Alvey
Encyclopedia
The Alvey Programme was a British government sponsored research program in information technology
that ran from 1983 to 1987. The program was a reaction to the Japanese Fifth generation computer
project.
Focus areas for the Alvey Programme included:
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
that ran from 1983 to 1987. The program was a reaction to the Japanese Fifth generation computer
Fifth generation computer
The Fifth Generation Computer Systems project was an initiative by Japan'sMinistry of International Trade and Industry, begun in 1982, to create a "fifth generation computer" which was supposed to perform much calculation using massive parallel processing...
project.
Focus areas for the Alvey Programme included:
- VLSI (very large scale integrationVery-large-scale integrationVery-large-scale integration is the process of creating integrated circuits by combining thousands of transistors into a single chip. VLSI began in the 1970s when complex semiconductor and communication technologies were being developed. The microprocessor is a VLSI device.The first semiconductor...
) technology for microelectronics - Intelligent Knowledge Based SystemsKnowledge-based systemsKnowledge based systems are artificial intelligent tools working in a narrow domain to provide intelligent decisions with justification. Knowledge is acquired and represented using various knowledge representation techniques rules, frames and scripts...
(IKBS) or Artificial IntelligenceArtificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
(AI) - Software EngineeringSoftware engineeringSoftware Engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software...
- Man-Machine Interface (included Natural Language ProcessingNatural language processingNatural language processing is a field of computer science and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human languages; it began as a branch of artificial intelligence....
) - Systems ArchitectureSystems architectureA system architecture or systems architecture is the conceptual model that defines the structure, behavior, and more views of a system.An architecture description is a formal description and representation of a system, organized in a way that supports reasoning about the structure of the system...
(for parallel processingParallel processingParallel processing is the ability to carry out multiple operations or tasks simultaneously. The term is used in the contexts of both human cognition, particularly in the ability of the brain to simultaneously process incoming stimuli, and in parallel computing by machines.-Parallel processing by...
)