Communications and Control

Engineers work on control systems ranging from the everyday, passenger-actuated, such as those that run a lift, to the exotic, such as systems for keeping spacecraft on course. Control systems are used extensively in air-craft and ships, in military fire-control systems, in power transmission and distribution, in automated manufac­turing, and in robotics.

Computers

Computer engineering is now the most rapidly growing field. The electronics of computers involve engineers in design and manufacture of memory systems, of cen­tral processing units, and of peripheral devices. The field of computer science is closely related to computer engi­neering; however, the task of making computers more «intelligent» (artificial intelligence), through creation of sophisticated programs or development of higher level machine languages or other means, is generally regarded as the aim of computer science.

One current trend in computer engineering is micro­miniaturization. Engineers try to place greater and greater numbers of circuit elements onto smaller and smaller chips. Another trend is towards increasing the speed of computer operations through the use of parallel processors and superconducting materials.

Vocabulary:

diverse - разнообразный

electric power - электроэнергия

electronic circuit – электронная

control system – система управления

superconductor - сверхпроводник

solid-state electronics – полупроводниковая электроника

medical imaging systems – система обработки изображения в медицине

to amplify - усиливать

to add binary numbers – складывать двоичные числа

timing- хронометраж

resistor - сопротивление

capacitor - конденсатор

inductor - индуктор

chassis - корпус

bulky package – объёмная упаковка

electron-beam lithography – электронно-лучевая литография

ion-beam implantation – внедрение ионного пучка

passenger-actuated – пассажирский спускоподъемный механизм

artificial intelligence – искусственный интеллект

sophisticated - сложный

to be regarded - считаться

Exercise 1. Read and translate the text.

Exercise 2. Answer the questions to the text.

1. What is electrical and electronics engineering concerned with?

2. How many branches can electrical engineering be divided into?

3. What does electronics engineering deal with?

4. What tasks should circuits perform?

5. What trend was set by the electronics revolution of the1970s and 1980s?

6. Where are control systems used extensively?

7. What is now the most rapidly growing field?

8. How do engineers solve the problems of microminiaturization and increasing the speed of computer operations?

Exercise 3. Find English equivalents.

• обработка информации

• в беспрецедентных в истории масштабах

• продолжаться не уменьшаясь

• полезный для

• составленные из

• самая передовая технология

• трехмерные встроенные цепи

• системы, находящиеся в диапазоне от повседневных до экзотических

• широко используется

• быть тесно связанным

Text c. Computer science.

Computer science is a part of an applied mathematics. Specialists in computer science say that this field of knowledge is very interesting because it deals with computer-aided-design (CAD) and com­puter-aided-manufacturing (CAM).

Computers are intended to improve the productivity of labour of scientists, designers, engineers, managers, and other specialists, because computers offer quick and optimal solutions. One of the main goals of using CAD/CAM is to shorten the time between designing and manufacturing.

Moreover, computers came in our life and to our houses and now we can solve our everyday problems with their help.

Computers can be divided into simple and complex devices. Simple computers such as calculators can perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. As far as complex computers are concerned they can do different logical operations and some of them even have artificial intelligence.

Thus in order to elaborate up-to-date and inexpensive programs as well as to defend them from viruses, it is important to know some programming languages.

There are low-level programming languages such as a machine language and an assembly language and high-level programming languages, for instance, FORTRAN, PASCAL, ADA, C, BASIC, etc.

Exercise 1. Read and translate the text in a written form.

Exercise 2. Answer the questions to the text.

1. What do specialists in computer science deal with?

2. What are the computers used for?

3. What operations can simple devices perform?

4. What operations do complex computers perform?

5. What are CAD/CAM systems intended to do?

6. What high-level programming languages do you know?

Exercise 3. Complete the sentences.

1. Experts in computer sci­ence deal with....

2. One of the aims of using computers is....

3. Simple devices can do ....

4. Complex computers per­form ....

3. High-level programming languages are....

1. manufacturing cars;

2. computer-aided-design;

3. increasing the productivity of car.

1. to work out up-to-date demands;

2. to shorten the time between designing and manufacturing;

3. to construct hardwares.

1. logical operations;

2. such operations as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

1. BASIC, FORTRAN;

2. assembly and machine languages.