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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Alex Yakovlev
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
In his seminal Electrical Papers, Oliver Heaviside stated ‘We reverse this . . . ’ referring to the relationship between energy current and state changes in electrical networks. We explore implications of Heaviside’s view upon the state changes in electronic circuits, effectively constituting computational processes. Our vision about energy-modulated computing that can be applicable for electronic systems with energy harvesting is introduced. Examples of analysis of computational circuits as loads on power sources are presented. We also draw inspiration from Heaviside’s way of usingand advancing mathematical methods from the needs of natural physical phenomena. A vivid example of Heavisidian approach to the use of mathematics is in employing series where they emerge out of the spatio-temporal view upon energy flows. Using series expressions, and types of natural discretization in space and time, we explain the processes of discharging a capacitive transmission line, first, through a constant resistor and, second, through a voltage controlled digital circuit. We show that event-based models, such as Petri nets with an explicit notion of causality inherent in them,can be instrumental in creating bridges between electromagnetics and computing. This article is part of the theme issue ‘125 Years of Oliver Heaviside’s electromagnetic theory: physical and engineering science papers and historical perspectives’.
Author(s): Yakovlev A
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Year: 2018
Volume: 376
Issue: 2134
Print publication date: 13/12/2018
Online publication date: 29/10/2018
Acceptance date: 09/06/2018
Date deposited: 21/09/2018
ISSN (print): 1364-503X
ISSN (electronic): 1471-2962
Publisher: The Royal Society Publishing
URL: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2017.0449
DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2017.0449
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