(extension) or TACN ET 222 -(extension).

Burris: Corporate Engineering Education Resource Guide 63

If a suitable package is available, CEE investigatesits quality and adaptability to the CEE format. TheCEE staff, with the help of other invited RCAreviewers, makes the decision to purchase or not topurchase.

If the package is judged unacceptable for purchaseand the need is top priority, CEE proceeds with theinternal development of the needed course.ln-housedevelopment of a 12 -session course package typical-ly takes nine months and represents a very significanteffort by members of the CEE staff. However, thereare significant advantages to in-house development.The course package can be tailored to RCA's specificneeds, RCA engineers can be tapped to teach RCAengineers, and CEE has complete control over con-tent, format, and other factors that affect theeducational process. The principal tradeoff in the"make or buy" decision is the cost. Historically,however, the advantages of in-house courses haveoutweighed the cost, and this has led to a decision tomake rather than buy in the great majority of cases.

What is the CEE Videotape Library service?

CEE operates a videotape lending library in whichvideotapes of various technical presentations arecollected. The growth of videotape production andplayback capabilities at various RCA locations, andthe increasing use of videotape as a communicationmedium, have been responsible for significant recentgrowth in this CEE service.

Videotapes in the library are lent to RCA employeeson request and at no charge. In general, the tapes areCompany Private and are available only for showingto RCA audiences.

Tapes are constantly being added to the CEEVideotape Library, and approximately 30 loan re-quests per month are currently being serviced. As ofFebruary 1981, contents of the library include:.40 Princeton Laboratories Colloquium tapes.37 RCA Technical Symposium tapes. 18 Seminar tapes.20 Miscellaneous tapes

CEE maintains a CEE Videotape Library catalogand updates it as new tapes are acquired. Copies ofthis catalog are not widely distributed but areavailable on request (see CEE Contact Guide). Astapes are added to the library, their availability andordering information are announced monthly in theCEE News section of TREND.

May I offer tapes to the library that may be of interestto the RCA technical community?

You bet! CEE Staff members are always looking fortapes that are of significant interest to the technicalcommunity. We cannot possibly know about all of thevideotapes of potential interest that are sitting onshelves around the company. If you know of tapesthat are gathering dust and that may be of interest toothers, please let us know.

What is CEE's Educational Consultation service?

The three CEE staff members who are principallyinvolved in course and program development havebackgrounds in electrical engineering and technicaleducation, and they are available as consultants tohelp solve technical education problems.

Recently, these CEE staff members helped es-tablish graduate education programs at severallocations. They also evaluated a short course that wasoffered at an RCA location by an outside vendor, andthey have located short courses on specific technicaltopics. In general, CEE responds to numerous in-quiries on technical education resources andproblems.

In addition to a staff that is in technical education,CEE maintains extensive files of educationalresources. CEE staff members maintain contact withtechnical education personnel outside RCA throughactive roles in several professional societies and byvisiting other industrial education organizations.

The role of CEE in educational consultation isevolving, and this role will grow as corporatetechnical education programs become more impor-tant to the success of RCA's business. The directionof this growth is largely dependent upon the requestsfor help that we receive. Please call us whenever youhave an education -related problem.

Tell me more about the CEE TV studio facility

Since the inception of the CEE program, a black -and -white videotape production capability has been anintegral part of the CEE operation. Early in 1981, theTV studio was significantly upgraded and the newequipment gives us a color video production capabili-ty.

Our new studio can accept video feeds from any

64 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

one of three color cameras, a color charactergenerator, a film chain, or another videotape. A newproduction switcher is used to mix inputs from thesevarious sources and to create a number of specialeffects. Tape mastering is typically done on four 3/4 -inch video cassette recorders. A 1/2 -inch VHS videocassette recorder has also been added to meet ananticipated increase in the use of 1/2 -inch videocassettes.

Is the TV studio available for use other than CEEcourse development?

While the studio facility is principally dedicated toCEE course development, it is available for othertypes of video production jobs. CEE welcomes in-quiries about use of the TV studio facilities for videoproduction work or tape duplication. However, suchwork is done strictly on a time -and -equipment -available basis and at a nominal charge to cover CEEexpenses.

What is the make-up of the CEE staff?

Principal responsibilities of the eight -person CEEstaff are as follows:

Management and Course/Program DevelopmentCourse/Program Development (2 persons)Coordination of ServicesTV Studio Technical Services/MaintenanceVideo Production/DirectionStudy Guide Formatting/TypingSecretarial

Anything else?

CEE is indeed your resource and we hope that theinformation presented here helps you to use thisresource efficiently and effectively.

T -

?pp.

Frank Burris joined RCAin 1978 as Manager,Engineering Education inthe Corporate Researchand Engineeringorganization. He hasgeneral responsibility forcorporate leadership inthe development and im-plementation of continu-ing education programsfor RCA's technical staff.He manages the CEE staffin assessment of cor-porate technical educa-tion needs, in develop-ment of educationalresources to meet thoseneeds, and in service asconsultants on technicaleducation. Prior to joiningRCA. he had elevenyears'experience as an EE faculty member and three years'engineering experience. He served as a Vice -President of theAmerican Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) in 1977-78,and is currently a member of the Executive Board of ASEE'sContinuing Professional Development Division and a member ofthe Ad Com of the IEEE Education Society.Contact him at:Corporate Engineering EducatonCherry Hill, N.J.TACNET: 222-4326

In many of the answers, you found repeatedreferences to our use of "key contacts," "key per-sonnel," etc. Although our full-time staff is small,effectively our staff consists of these full-time peopleworking with all of RCA s engineering and industrialrelations personnel. You are CEE's primary resource!We rely heavily upon yoJ to guide our direction and,on occasion, to participate directly in the coursedevelopment process. Give us a call if you still havequestions.

- -

Burris: Corporate Engineering Education Resource Guide 65

B.A. Eisenstein

ElectricalEngineeringEducation:

From staticto what's current

Here's an opportunity for industry tocooperate with academia and revitalize theeducation of future engineering talent in theU.S. The author is Head of the Electrical andComputer Engineering Department at DrexelUniversity, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Electrical Engineering, throughout its brief history,has not evolved gracefully, but has instead beenrocked by revolutionary changes in concept andin practice. If the past is prelude to the future, onewould expect that the profession will be rocked byfurther revolution. The challenge of ElectricalEngineering education is to prepare the graduatesto confront and master the new technologies.

Prior to World War II, the education of ElectricalEngineers lagged behind scientific developments.Engineering academics madly scrambled to catchup. After the war, universities moved more intoresearch and they began to assume leadership intechnology and, for a time, perpetrated newrevolutions. Now, as the profession seems poised toundergo radical changes brought about by therevolution in microelectronics, we find theeducational system debilitated. Ironically, thisdebilitation is caused, in part, by the system's ownsuccess in preparing students so well that they arebeing drawn away from university teaching by theattraction of high starting salaries and betterresearch facilities in industry.

Reprint RE -26-5-12Final manuscript received March 16. 1981

The challenge of electrical engineering (E.E.)

Electrical engineers are concerned with the controland transmission of what Benjamin Franklin calledthe "Electrical Force." The nature of the electricalforce-its power, its speed, and its ability to travelthrough empty space-has made it awesome tomankind, whose habit is to measure physical sur-roundings by human attributes - distance by the foot(the length of a foot), time by the second (an eyeblinkor heartbeat), and work per time in horsepower(roughly the amount of power exerted by a beast ofburden). The human counterparts of the electricalforce fail short in all respects. Transmission ofinformation without the use of electromagnetic radia-tion is limited both in distance as well as informationtransfer rate.

We can transmit the electrical force at the speed oflight, and also can control, shape, and switch itmillions of times in a second - millions of times fasterthan the human standard of speed. I rememberlooking condescendingly - some years ago - at ourold, slow minicomputer and having the "gut reaction"that a new computer card reader we were testing wasjust too fast for it. As each card entered the reader,mechanical brushes read each hole in 80 column

66 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

format, 800 columns per second. But wait, that is only1.25 milliseconds per column and our "slow"minicomputer had a basic cycle time of 1.5

microseconds. When the card reader was connectedto the mini, the computer "idled" 833 cycle timesbetween columns read. There was more than enoughtime to check each brush 5 times while it was over thehole (or no hole).

The power of the electrical force is not only greatbut insidious. Invisible microwaves can roast theunsuspecting. Radio signals can be transmittedaround the world, to submarines beneath the sea, andto robot space explorers hundreds of millions of milesaway. There is no human or mechanical analog for theability of this force at a distance to carry informationwith such power and range.

The challenge of electrical engineering educationalways has been to make the unintuitive electricalforce intelligible to the novice.

E. Guillemin,who was a distinguished professor ofE.E. at M.I.T., relates an anecdote of a student hearingabout the commonly used impulse function. "Most ofthe time it's so small you can't see it, except at t=owhere it's so big you can't see it. So you can't ever seeit, at least I can't." In addition to framing the problemconfronting the teaching of electrical engineering,

Professor Guillemin offers the answer -a well -trained faculty.

"I have always held that, where the teaching ofbasic concepts and procedures are concerned, nodistinction should be made between the so-called"elementary" and the "advanced" methods. Werefer to things as being "advanced" only so long aswe understand them insufficiently well ourselves tobe able to make them clear in simple terms. Oncewe understand a subject fully and clearly, it is nolonger difficult to make it understandable to thebeginner. And, if we do not warn the beginnerbeforehand, he will not be able to distinguish whenwe are teaching him the "elementary" methods andwhen the "advanced." Such a distinction will resideonly in the teacher's mind; to the student both willbe equally novel and equally clear."'

Maintaining a well -trained faculty over the nextdecade may be the greatest challenge to have everconfronted our profession.

The revolutions in E.E. educationElectrical engineering was the first engineering dis-cipline based on applied science (as opposed to art or

Eisenstein: Electrical Engineering Education: From static to what's current 67

Table I. Electrical engineering chronology.

Approximateyear Event1790 Coulomb discovers force between

charges

1800 Voltaic cell discovered

1837 Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph

1842 Morse's telegraph between Baltimoreand Washington

1864 Maxwell's equations published1876 Bell demonstrates the telephone1898 Marconi and Jackson transmit a signal

60 miles

1904 Fleming demonstrates the diode1906 DeForest invents the triode1918 Armstrong perfects the AM radio1929 Zworykin develops television1936 FM advantages recognized

1938 World War II - radar, statistical decisiontheory

1948 Shannon and information theory1948 Transistor invented by Bardeen, Brattain,

and Shockley

1956 First transoceanic telephone cable(36 channels)

1962 Satellite communications beginThe 1960s Cable TV, laser communication links,and 1970s fiber optics, helical waveguides, charge-

coupled devices, microcomputers,large-scale integrated circuits, opticalcomputers, phased -array antennas,speech synthesizers, color TV, and more

The 1980s Video disc, personal computers,computer mainframes on a chip,space shuttle, and more

The electrifying revolutions.

practice) and, consequently, its beginnings mark aturning point in the history of engineering. It is basedon electricity, one of the youngest branches ofphysics. A brief chronology of electricity in Table Iemphasizes this point.

Originally, Electrical Engineering was taught inPhysics departments or, in some cases, MechanicalEngineering departments. The first "revolution" tostrike the profession and the one that birthed it wasthe near simultaneous public acceptance of elec-trically powered motors, electric illumination, and thetelephone. These developments, all occurring in thelast two decades of the 19th century, created a massdesire that all homes and factories be equipped withelectricity and telephones. The problems en-countered now were not science but truly engineer-ing: how to generate, transmit, and distribute hugeamounts of electrical power and how to establish thenecessary switching schemes to forge a person -to -person, private communication network.

The universities were not ready for this revolution in1890 and E.E. professors had to be retread fromPhysics, Mechanics, Mathematics, and Chemistrydepartments. The E.E. experts were in industry.Students graduating with E.E. degrees needed yearsto develop enough "feel" for the profession to behelpful.

If the first revolution is called the Power andCommunications Revolution, the second is mostdefinitely the Electronics Revolution. Following theinvention of the vacuum triode in 1906, an irreversiblechange was made in social interactions, militarystrategy, and world politics. Radios were in suchdemand that, by the mid -1920s, they were as wellknown as they were unknown a scant 10 years earlier.For perspective, a typical floor model radio sold for$400-$700 in 1920 at a time when the Model -T Fordsold for $500.

Were the universities ready? By 1920, there were anumber of E.E. Departments that were flourishing,

Date

The 1890s

The 1920s

The 1940s

1948

1948

1960

The late 1960s

The mid 1970s

1980

Revolution Spin-off technologiesPower and communications

Electronics

Mathematics

Computer

Solid State

Space

Microelectronics

Microcomputers

Manpower

Electric utilities, telephone

Radio, consumer electronics

Information theory, coding

Business machines, data processing

Consumer electronics

Optimization, modern controls

Integrated circuits

Games and everything else

68RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

but they were all "power" departments. As the crisiswas recognized, some called for new departments -Electronic Engineering or Radio Engineering-while a new professional society, the Institute ofRadio Engineers, was founded as a competitor to theolder American Institute of Electrical Engineers.Faculty tried valiantly to bring the Electronic Revolu-tion into the classroom. Power engineering, althoughadvancing technologically, had stabilizedacademically. But electronics was advancing s-1rapidly that academic institutions never did catch up.Whether or not they would have caught up is moot,because events overtook the profession-the Se-cond World War.

During World War H, we had the MathematicsRevolution. The pioneering works of Norbert Wiener,Claude Shannon, Kolmogoroff, and others were theharbingers of the Mathematical Revolution.Academicians previously had been wrestling withincorporating into the E.E. curriculum such esotericsubjects as Heaviside's Operational Calculus, Fouriertechniques, and the work of Bode and Nyquist. Butthe invention of radar and the imperatives of the wareffort to extract maximum performance from thesystems required engineers trained in DetectionTheory, Estimation, Stochastic Processes. I haveheard many first -person accounts of engineerstakingthe course from N. Wiener's book' nicknamed "TheYellow Peril." The engineers were devastated! Itbecame clear to the leaders of E.E. education that thethen current training of engineers, even at the mostprestigious universities, was inadequate to cope withthe new technologies.

Following the end of World War II, E.E. educatorsresolved that the universities would not be caughtagain. The perceived answer was that academicdepartments had to engage in research so as to be theforerunners of the revolutions to come rather than thevictims of them. The revolutions were now comingcloser together. The transistor (1948) heralded theSolid State Revolution. Shortly thereafter came theComputer Revolution which is still unfolding. In 1960,President Kennedy challenged the nation to reach forthe moon within a decade and launched the SpaceRevolution. The Sixties saw the start of the Micro-electronics Revolution, which may yet prove to be themost far-reaching and profound. By the Seventies, wewere well into the Microcomputer Revolution, theimpact of which in robotics, computer -aided design,and consumer products, has just scarcely been felt.During the Sixties and Seventies, there were several"mini -revolutions": Medical Electronics, Energy,Electrical Materials.

Were the universities ready? This time, yes. Sincethe founding of the Institute of Electrical and Elec-tronic Engineers (IEEE) by merger of the AmericanInstitute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of

Curricula in Flux

New curriculum in place

The name of the Electrial Engineering Department atDrexel was officially changed to Electrical and ComputerEngineering Department in September, 1980. Weanticipate a program leading to a B.S. in ComputerEngineering to be in place by June, 1982. The proposedcurriculum looks like this:

Computer Engineerng Curriculum (Proposed)Mathematics 7 courses-through complex

variables, linear algebra,differential equations

Physics 5 courses-through atomic physics

Engineering 4 courses-including thermo-Science dynamics, materials, dynamics

Liberal Studies

Basic E.E.

Advanced E.E.

ComputerEngineering

11 courses-includingtechnical writing

6 courses-(and labs) includingcircuits, systems, fields

2 courses-Communicationsand Control

Introcuction to Digital ComputersAdvanced DigitalMicroprocessorsMinicomputersFundamentals of Digital ComputersE.E. AlgorithmsIntroduction to Operating

Systems I, IIComputer HardwareDigital Signal Processing I,

II, Ill

Radio Engineers, a very large fraction of the researchresults contained in all of the IEEE publications havecome from university E.E. departments. In such alarge fraction, in fact, that letters to editors oftencontain complaints about "academic domination" ofthe IEEE Transactions. The fields of InformationTheory, Coding, and now Packet Switching weredeveloped, in large part, at universities. The presentcontroversy concernirg encryption is between theNational Security Agency and the academic com-munity, and points up the fact that the most advancedwork in this heavily theoretical area is done atuniversities. Estimation theory, pioneered by Wienerat M.I.-., and continued in the work of Kalman, Bucy,and the late David Sakrison, to mention a few, point upthe large influence of academe on the professiontoday. Modern control theory, optimal control,adaptive and model -referenced control owe theirorigins and development to university research.State -variable and time -domain system analysis in-cluding state estimation were exported from thegroves of academe to industry. The new technologies

Eisenstein: Electrical Engineering Education: From static to what's current 69

Curricula in Flux

Senior Design: Three courses

Senior design is required of all Electrical Engineeringand Computer Engineering students. Working in teams,the students take an engineering problem from the initialformulation of the problem through to a finished, testedprototype with a formal presentation at the annual SeniorDesign Conference held in May. Here is a place whereengineers in industry can help out. By suggestingprojects for senior design teams and by working with theteams over the year, the students can get a more realisticappreciation for engineering design as it is practiced inindustry.

Co-op experience is a requirement.

All Drexel students must work in industry a minimum of18 months (3 six-month assignments) to satisfy the co-op requirements. This work experience makes ourstudents singularly able to appreciate the advantages(and disadvantages) of the curriculum. The co-op ex-perience also makes our graduates more valuable ontheir "first" postgraduate job.

of today-computer graphics, robotics, imageprocessing, pattern recognition, biomedical tech-nology, and many others-are being developed byuniversity researchers. This is a contrast to the pre-war situation when industry dominated the newtechnology and academics scrambled to catch up.

The process of information transfer from uni-versities to industry has been most successful incertain geographical sections of the country. A recentarticle3 traces the explosive growth of "Silicon Valley"(Stanford, Berkeley), the "Electronic Seedbed"around Boston on Route 128 (M.I.T., Harvard) and"Bionic Valley" in Salt Lake City (U. of Utah). Thegreater Philadelphia area has been noticeably absentfrom the list of "explosive enclaves of technology,"

and I have long maintained that this is due to thespotty relationships between the local universitiesand industry - to their mutual detriment. Studentsare better prepared today because they are trained byfaculty who are at the forefront of today's technology.The faculty recognizes that the complexity of modernsociety necessitates engineering solutions which arecreative and responsive to the problems withoutbeing reactive. The training of engineers shouldfoster creativity and entrepreneurship° withoutsacrificing tne engineering science base of ourprofession.

It is a mistake to judge the quality of an engineer'straining by how well he fits in any particular company.Judge an engineer by the creativity and respon-siveness to engineering problems. There will alwaysbe some time required to bring a new engineer up tospeed but, as the problems become more complex,the well -trained engineer will survive in the end. In myexperience, I have seen many cases where a recentgraduate is the best -trained member of his group andthe best problem solver. The universities are doing agood job of training electrical engineers to perform atthe forefront of the state-of-the-art, and industry hasresponded with a demand for new graduates thatborders on hysteria. It is precisely this demand whichhas spawned the latest revolution-the ManpowerRevolution - and, in the process, has spawned acrisis in E.E. education from which there may be norecovery.

The crisis in engineering education

The keystone of the modern university engineeringdepartment is a research -oriented faculty. Why mustfaculty do research? Because it makes the un-dergraduate students they teach more current byshortening the technology transfer time. Contrast thecase where a professor can tell his class about thelatest results of his research to the case where theprofessor must wait until a good text on the subject isavailable. The latter case could add three years to thetime it takes to bring a new technology to theclassroom (not to mention the time required for thenon -practicing teacher to learn the new materialhimself).

Maintaining and expanding a research -orientedfaculty is an nterconnected dynamic process thatgoes like this. There must be money to support boththe professor s time spent on research and thegraduate students. The graduate students arenecessary to the research, but they also provide afulcrum about which new research ideas areleveraged. The new research ideas and the work ofthe graduate students lead to publications, informa-tion dissemination, and recognition of theresearchers by their peers. Hence, more money. And

70 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar. Apr 1981

this is where we started. The spin-off from thisprocess is better educated undergraduates and bettereducated graduate students. The components of thedynamic process are research funds, graduatestudents, and peer recognition. If one is missing, thedynamics fail.

On Feb. 8, 1980, President Carter requested theSecretary of Education and the Director of theNational Science Foundation to prepare a review ofthe state of engineering education. The following isan excerpt from the IEEE's response to that request.

"Now we have a new problem. Most engineeringschools cannot find qualified doctoral levelengineers to fill the open faculty positions. Uni-versities have real difficulty competing with in-dustrial salaries. Even when the salary is com-petitive, the job often is not. Undergraduate ciassesare so large that there is no time for innovativeteaching. ... there is a severe shortage of PhDstudents who are able to interact with the un-dergraduates. This reflects in a situation whereinthe faculty member must spend excessive time withroutine teaching chores.... Salary alone will notpermit universities to attract the creative engineerswith industrial experience to their faculties. Theenvironment must be changed."'

My colleagues in E.E. departments arouno thecountry will issue forth a hearty "Amen." Wny notcultivate more PhD students? From a little furtherdown in the IEEE reply, we have a partial, albeitunsatisfying, answer.

"For PhD education, there are few Americanstudents. Most universities use PhD students forthe various lower level chores associated withteaching and research.... Nationally, 36 percent ofour graduate students are foreign. At the PhD level,it is 40 percent."'

The current crisis in engineering education is thatthe demand for our graduates is so great that there arefew incentives for them to disregard the attractiveoffers made by industry and remain in school for thePhD. Furthermore, those few who do receive the PhDsee their research opportunities better served in

industry (not to mention their compensation). As anation, we are consuming the seed we shoi. Id besaving to plant next year's crop.

Prospects for the future

The recently announced cutbacks in Federalspending should remind us that government is not theanswer. I believe that industry and universities shouldunite in a program to improve engineering educationand to assure the continuity of the research -orienteddepartments. Some suggested programs are:

1. Focus. The problem is not just one of funding:

there is also one of attitude and understanding. I

have the impression that many engineers do notunderstand the dynamics of an academicengineering department. Engineering educationneeds special consideration like medicine, law,and agriculture.

2. Graduate Students. Direct funding immediately byindustry to attract more of our BS degree hold-ers to begin or continue postgraduate educa-tion on a full-time basis. A fellowship program re-stricted to graduates Df accredited BS engineeringcurricula would do much to solve this problem.

3. Equipment. The equipment needs of engineeringschools are urgent. The computer needs are at acrisis stage and laboratories must be modernized.Industry should give serious consideration tobalanced programs to fund the equipmentnecessary to teach modern engineering.

4. Industry/University Joint Projects. There shouldbe joint major projects between universities andindustry. Areas such as design automation, androbotics are fruitful areas. But in almost everyproject, a place could be carved out for universityparticipation. This would give our faculty theprofessional practice that many of them need.

5. Continuing Education. To ensure better utilizationof technical manpower, the government mustsupport continuing education to keep people inengineering as the .ob picture changes. A com-prehensive program to train technicians and othertechnical support personnel would enhanceengi -leering productivity. The cost of continuingeducation should be considered part of the cost ofevery federal project.

6. Faculty/Industry Interchange. Opportunityshould be provided by industry to allow employeesto spend up to a year teaching at a university: inaddition, having professors spend time in industryis desirable, but, frankly, exacerbates our man-power problem.

7. Graduate Co-op. -he very successful un-

Eisenstein Electrical Engineering Education From static to what's current 71

Curricula in FluxNew courses offered

Many of the courses we offer today did not exist 5 to 10years ago. The presence of a research -oriented facultyallows us to bring these courses into the curriculum andallows the curriculum to grow. Some of the "new"undergraduate courses are:

Introduction to Microprocessors - An introductorycourse for Freshmen in microprocessors. The details ofcourse content are presented in reference 8.

E.E. Algorithms and Applications - How to solve E.E.problems on a digital computer efficiently. Digitalcontrols, data structures.

Electronics I - Physical electronics, properties of elec-tronic material. Devices are fabricated and charac-teristics measured in the laboratory.

Electro-acoustics - Vibrating systems, acoustic im-pedance, waves in fluids, design of transducers.

Introduction to Plasma Physics - Hydromagnetics,Alfven waves, dispersion relations, applications.

System Design - Optimization of design, computer -aided design, objective functions and constraints,applications to controls, communications, powersystems.

Solid State 1- Crystalline structure, x-ray diffraction,quantum and statistical mechanics.

Advanced Electronics, Thick -Film Electronics -System fabrication of thick -film and thin-film circuits,printed circuits, design and packaging. Students mustdesign and build a thick -film device.

Digital Signal Processing and Digital Filters -Sampling, Z -transforms, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)algorithm, discrete time signal processing,periodograms, spectral estimation, design and im-plementation of digital filters.

Introduction to Robotics - Basic properties of in-dustrial robots, computer control, applications tocomputer -aided manufacturing.

dergraduate co-op plan should be extended tograduate work. This will provide incentives forstudents to remain in school and help cement tiesbetween industry and universities. Industry shouldaccept this concept and aid us in its implementa-tion.

I am optimistic about the future of ElectricalEngineering education. There are exciting areas suchas Robotics, Microprocessors, Novel EnergySources, Consumer Electronics, Home Computing,and more which we would love to work in. But lest webecome complacent, I would like to close with twoquotes.

" ... with exceptions, it was Europeans who made

the initial, fundamental scientific discoveries andearly applications on which Electrical Engineeringis based. This statement is true for the telephone,radio, television, and for the generation andtransmission of power."'

and

"Our present policy is moving (America) towardbecoming a colonial supplier of raw materials andfood to more advanced countries and is placing usin a position of increasing peril. Unfortunately thereis no crisis to alert the public."'

Consider this article the first alarm.

References

1. Guillemin, E.A., Introductory Circuit Theory. John Wiley & Sons, NewYork (1953).

2. Wiener, N.. The Extrapolation, Interpolation... of Stationary Time Signals.M.I.T. Press. Cambridge, Mass. (1949).

3. Solomon, S.. "vankee Genius Reborn: How Universities Can IgniteExplosions of Creativity," Science Digest. p. 52 ft. (March, 1981).

4. Seamans, R.C. and Hansen. K.F., "Engineering Education for the Future,"Technology Review. p. 22-33 (Feb./Mar. 1981).

5 IEEE Response to President Carter's Inquiry on the State of EngineeringEducation, reprinted in IEEE Education Society Newsletter. pp. 8-11(Sept. 1980).

6. Kirby, R.S.. Withington, S.. Darling, A.B., and Kilgour, F.G., Engineering inHistory, McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 372-373 (1956).

7 Abelson. P H., "Science and Engineering Education," Editorial in Science.Vol. 210, No. 4473 (Nov. 28, 1980).

8 Klafter, R.D.. "An Introductory Course in Microprocessors for Freshmen."IEEE Trans. on Education, Vol. E-24. No. 1. pp. 74-77 (Feb. 1981).

9. Rowland, A.J.. "The Classical -Scientific vs. The Purely Technical Uni-versity Course to the Electrical Engineer," A.I.E.E. Phila. Section Meeting(Nov. 10, 1913).

Bruce Eisenstein is Head of the Electrical and Computer Engineer-ing Department, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pa. In 1976, Dr.Eisenstein received the C. Holmes MacDonald Award of Eta KappaNu given to the Outstanding Young Electrical Engineering Teacherin the U.S. He is presently Secretary -Treasurer of the IEEEEducation Society.Contact him at:Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept.Drexel UniversityPhiladelphia, PA 19104(215) 895-2359

72 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

of ¶ ol@A/ of f the job

K. Traub

Motorcycle turn -signal beeperBuild an inexpensive turn -signal alert that gives an audiblewarning when cycle (or auto) flashers are on.

Just about anyone who has ever ridden a motorcyclefor any distance has, at one time or another, dis-covered a still -flashing turn signal long after com-pleting a turn. This is an especially common ex-perience with cyclists because of the concentrationnecessary to operate a motorcycle and the high levelof wind and other background noises. This articleshows how to construct an inexpensive, compact,low -power, turn -signal alert that beeps every time thesignal light flashes, and warns the cyclist (or motorist,since the beeper will work equally wer in an

automobile) that a turn is being signalled.The parts used in the beeper circuit, shown in Fig. 1,

have been found to be very reliable, so that the circuitshould require little maintenance. The integratedcircuit (IC) used is a standaro CMOS IC commonlyavailable in electronics supply stores or through theircatalogs. The CMOS device was chosen because ofits extremely low -power consumption and because ithas a high degree of noise immunity (it is notbothered much by variations in current and voltage),both especially helpful features in the harsh environ-ment characteristic of a motorcycle or under the hoodof an automobile.

The circuit, as described below, draws power onlywhen the turn signal is activated and should providean adequate level of audible warning under mostconditions because it produces a warning signal ofbetween 1 and 1.5 kilohertz, a frequency easily heardabove typical motorcycle background noises.

Reprint RE -26-5-13Final manuscript received March 17. 1981

TURNLEFT BULB RIGHT

v.,DIODESIN 001

(24) VTRANSISTOR

I 16IM100K0.25 W

19.82 CD4 049 15

HEX

SPEAKER

D.0022 0-A7V\r---F

2N6386

+

3 14

25 WV4INVERTERi 3IC5 12 Bfl .0.2 W

(2-3 IN)6 II7 10

8 9

Parts List1 CD40498 CMOS Hex Inverter IC1 1PA. 0.25 W Resistor1 100 K. 0.25 W Resistor1 19 8 K. 0.25 W Resistor1 0.022 oF. 25 WV Capacitor1 2N6386 n -p -n Darlington Transistor2 1N4001 DiodesI 8 ohm. 0.2 W. 2-3 inch Speaker1 IC Socket. Low Profile 16 -pin Type

(optional)

Circuit descriptionThe circuit, with only four active components, isrelatively simple to build. An RC oscillator is used inthe "front end" of the circuit to provide the audiosignal for the gating network. The oscillator consistsof two inverters. which are housed in the one IC andwhich provide amplification, and two resistors and a

RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981 73

capacitor that provide positive (regenerative) feed-back and voltage stability. The oscillator can beconstructed with only one resistor, but the additional1-megohm resistor assures a very stable audible tonein spite of voltage variations. The oscillator signal isfed to three inverting buffers, also housed in the IC,that function in this circuit as oscillator inverters.These three paralleled driver inverters drive the baseof a type 2N6386 bipolar Darlington transistor toprovide drive to the speaker.

By connecting the base of the transistor to the hotside of the turn -signal bulbs, either the actual signalbulbs or the pilot lamps, +dc is applied to the circuitthrough either of the two diodes shown in the circuitdiagram. The beeper circuit will not affect turn -signaloperation if constructed and connected properlybecause of the relatively low -power consumptioninherent in the design. When either of the bulbs isturned on, the +dc is gated through simultaneously tothe CD4049 chip-the heart of the beeper circuit-and the power output transistor.

The two type 1N4001 diodes are used to isolate oneturn circuit from the other. If they were not incor-porated in the circuit, both turn -signal bulbs wouldcome on at the same time.

A 2- or 3 -inch diameter transistor -radio speaker willsuffice for this circuit. The speaker can be water-proofed, and its tonal quality preserved, by giving thepaper cone a light coating of flexible rubber -basepaper cement. If additional output volume is needed,the value of the 19.8-kilohm base -limiting resistor canbe lowered; however, care must be taken not toexceed the power rating of the speaker.

Circuit construction

The beeper circuit may be constructed using per-forated circuit board to mount the IC and othercomponents. Socketing of the IC is recommended togive the IC a better chance of surviving the solderingphase of construction. The CMOS IC should be left ona conductive surface until needed, and the buildershould be grounded through a resistance of ap-

Kevin Traub joined the Solid State Division Automotive ProgramsEngineering Department in Somerville in 1978, and has beeninvolved since then in the selection and application of LSI devicesfor automobile control systems. His major responsibility has beenthe technical interface with, and support of, customers using RCA'smicroprocessors and other standard and custom LSI devices forignition and fuel control in automobile engines. He is presently amember of the LSI Automotive Product Engineering Group.Contact him at:Solid State DivisionSomerville. N.J.TACNET: 325-7138

proximately 1 megohm when handling the circuit toprevent the body's static discharge from destroyingthe IC.

The construction of the entire circuit can beaccomplished in roughly an hour's time; installationshould take only a few minutes, and consists of tyingthe anodes of the diodes to the positive side (flasherside) of the turn -signal bulbs.

Correction note: Jan./Feb. 1981 RCA Engineer

Two figures in M.J. Kurina's article "Electronic packagingfor an artillery -delivered sensor" are incorrectly captioned.Below Fig. 2 (p. 64), the caption should read:"(a) Schematicof the 155 mm projectile and (b) isometric view of the TDV."Below Fig. 3 (p. 65), the caption should read "Artillerydeployment scenario shows stresses the unit must with-stand." Also, ignore the reference to Fig. 6 on p. 66.

74 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Patents

Astro-Electronics

Phillips, K.J.Minimization of residual spacecraft nutationdue to disturbing torques -30429

Pistiner, J.S.Closed -loop roll control for momentum -biased satellites -4230294

Strother, J AInterference suppression for imagingoptical systems -4233501

CommercialCommunications Systems

Gurley. T.M.IFischer, W.D.Hopkins, R.S., Jr.Television picture positioning apparatus -4227215

McCoy, J.F.High resistance continuous shield forreduced capacitive coupling in a deflectionyoke -4237438

Olson, C.L.1Hacke, J.F.Television camera highlight dischargeapparatus -4237491

Zborowski, R.W.Parallel operation of multiple TVtransmitters -4238855

Consumer Electronics

Blatter, H.1Tults, J.Automatic turn-off apparatus for a radio ortelevision receiver -4241450

Dougherty, R.S.Aqueous photoresist method -4237210

Fuhrer, J.S.Defect compensation for color television -4232340

Fuhrer. J.S.non-linear processing of video image

lical detail information -4245238Gr.,Sten. P.D.

ohonic sound synthesizer -4239939Lagon..Controllay.A.signals -4k non-linear processing of video

5237

Nero. L.W.Color picture tube magnetic shielding anddegaussing structure -4243913

Olsen, P CWire -coil assembly for an electrical circuit -4229722

Thibodeau, L.N.Flyback transformer -4229787

Tults, J.AFT arrangement for a phase locked looptuning system -4245351

Willis, D.H.High -voltage -disabling circuit for a televi-sion receiver -4234829

Willis. D.H.Regulated deflection circuit with regulatorswitch controlled by deflection current -4234827

Willis, D H.Regulated deflection circuit -4243012

Coronet Industries

David, J M., JrCreel -4240594

GovernmentCommunications Systems

McSparran, J.F.Circuit board guide and groundconnector -4243283

Laboratories

Abramovich, A.Relative humidity measurement -4227411

Aschwanden, FSelf -stabilizing analog to digital converteruseful in phase -locked -loop tuningsystems -4227186

Astle, B. I Dischert, R.A.Automatic setup system for televisioncameras -4234890

Barkow. W.H.Deflection yoke with a magnet for reducingsensitivity of convergence to yokeposition -4231009

Bedford, A VMethod of and means for generating com-plex electrical coding waves for secretcommunication -4232186

Bell. A EPlay pack information record using phasecancellation for reading -4233626

Bloom, A 'Burke, W.J.Ablative optical recording medium -4241355

Bloom. A 1Bartolini, R.A.Ablative optical recording medium -4242689

Bohringer, W.Regulated deflection system -4227125

Bortfeld, D.P.1Vieland, L.J.Simplified resistive lens electron gun withcompound linear voltage profile -4243912

Botez, D.lEttenberg, M.1Kressel, H.Light -emitting diode -4233614

Burke. W.J.IEttenberg, M. Kressel, H.Optical memory with injection laser as lightsource and detector -4241423

Campbell, F.J 1Barkow, W H.Saddle-toroid deflection winding for lowloss and/or reduced conductor length -4228413

Carlson. D.E.Method of enhancing the electronicproperties of an undoped and/or n -typehydrogenated amorphous silicon film -4226643

Credelle, T LFlat display tube having shielding memberbetween beam guide and screen -4234815

Datta, P.1Friel, R.N.Video discs and molding compositionstherefor -4241120

Decker, C.A.IComizzoli, R.B.Schnable. G.L.Method for inspecting electrical devices -4237379

Demers, R.R.Method of slicing a wafer -4227348

Demers, R.R.ILeedom. M.A.System for regulating the applied blade -to -

RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981 75

boule force during the slicing of wafers -4228782

Denhollander, W.Combined linearity and side pincushioncorrection arrangement -4234824

Desai, N.V.IPoliniak, E.S.Silane electron beam resists -4237208

Dholakia, A.R.Method for precision grinding of hard,pointed materials -4243395

Ettenberg, M. Nuese, C.J.Ill -V direct-bandgap semiconductor opticalfilter -4228349

Faughnan, B.W.ICrandall, R.S.Method for making electrochromic filmshaving improved etch resistance -4233339

Gange, R.A.System for controlling brightness uniformi-ty In display devices -4234825

Groeneweg, W.H.SECAM-PAL converter -4233622

Groeneweg, W.H.Identification system for SECAM orSECAM/PAL color television receivers -4240102

Haferl, P.E.Regulated deflection circuit -4232254

Hawrylo, F.Z.IKressel, H.Method of making a laser diode -4233090

Hinn, W.SECAM chrome demodulator circuit -4232268

Hinn, W.IHinderling, J.Combined kinescope grid and cathodevideo drive system -4233624

Hollingsworth, R.J.High performance electrically alterableread-only memory (EAROM)-4237472

Hsu, S.T.Extended drain self -aligned silicon gateMOSFET-4232327

Hsu, S.T.High performance electrically alterableread-only memory (EAROM)-4247861

Huang, H.ISechi, F.N.Design method for linear amplifier -4246535

Ipri, A.C.Fabrication of an integrated Injection logicdevice with narrow base width -4244001

Jebens, R.W.Solar powered dehumidifier apparatus -4242112

Johnson, H.C.Pulse radar transmitting oscillator -4241345

Kipp, R.W.IJohnson, H.C.FM-CW radar ranging system withautomatic calibration -4245221

Kosonocky, W.F.IAngle, R.L.High speed loading of output registerCCD array system -4237383

Kosonocky, W.F.IRodgers, R.L., 3rdCCD imagers -4246591

Schroeder, J.O.Pulse modulator for operating a device inthe avalanche mode -4242644

Takahashi, T.IYamada, 0.of High temperature cadmium

semiconductor device -4228454

Ladany, I.Electroluminescent diode and optical fiberassembly -4237474

Larach, S.IVilkomerson, D.H.Echocardiographic apparatus formyocardial disease diagnosis by a -wavequantification -4233989

Mawhinney, D.D.Radio frequency pulse generator -4238796

Mawhinney, D.D.Smart noise generator -4247946

Mezrich, R.S.1Stewart, W.C.Acoustic variable focal length lensassembly -4242913

McCarthy, D.C.Improving etch resistance of a casein -teasedphotoresist-4230794

Moles, W.H.Vertical deflection circuit -4238713

Napoli, L.S.Solar cell grid patterns -4228315

Nowogrodzki, M.Frequency translation means -4247822

Paglione, R.W.Temperature controller for a microwaveheating system -4228809

Patterson, D.R.Temperature compensated bias circuit forsemiconductor lasers -4243952

Phillips, W.INeil, C.C.IHammer, J.M.Planar optical waveguide comprising thinmetal oxide film incorporating a relief phasegrating -4227769

Pote, T.W.IHam, W.E.Method for cracking and separating pelletsformed on a wafer -4247031

Roach, W.R. I Sheng, P.Diffractometer for measuring signal depthand width -4236823

Rosen, A.ISantamore, W.P.Method of measuring blood perfusion -4228805

Rosen, A. Gombar, A.M.IMykietyn, E.Method for fabricating stacked semicon-ductor diodes for high power/low lossapplications -4237600

Tocci, A.J.Cleaving apparatus -4228937

boracite

Toda, M !Osaka, S.Light control device using a bimorphelement -4234245

Tracy, C.E.IKern, W.IVibronek, R.D.Sprayable titanium composition -4241108

Wedam, W.F.Horizontal deflection and power supply cir-cuit with a start-up arrangement -4240013

Weimer, P.K.Charge transfer imager -4237477

Weimer, P.K.Line -transfer CCD images -4242700

Winarsky, N.D.IBortfeld, D.P.Cohen, R.W.IVieland, L.J.Resistive lens electron gun with compoundlinear voltage profile -4243911

Wolkstein, H.J.I Dornan, B.R.IGoel, J.High repetition rate driver circuit formodulation of injection lasers -4243951

Woods, M.N.Stepped oxide, high voltage MOStransistor -4236167

Wu, C.P.ISmeltzer, R.K.Low -resistivity polycrystalline silicon film -4229502

Wu, C.P.IRosen, A.Method of making an impatt idode utilizing acombination of epitaxial deposition, ionimplantation and substrate removal -4230505

Missile and Surface Radar

Landry, N.R.ISchelhorn, R.L.I Williams, S.L.Thick film resistor element and method offabricating -4245210

Profera. C.E.I Campbell, J.J.Multimode feed for a monopulse radar -4246583

Schwarzmann, A.Phase shifter -4238745

Patent Operations

Meise, W.H.Vertical sync separator -4240111

Meise, W.H. i con -Signal integrator with time constp back-trolled by differentiating le -4243918

76 RCA Engineer 26-5 ar./Apr. 1981

Picture Tube Division

Chen, H.IHughes, R.H.Electron gun with astigmatic flare -reducingbeam forming region -4234814

Pearlman, S.CRT screen structure produced byphotographic method -4234669

Piascinski, J.J.1Doerschuk, E.E., 3rdMethod for making etch -resistant stencilwith dichromate -sensitized alkali-caseinatecoating -4230781

Wardell, M.H., Jr.Convergence adjustment arrangement us-ing magnetic tabs with differential motionand rotary drive -4245205

Werst, J.L.Electron beam moving apparatus for a colorcathode ray tube -4232283

RCA International

Stietenroth, H.Electronic tone generator -4245336

RCA, Inc., Midland

McCue, B.B.Internal metal stripe on conductive layer -4232248

RCA, Inc., Montreal

Webb, P.P.1McIntyre, R.J.Light -detector housing for fiber-opticapplications -4233619

"SelectaVision"

Carlson, D.J.IYu, J.P.RF connector assembly with low frequencyisolation -4242655

Coleman, C.F.ITorrington, L.A.VideoDisc caddy -4239108

Coleman, C.F.Record extracting mechanism for caddytype VideoDisc player -4239238

Hughes, L.M.Record side identification apparatus forVideoDisc player -4247119

Martin, C.J.IRyan, R.J.IVoelker, M.J.Conductive molding composition -4228050

Pyles, G.D.Turntable drive system for VideoDiscplayer -4239237

Torrington, L.A.Manual scanning mechanism for VideoDiscplayer -4227699

Wilber, J.A.JChristopher, T.J.Nested loop VideoDisc servo system -4247866

Yu, J.P.RF connector assembly with provision forlow frequency isolation and RFI reduction -4229714

Solid State Division

Ahmed, A A.Television vertical ramp generator -4230998

Ahmed, A A.Oscillator incorporating negative im-pedance network having current mirroramplifier -4230999

Ahmed, A.A.Television vertical ramp generator -4241265

Avery, L.R.Video games color synthesis -4229760

Balaban, A.R.ISteckler, S.A.Multiplexing arrangement for a televisionsignal processing system -4227217

Balaban, A.R.ISteckler, S.A.Voltage controlled oscillator presentinghigh impedance to parallel resonant tankcircuit -4243953

Bosenberg, W.A.Method of defining a photoresist layer -4239790

Caprari, F.Flash lamp drive circuit -4243917

Dietz, W.F.Switching amplifier for driving a loadthrough an alternating -current path with aconstant -amplitude, varying duty cyclesignal -4227123

Dietz, W.F.Synchronous switched vertical deflectiondriven during both trace and retraceintervals -4234826

Dietz, W F.Switched vertical deflection with triac-4238712

Dingwall, A.G.Integrated circuit device including both n -channel and p -channel insulated gate fieldeffect transistors -4240093

Dingwall, A.G.Look ahead high speed circuitry -4242738

Harford, J.R.Signal overload prevention circuit -4237490

Harwood, L.A.IWittmann, E.J.Signal detector including sample and holdcircuit with reduced offset error -4229759

Henry, W.N.Method of making a silicon diode arraytarget -4231820

Hughes, F.R.INyul, P.Electroluminescent semiconductor devicewith fiber-optic face plate -4240090

Leidich, A.J.Variable gain current amplifier -4242643

Leidich, A.J.PNP output short circuit protection -4232273

Longsderff, R.W.1Henry, D.V.Alkali metal dispenser -4233936

Mazgy, J.D.Logic circuit -4228371

Olmstead, J.A.Engine timing circuit with noise immunity -4226219

Rhoces, R.D.Digital phase detector -4237423

Robe, T.J.Bandwidth limited large signal IC amplifierstage -4240042

Savoye, E.D.1Edwards, T.W.1Wallace, L.F.Reduced blooming devices -4232245

Schade, O.H., Jr.Self -balancing bridge network -4234841

Schade, O.H., Jr.Substantially temperature -independenttrimming of current flows -4243948

Shai, S.Digital open loop programmable frequencymulliplier-4244027

Steckler, S.A.IBalaban, A.R.Switched AFPC loop filter with offsetvoltage cancellation -4228463

Steckler, S.A.IBalaban, A.R.AFPC phase detector with no output fromalternate sync pulses -4245251

Stewart, R.G.Regulated high voltage power supply -4236199

Stewart, R.G.Asymmetrically precharged senseamplifier -4239994

Wheatley, C.F., Jr.Mullivibrator circuit -4246551

Patents 77

Pen and Podium Recent RCA technical papers and presentations

To obtain copies of papers, check your library or contact the author or his divisionalTechnical Publications Administrator (listed on back cover) for a reprint.

Americom

W.T. Rowse (RCA Americom)IL. Abbot(Labs)G.W. Beasley (Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.)Parameter Tradeoffs for Transmitting TwoTelevision Channels Per Transponder-RCA Review, Vol. 41 (9/80)

Astro-Electronics

W.P. AltmanGaussian Beam Analysis with a HP67Programmable Calculator-Optical Societyof America 1980 Spring Conference onApplied Optics, Mills College, Oakland,Calif. (6/3/80)

J. FrohbieterRCA Satcom Test Planning -6th AerospaceTesting Seminar, Los Angeles, Calif.(3/11/81)

L. Muhlfenderl G. SchmidtThe Application of Magnetic Torquing toS/C Attitude Control-Annual Rocky Moun-tain Guidance and Control Conference(AAS), Keystone, Col. (2/4/81)

A. Rosenberg,I D. HoganSimultaneous Lidar Measurements of Temp& Humidity Profiles: Error Analysis-Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Israel NuclearResearch Center, Beer-Sheva (3/7/81)

A. Rosenberg I D. HoganSimultaneous Lidar Measurements of Temp& Humidity Profiles: Error Analysis-Tn-Service Lidar Workshop, Tucson, Az.(2/3/81)

A. SchnapfSatellite Remote Sensing of the Earth'sEnvironment -23rd Israel Annual Con-ference, Israel (2/81)

Automated Systems

M.J. GilbertMicroprocessor Applications-IEEE Stu-dent Chapter, Tufts University (1/81)

D.A. GoreNew Generation of Test and MonitoringSystems-Pi Tau Sigma Honorary Societyand ASME Student Chapter, WorcesterPolytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass.(3/80)

F.A. MililloUndersea Surveillance-ASME StudentChapter, Northeastern Univ., Boston, Mass.(1/81)

Broadcast Systems

R.S. ZborowskiRecent improvements in UHF TelevisionTransmitter Efficiency-AFCCE MonthlyMeeting, Washington, D.C. (2/19/81)

Laboratories

L. Abbott (RCA Labs)G.W. Beakley (Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.)W.T. Rowse (RCA Americom)Parameter Tradeoffs for Transmitting TwoTelevision Channels Per Transponder-RCA Review, Vol. 41 (9/80)

L. AbbottCancellation of Visible Color CrosstalkBetween Two TV Signals by Use of AllernateLine Delay-RCA Review, Vol. 41 (9/80)

A. Acamporal G. SaulnierTime Division Multiple Access of SatelliteTransponders by Analog Video Signals (Ona Field of Frame Interleaved Basis)-RCAReview, Vol. 41 (9/80)

R.C. AligKinescope Electron Gun Design-RCAReview, Vol. 41, No. 4 (12/80)

R.C. Alig IS. Bloom I C.W. StruckScattering by ionization and Phonon Emis-sion in Semiconductors-Physical ReviewB, Vol. 22, No. 12 (12/15/80)

D. BotezIJ.C. ConnollyLow -Threshold High -To Constricted DoubleHeterojunction AlGaAs Diode lasers-Electronics Letters, Vol. 16, No. 25-26(12/4/80)

D.A. DeWolfElectrostatic Fields Inside Two Planar Dis-tributions of Potential-Proceedings of theIEEE, Vol. 69, No. 1 (1/81)

B.J. CurtisIH. KiessH.R. BrunnerIK. FrickThe Preparation, Electrical andElectrophotographic Properties ofCadmium Selenide Thin Films-Photographic Science and Eng'g.. Vol. 24,No. 5 (9/10/80)

B. DornaniW. Slusark, Jr.IY.S. WuP. PelkaIR. BartonH. Wolksteinl H. HuangA 4-GHz GaAs FET Power Amplifier: Anadvanced Transmitter for Satellite Down -Line Communication Systems-RCAReview, Vol. 41. No. 3 (9/80)

M. EttenbergSPS Design With Solid -State Transmitter-Space Solar Power Review, Vol. 1, pp. 345-349 (1980)

W.H. FongerAddition Rule for Patterned and Non -patterned Hardenings in Dichromated-PVACoatings-J. Electrochem. Soc.: Solid -State Science and Technology (1/81)

A.M. GoodmanImprovements in Method and Apparatus forDetermining Minority Carrier DiffusionLength-International Electron DevicesMeeting (12/80)

A. GuidaMaximizing Satellite TransponderUtilization-RCA Review, Vol. 41 (9/80)

S.T. HsuLow Frequency Excess Noise in SOS MOSFETs-RCA Review, Vol. 41, No. 4 (12/80)

A.C. 1priEvaluation of CMOS Transistor RelatedDesign Rules-RCA Review, Vol. 41, No. 4(12/80)

K. JonnalagaddaSyllabic Companding and Voice Capacity ofa Transponder-RCA Review, Vol. 41 (9/80)

R.J. KlenschlK. KellyTwo -for -one video over microwaveterrestrial links-RCA Review, Vol. 41 (9/80)

M. KumarIG.C. TaylorIH. HuangMonolithic Dual -Gate GaAs FETAmplifier-IEEE Transactions on ElectronDevices, Vol. ED -28, No. 2 (2/81)

D. MageeiD.E. Carlsoninvestigation of the Hydrogen and ImpurityContents of Amorphous Silicon by Secon-dary Ion Mass Spectrometry-PhotovoltaicMaterial and Device MeasurementsWorkshop, San Diego, Calif. (1/3-4/80)

V. MangulisFrequency Diversity in Low -Angle RadarTracking-IEEE Transactions onAerospace and Electronic Systems, Vol.AES-17, No. 1 (1/81)

78 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

V. MangulisSecurity of a Popular Scrambling Schemefor TV Pictures-RCA Review, Vol. 41 (9/80)

A.R. MooreCarrier Lifetime in Photovoltaic Solar Con-centrator Cells by the Small -Signal Open -Circuit Decay Method-RCA Review, Vol.41 (12/80)

J.I. PankovePhotoluminescence Assessment of SolarCell Materials-Photovoltaic Material andDevice Measurements Workshop, SanDiego, Calif. (1/3-4/81)

J.I. PankovelC.P. WuAluminum Patterning by IonImplementation-International ElectronDevices Meeting (12/80)

L SchiffCapacity of Fixed -Assigned VersusDemand -Assigned SCPC Systems withPower -Limited Transponders-RCAReview, Vol. 41 (9/80)

F.N. SechiDesign Procedure for High -EfficiencyLinear Microwave Power Amplifiers-IEEETransactions on Microwave Theory andTechniques, Vol. MTT-28, No. 11, (11/80)

D. Thebault IL. JastrzebskiReview of Factors Affecting Warpage ofSilicon Wafers-RCA Review, Vol. 41, No. 4(12/80)

L.K. WhiteBilayer Taper Etching of Field Oxides andPassivation Layers-Journal of the Elec-trochemical Society, Vol. 127, No. 12 (12/80)

B. WilliamsThe Capillary Without Walls-Journal ofColloid and Interface Science, Vol. 79, No. 1(1/81)

Missile and Surface Radar

F.G. Adams B.F. RogersIF.T. McGoughQuality and Productivity: The Case forMotivation-OVERVIEW Magazine

J.A. BauerChip Carrier Technology-IEPS Inter-national Electronic Packaging SocietyWorkshop, Anaheim, Calif. (2/81)

H.B. BoardmanIR.C. WoodThe U.S. Navy's AEGIS Weapons System

ORTS: A 1980 Test System for CG 47 ClassShips-OSD, MRA&L Symposium on Built-in Test, Institute of Defense AnalysisBuilding, Arlington, Va. (2/81)

D.B. Campbell, et al.Design Budgeting-A Bold New Ship Ac-quisition Strategy... Now A ProvenConcept-Naval Engineers Journal, ASNEWashington, D.C. (4/81)

S.R. ChowdhurySome Experiences with Microcomputers:Hardware Architecture and SoftwareDevelopment-Proceedings, InternationalConference on MicrocomputerApplications to Industrial Control, Calcutta,India (3/81)

S.R. ChowduryEffect of Memory Contention on ProcessingTime-Proceedings, 12th AnnualPittsburgh Conference on Modeling andSimulation, Pittsburgh, Pa. (4-5/81)

B. GaffneyIA. ChressanthisAn Analysis of the Detection Performance ofa Digital Hard Limited Phased EncodedCFAR-Proceedings, IEEE Region 3 SoJthEastcon '81, Von Braun Civic Center,Huntsville Ala. (4/81)

B. GaffneyIJ. O'BrienA High -Speed Noise Generator -Proceedings, SOUTHEASTCON '81,Huntsville, Ala.

W.C. Grubb. Jr.Minicomputers & Microprocessors for Non -Electrical Engineers-ASME EnergySources Conference, Houston, Texas (1/81

W.C. Grubb, Jr.Solid State Electronics for Non -ElectricalEngineers-Drexel Univ., Phila., Pa. (2/81),and George Washington Univ., Washington,D.C. (2/81)

C.J. HughesIR.S. JohnsonAEGIS Sidelobe Blanker-Record, 27th An-nual Tri-Service Radar Symposium, NavalPostgraduate School, Monterey, Calif.(6/81)

C.J. HughesIR.S. Johnson IT. MurakamiAdvanced AEGIS Signal Processor-Record, 27th Annual Tri-Service RadarSymposium, Naval Postgraduate School,Monterey, Calif. (6/81)

Martin, R.W.Automated Phased Array AntennaTesting-The Near Field Approach-LI

Chapter IEEE, Polytechnic Inst. of N.Y.(3/81)

F.E. OlivetoConfiguring Computer Suite for ReliabilityAvailability System Approach-IEEEReliab lity Symposium, Phila., Pa. (1/81)

G. PanigrahilR.F. SewellA Generalized Test Program Generator forIntegrated Circuit Testing-Proceedings,Automated Testing for ElectronicsManufacturing Seminar/Exhibit, Pasadena,Calif. (1/81)

R.L. SchelhornLow -Cost Manufacturing Techniques forThick Film Microwave Circuits-ElectronicPackaging and Production (1/81)

Scheihorn, R.L.Thick Film Multilayer Board for Chip CarrierCircuits-Proceedings, NEPCON West,1981. Anaheim Convention Center,Anaheim, Calif. (2/81)

R.L. SchelhornUniversal Probing Technique for Continuityand Isolation Testing of HCC Circuits-International Journal for Hybrid Microelec-tronics (1/81)

Schnorr, D.P.Printed Wiring-The History of a

Technology-Printed Circuit World Con-vention II, Munich, W. Germany (6/81)

M. T-achtenbergEstimating Software Debugging Re-quirements Based on a Rayleigh Error RateModel-IEEE Software EngineeringTransactions

H. UrkowitzExpressions in Closed Form for the AngularAccuracy of a Scanning Radar-IEEE Tran-sactions on Aerospace and ElectronicSystems, (1/81)

L.H. YorinksRectangular Coaxial Line Split -T PowerDividers-Symposium Digest, 1981IEEE 'MIT -S International Microwave Sym-posium, Los Angeles, Calif. (6/81)

Solid State Division

W.A. BosenbergMOS Threshold Voltage Monitoring-RCAReview, Vol. 41, No. 4 (12/80)

Pen and Podium 79

Engineering News and Highlights

4

Pt. ,twic

4

14

Karoly

Major Executive Appointments AnnouncedThe RCA Corporation Board of Directorshas elected James M. Alic, Vice -President,Electronic Services and VideoDisc Plan-ning. He will be responsible for RCA ServiceCompany and for "SelectaVision-VideoDisc Planning.

George D. Prestwich was named Presidentof the RCA Service Company. Mr. Prestwichwill report to Mr. Alic.

James J. Badaracco, former President of theRCA Service Company, has been appointedDivision Vice -President, Special MarketingPrograms on Mr. Prestwich's staff.

In another staff change, Joseph W. Karolywas appointed Division Vice -President,Finance, RCA Communications.

- Mr. Alic joined the RCA Corporate Staff in1970 and, after holding several posts incorporate planning activity, was namedStaff Vice -President for profit analysis in1972. Later that year, he was appointed StaffVice -President for financial planning.

In 1973, Mr. Alic was transferred to theRCA Consumer Electronics Division in In-dianapolis and was named Division Vice -President of operations for the RCA Con-sumer Electronics Division. From 1977 to1979, he was an Executive Vice -Presidentwith the National Broadcasting Company, awholly -owned subsidiary of the RCA Cor-poration.

Prior to joining RCA, Mr. Alic wasassociated with the Ford Motor Company,holding analytical and supervisory positionsin the Ford Division and the ProductDevelopment Group.

A native of Birmingham, Michigan, Mr.Alic was graduated from Northwestern Un-iversity in 1964. He earned an M.B.A. degreefrom the University of Chicago in 1955.

- Mr. Prestwich joined RCA in 1969 asDivision Vice -President of defensemarketing for the Defense ElectronicProducts activity. In 1969, he became Divi-sion Vice -President of marketing for theRCA Government and Commercial Systemsorganization. Since 1976, he has been Divi-

sion Vice -President for marketing in MeGovernment Systems Division.

Before joining RCA, Mr. Prestwich waswith the General Electric Company for 13years, primarily in marketing positions in theelectronics, defense and aerospace areas.

Mr. Prestwich was graduated from theU.S. Naval Academy in 1943 and received anS.M. degree in Nuclear Physics from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology in1952.

The RCA Corporation Board of Directorshas elected Jack K. Sauter a Group Vice -President. As a Group Vice -President, Mr.Sauter will direct both the company's Con-sumer Electronics Division and the Dis-tributor and Special Products Division. Mr.Sauter will report to Roy H. Pollack,Executive Vice -President.

From August 1, 1979, Mr. Sauter was Vice -President and General Manager of the Con-sumer Electronics Division which he willcontinue to direct. Donald M. Cook, DivisionVice -President and General Manager of theDistributor and Special Products Divisionsince June 12, 1979, will report to Mr. Sauter.

Mr. Sauter joined the Consumer Elec-tronics Division in 1975. He served fouryears as Division Vice -President, Marketing.In January 1979, he was named DivisionVice -President and General Manager andeight months later was elected Vice -President of the division.

He joined RCA in 1950 as an advertisingfield representative. He became SalesManager of the RCA Victor Western regionaloperations. In 1957, he moved into theDivision's sales development activity. Mi.Sauter was appointed Manager of the RCASales Corporation's TV sales, Planning andDevelopment in November 1960. Four yearslater, he was appointed a Vice -President ofthe RCA Sales Corporation. In 1966, he wasnamed Executive Vice -President of thatRCA subsidiary.

Mr. Sauter was graduated from UCLA witha bachelor of arts degree in 1947.

ire ihde>Sauter

Named to new posts were John D.Rittenhouse, as Division Vice -President andGeneral Manager. Picture Tube Divisionand Paul E. Wright, as Division Vice -President and General Manager, Govern-ment Systems Division. Both Mr.Rittenhouse and Mr. Wright report to Dr.James Vollmer, Group Vice -President, whooversees Commercial CommunicationsSystems Division, Government SystemsDivision and Picture TubeCharles A. Schmidt has been appointedDivision Vice -President and GeneralManager, Astro-Electronics. He reports toMr. Wright.

Joseph H. Colgrove, the former Vice -President and General Manager, PictureTube Division, has been named Vice -President, Commercial and Business Plan-ning, reporting to Dr. Vollmer.- Mr. Rittenhouse joined RCA in 1958 andheld a series of managerial posts in suchprojects as the Apollo program's lunar ex-cursion module communications system,the Navy's Trident submarine integratedradio room, and in a number of classifiedintelligence programs. In 1976, he wasnamed Division Vice -President and GeneralManager, Government CommunicationsSystems. In 1979, he was appointed DivisionVice -President and General Manager,Government Systems Division.

Mr. Rittenhouse received a bachelor'sdegree from Drexel University in 1958 and amaster's degree from the University ofPennsylvania in 1960. He also graduatedfrom the Harvard Business School'sProgram for Management Development.- Mr. Wright joined RCA in 1958 and in theensuing years, held several engineeringposts. In 1977, he was named Division Vice -President, Engineering, GovernmentSystems Division. He then held the post ofDivision Vice -President, Operations, atAstro-Electronics Division for a year beforebeing named Division Vice -President andGeneral Manager, Astro-Electronics, inSeptember 1979.

80 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Rittenhouse Wright

Mr. Wright received a bachelor's degreefrom California Polytechnic State Universityin 1958 and a master's degree from theUniversity of Pennsylvania in 1960. He alsograduated from the Harvard BusinessSchool's Advanced Management Program.

- Mr. Schmidt joined RCA in 1950 and sincethat time has held several key engineeringand managerial posts with GovernmentCommunications Systems. From 1970 to1974, he was Manager, Test Engineering.During the following three years he was aprogram manager. In 1978, Mr. Schmidt wasappointed Manager, Integrated Radio Room

Schmidt Colgrove

Programs, Government CommunicationsSystems Division.

Mr. Schmidt holds a bachelor of sciencedegree from LaSalle College.

Dr. William L. Firestone has been appointedDivision Vice -President and GeneralManager for RCA Cablevision Systems Divi-sion. Dr. Firestone reports to J. Edgar Hill,Division Vice -President and GeneralManager fcr Commercial CommunicationsSystems Division.

Dr. Firestone previously was Division Vice -President and General Manager of Avionics

Systems which was sold by RCA to theSperry Corporation in January of this year.

Dr. Firestone joined RCA as a DivisionVice -President at the Avionics Systemsactivity in 1975. Before that he had been aVice -President with the General InstrumentCorporation and a Vice -President of theWhittaker Corporaion.

Dr. i=irestone holds a bachelor's degreefrom the University of Colorado, a master'sdegree from the Illinois Institute ofTechnology and a doctorate fromNorthwestern University. He also received acertificate in business administration fromthe University of Chicago.

Staff Announcements

RCA Communications, Inc.RCA Communications, Inc., will consist ofthree subsidiary companies:

RCA American Communications, Inc.RCA Global Communications, Inc.

RCA Network Services, Inc.

The Board of Directors of RCA Com-munications, Inc., made the followingofficer elections: Julius Koppelman,Chairman of the Board; Eugene F. Murphy,President and Chief Executive Officer;Francis J.D. DeRosa, Executive Vice -President and General Counsel, Law andRegulatory Affairs; Andrew Gaspar, Vice -President, Strategic Planning; and JosephW. Karoly, Vice -President, Finance.

RCA GlobalCommunications

The Board of Directors of RCA GlobalCommunications. Inc.. appointed Eugene F.Murphy as Chairman of the Board andelected Valerian F. Podmolik, President andChief Executive Officer.

Mr. Podmolik will report to the Chairmanof the Board.Valerian F. Podmolik, President and Chief

Executive Officer. RCA Global Com-munications, Inc., announces the organiza-tion of RCA Global Communications, Inc.,as follows: Lawrence M. Codacovi,Executive Vice -President, InternationalServices and Marketing; Adam Irving, Jr.,Director, Administration Planning; KennethH. Lassig, Vice -President, Finance; DonaldR. Stackhouse, Vice -President. Operations;Joe T. Swaim, Vice -President, Engineering;Leonard W. Tuft, Vice -President, CorporateAffairs; Charles H. Twitty, Vice -President,Industrial Relations; and Valerian F. Pod-molik, Acting, Service Planning andDevelopment.

Joe Terry Swaim, Vice -President, Engineer-ing announces that John P. Shields isManager, System Planning; AlexanderAvanessians is Manager. CustomerEngineering; Walter N. Bauer is Manager,Engineering Administration and NetworkControl; Solomon J. Nahum is Manager,Construction and Installation; Richard H.Roth is Director, Computer Programs(KCC); and Anthony J. Falco is Manager,Central Oftice Engineering.

David Mer, Director, Operations andEngineering, for RCA Globcom Systems.Inc., announces the appointment of John A.Kruk, as Manager, Engineering.

RCA Network Services

The Board of Directors of RCA NetworkServices, Inc., appointed the following:Eugene F. Murphy, Chairman of the Board;Andrew F. Inglis, President. Mr. Inglis willreport to the Chairman of the Board.

RCA AmericanCommunicationsThe Board of Directors of RCA AmericanCommunications, Inc., appointed Eugene F.Murphy, Chairman of the Board.

Mr. Andrew F. Inglis will continue asPresident and Chief Executive Officer andwill report to the Chairman of the Board.

Consumer Electronics

J. Peter Bingham, Division Vice -President,Engineering, announces the appointment ofJames A. McDonald as Manager, DisplaySystems Engineering.

James A. McDonald, Manager, DisplaySystems Engineering, announces theorganization of Display Systems Engineer-ing as follows: Jerrold K. Kratz, Manager,Magne:ics Engineering; Leroy W. Nero,

News and Highlights 81

Powell Is New Ed Repfor Americom

Carolyn Powell was recently appointedEditorial Representative for American Com-munications in Princeton. She succeedsBetty Stotts and has been with RCA since1975. Under the title of TechnicalAdministration Specialist, Ms. Powell servesas technical editor for all TechnicalOperations' proposals, reports, articles, andso on. She is also responsible for theEngineering Library.

Contact her at:RCA AmericomPrinceton, N.J.TACNET 258-4194

Manager, Deflection Sub Systems; GeorgeC. Waybright, Manager, Deflection andPower Supply; and James A. McDonald,Acting Manager, Advanced Yoke Develop-ment.

Promotions

Consumer Electronics

Robert D. Altmanshofer, from Manager,Project Engineering to Manager, Engineer-ing at Juarez.

James J. Kopczynski, from MemberEngineering Staff to Manager, ProjectEngineering.

Laboratories

Appointment of Paul W. Lyons as Managerof the VideoDisc testing center has beenannounced by Robert D. Lohman, Directorof VideoDisc Systems Research. at RCALaboratories in Princeton, N.J.

Professional Activities

Dr. James Hillier, Retired RCA Scientist,To Receive IEEE Founders Medal

Dr. James Hillier, who retired as ExecutiveVice -President and Chief Scientist of RCA in1977, received the 1981 Founders Medalfrom the Institute of Electrical and Elec-tronics Engineers. The award was presentedto Dr. Hillier at the IEEE Convention in NewYork on April 6. Dr. Hillier is being honoredfor "original contributions in electronmicroscopy and leadership in fostering acreative laboratory environment."

In 1980, Dr. Hillier was inducted into theNational Inventors Hall of Fame for hisdevelopment of the electron microscope.The electron microscope provides extreme-ly high -power magnifications and is widelyused in medical, biological andmetallurgical research studies.

Dr. Hillier received his education at theUniversity of Toronto where he and a fellowgraduate student, Albert Prebus, designedand built the first successful high -resolutionelectron microscope in the WesternHemisphere. In 1940, Dr. Hillier joined RCAas a research physicist and, in a few months,designed the first commercial electronmicroscope in the United States.

Having developed the instrument inpractical form, he then undertook the in -

Brown wins Sarnoff Award

Dr. George H. Brown, retired RCA engineer-ing executive, received the David SarnoffAward for Outstanding Achievement inRadio and Television from the University ofArizona on November 21, 1980.

The award was presented at the annualmeeting of the Arizona Broadcasters'Association in Scottsdale. The nationalaward was established in 1978 by the Un-iversity of Arizona and its department ofradio and television. It is named in honor ofthe late David Sarnoff who was Chairman ofthe RCA Board from 1947 to 1969.

Dr. Brown joined RCA in 1933 after hiseducation at the University of Wisconsin.While at RCA, Dr. Brown was active in theresearch and development of the company'scompatible color television system, subse-quently approved by the FCC.

Weimer elected toNational Academyof Engineering

Paul K. Weimer, Fellow of the TechnicalStaff, has been elected to the NationalAcademy of Engineering. Dr. Weimer wascited for "innovative, imaginative, andsignificant contributions to televisioncamera tubes, to thin-film active devices andto solid state image sensors."

troduction of the electron microscope intogeneral use as a new and powerful researchtool, particularly for the biological andmedical sciences. For several years, hecontinued to develop major engineeringimprovements in the instrument and severalnew techniques of biological specimenpreparation. In his quest for complementarymicroanalytical techniques, he invented theelectron microprobe.

For his contributions to the electronmicroscope as a vital tool of medicalresearch, Dr. Hillier received an AlbertLasker Award from the American PublicHealth Association in 1960. In 1967, he waselected to membership in the NationalAcademy of Engineering.

Following his work on the developmentand use of the electron microscope, Dr.Hillier was named General Manager of RCALaboratories in Princeton, New Jersey, in1957. A year later, he was elected Vice -President. He was named Vice -President,Research and Engineering, in 1968, andExecutive Vice -President in 1969. He wasappointed Executive Vice -President andChief Scientist in 1976.

GE honors RCA men

Paul Moneika and Mike Petrisko of HS BIC,SSD. Somerville, N.J. were honored for a jobwell done at a dinner on January 29, 1981,hosted by General Electric, Re-entrySystems Division. These men are involved inmaking hybrids for the MARK 500. (The re-entry vehicle for the Trident Missle.)

Awarded Degree

Christopher H. Strolle, Video SystemsResearch Laboratory, has received an M.S.degree in systems engineering from theUniversity of Pennsylvania.

Blaney receives award

Arthur C. Blaney, retired from RCA. hasbeen given the Samuel L. Warner MemorialAward for 1980 by the Society of MotionPicture and Television Engineers.

The Samuel L. Warner Memorial Award ispresented to Mr. Blaney for his research anddevelopment of photographically recordingsound on film, his pioneering of cross -modulation testing and quality control tech-niques related to variable area tracks, andmore recently, his contributions to thedesign of the optical system used inrecording stereo variable area photographicsoundtracks, as well as an optical system forsuper -8 photographic sound tracks.

82 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Carver winsAIAA award

The American Institute of Aeronautics andAstronautics (AIAA) recently presented i'sSupport Systems Award for 1980 to Oliver"Tom" Carver, Manager of Automatic TestSystems Operations at RCA AutomatedSystems.

The AIAA award is presented annual y"for significant contributions to the overalleffectiveness of aerospace systems throughthe development of improved systerr stechnology." Mr. Carver was singled out "forhis long-term sustained technical andmanagerial contributions to the automat c

testing field 3y providing exemplaryleadership ir : conceiving innovative testsystems archi-ectures, promoting stan-dardization of test program languages, andfostering intra- ndustry and user/developercooperation.'

Author publishestransistor projects

Bob Mendelson, Applications Engineer inthe Linear IC activity of the Solid StateDivision, Sonerville, has just had publishedhis second book for the Hayden Book

Company, Rochelle Park, New Jersey. Thistook, Simple Transistor Protects, is thesecond edition, an update of a popularc3Ilection of circuits of interest to literallyevery type of electronics hobbyist. The textsJpplied with each circuit is devoted to whatthe circuit does and how to build it. Thereader E asked to seek elsewhere for infor-mation as to why the circuit does what itooes. Each circuit-including "World'sEmalleet Transmitter?"; "Clorox -PoweredOscillator"; and "Mystifying Motion" is ac-compan ed by a schematic diagram and aparts li;i. The book tells whe-e to get theFarts needed and gives equivalents for theRCA S. -:-series devices called out in theschema' ics.

Obituaries

Matti S. Siukola

Matti S. Siukola, Unit Manager of AdvancedDevelopment for RCA Broadcast Systems'antenna engineering center in Gibbsboro,N.J., has died at the age of 58.

Siukola collapsed and died on Septemter19, 1980 while presenting a technical paperto a meeting of the Institute of Electrical &Electronics Engineers in Washington, D.C.

Siukola joined RCA in 1952 and has beena major contributor to the development ofradio and television broadcast antennas

A native of Finland, Siukola wasgraduated from the Finland Institute ofTechnology with a bachelor's and a master'sdegree in Electrical Engineering. -lereceived his Ph.D. in CommunicaticnsEngineering from Oregon State Universityin 1952.

He was a Senior Member of the IEEE, anda Fellow of the Institute of ElectricalEngineers in the United Kingdom. In 1E74Siukola received the David Sarnoff Awardfor Outstanding Technical Achievement,

the company's highest technical he nor, as amember of the team that designed themultiple TV antenna installation on Mt.Sutro in San Francisco.

Matti S. F. iukola could be synonym fo'rfastidious, rne-iculous and punctibous. Hisattention to particulars made him 3 vertiblesource for a variety of unrecorded data onRCA's antennas. We will miss him when thenext multiple antenna system s to beproposed. pis attention won the cc nfidenceof customers and consultants. Theyaccepted hie judgment when the test resultswere reviewed. His contributions to newproduct lines, including circular polariza-tion, are tog numerous to mention.

He was a paradigm of loyalty and devotionto RCA. A severe cold, a sore throat, or eventhe misplacerr ent of his eyeglasses did notmatter. Lucky for RCA that he was manag-ing others, be ;ause he expected and com-municated that they should emulate him.Work came f rst, and the rest (`amity orhealth) came second.

"Sisued" (with guts and gumption, as theyuse the tern in Finland), he died in theharness.

- -Krishna Praba

Herman Gurin

Herman "Hank" Gurin died on January 9,1981, at the age of 66. Hank retired in 1979after a long and brilliant career as anoutstanding eigineer and scientist. Follow-ing his retirenent he devoted ma.ch of histime to local End community activities.

In 1936, he received the BS iegree inmechanical engineering from New YorkUniversity, graduating with hon3rs. Evenbefore graduation, he began his career atNBC in 1934 in the engineering departmentconcerned wi-h the design and operation of

t roadcasting studios. He was on active dutyf om 1941 to 1945 with the United StatesNavy ar i completed his tour of duty with therank of Commander.

Following the war, he resumed hisactivities in the engineering department atNBC, and was deeply involved ra the rapidpost-war expansion of television broad-casting, particularly in the design of studiossuitable for broadcasting televisionsprograms in color. During this period, hemade major contributions to the design andfighting equipment and acoustic facilities.

In 1 57, he obtained a yeas leave ofabsence to serve on the staff of Radio FreeEurope in Munich, Germany, the greater)art 01 the time as the Chief Engineer. In1958, he transferred to RCA Astro-Electrc.iics in Princeton, New Jersey, andDa rt ic ted in the engineering andmanagement phases of major satelliteDrog ran s including the development of the`irst weather satellite, TIROS , launched in1960.

He !Eft RCA in 1969, after 34 years ofservice, to become the Executive Officer ofhe American Astronomical Society at itsri nc e :) n headquarters. In this important

Dosition, he was involved n numerous

News and Highlights83

activities of the Society, including fundraising, program planning, organizingtechnical conferences and editing theofficial bulletin of the Society.

During his long career, Hank was anactive member of a number of professionalsocieties, and he participated in the work ofa number of committees engaged in prepar-

ing technical standards for the industry. TheSMPTE recognized his many contributionsto television broadcasting by electing him tothe grade of Fellow. During these years, healso maintained his membership in theNaval Reserve and was promoted to the rankof Captain, USNR, in 1956.

In his community of Princeton Junction,

technical excellence

New Jersey, he participated in a wide varietyof local activities, and is remembered for hisunselfish devotion to such local causes asthe township Shade Tree Committee.

Fourth quarter 1980 Award Astro-Electronics Engineering Excellence AwardsWinners announced by MSR

F.J. Reifler-for innovative solutions tomissile terminal homing guidance controlproblems resulting in 2 to 1 reduction insemi -active homing times for target engage-ment. This achievement, in turn, potentiallydoubles AAW ship firepower whileproviding reduced miss -distance and higherkill probability. Dr. Reifler's worksignificantly enhances AEGIS WeaponSystem defensive capability againstmassive raids.

D.R. Shaw - for conceiving and developingthe specialized firmware required to providethe P -50M airborne radar system with itsextraordinary automatic scan and trackcapability. Mr. Shaw defined both the basicalgorithms and the system simulationsoftware, and then provided continuedtechnical leadership from the integrationphases through final acceptance testing.

Swale Joshi

Due to the creativity, skill, and perseveranceof James F. Swale and Ragini T. Joshi, RCAAstro-Electronics can now provide a

developed attitude initialization program forSTS launched spacecraft such as ATN/STSand NOSS. For such launches, long periodsof time elapse between the last opportunityfor on -pad alignment and the deploymentfrom the Orbiter. Unacceptable errors canaccumulate. Therefore, an accurate attitudereference must be established in orbit.Direct transfer of attitude information fromthe Orbiter is subject to significant errorsdue to mechanical alignment tolerances andthermal distortion in the Orbiter bay.

Reifler is 1980 Annual Technical- For innovative conceptual anddevelopmental contributions to missile mid-course and terminal guidance technology,leading to important advances in modernanti -air guided missile system effectiveness.

Dr. Reifler's achievement involved twomajor, and independent, contributions tomissile guidance technology. The first ofthese deals with the midcourse guidancephase, for which he developed algorithmsthat produce major enhancements in missileeffectiveness. These algorithms, calledKAPPA guidance, provide reduced time offlight to intercept with an attendant increasein missile speed at the start of terminalengagement. A major contribution was hisinvention of elegantly simple, effective, andpowerful algorithmic approximations for thecomplex optimal solutions, well within com-puter resources allocated to an operationalwarship.

His second contribution, of even greaterimportance, was in the area of terminalhoming where his work provided a dramaticincrease in terminal engagement capabilitywithout an attendant increase in shipboardequipment. This technique, called RAF

Excellence Award Winner

-W.J. Poch

Jim and Ragini devised a post -separationinitialization by means of orbital gyrocom-passing. This technique is used for acquisi-tion control of DMSP Block 5 and TIROSspacecraft. Since estimation of yaw attitude,the most critical guidance parameter, has tobe more precise than gyrocompass controlaccuracy, a method was developed whichestimates yaw by means of a simplifiedKalman filter, which will be part of a specialascent load package. This YAWESalgorithm estimates spacecraft attitude us-ing pitch and roll information from an earthsensor along with gyro and ephemeris data.After formulating the algorithm, Jim andRagini conducted an extensive simulationprogram which substantiated the feasibilityof the approach, defined key parameterssuch as cycle time, updates, and measure-ment noise, and determined the sensitivitywith respect to all important variables. Thiseffort resulted in a software technique whichrepresents an important step in RCA's ef-forts to use STS.

at MSR

)

Left to right (standing): MSR Award -Winners Staiman, Yorinks, Chandler, Breese, R isch.Povilonis, Shaw, Costello, Stachejko, Landry. Seated: Matulis (Chief Engineer), Reifler (1980Award Winner), Volpe (Director, Product Operations).

guidance, reduces semi -active homingtimes by factors of 2 to 1, thereby providing apotential doubling of anti -air warfare shipfirepower. This spectacular increase infirepower, moreover, is achieved con-

currently with reduced miss -distance andhigher kill probability. The result is a systemvastly more capable of operating againstmassive raids while maintaining its fightingposture.

84 RCA Engineer 26-5 Mar./Apr. 1981

Editorial RepresentativesContact your Editorial Representative at the TACNETnumbers listed here to schedule technical papersand announce your professional activities.

Commercial Communications TACNETSystems Division (CCSD)Broadcast Systems Bill SepichKrishna PrabaAndrew Billie

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Automated Systems Ken PalmDale Sherman

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RCA CommunicationsAmerican Communications Murray RosenthalCarolyn 'owell

Global CommunicationsWilliam Hartweg

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Princeton, New Jersey 258-4192Princeton, New Jersey 258-4194

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