Ease-of-Use Features in the Texas Instruments Professional Computer
Article Abstract:
The Texas Instruments Professional Computer (TIPC) is designed with an emphasis on ease-of-use. The system consists of a low-profile keyboard, high-resolution CRT display, a 16-bit 8088 microprocessor, 64K bytes of dynamic RAM, and a single 320K floppy disk drive. One ease-of-use innovation available for the TIPC is the Natural Link software package which allows queries to be sent to database systems such as Dow Jones News-Retrieval through a natural language interface. Queries are built from phrases displayed in screen windows. The Speech Command System allows users to enter commands and data verbally through voice recognition, and also to record, store, and replay speech using speech synthesis. The TMS320 signal processor controls all speech processing and is based on a modified Harvard architecture. The processor performs speech analysis and synthesis in addition to feature extraction, pattern similarity measurement, time registration, and decision strategy for speech recognition. Diagrams illustrate TIPC architecture, TMS320 architecture, a linear predictive coding vocal tract model, and other voice processing algorithms. Tables list performance features and screens show the Natural Link in action.
Publication Name: Proceedings of the IEEE
Subject: Electronics
ISSN: 0018-9219
Year: 1984
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The Anatomy of a Portable Computer
Article Abstract:
The Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 Portable Computer features a liquid-crystal display with eight lines of forty characters, a full-size typewriter style keyboard, five built-in application programs, and a built-in modem with auto dialer. The programs permanently stored in memory include a BASIC interpreter, a text processor, a schedule organizer, an address organizer, telecommunications software , and a file manager. The CMOS architecture is made up of an OKI 80C85 microprocessor, 32 Kbytes of ROM, and 8 Kbytes of RAM. The display is a TN (twisted nematic) type liquid crystal. Several modes of communications are supported, including RS-232C serial and Bell 103 compatible modem. Other features are a Centronics-type parallel printer interface, a perpetual clock-calendar, a bar code reader, and sound output. Performance is a little slower but more accurate than comparable computers. Diagrams illustrate system architecture and architecture of component chips. Photographs illustrate the outside and inside of the system.
Publication Name: Proceedings of the IEEE
Subject: Electronics
ISSN: 0018-9219
Year: 1984
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Rain fades on low elevation angle earth-satellite paths: comparative assessment of the Austin, Texas, 11.2-GHz experiment
Article Abstract:
Acceptable performance at elevation angles below the current standard at Ku-band of 10 degrees makes possible significant increases in coverage from a given geostationary orbit location. The path through the troposphere, which is the area in which most signal impairments at frequencies above 10 GHz occur, is lengthened when the elevation angle of a link to a site is lowered. The longer path means more rain attenuation, higher depolarization, and more tropospheric scintillation, all three of which can cause degradation of the link quality to unacceptable levels unless the link includes sufficient margins or adequate signal restoration function can be added. Four years of 11.2-GHz measurements were taken on a 5.8-degree elevation path in Austin, TX; the CCIR fade prediction model is examined in light of the new data.
Publication Name: Proceedings of the IEEE
Subject: Electronics
ISSN: 0018-9219
Year: 1993
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