Since conventional computers are straining to handle the increased size and sophistication of non-numeric processing (data management, information retrieval, artificial intelligence), a new class of non-numeric architectures is evolving. The segment sequential architecture is one of these. Further development of this architecture requires new techniques for multiple cell operation and intercell communication to handle control and search operations. This paper describes such techniques for instruction fetching, operand recall, string, set and tree context searching, and pointer transfer. It is expected that combinations of these techniques will appear in future architectures that are needed for non-numeric processing.

A Self Managing Secondary Memory (SMSM) organization is proposed herein, in which hardware directly assists the storage, retrieval and management of arbitrary length records on such devices as fixed head discs or charge coupled devices (CCD's). This paper emphasizes some of the techniques used to implement an SMSM system.