E-Mail, in computer science, abbreviation of the term electronic mail, method of transmitting

data or text files from one computer to another over an internet, intranet, or the Internet. E-mail
enables computer users to send messages and data quickly through a local area network or
beyond through a nationwide or worldwide communication network. E-mail came into
widespread use in the 1990s and has become a major development in business and personal
communications.

E-mail users create and send messages from individual computers using commercial e-mail
programs or mail-user agents (MUAs). Most of these programs have a text editor for composing
messages. The user sends a message to one or more recipients by specifying destination
addresses. When a user sends an e-mail message to several recipients at once, it is
sometimes called broadcasting.

The address of an e-mail message includes the source and destination of the message.
Different addressing conventions are used depending upon the e-mail destination. An
interoffice message distributed over an intranet, or internal computer network, may have a
simple scheme, such as the employee’s name, for the e-mail address. E-mail messages sent
outside of an intranet are addressed according to the following convention: The first part of the
address contains the user’s name, followed by the symbol @, the domain name, the
institution’s or organization’s name, and finally the country name.

A typical e-mail address might be sally@abc.com. In this example sally is the user’s name, abc
is the domain name—the specific company, organization, or institution that the e-mail message
is sent to or from, and the suffix com indicates the type of organization that abc belongs to—
com for commercial, org for organization, edu for educational, mil for military, and gov for
governmental. An e-mail message that originates outside the United States or is sent from the
United States to other countries has a supplementary suffix that indicates the country of origin
or destination. Examples include uk for the United Kingdom, fr for France, and au for Australia.

E-mail data travels from the sender’s computer to a network tool called a message transfer
agent (MTA) that, depending on the address, either delivers the message within that network of
computers or sends it to another MTA for distribution over the Internet (see Network). The data
file is eventually delivered to the private mailbox of the recipient, who retrieves and reads it
using an e-mail program or MUA. The recipient may delete the message, store it, reply to it, or
forward it to others.

Modems are important devices that have allowed for the use of e-mail beyond local area
networks. Modems convert a computer’s binary language into an analog signal and transmit the
signal over ordinary telephone lines. Modems may be used to send e-mail messages to any
destination in the world that has modems and computers able to receive messages.

E-mail messages display technical information called headers and footers above and below the
main message body. In part, headers and footers record the sender’s and recipient’s names
and e-mail addresses, the times and dates of message transmission and receipt, and the
subject of the message.

In addition to the plain text contained in the body of regular e-mail messages, an increasing
number of e-mail programs allow the user to send separate files attached to e-mail
transmissions. This allows the user to append large text- or graphics-based files to e-mail
messages.

E-mail has had a great impact on the amount of information sent worldwide. It has become an
important method of transmitting information previously relayed via regular mail, telephone,
courier, fax, television, and radio. In 1995 alone, e-mail users sent approximately 25 billion
messages.

Facsimile Transmission, or fax, in communications, system for the electrical transmission of

printed material, photographs, or drawings. Facsimile transmission is accomplished by radio,
telephone, or undersea cable.

The essential parts of a fax system are a transmitting device that translates the graphic matter
of the copy into electrical impulses according to a set pattern, and a synchronized receiving
device that retranslates these impulses and prints a facsimile copy. In a typical system the fax
scanner consists of a rotating cylinder, a source projecting a narrow beam of light, and a
photoelectric cell. The copy to be transmitted is wrapped around the cylinder and is scanned by
the light beam, which moves along the cylinder as it revolves. The speed of rotation and the
width and motion of the light beam are so arranged that the beam covers each part of the copy
during its travel. When the light beam illuminates a white area in the copy, light is reflected to
the photoelectric cell, producing a pulse of electric current from the cell. When the light strikes a
dark area, the cell produces no current, and when a gray area is illuminated the response of the
cell is proportional to the lightness of the tone. The output of the photoelectric cell is suitably
amplified in a coupling device and used to modulate a carrier wave or is transmitted directly as
in telephone cables.

At the receiving end of the circuit, a similar cylinder covered with specially impregnated paper
revolves in synchronism with the transmitting cylinder. A light of variable intensity is focused on
the cylinder and moves along it at the same rate of speed as the transmitting light. The signal is
used to vary the intensity of the light, which darkens the paper by chemically reproducing the
pattern of the original.

The reproduction of a fax image depends on proper synchronization of the revolutions of the
transmitting and receiving cylinders and the motion of the receiving and transmitting lights. In
some systems this synchronization is accomplished by the use of synchronous motors that are
kept in step by the frequency of a common power line. More often, however, the system
provides for the transmission of a series of synchronizing impulses that control the speed of the
receiving apparatus.

For some years the chief commercial use of fax transmission was the relaying of news
photographs, but speed increases and cost reductions led to its wider use by businesses and
other agencies in the 1970s and '80s. For example, the technology is now employed in relaying
weather-satellite images, and it is often used to print in one location entire newspapers and
magazines from high-quality facsimiles that are sent from another location. Japan, in particular,
became a major user in the 1980s because of the ease of transmitting Japanese script in this
way. Japan has also introduced features such as hard disks for storing text, and machines that
are capable of reproducing halftones.
Database, any collection of data organized for storage in a computer memory and designed for
easy access by authorized users. The data may be in the form of text, numbers, or encoded
graphics. Since their first, experimental appearance in the 1950s, databases have become so
important in industrial societies that they can be found in almost every field of information.
Government, military, and industrial databases are often highly restricted, and professional
databases are usually of limited interest. A wide range of commercial, governmental, and
nonprofit databases are available to the general public, however, and may be used by anyone
who owns or has access to the equipment that they require.

Small databases were first developed or funded by the U.S. government for agency or
professional use. In the 1960s, some databases became commercially available, but their use
was funneled through a few so-called research centers that collected information inquiries and
handled them in batches. On-line databases—that is, databases available to anyone who could
link up to them by computer—first appeared in the 1970s. For the home user, the equipment
required includes a computer terminal, a telephone, and a modem, which enables the terminal
and the database (usually some type of search-service system) to intercommunicate. (Modified
television sets can also be equipped to receive some specifically designed database services.)
The user simply dials the number of the service, provides a password code for identification
and billing, and types in questions to a chosen database on the terminal's keyboard. The data
received may either be displayed on a terminal screen or printed out.

Databases and information retrieval are related fields of research. A database is an organized
collection of information stored in a computer, such as a company’s customer account data.
Computer scientists attempt to make it easier for users to access databases, prevent access by
unauthorized users, and improve access speed. They are also interested in developing
techniques to compress the data, so that more can be stored in the same amount of memory.
Databases are sometimes distributed over multiple computers that update the data
simultaneously, which can lead to inconsistency in the stored information. To address this
problem, computer scientists also study ways of preventing inconsistency without reducing
access speed.

Information Retrieval

Information retrieval is concerned with locating data in collections that are not clearly organized,
such as a file of newspaper articles. Computer scientists develop algorithms for creating
indexes of the data. Once the information is indexed, techniques developed for databases can
be used to organize it. Data mining is a closely related field in which a large body of information
is analyzed to identify patterns. For example, mining the sales records from a grocery store
could identify shopping patterns to help guide the store in stocking its shelves more effectively.
(See Information Storage and Retrieval.)

Operating systems are programs that control the overall functioning of a computer. They
provide the user interface, place programs into the computer’s memory and cause it to execute
them, control the computer’s input and output devices, manage the computer’s resources such
as its disk space, protect the computer from unauthorized use, and keep stored data secure.
Computer scientists are interested in making operating systems easier to use, more secure,
and more efficient by developing new user interface designs, designing new mechanisms that
allow data to be shared while preventing access to sensitive data, and developing algorithms
that make more effective use of the computer’s time and memory.

The study of numerical computation involves the development of algorithms for calculations,
often on large sets of data or with high precision. Because many of these computations may
take days or months to execute, computer scientists are interested in making the calculations
as efficient as possible. They also explore ways to increase the numerical precision of
computations, which can have such effects as improving the accuracy of a weather forecast.
The goals of improving efficiency and precision often conflict, with greater efficiency being
obtained at the cost of precision and vice versa.

Symbolic computation involves programs that manipulate nonnumeric symbols, such as

characters, words, drawings, algebraic expressions, encrypted data (data coded to prevent
unauthorized access), and the parts of data structures that represent relationships between
values (see Encryption). One unifying property of symbolic programs is that they often lack the
regular patterns of processing found in many numerical computations. Such irregularities
present computer scientists with special challenges in creating theoretical models of a
program’s efficiency, in translating it into an efficient machine language program, and in
specifying and testing its correct behavior.

Multimedia, in computer science, the presentation of information using the combination of text,
sound, pictures, animation, and video. Common multimedia computer applications include
games, learning software, and reference materials, such as this encyclopedia. Most multimedia
applications include predefined associations, known as hyperlinks, that enable users to switch
between media elements and topics.

Thoughtfully presented multimedia can enhance the scope of presentation in ways that are
similar to the roving associations made by the human mind. Connectivity provided by hyperlinks
transforms multimedia from static presentations with pictures and sound into an endlessly
varying and informative interactive experience.

Multimedia applications are computer programs; typically they are stored on compact discs
(CD-ROMs). They may also reside on the World Wide Web, which is the media-rich component
of the international communication network known as the Internet. Multimedia documents found
on the World Wide Web are called Web pages. Linking information together with hyperlinks is
accomplished by special computer programs or computer languages. The computer language
used to create Web pages is called HyperText Markup Language (HTML).

Multimedia applications usually require more computer memory and processing power than the
same information represented by text alone. For instance, a computer running multimedia
applications must have a fast central processing unit (CPU), which is the electronic circuitry that
provides the computational ability and control of the computer. A multimedia computer also
requires extra electronic memory to help the CPU in making calculations and to enable the
video screen to draw complex images. The computer also needs a high capacity hard disk to
store and retrieve multimedia information, and a compact disc drive to play CD-ROM
applications. Finally, a multimedia computer must have a keyboard and a pointing device, such
as a mouse or a trackball, so that the user can direct the associations between multimedia
elements.
Visual Elements
The larger, sharper, and more colorful an image is, the harder it is to present and manipulate on
a computer screen. Photographs, drawings, and other still images must be changed into a
format that the computer can manipulate and display. Such formats include bit-mapped
graphics and vector graphics.

Bit-mapped graphics store, manipulate, and represent images as rows and columns of tiny
dots. In a bit-mapped graphic, each dot has a precise location described by its row and column,
much like each house in a city has a precise address. Some of the most common bit-mapped
graphics formats are called Graphical Interchange Format (GIF), Tagged Image File Format
(TIFF), and Windows Bitmap (BMP).

Vector graphics use mathematical formulas to recreate the original image. In a vector graphic,
the dots are not defined by a row-and-column address; rather they are defined by their spatial
relationships to one another. Because their dot components are not restricted to a particular
row and column, vector graphics can reproduce images more easily, and they generally look
better on most video screens and printers. Common vector graphics formats are Encapsulated
Postscript (EPS), Windows Metafile Format (WMF), Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language
(HPGL), and Macintosh graphics file format (PICT).

Obtaining, formatting, and editing video elements require special computer components and
programs. Video files can be quite large, so they are usually reduced in size using
compression, a technique that identifies a recurring set of information, such as one hundred
black dots in a row, and replaces it with a single piece of information to save space in the
computer's storage systems. Common video compression formats are Audio Video Interleave
(AVI), Quicktime, and Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG or MPEG2). These formats can
shrink video files by as much as 95 percent, but they introduce varying degrees of fuzziness in
the images.

Animation can also be included in multimedia applications to add motion to images. Animations
are particularly useful to simulate real-world situations, such as the flight of a jet airplane.
Animation can also enhance existing graphics and video elements adding special effects such
as morphing, the blending of one image seamlessly into another (see Computer Graphics).
Sound Elements
Sound, like visual elements, must be recorded and formatted so the computer can understand
and use it in presentations. Two common types of audio format are Waveform (WAV) and
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI). WAV files store actual sounds, much as music CDs
and tapes do. WAV files can be large and may require compression. MIDI files do not store the
actual sounds, but rather instructions that enable devices called synthesizers to reproduce the
sounds or music. MIDI files are much smaller than WAV files, but the quality of the sound
reproduction is not nearly as good.
Organizational Elements
Multimedia elements included in a presentation require a framework that encourages the user
to learn and interact with the information. Interactive elements include pop-up menus, small
windows that appear on the computer screen with a list of commands or multimedia elements
for the user to choose. Scroll bars, usually located on the side of the computer screen, enable
the user to move to another portion of a large document or picture.

The integration of the elements of a multimedia presentation is enhanced by hyperlinks.

Hyperlinks creatively connect the different elements of a multimedia presentation using colored
or underlined text or a small picture, called an icon, on which the user points the cursor and
clicks on a mouse. For example, an article on President John F. Kennedy might include a
paragraph on his assassination, with a hyperlink on the words “the Kennedy funeral.” The user
clicks on the hyperlinked text and is transferred to a video presentation of the Kennedy funeral.
The video is accompanied by a caption with embedded hyperlinks that take the user to a
presentation on funeral practices of different cultures, complete with sounds of various burial
songs. The songs, in turn, have hyperlinks to a presentation on musical instruments. This chain
of hyperlinks may lead users to information they would never have encountered otherwise.
Multimedia Applications
Multimedia has had an enormous impact on education. For example, medical schools use
multimedia-simulated operations that enable prospective surgeons to perform operations on a
computer-generated "virtual" patient. Similarly, students in engineering schools use interactive
multimedia presentations of circuit design to learn the basics of electronics and to immediately
implement, test, and manipulate the circuits they design on the computer. Even in elementary
schools, students use simple yet powerful multimedia authoring tools to create multimedia
presentations that enhance reports and essays.

Multimedia is also used in commercial applications. For instance, some amusement arcades
offer multimedia games that allow players to race Indy cars or battle each other from the
cockpits of make-believe giant robots. Architects use multimedia presentations to give clients
tours of houses that have yet to be built. Mail-order businesses provide multimedia catalogues
that allow prospective buyers to browse virtual showrooms.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) research seeks to enable computers and machines to mimic human
intelligence and sensory processing ability, and models human behavior with computers to
improve our understanding of intelligence. The many branches of AI research include machine
learning, inference, cognition, knowledge representation, problem solving, case-based
reasoning, natural language understanding, speech recognition, computer vision, and artificial
neural networks.

A key technique developed in the study of artificial intelligence is to specify a problem as a set
of states, some of which are solutions, and then search for solution states. For example, in
chess, each move creates a new state. If a computer searched the states resulting from all
possible sequences of moves, it could identify those that win the game. However, the number
of states associated with many problems (such as the possible number of moves needed to win
a chess game) is so vast that exhaustively searching them is impractical. The search process
can be improved through the use of heuristics—rules that are specific to a given problem and
can therefore help guide the search. For example, a chess heuristic might indicate that when a
move results in checkmate, there is no point in examining alternate moves.

Virtual Reality, (VR), system that enables one or more users to move and react in a computer-
simulated environment. Various types of devices allow users to sense and manipulate virtual
objects much as they would real objects. This natural style of interaction gives participants the
feeling of being immersed in the simulated world. Virtual worlds are created by mathematical
models and computer programs.
Interface Devices
Virtual reality simulations differ from other computer simulations in that they require special
interface devices that transmit the sights, sounds, and sensations of the simulated world to the
user. These devices also record and send the speech and movements of the participants to the
simulation program.

To see in the virtual world, the user wears a head-mounted display (HMD) with screens
directed at each eye. The HMD also contains a position tracker to monitor the location of the
user's head and the direction in which the user is looking. Using this information, a computer
recalculates images of the virtual world—a slightly different view for each eye—to match the
direction in which the user is looking, and displays these images on the HMD. The computer
must generate these new views at least ten times a second in order to prevent the user's view
from appearing halting and jerky and from lagging behind the user's movements. Virtual-world
scenes must be kept relatively simple so that the computer can update the visual imagery
quickly enough. Because of these simplifications and other shortcomings of current visual
displays and computer graphics, VR participants can easily distinguish a simulation from
physical reality.

Users hear sounds in the virtual world through earphones in the HMD. The information reported
by the position tracker on the HMD can also be used to update audio signals. When a sound
source in virtual space is not directly in front of or behind the user, the computer transmits
sounds to arrive at one ear a little earlier or later than at the other and to be a little louder or
softer and slightly different in pitch. However, as with visual imagery, there are currently
scientific and engineering challenges that must be overcome in order to simulate accurately all
the sounds heard in the physical world.

The haptic interface, which relays the sense of touch and other physical sensations in the
virtual world, is the least developed and perhaps the most challenging to create. Currently, with
the use of a glove and position tracker, the computer locates the user's hand and measures
finger movements. The user can reach into the virtual world and handle objects but cannot
actually feel them. It is particularly difficult to generate the sensations that are felt when a
person taps a hard surface, picks up an object, or runs a finger across a textured surface. To
simulate these sensations, a set of computer-controlled motors faster and more accurate than
any presently available would have to generate force feedback by physically pushing against
the user. Another problem is determining how a user would wear these motors and the wiring
needed to control them. Touch sensations would also have to be synchronized with the sights
and sounds users experienced in their HMDs. A current solution to the haptics challenge is the
use of desktop devices that can apply small forces, through a mechanical linkage, to a stylus
held in the user's hand. Users can feel when the point of the stylus encounters a virtual object,
and they can drag the stylus across the surface to feel its texture and surface geometry.
Development and Uses
Researchers have been working on virtual-reality devices for many years. In the 1960s
Raymond Goertz at Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois, and Ivan Sutherland at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, demonstrated early
versions of HMDs. Goertz, and later Michael Noll of Bell Laboratories, also developed prototype
force-feedback devices. In recent years, virtual-reality devices have improved dramatically as
the result of various technological advances. Computers now are more powerful, have a higher
memory capacity, are smaller, and cost less than in the past. These developments, along with
the advent of small liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) that can be used in HMDs, have made it
possible for scientists to develop virtual-reality simulations.

Virtual reality is currently used to explore and manipulate experimental data in ways that were
not possible before. Therapists use VR to treat sufferers of child abuse and people who are
afraid of heights. Muscular dystrophy patients can learn to use a wheelchair through virtual
reality.

In the future, surgeons may use VR to plan and practice an operation on a virtual patient rather
than a real person. Architects could take clients on a virtual tour of a new house before it was
built. VR could be used to train the operators of aircraft and other complicated machinery.
Network VR simulations could enable people in many different locations to participate together
in teleconferences, virtual surgical operations, or simulated military training exercises.

internet, computer-based worldwide information network. The Internet is composed of a large

number of smaller interconnected networks called internets. These internets may connect tens,
hundreds, or thousands of computers, enabling them to share information with each other and
to share various resources, such as powerful supercomputers and databases of information.
The Internet has made it possible for people all over the world to effectively and inexpensively
communicate with each other. Unlike traditional broadcasting media, such as radio and
television, the Internet is a decentralized system. Each connected individual can communicate
with anyone else on the Internet, can publish ideas, and can sell products with a minimum
overhead cost. In the future, the Internet may have a dramatic impact on higher education and
business as more universities offer courses and more companies offer goods and services
online.

The internets from which the Internet is composed are usually public access networks, meaning
that the resources of the network can be shared with anyone logging on to, or accessing, the
network. Other types of internets, called intranets, are closed to public use. Intranets are the
most common type of computer network used in companies and organizations where it is
important to restrict access to the information contained on the network. See also Network;
Local Area Network; Wide Area Network.

During the 1990s the Internet has grown tremendously in the number of people using it and the
amount of information contained on it. According to the Internet Society, a non-profit society
that studies and promotes the use of the Internet, 134 countries had full Internet connection and
an additional 52 countries had limited access (for example, e-mail only) in 1996. A survey
performed by the Internet consulting company Nua, found that approximately 45 million people
were using the Internet at the end of 1996, with 30 million users in North America, 9 million
users in Europe, and 6 million users in Asia and the Pacific.
Uses of the Internet

From the late 1960s to the early 1990s, the Internet was a communication and research tool
used almost exclusively for academic and military purposes. This changed radically with the
introduction of the World Wide Web (also called the WWW, or W3) in 1989. The WWW is a set
of programs, standards, and protocols governing the way in which multimedia files (documents
that may contain text, photographs, graphics, video, and audio) are created and displayed on
the Internet. The Internet contains the WWW and also includes all the hardware (computers,
supercomputers, and connections) and non-WWW software and protocols on which the WWW
runs. The difference between the Internet and the WWW is similar to the distinction between a
computer and a multimedia program that runs on the computer. The explosion in use and
popularity of the Internet in the 1990s is most likely due to the graphics-intensive nature of the
World Wide Web.

Individuals, companies, and institutions use the Internet in many ways. Businesses use the
Internet to provide access to complex databases, such as financial databases. Companies can
carry out commerce online, including advertising, selling, buying, distributing products, and
providing after-sales services. Businesses and institutions can use the Internet for voice and
video conferencing and other forms of communication that allow people to telecommute, or
work from a distance. The use of electronic mail (e-mail) over the Internet has greatly speeded
communication between companies, among coworkers, and between other individuals. Media
and entertainment companies use the Internet to broadcast audio and video, including live radio
and television programs; to offer online chat, in which people carry on discussions using written
text; and to offer online news and weather programs. Scientists and scholars use the Internet to
communicate with colleagues, to perform research, to distribute lecture notes and course
materials to students, and to publish papers and articles. Individuals use the Internet for
communication, entertainment, finding information, and to buy and sell goods and services.
How the Internet Works
The Internet is based on the concept of a client-server relationship between computers, also
called a client/server architecture. In a client/server architecture, some computers act as
servers, or information providers, while other computers act as clients, or information receivers.
The client/server architecture is not one-to-one—that is, a single client computer may access
many different servers, and a single server may be accessed by a number of different client
computers. Prior to the mid-1990s, servers were usually very powerful computers such as
mainframe or supercomputers, with extremely high processing speeds and large amounts of
memory. Personal computers and workstations, however, are now capable of acting as Internet
servers due to advances in computing technology. A client computer is any computer that
receives information from a server and is often a personal computer.

To access information on the Internet, a user must first log on, or connect, to the client
computer’s host network. A host network is a network that the client computer is part of, and is
usually a local area network (LAN). Once a connection has been established, the user may
request information from a remote server. If the information requested by the user resides on
one of the computers on the host network, that information is quickly retrieved and sent to the
user’s terminal. If the information requested by the user is on a server that does not belong to
the host LAN, then the host network connects to other networks until it makes a connection with
the network containing the requested server. In the process of connecting to other networks,
the host may need to access a router, a device that determines the best connection path
between networks and helps networks to make connections.

Once the client computer makes a connection with the server containing the requested
information, the server sends the information to the client in the form of a file. A special
computer program called a browser enables the user to view the file. Examples of Internet
browsers are Mosaic, Netscape, and Internet Explorer. Most Internet files are multimedia
documents—-that is, text, graphics, photographs, audio, and video may be combined in a
single document. Non-multimedia documents do not need browsers to view their text-only
contents and many multimedia documents provide access to text-only versions of their files.
The process of retrieving files from a remote server to the user’s terminal is called downloading.

One of the strengths of the Internet is that it is structured around the concept of hypertext. The
term hypertext is used to describe an interlinked system of documents in which a user may
jump from one document to another in a nonlinear, associative way. The ability to jump from
one document to the next is made possible through the use of hyperlinks—portions of the
hypertext document that are linked to other related documents on the Internet. By clicking on
the hyperlink, the user is immediately connected to the document specified by the link.
Multimedia files on the Internet are called hypermedia documents.

Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacture (CAD/CAM)

The use of computers in the design and manufacture of materials. In the design stage, the
techniques of drafting and computer graphics are combined to produce models of the object or
objects. These models can be manipulated and tested on video display screens until they
incorporate the best attainable balance of features, including ease of production and cost. This
CAD information is then integrated with CAM procedures through shared databases. CAM
engineers similarly use computer modeling to determine the best overall manufacturing
procedures for a plant as a whole, including the testing and handling of finished products.

Simulation,

Representation or imitation of one process/system through the use of another system. (Refer to
VR)

Robot, computer-controlled machine that is programmed to move, manipulate objects, and

accomplish work while interacting with its environment. Robots are able to perform repetitive
tasks more quickly, cheaply, and accurately than humans. The term robot originates from the
Czech word robota, meaning “compulsory labor.” It was first used in the 1921 play R.U.R.
(Rossum's Universal Robots) by the Czech novelist and playwright Karel Capek. The word
robot has been used since to refer to a machine that performs work to assist people or work
that humans find difficult or undesirable.
Expert System, a type of computer application program that makes decisions or solves
problems in a particular field, such as finance or medicine, by using knowledge and analytical
rules defined by experts in the field. Human experts solve problems by using a combination of
factual knowledge and reasoning ability. In an expert system, these two essentials are
contained in two separate but related components, a knowledge base and an inference engine.
The knowledge base provides specific facts and rules about the subject, and the inference
engine provides the reasoning ability that enables the expert system to form conclusions.
Expert systems also provide additional tools in the form of user interfaces and explanation
facilities. User interfaces, as with any application, enable people to form queries, provide
information, and otherwise interact with the system. Explanation facilities, an intriguing part of
expert systems, enable the systems to explain or justify their conclusions, and they also enable
developers to check on the operation of the systems themselves. Expert systems originated in
the 1960s; fields in which they are used include chemistry, geology, medicine, banking and
investments, and insurance. See Also Artificial Intelligence.

Global Positioning System (GPS), space-based radio-navigation system (see Navigation),

consisting of 24 satellites and ground support. GPS provides users with accurate information
about their position and velocity, as well as the time, anywhere in the world and in all weather
conditions.
History and Development
GPS, formally known as the Navstar Global Positioning System, was initiated in 1973 to reduce
the proliferation of navigation aids. GPS is operated and maintained by the United States
Department of Defense. By creating a system that overcame the limitations of many existing
navigation systems, GPS became attractive to a broad spectrum of users. GPS has been
successful in classical navigation applications, and because its capabilities are accessible using
small, inexpensive equipment, GPS has also been used in many new applications.
How GPS Works

GPS determines location by computing the difference between the time that a signal is sent and
the time it is received. GPS satellites carry atomic clocks that provide extremely accurate time
(see Clocks and Watches: Atomic Clocks). The time information is placed in the codes
broadcast by the satellite so that a receiver can continuously determine the time the signal was
broadcast. The signal contains data that a receiver uses to compute the locations of the
satellites and to make other adjustments needed for accurate positioning. The receiver uses the
time difference between the time of signal reception and the broadcast time to compute the
distance, or range, from the receiver to the satellite. The receiver must account for propagation
delays, or decreases in the signal's speed caused by the ionosphere and the troposphere. With
information about the ranges to three satellites and the location of the satellite when the signal
was sent, the receiver can compute its own three-dimensional position.

An atomic clock synchronized to GPS is required in order to compute ranges from these three
signals. However, by taking a measurement from a fourth satellite, the receiver avoids the need
for an atomic clock. Thus, the receiver uses four satellites to compute latitude, longitude,
altitude, and time.
The Parts of GPS
GPS comprises three segments: the space, control, and user segments. The space segment
includes the satellites and the Delta rockets that launch the satellites from Cape Canaveral, in
Florida. GPS satellites fly in circular orbits at an altitude of 10,900 miles (17,500 km) and with a
period of 12 hours. The orbits are tilted to the earth's equator by 55 degrees to ensure
coverage of polar regions. Powered by solar cells, the satellites continuously orient themselves
to point their solar panels toward the sun and their antennae toward the earth. Each satellite
contains four atomic clocks.

The control segment includes the master control station at Falcon Air Force Base in Colorado
Springs, Colorado, and monitor stations at Falcon Air Force Base and on Hawaii, Ascension
Island in the Atlantic Ocean, Diego Garcia Atoll in the Indian Ocean, and Kwajalein Island in the
South Pacific Ocean. These stations monitor the GPS satellites. The control segment uses
measurements collected by the monitor stations to predict the behavior of each satellite's orbit
and clock. The prediction data is uplinked, or transmitted, to the satellites for transmission to
the users. The control segment also ensures that the GPS satellite orbits and clocks remain
within acceptable limits.

The user segment includes the equipment of the military personnel and civilians who receive
GPS signals. Military GPS user equipment has been integrated into fighters, bombers, tankers,
helicopters, ships, submarines, tanks, jeeps, and soldiers' equipment. In addition to basic
navigation activities, military applications of GPS include target designation, close air support,
“smart” weapons, and rendezvous.

With more than 500,000 GPS receivers, the civilian community has its own large and diverse
user segment. Surveyors use GPS to save time over standard survey methods. GPS is used by
aircraft and ships for en route navigation and for airport or harbor approaches. GPS tracking
systems are used to route and monitor delivery vans and emergency vehicles. In a method
called precision farming, GPS is used to monitor and control the application of agricultural
fertilizer and pesticides. GPS is available as an in-car navigation aid and is used by hikers and
hunters. GPS is also used on the Space Shuttle (see Space Exploration: Space Shuttle).
Because the GPS user does not need to communicate with the satellite, GPS can serve an
unlimited number of users.
GPS Capabilities
GPS is available in two basic forms: the standard positioning service (SPS) and the precise
positioning service (PPS). SPS provides a horizontal position that is accurate to about 100 m
(about 330 ft); PPS is accurate to about 20 m (about 70 ft). For authorized users—normally the
United States military and its allies—PPS also provides greater resistance to jamming and
immunity to deceptive signals.

Enhanced techniques such as differential GPS (DGPS) and the use of a carrier frequency
processing have been developed for GPS (see Carrier Wave). DGPS employs fixed stations on
the earth as well as satellites and provides a horizontal position accurate to about 3 m (about
10 ft). Surveyors pioneered the use of a carrier frequency processing to compute positions to
within about 1 cm (about 0.4 in). SPS, DGPS, and carrier techniques are accessible to all
users.
The availability of GPS is currently limited by the number and integrity of the satellites in orbit.
Outages due to failed satellites still occur and affect many users simultaneously. Failures can
be detected immediately and users can be notified within seconds or minutes depending on the
user's specific situation. Most repairs are accomplished within one hour. As GPS becomes
integrated into critical operations such as traffic control in the national airspace system,
techniques for monitoring the integrity of GPS on-board and for rapid notification of failures are
being developed and implemented.
The Future of GPS
As of March 1994, 24 GPS satellites were in operation. Replenishment satellites are ready for
launch, and contracts have been awarded to provide satellites into the 21st century. GPS
applications continue to grow in land, sea, air, and space navigation. The ability to enhance
safety and to decrease fuel consumption will make GPS an important component of travel in
the international airspace system. Airplanes will use GPS for landing at fogbound airports.
Automobiles will use GPS as part of intelligent transportation systems. Emerging technologies
will enable GPS to determine not only the position of a vehicle but also its altitude.

Speech Recognition, in computer science, the ability of a computer to understand the spoken
word for the purpose of receiving commands and data input from the speaker. Some systems
have been developed that can recognize limited vocabularies as spoken by specific individuals,
but developing a system that deals with a variety of speech patterns and accents, as well as
with the various ways in which a request or a statement can be made, has so far proved a
daunting task for systems designers.

Designers of speech recognition systems have pursued three approaches. One enables
computers to recognize a small number of words spoken by a broad range of people. This
method has proven to be fairly accurate. The second method enables the recognition of a
larger number of words spoken by one individual. This method is also fairly reliable provided
the speaker's speech patterns are consistent. The third method enables computers to learn a
speaker's speech patterns and to apply the patterns over a broad range of words. Although this
last method provides the most promise for full speech-to-text conversion, it is the least accurate
of the three.