. .. e -U L -. DATA DISPLAY PROGRAMMING for Gd&d Space Plight Center NATIONALAEROhUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, D. C. SEPTEMBER 1968 NASA CR-1107 TECH LIBRARY KAFB, NM P 0060354 vx DATA DISPLAY PROGRAMMING I Distribution of this report is provided in the interestof informationexchange. Responsibility for thecontents resides in the author or organization that prepared it. ~ /' Prepared under Contract No. NAS 5-9756-47 by WOLF RES,I%W€X€AND DE- COR@3€k#XQ& West Concord, Mass. for Goddard Space Flight Center NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION For sole by the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information Springfield, Virginia 22151 - CFSTI price $3.00 ! . " ABSTRACT The research studies and experimental investigations reported are addressed to the problem of developing more efficient means by which the physical scientist might intimately control the complex data processing operations involved in the analysis and meaningful interpre- tation of large volumes of sensor data from scientific satellites. Areas of computer graphics technology in which pioneering efforts might prove fruitful are defined and approaches conceived. The results of pilot tests to evaluate proposed techniques from a human factors viewpoint are given. Specific techniques include information transfer via uncommon display media (full color; flicker; animation) and approaches to facilitate the use of a single input device as the means of processing control. Specifications are developed for an advanced hardware-software system for manipulating and displaying large volumes of data. A man- computer communication station design is recommended which permits finger pointing as a means of input and peripheral equipment to service the display and input devices. Computer software to support man-com- puter communication is specified using a hierarchical approach. Trade- off guidelines for computer equipment are developed, based on cost and other factors. These guidelines result in a case for the use of individual satellite processors for servicing man-computer communication sta- tions. "I"."". I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was performed and the documentation prepared under the technical direction of T. P. Gorman and D. E. Jamison, GSFC Code 565. Full color computer display equipment and programs were made available for use in the investigations by Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, through the courtesy of Charlton M. Walter, ! Chief, Dynamic Processes Branch. Demonstrations of equipment for evaluation purposes were liberally provided by Control Data Corporation's Digigraphic Labora- tories, Sylvania's Applied Research Laboratory, and the M. I. T. Lincoln Laboratory. State -of -the-art information was generously supplied by Digital Equipment Corporation, Sony Corporation, and R. C. A. Computer equipment information was obtained through the cooperation of I. B. M. , Univac, C.D. C. , G. E. , S. D. S. , and D. E. C. representatives. Principal individual contributors to this effort included R. Bator P. Messing D. Eaton L. Metrick H. French w. Scott W. Jarnagin A. Shortell L. Kunstenaar R. Stonefield J. Meads R. P. Gagan Project Manager V I TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION ................... 1 2 . PROBLEMMODELANQ APPROACH ......... .. 2 2.1Telemetry Data Processing ........... 2 2.2 A Man-ComputerApproach ............ 6 2.3Scope of Work ................. 8 3 . THE CONSOLE ................... 12 3 .1 Display3.1 ................... 12 3.1.1Color ................. 14 3.1.2Black and White ............. 17 3.1.3Depth ................. 20 3 . 1.4Display Design Considerations ...... 21 3.1.5Resolution ................ 22 3.1.6 WritingSpeed ..............- 27 3.1.7 HumanFactors ............. 28 3 .2 Input3.2 ..................... 28 3.2.1The Light Symbol ............ 31 3.2.2Devices and Functions .......... 39 3.2.3Light Finger .............. 41 3.3Peripheral Devices ............... 43 3.3.1Display Memory ............ 44 3.3.2Input Device Support ............ 46 3.3.3Character and Vector Generation ..... 47 3.3.4Other Functions ............. 47 3.4Cost Estimate ................. 47 .. SOFTWARE .................... 49 4.1System Software Functions ............’ 49 4.1.1System Initialization ........... 53 4.1.2System Control Operators ........ 55 4.1.3Data Specification Mode .......... 57 4.1.4Create Mode .............. 61 4.1.5Character Set Generation Sub-Mode ..... 63 vii . Page 4 .1 (Con't)4.1 4 . 1.6 MathematicalComputation Sequences DefinitionSub-Mode .......... 65 4 . 1.7Create Graphical Representations Sub-Mode ............... 69 4 . 1. 8 StrategyDefinition Sub-Mode ....... 72 4.1.9Report Generation Sub-Mode ....... 78 4.1.10Analysis Mode ............. 78 4.1.11Sign Off Procedure ........... 83 4.2User Language Processor ............ 87 4.3User-System Conversation ............ 91 4.4Data Files ................... 92 4.4.1Experiment Data Base .......... 92 4.4.2Display Data Base ............ 94 4.4.3User File ............... 94 4.4.4Working File .............. 97 4.5System Approach ................ 97 4.5.1 User Input ............... 98 4.5.2 UserAction Analyzer .......... 98 4.5.3 UserAction Executer .......... 101 4.5.4 Control Display Routines .........102 4.5.5 Communicator ............. 102 4.5.6 DisplaySynthesizer ........... 102 4.5.7 DisplayFile ..............103 4.5.8 SystemResponse ............103 5 . HARDWARE ..................... 104 5.1System Requirements .............. 104 5.1.1 DataFlow Management Subsystem (DMS) . 106 5.1.2 FileManagement Subsystem (FMS) .... 108 5.1.3 ConsoleEquipment ...........111 5 . 1.4 UserLocation ............. 112 5 . 1.5 SystemUsage Requirements ....... 116 5 . 1.6 ComputingPower ............ 117 5.1.7 SystemModularity ........... 120 5.1.8 Software Availability .......... 121 5.2Configuration Models Considered .........124 5.2.1Large Central Processor WithLocal Consoles (Configuration A) ........ 125 viii . _" . Page 5.2(Con't) 5.2.2Large Central Processor, Small Satellite Processor For Each Display Console (Configuration B). .............. 131 5.2.3Non-Integrated System (ConfigurationC) . 137 5.3Configuration Selection Trade-off Guidelines .... 149 5.3.1Configuration A ComparedAgainst The System Requirements ............ 149 5.3.2Configuration B ComparedAgainst The SystemRequirements ............ 154 5.3.3Configuration C ComparedAgainst The System Requirements ............ 159 5.4Summary and Conclusions. .............. 164 6. SUMMARY. ......................... 167 6.1 TheConsole ...................... 167 6.2 Software.6.2 ....................... 169 6.3 Hardware6.3 ....................... 170 REFERENCES .......................... 173 APPENDICES I COLORVALUE DISCRIMINATION MEASURE- MENTS ....................... 1-1 - 6 I1 ON THE USE OFFLICKER AS A.MEDIUM FOR INFORMATIONTRANSFER. ............ 11-1-7 I11 FLICKER DISCRIMINATION INVESTIGATIONS . 111-1 - 9 IV COST COMPARISON, FOCUS-INTENSITY- FLICKER VERSUS COLOR. ............ IV-1- 6 V THREE-DIMENSIONAL DISPLAY ......... v-1 - 5 VITHE LAWRENCE- CHROMATRON GRID DEFLECTIONTUBE ................ VI-1 -4 VII PILOT TESTS OF ON-LINE TECHNIQUES INCOLOR. ..................... VII-1-25 VIII HIGH CAPACITYTONAL DISPLAY ........ VIII-1- 5 Ix RECENTCOLORPHOSPHORSAND ADVANCES IN COLOR CRT TECHNOLOGY. .......... IX-1- 5 ! Pave APPENDICES (Con't) X ON THE USE OF LIGHT SYMBOLS AS A TECH- NIQUE FOR USER INPUT REQUESTS. ....... X-1 -11 XI ALPHABETICINPUT VIA PROBABILITY TYPEWRITER. ................... XI-1 .4 X II PRIMITIVE XII SET TRIALS .............. XII-1 .6 XIIICOMPUTER ANIMATION CONFERENCE REPORT. ...................... XIII-1 .9 XIV MOTION PICTURE CAMERA,CALIBRATION. ...XIV-1 .5 xv FUNCTIONGENERATED DISPLAYS ........ XV-1- 2 XVION-LINE PROGRAMMING. .............XVI-1 -6 X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1 BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A TELEMETRY SYSTEM 3 2 DATA PROCESSING & ANALYSIS ACTIVITIES 5 3 SEQUENCE OF MAN-COMPUTER DIALOGUE FOR TELEMETRY DATA INTERPRETATION 9 4 PROCESS FLOW AND SYSTEM ORGANIZATION 11 5 VISUAL INFORMATION CODING MODALITIES 13 6 CLASSICAL COLOR SOLID 14 7 COLOR PROGRAMMING SOLID 15 8 RELATIVE CODING POWER MAP FOR THE COLOR CUBE 16 9 RELATIVE CODING POWER OF FOCUS- INTENSITY -FLICKER 18 10 FAMILY OF DEPTH CODING TECHNIQUES 20 11 A DISPLAY CONSOLE 30 12 GEOMETRIC LIGHT SYMBOL AND CODE MEANINGS 32 13 GAS PEDAL LIGHT SYMBOLAND EXPLANATORY NOTES 32 . 14 A DATA PLOT 33 15 CURVE FITTING 33 16 GPAK WINDOW CONTROL LIGHT SYMBOLS 35 17 GFS VALUE CONTROL LIGHT SYMBOLS 36 18 SYSTEM MODES OF OPERATION 50 19 EXPERIMENT IDENTIFICATION 54 20 SYSTEM STATUS INFORMATION 56 21 DATA SPECIFICATION MODE 58 22 DATA EDITING SUB-MODE 60 23 CREATE MODE 62 24 CHARACTER SET GENERATION SUB-MODE 64 25 MATHEMATICAL COMPUTATION DEFINITION SUB-MODE 66 xi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS (Con't) Figure Page 26 GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION DEFINITION 71 SUB-MODE 27 STRATEGY DEFINITION SUB-MODE 73 28 STRATEGY DEFINITION SUB-MODE, DISPLAY SEQUENCES 74 29 STRATEGY DEFINITION SUB-MODE, COMPU- TATION SEQUENCES 77 30 REPORT GENERATION SUB-MODE 79 31 ANALYSIS MODE 80 32 SIGN-OFF FIRST FORMAT 84 33 SIGN-OFF SECOND FORMAT 85 34 SIGN-OFF FINAL FORMAT 86 35 HIERARCHICAL MAKEUP OF TYPICAL ANALYSIS FILE 88 36 A STRATEGY AND ITS CONNECTIONS TO SYSTEM SOFTWARE 89 37 EXPERIMENT DATA BASE ORGANIZATION 93 38 TREE STRUCTURE OF USER FILES 95 39 SYSTEM APPROACH (FMS) 99 40 USE MATRIX FOR SUB-MODES OF OPERATION 100 41 FMS/DMS SYSTEM FUNCTIONAL DIAGRAM 105 42 COMMUNICATIONS COST AND DATA SCANNING RATES FROM REMOTE CONSOLES 114 43 A T & T INTERSTATE VOICE GRADE TOLL CHARGES 115 44 SYSTEM FEATURES/SYSTEM CONSIDERA-