POSITIONAL TRANSDUCTION: AN ALTERNATIVE TO CODE

Abstract

A new method of transducing information into digitized form is described. This method does not result in any form of code, nor does it bear any resemblance to code. In this new system of information digitization the only data that appears on the transmission medium are the addresses of the multiplicity of receptors being addressed. The methodology is compatible witJi digital technology. This method (positional transduction) very markedly alters the characteristics of the systems wherein it is employed (in favorable ways). Unlike code that has one basic form, positional transduction can (and does) assume a multitude of differenl forms, which share a common characteristic. The systems resulting from employment of the described technology can be made self-routing, automatically multiplexing, parallel processing—or all three. Several of the multiplicity of ways in which positional transduction might be employed are described.

Part I of the article is devoted to describing ways of employing positional transduction. The descriptions are illustrated with communications examples. In Part II, a calculator system is briefly described, which leads to a computational system. The article concludes with a description of the salient features of a computer whose hardware is “software wired.”