Grounding Analog Computers
Bruce James MacLennan · CogPrints (University of Southampton) · 1993
Although analog computation was eclipsed by digital computation in the second half of the twentieth century, it is returning as an important alternative computing technology. Indeed, as explained in this report, theoretical results imply that analog computation can escape from the limitations of digital computation. Furthermore, analog computation has emerged as an important theoretical framework for discussing computation in the brain and other natural systems. The report (1) summarizes the fundamentals of analog computing, starting with the continuous state space and the various processes by which analog computation can be organized in time; (2) discusses analog computation in nature, which provides models and inspiration for many contemporary uses of analog computation, such as neural networks; (3) considers general-purpose analog computing, both from a theoretical perspective and in terms of practical general-purpose analog computers; (4) discusses the theoretical power of