Analogue Computing Methods presents the field of analogue computation and simulation in a compact and convenient form, providing an outline of models and analogues that have been produced to solve physical problems for the engineer and how to use and program the electronic analogue computer. This book consists of six chapters. The first chapter provides an introduction to analogue computation and discusses certain mathematical techniques. The electronic equipment of an analogue computer is covered in Chapter 2, while its use to solve simple problems, including the method of scaling is elaborated in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 describes the general layout of a computer with specifications of selected commercial computers. In Chapter 5, the use of a large computer is elaborated through a reactor simulation. The last chapter outlines particular general analogue devices. Conductive analogues and other methods and special techniques, which have been used in connection with electronic analogue computing, are also deliberated in this text. This publication is valuable to students and individuals conducting work on analogue computing.

The motivation for starting the work described in this book was the interest that Hewlett-Packard's microwave circuit designers had in simulation techniques that could tackle the problem of finding steady state solutions for nonlinear circuits, particularly circuits containing distributed elements such as transmission lines. Examining the problem of computing steady-state solutions in this context has led to a collection of novel numerical algorithms which we have gathered, along with some background material, into this book. Although we wished to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, to treat the subject in depth required maintaining a narrow focus. Our compromise was to assume that the reader is familiar with basic numerical methods, such as might be found in [dahlquist74] or [vlach83], but not assume any specialized knowledge of methods for steady-state problems. Although we focus on algorithms for computing steady-state solutions of analog and microwave circuits, the methods herein are general in nature and may find use in other disciplines. A number of new algorithms are presented, the contributions primarily centering around new approaches to harmonic balance and mixed frequency-time methods. These methods are described, along with appropriate background material, in what we hope is a reasonably satisfying blend of theory, practice, and results. The theory is given so that the algorithms can be fully understood and their correctness established.

This encyclopedia provides an authoritative single source for understanding and applying the concepts of complexity theory together with the tools and measures for analyzing complex systems in all fields of science and engineering. It links fundamental concepts of mathematics and computational sciences to applications in the physical sciences, engineering, biomedicine, economics and the social sciences.

Analog computing is one of the main pillars of Unconventional Computing. Almost forgotten for decades, we now see an ever-increasing interest in electronic analog computing because it offers a path to high-performance and highly energy-efficient computing. These characteristics are of great importance in a world where vast amounts of electric energy are consumed by today’s computer systems. Analog computing can deliver efficient solutions to many computing problems, ranging from general purpose analog computation to specialised systems like analog artificial neural networks. The book “Analog Computing” has established itself over the past decade as the standard textbook on the subject and has been substantially extended in this second edition, which includes more than 300 additional bibliographical entries, and has been expanded in many areas to include much greater detail. These enhancements will confirm this book’s status as the leading work in the field. It covers the history of analog computing from the Antikythera Mechanism to recent electronic analog computers and uses a wide variety of worked examples to provide a comprehensive introduction to programming analog computers. It also describes hybrid computers, digital differential analysers, the simulation of analog computers, stochastic computers, and provides a comprehensive treatment of classic and current analog computer applications. The last chapter looks into the promising future of analog computing.

This text covers all aspects of simulation, and in particluar continuous system simulation in a control engineering context, assisting the reader in understanding the computational problems that occur in continuous system simulation.