Analog computer

An analog computer (the older, UK spelling analogue was once common) is a computer in which analog information (arbitrarily variable voltage, etc) is the basic data, instead of the limited discrete values used in digital computing devices. (Obviously, in actuality, all computers are 'analog' at their lowest level, since they are built out of electrical circuits.)

One can thus think of analog computers as having as their basic data real numbers, and not the integers which are the fundamental data type supported in ordinary - i.e. non-analog - computers.)

'Computation' in analog computers requires use of elements such as amplifiers, which can transform one signal into another one, which has a desired relationship to the original.

Their computational power is limited, but for modelling real world systems, they were important in an age when digital computers had very limited power.

See also

• Electronic Associates Inc - suppliers of analog computers