This paper introduces the Iris Programming Language (IPL), a functional embedding of OSQL, the query language of Iris, an object-oriented database system prototype developed by Hewlett-Packard Laboratories.The main contribution of this paper is to show how a declarative query language can be extended into a general purpose database programming language by embedding it into a functional programming language.The key to the approach is the capability of invoking an embedded interpreter from within the context of a query evaluation.The paper discusses the mechanism by which the Iris query interpreter was extended to provide this capability and discusses how such extensions can be added to relational database systems.IPL is a full-fledged programming language, that includes control abstractions and is compiled mto an intermediate, lambda calculus based language.IPL provides direct access to the operators of the underlying intermediate language, thus allowing it to be extended and specialized for a particular application domain.IPL is successfully implemented and is in active use.

Abstract The computer‐aided design of dedicated pipelined processors for numerical applications and signal processing requires design tools that support system refinement, partitioning strategies and the transformation of behavioural descriptions into structure. This in turn poses problems of design data management which are considered here. We show that an object‐oriented data management system is a step towards solving the problems. The method proposed here is based on a systematic specification of data structures and data access methods, using abstract data type specifications. As a result, the data management is completely transparent to the application programs. The data‐management system is written in Enhanced C (EC), a set‐orientated extension of the language C.

The structural properties of parallel recursive algorithms point to the feasibility of a Hierarchical Flow-graph integration (HIFI) design method for VLSI array processor design. The Hierarchical approach allows the designer to focus attention at the appropriate level of detail. Flow-graphs are used because they offer a powerful and convenient tool for describing many signal processing algorithms. Integration is used here to mean top-down integration - from algorithm analysis to VLSI array - as opposed to merely an integration of electronic components. The HIFI method is proposed as a design and description tool aiming specially at VLSI arrays for signal processing algorithms. The major issues involved are: the recursive algorithm decomposition, abstract notations, flow-graph (structural) and functional (behavior) description, temporal and structural decomposition, bi-directional mapping between graphic and textual codes, simulation and verification tools, and mapping from virtual array to actual architecture.