Re:The Patriot Missile Failure
by fennecfoxen on Monday March 24, 2014 @12:56PM
(#7459358)
> This makes no sense in the way it is stated - the calculations involved are independent of the up-time. You do not aim at a target differently depending on how long the system is up.
At some point or another your anti-SCUD computer is going to have to say "Send the electrical signal to launch this missile NOW!". I assume this is where they make use of the system clock.
Re:The Patriot Missile Failure
by danbruc on Monday March 24, 2014 @12:59PM
(#7459389)
Definitely, but it does not matter what the value of NOW is as long as all parts use the same time. Only their attempt to fix the drift caused different parts to have a different understanding what NOW = 5484515 means and that caused the problem.
At some point or another your anti-SCUD computer is going to have to say "Send the electrical signal to launch this missile NOW!". I assume this is where they make use of the system clock.