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FORTRAN/ Intellectual Property was vemsa3d 1.1 - a floss visualem simulator for 3d antennas
John Smith wrote:
I did wonder why the authors bothered to convert from FORTRAN to C++... but I think they did that as a separate activity, previously, for other reasons. There's a comment in their paper about not using automated translators, too (presumably to avoid any sort of claim that the output of the translator is somehow contaminated with the proprietaryness of the translator? Kind of like Intel copyrighting the assembler instruction mnemonics for the 8080, so Zilog had to use different ones) Probably it's just a historical artifact.. when they started their development a while ago, they happened to start with the Richmond code, as opposed to the Burke and Poggio code. FORTRAN is pretty much a dead language, although you will find strong argument to that statement in some math circles. While I do agree that language makes little difference to software engineers, most being fluent in many/multiple languages, a C translation just keeps the code, more, up-to-date. FORTRAN is far from dead in applications processing massive arrays (just about any finite element program). For instance, I'd venture that most weather prediction codes are in FORTRAN (MM5, which is a widely used mesoscale modeling code, is in FORTRAN, as is WRF), as are a lot of structural analysis (e.g. NASTRAN is in FORTRAN), and virtually ALL electromagnetics codes. FORTRAN is hard to beat when it comes to specifying array operations, and such. Running gridded models doesn't require much in the way of pointers or string manipulation, which are admittedly a pain in older FORTRANs (pre FORTRAN-90 or FORTRAN-77). FORTRAN also has an intrinsic Complex type which is nice. Compilers for numerical analysis applications (e.g. those weather grid models) for FORTRAN are highly optimized, too. There's also nifty tools like FLIC (FORTRAN Loop and Index Converter) There's even new versions of FORTRAN coming out. However, all that said, there are such things as "encoder algorithms", for an example, and such, which are so narrow and contain such an exact and specific set of math instructions to execute and obtain reproducible results from, that the validity for a patent is quite obvious. However, as has been demonstrated, for any patented algorithm which has yet been created, a freeware solution which is either so close in effectiveness as to make it a moot point, or even greater in effectiveness--an example is MP3 format (patented) as relates to Ogg Vorbis format (public domain.) Unless you need compatibility and interoperability. Sure, there are non-patented communications coding schemes like LDPC that give better performance than, say, Turbo codes (patented), but if you need to build a radio that interoperates with a radio using Turbo codes, you're pretty well stuck. All the various high performance low bit rate voice codecs have similar issues. All the "good" ones are patented, as well as most of the "not quite so good", and the patents are broad enough that you would have a tough time designing around them. (which is actually, I think, how it should be.. patents *should* be for fairly general conceptual leaps, not for some fiddly little detail that's different.. that's what "design patents" are about) Fortunately, the patents *will* expire. Unlike copyright, which has an ever longer tail. The future where patents cause real road blocks in software development, or even "hoops to be jumped through", is still in software engineers' future. I don't think so. It's here now, especially if you consider advanced signal processing or protocol handling in software. The software is just the means by which the invention is realized, and it's no different than doing it with discrete hardware components. While raw "algorithms" and "math" can't be patented, a clever and efficient implementation technique certainly can be. |
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