LIST PROCESSING RESEARCH TECHNIQUES.
Abstract
The second report is of an investigation on the formal characteristics and feasibility of the potential and utilization of push-down type computer memories. Development of software techniques for symbol data manipulation under this study-period concerns the refinement of the SPRINT language. A SPRINT interpreter has been re-written for operation on the IBM 7040. Work has been continued on the Growing Machine whose development is considered to be a test-bed for list processing development. Additional work related to the Growing Machine concept includes an ALGOL recognizer, addition of new push-down operations to the Growing Machine simulator, an analysis of alternate push-down logics, and construction of more complicated mechanisms out of push-downs; using the Growing Machine. A concept of an 'all push-down' machine, in which at least all but a very few of the static registers become a push-down list, and where the 'main memory' is a set of addressed or labeled push-downs, has begun to take shape. The solution to the problem of interconnection, cycling, and contents-interpretation of the push-down lists is to be provided in the two simulated systems under study. The usefulness of push-down memories in conventional and/or unconventional processors is being examined through applications of push-down features in problem areas such as sorting, information retrieval, computation, and language translation. Other applications of list memories under study include push-down list memories as conventional address memories and as secondary storage devices. Linking of lists and using a 100K word associative memory using 1000 hardware FIFOs (first-in, first-out) are also discussed. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0652724
Entities
People
- H. J. Gray
- J. W. Carr Iii
Organizations
- University of Pennsylvania