Analog Computing: Development, Programming, Applications, and Future Directions

Analog and hybrid computing are two central pillars in the field of unconventional computing. Almost forgotten for decades, interest in these technologies is rapidly rising as they offer a viable path to high-speed and highly energy-efficient computing for the 21st century for a variety of applications ranging from high performance computing, edge computing, medical applications, etc., to artificial intelligence. Their high speed and high energy efficiency are of utmost importance in a time where vast amounts of electric energy are consumed by classic digital computers especially in the ever growing field of artificial intelligence and large language models. The book "Analog Computing" has established itself over the past decade as the standard textbook on the subject as refl ected in this third edition, which has been substantially extended over the previous editions. The bibliography alone has been expanded to well over 1000 entries making it a resource in itself for research and learning. The book covers the history of analog computers from the Antikythera mechanism to recent developments of reconfi gurable systems. It also includes a wide variety of worked examples showing basic programming techniques for analog computers. In addition to this, reconfigurable analog and hybrid computers as well as digital differential analyzers are also discussed in detail. A large portion is devoted to the discussion of classic and current analog and hybrid computer applications. The last chapter gives an outlook into the highly promising future of these fascinating machines.