Transcript Standards Live Forever - IEEE Standards Working Group Areas

IEEE Standards:
Focus on Test Technology
Rohit Kapur
Synopsys Scientist
Test Technology Standards Committee
Chair: Rohit Kapur
Standards Live Forever
The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails)
is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.
Why was that gauge used?
SoWhy
who
built
these
old
rutted
roads?
Why
Okay!
Because
did
did
Why
"they"
the
that
did
English
use
is
the
the
that
wagons
people
way
gauge
they
use
build
then?
built
that
them
them
oddlike
wheel
in that?
England
spacing?
and
Thethe
firstUS
long
distance
roads
in by
Europe
were
built by Imperial
railroads
were
built
English
Expatriates.
Rome
forif the
benefit
ofuse
their
legions.
The
have
been
used
Because
Because
Well,
they
the
the
tried
people
first to
rail
who
lines
any
built
were
other
thebuilt
tramways
spacing
byroads
thethe
same
used
wagons
the
people
same
would
ever
since.
jigs
who
break
and
built
ontools
some
the that
pre-railroad
of they
the old,
used
tramways,
long
for distance
building
andwagons,
roads,
that's the
because
which
gauge
used
that
theywheel
that's
used.
the spacing
spacing.of the old wheel ruts.
And the ruts?
The initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of
destroying their wagons, were first made by Roman war chariots.
Since the chariots were made for or by Imperial Rome they
were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.
Standards Live Forever
The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails)
is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.
Why was that gauge used?
ItThus,
derives
we from
havethe
theoriginal
answerspecification
to the original
forquestions.
an Imperial
Roman army war chariot.
Specs and Bureaucracies live forever.
So, the next time you are handed a specification and wonder
what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right.
Because the Imperial Roman chariots were made to be just
wide enough to accommodate the back-ends of two war
horses.