The debate between the location code and the standard telegraph code lasted for a while, but in the end, the location code was directly linked to the Chinese character national standard code for electronic computers in the future, and won the tendentious approval of most participants.
"The agricultural sector needs to control the land, the industrial sector needs to control technology, the financial sector needs to control the currency, the military and political sectors need to control positions, and in our IT circle, we need to control standards." Feng Nuo smiled mysteriously and thought to himself.
What the Government Affairs Council wants to control is big data. Feng Nuo is very clear about the significance of statistics to the Government Affairs Council. Without numbers, all policy measures are trees without roots and water without a source. The Senate's Government Affairs Council system collects and organizes data.
The demand is very large, and there are many places where it needs to be spread.
"If 4 digits are used to encode one Chinese character, each punched card can store 20 Chinese characters." The encoding scheme itself and the representation of the encoding on the punched card are actually two issues. If it is punched or not as binary
From a different perspective, each column actually has 12 bits, one half byte of information. Enough to encode over 4000 characters.
"This is too little. It seems that it is not as rich in information as 80 English letters. It takes 7 cards to send a Weibo, not counting punctuation marks." Someone else said.
"The 4-digit Chinese code can be represented by two columns in practice, but the difficulty of mechanical design will increase. Please see Appendix 3 for the specific plan."
It turned out that Fonnuo's idea was to punch 3 holes in each column to represent two digits, with two holes punched in the 0-9 positions of each column to represent the two digits. The 11 rows of holes in the high area represent the two digits perforated below.
Arranged from small to large, the 12 rows of perforations indicate that the two numbers perforated below are arranged from large to small.
“What should I do if the two digits are the same?”
"Rows 11 and 12 are punched at the same time, and only one hole is punched from 0 to 9. There are instructions on the next page."
However, although the 3-hole method can reduce the length of Chinese character encoding to half, allowing a card to store up to 40 Chinese characters, it is obvious that the design of the electromechanical system and control system cannot be accomplished in a day. After many discussions, the meeting decided to
The census card design uses 4 digits to encode Chinese characters. After all, European and American names often have more than a dozen letters, and Chinese character names are not too long in comparison.
Feng Nuo then briefly introduced some of the contents of the information, and finally said specifically: "We were in a hurry to do this work, and some of the information was found to be incomplete. We will continue to improve it in the future. Supervisor... Secretary Ma's comments on machinery
The research on traditional computers has been long and in-depth, and I hope it can give us some direction guidance and details."
Ma Qianxu said with a smile, "I originally made up my mind to come here today with just my ears. But you guys were having such a lively discussion, so I will just say a few words as a fan. Your work is still very thorough and meticulous, so I will only mention a few things.
One point is the manufacturing of electromechanical equipment. Are you sure about the development of relays? The work should be easy first and then difficult, first urgent and then slow. As far as the census is concerned, what is the most urgent thing? Drilling machines, mass production, reliable, portable and durable
Punch machine, and the punch machine is the most basic and simple equipment in the punch system. It is also the easiest to design and manufacture. The investigation takes time, and the subsequent equipment can be developed and manufactured simultaneously. When the investigation is completed, the card is collected.
It’s okay to wait. It’s better to let the data wait for the machine than to let the machine wait for the data. This is the first point.”
"The second point is the cards. I think the accuracy requirements still have to meet the current situation of our productivity. I suggest you invite comrades from the paper mill and printing factory to discuss it together. Delong is now making banknotes, and we should also listen to their experience.
Listen. At this stage, the technology is mature and can be stably mass-produced. What is the card standard that is acceptable in terms of cost? It doesn’t matter if it is slower or thicker at the beginning. If there is a prototype system, the rest of the matter will be easier..."
"I can add about the punch card technology in 1890. I have checked some information before. In 1890, the US Census also used 80-column cards, but the holes were punched at that time. The size of the card was not the same as the IBM card we are talking about now.
Similarly, the punching equipment is extremely simple, almost the same as the pliers we used to check tickets on trains in the past. It punches holes manually and does not have the function of printing corresponding values. The error rate and skew law are as high as 1/20. The classification machines of the same period and
The tabulation machine must not be much more precise. However, even with such a simple level of machinery and equipment, the statistical efficiency is still hundreds of times higher than that of the 1880 census. We can completely surpass this level."
"Industrialization is not achieved overnight, and the technology tree will not stand alone. Every point must be advanced hand in hand. The hand-cranked computer project exposed many shortcomings in our mechanical manufacturing and also led to a leap in some of our technologies; punched card computers involved
All aspects of industrial technology in the pre-digital era will also encounter problems of this kind. Overcoming these difficulties one by one will mark that our industrialization level has reached a new level."
…
Feng Nuo nodded as he memorized it. Although these instructions were of little technical use, they could write a news article and send it to the "Lingao Times" to fully reflect the "leadership's attention" - it would be much easier to get things done.
In the end, the punching machine plan was determined to be a fully mechanical structure. Due to the temporary postponement of the 3-hole double-column Chinese character encoding scheme proposed by Feng Nuo, the punching machine can now be a complete imitation of the 1923 IBM-011 digital punching machine.
This punch machine was suitable for 45-column cards in the early days. After the 80-column standard IBM card was determined in 1929, it was redesigned to be able to adapt to the standard IBM card. This model does not have punch holes for English letters and is a fully digital printer.
.There are 14 keys, namely 0-9,
Hole (Space), R is the end of drilling (Release).
IBM-011 is small in size, easy to implement in structure, and is sufficient for the current census needs. The only regret is that there is no physical imitation. Feng Nuo rummaged through the boxes in the data center and found some technical parameters and a few blurry photos.
Fortunately, the principle is relatively clear. The veterans of the mechanical port took several lessons from the typewriter project team and finally finalized the drawings.
After the project was approved, Feng Nuo had no specific work for the time being. He was responsible for the technical route and standard issues, but the implementation of manufacturing was a matter for the robot. The robot had already written a long memo listing the project.
There are technical difficulties that need to be "resolved" and various materials and process issues that need to be matched. Feng Nuo also received a copy of this memo, but most of it was incomprehensible, so he put it aside for the time being.
"There is nothing I can do next, but I still have to keep an eye on this project. This is a key work for my transformation."
He inspected the computer room again, and after confirming that everything was normal, he decided to go to the front for a walk - he hadn't been to Xu Yicheng's place for a long time, and it seemed that this project had a lot to do with him.
The relationship between Xu Yicheng and Feng Nuo, from an administrative point of view, is the difference between superior and subordinate, and the difference between the general manager and the director. From a computer point of view, it is the relationship between peripherals and CPU, and in the human body, it is the relationship between the brain, eyes, and arms.
For most of the veterans and naturalized cadres who often come to the Computing and Data Center to handle official business, Feng Nuo almost does not exist, and Xu Yicheng is the symbol of the Computing and Data Center.
Of course, this may not be a bad thing for Feng Nuo, who is exhausted from repairing computers and maintaining the computer room. After all, all the chores are left to Xu Laowu. He only needs to be responsible for technical issues.
He wanted to ask Feng Shan to bring the "memo" he put on his desk - this was a report he submitted every week, which contained the current situation, problems and improvement measures. This was Xu Laowu's challenge to the Planning Academy.
Important credentials.
After shouting a few times but no one answered, he remembered that she went to meet some naturalized technicians today to hold a "project coordination meeting". Because she and Feng Nuo ran to the machine entrance very frequently some time ago, Feng Shan did not meet Zhong Xiaoying in the end.
I also chose a basic science topic, but I chose a topic on the research on the thermal processing properties of alloys and submitted it for approval.
Feng Nuo once again looked at the operation of the computer room through the glass, then looked at the temperature and humidity records of the computer room, and then checked the backup power supply computer room - the battery size of Lingao's self-produced UPS was very large, but the capacity was very small. In order to
To ensure the stable operation of the two backup power systems, they have to be given a dedicated computer room each to enjoy the same treatment as the server.
Today, all the indices are within the normal range, and the equipment in the computer room is also normal. There is no abnormal sound except for the monotonous and steady hum of the fan.
He gave a few words of caution to another part-time veteran who was on duty to guard the computer room, and then walked outside.
After opening the first sealed door of the computer room, he changed out of his anti-static work clothes and shoes in the locker room and put on an ordinary veteran uniform. Then he opened the second sealed door and entered the passage to the outside world.
He received a call from the printing factory early in the morning, informing him to attend a seminar on improving punched card printing technology. The printing accuracy of numbers on punched cards has never been ideal, so he had to make do, and the cost of using banknote printing technology was too high. This time it was said that
There has been a breakthrough.
"The card test has passed, and we can finally start the census starting from June. This project has achieved initial results, and it will be convenient to continue fishing in the future. Although I am only a PhD student who has not graduated, my previous boss has done this.
Tried and tested." He breathed a sigh of relief and thought a little vulgarly.
Although Feng Nuo's surname was Feng in the old time and space, he was not named Feng Nuo. As he walked, he suddenly remembered that he had given this name when he traveled back in time, thinking that in the new time and space, even if he was not as good as Von Neumann, he would still be called Feng Nuo.
It should also be at least half of it.
He opened the door to the outside world.
This is just the beginning, he thought, feeling that the morning sun was a little dazzling.
-------------------------------------------------
Next update: Volume 7: Mainland - Guangdong and Guangxi Strategy Chapter 36