DE1253315B - Memory for digital values - Google Patents

Description

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

GERMAN

PATENT OFFICE

EDITORIAL

Int. CL:

German class:

Number:
File number:
Registration date:
Display day:

GlIc

H03k

21 al-37/58

J19599IXc / 21al
March 15, 1961
November 2nd, 1967

The invention relates to a memory for digital values using a memory for forwarding electrical or mechanical waves suitable uniform line.

Digital memories for data processing devices must meet requirements that are often mutually exclusive contradict: quick access, easy operation, large capacity with little space requirement. To this There are still requirements for memories that are not only used for temporary recording the condition added that they do not work extinguishingly; the information should also be provided without the involvement of a external energy source are retained, in contrast to storage with glow tubes, cathode ray tubes or delay lines. The best previously known fast memory that meets these conditions meet are magnetic core memories. In these, however, is the removal of the memory content associated with its extinction, except when special cores with extensive wiring or ent ao take circuits of complicated type are used.

The memory according to the present invention has the advantages of a magnetic core memory that namely the storage without supply of energy is retained, so that a direct access to each storage value possible and the access time is short. However, it has the advantage that the removal is non-extinguishing takes place without the need for circuitry that is difficult to control. Of the Memory according to the invention uses one for forwarding electrical or mechanical waves suitable uniform line. The storage is done by creating discontinuities for the wave to be forwarded on the line. To remove the stored value, a Wave train given, this is partially reflected at the point of discontinuity; the runtime from the memory location to the point of discontinuity and back is used to determine the memory value.

It is already known to use magnetostrictive lines for storage by making pulse trains sends into the same, this decreases at the end and feeds it back in via amplifier (circular storage). It is also known to magnetize and magnetostrictive lines at discrete points To install sensing devices; the magnetostriction serves as an equivalent for the z. B. at one Magnetic drum storage existing and necessary for removal relative movement between recording media and magnetic head. A reading device is required here at each storage location. at However, the arrangement according to the invention is only a memory for digital values

Applicant:

International Business Machines Corporation,

Armonk, N. Y. (V. St. A.)

Representative:

Dipl.-Ing. H. E. Böhmer, patent attorney,

Böblingen (Württ.), Sindelfinger Str. 49

Named as inventor:

Armand Mayet, La Villeneuve Le Roi,

Seine-et-Oise (France)

Claimed priority:

France of March 23, 1960 (822 166)

an extraction device is necessary at one point. In addition, the arrangement according to the invention is not based on the Use of magnetostrictive vibrations is limited, but can also be used with electrical waves work. In the latter case, the magnetization of the otherwise uniform line creates a point of discontinuity which gives rise to reflection.

The invention accordingly relates to a memory for digital values with a memory for forwarding electrical or mechanical waves suitable uniform conduction, with the characteristic that at Discrete points of the line facilities are provided by the discontinuities of the waveguide can be generated, and that the running time of the fed in at one end of the line to the Points of discontinuity reflected waves and returning to the end of the line to determine the Storage value is used.

The uniform line used to transmit the waves can either itself be a magnetically hard, remanent material or such a material can also be applied to any desired storage location will. To z. B. with decimal number representation the real value and the complement value to be able to be taken optionally, measures are provided for the sender and receiver for the to be fed Optionally connect shafts at both ends of the uniform line.

The exemplary embodiments described below are explained by means of drawings.

709 680/290

F i g. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate different types of electrical lines that can be used to implement can be used by storage devices according to the invention;

F i g. 4 and 5 show two systems for storing information on a line of the in FIG. 3 shown type;

6 and 7 are graphs showing the erasure of the data in a line according to the system of FIG. 5 saved Illustrate information;

F i g. 8 and 9 represent the two basic circuits of a line connected to reading devices dar;

Figs. 10 and 11 show other embodiments of the invention.

The in F i g. 1 line shown consists of a central cylinder 1 made of polyethylene with fine distributed iron powder around which a copper wire 2 is helically wound. This line is with an insulating layer 3 made of polyethylene, to which an outer conductor 4 made of copper braid is applied is.

The in F i g. The line shown in Figure 2 is similar, but there are disjointed lines on the cylinder Metal strips 5 attached, which in turn are provided with an insulating layer. As is well known this allows the change in transit time to be reduced as a function of frequency.

F i g. 3 shows a delay line consisting of a magnetic inner conductor 6 in the form of a an insulating layer 7 made of polyethylene provided tube and an outer conductor consists of a Copper or aluminum wire 8 and is wrapped around the insulating layer.

F i g. FIG. 4 illustrates a means for changing the inductance which is used in a line of FIG F i g. 3 indicates the type of information to be entered. Here there is the magnetic Tube 6 made of remanent steel. The data entry elements are distributed along the line. The figure shows only one of these elements. It consists of a conductive winding 9 that is wound around the line and is separated from the conductor by an insulating layer 10. By creating a A magnetic induction is generated in the region 11 of the pipe when the current is applied to the winding 9. Because In terms of remanence, this induction is retained even after the current has dropped to zero.

In the line according to FIG. 5, the magnetic tube 6 consists of a magnetic material which saturable but soft, d. H. has no remanence. The recording elements consist of one Muffel2 made of remanent magnetic material and a winding 13. The sleeve 12 is on the line pushed on and covered with an insulating layer 14 on the inside. By applying a current to the winding creates a magnetic induction in the sleeve 12, which is indirect in the area 15 of the pipe a field delimited by the surfaces 16 and 17 is generated. After interruption of the current this will Field maintained by the remanence of the sleeve. The device according to FIG. 5 has opposite the according to FIG. 4 different advantages, the main one being the reduction of the influence of the winding on the normal work of the line, the possibility of setting the memory position by shifting the sleeve on the line, the better concentration of the field.

With a device like that in FIG. 5 it is possible to have very sudden changes in inductance at the intersections of the line with the surfaces delimiting the socket. Under these Conditions one can obtain good reflection coefficients.

It is known that the reflection coefficient is a Wave that propagates on a line with the impedance Z and on a line with meets the impedance Zj, the following equation is satisfied:

r =

3,

If the resistances per unit length are negligibly small and if the capacitances per unit length are the same in both parts of the line, then the impedance is proportional to the square number of the inductance L ₁ and L, and one obtains

+ VL

In a line of the type described above, however, the inductance is essentially proportional to the magnetic permeability. The initial permeability can easily reach 200, and the permeability in the line can drop to 4 as long as it is covered by the saturated socket. Under these conditions one obtains

L i / ZÖÖ

If the signal consists of a sinusoidal pulse train, it is possible to increase the length of the line choose that the reflected from the surfaces 16 and 17 Signals are in phase and that the amplitudes of the reflected signals add up to each other. If the losses on the line are negligible, this result is obtained by adding the Length of the sleeve equal to a quarter wavelength or an odd multiple of quarter wavelengths power.

The data recorded on the line can be deleted using conventional methods by a sinusoidal current with decreasing amplitude is generated in the windings. in case of a Memory of the type as shown in FIG. 5, it is also possible to use a To extinguish direct current, which brings the induction of the sleeve back to about 0. It is not necessary that this current has a very precisely defined strength if the induction / field strength curve of the Material, which is used in the inner conductor, shows a substantially rectilinear course, as it in Fig. 6 is shown. In this figure, curve 1 shows how the induction of the sleeve is dependent the field strength changes when starting from the origin, which is represented by dots, maintains a saturation current and then runs through the entire hysteresis process once; Curve 2 shows how the field strength changes depending on the induction in the material of the inner conductor. By doing information was recorded by sending a current through the winding the point showing the condition of the socket

is moved from point to point B. Then, after switching off the current, it shifted to point C; during this time the point, which represents the state of the inner conductor, has moved from α to b and then to c . The extinguishing current, if it has a suitable strength, lets the first point migrate from C to D and then to A and the second point from c to d and then to a; a current that is only a little too large or too small, which allows the first point, the distance CEF or CGH to pass through, would bring the second point to / or to h , ie it would make the field so small that the permeability of the inner conductor and hence its inductance would also be essentially the same as for a field of field strength 0; in this way one could accomplish the deletion.

One could also avoid the need to give the current an exact size by continuously sending a direct current of suitable strength into the line, which generates a field in the same direction as that of the information to be recorded. In such a case, curve 2 is shifted as shown in FIG. 7 is shown. It is extinguished by sending a current through the winding, which saturates the sleeve in the opposite direction. It is thereby achieved that the first point traverses the distance CIJ and the second the distance cij.

F i g. 8 shows the block diagram of a reading device for a memory line, the ten memory locations contains; such a line can be used when one wants to record decimal numbers. In this figure, the line is represented by a solid line and the recording windings are symbolized by simple arcs. The reading device comprises a reading pulse generator 21, a measuring pulse generator 22 (these two pulse generators can be combined into one are), a pulse counter 23, a switch 24 and a gate circuit 25. The read pulse generator 21 sends a read impulse to the line and at the same time unlocks gate 25. As a result pulses from the generator 22 can reach the counter 23. Switch 24 causes the read pulse reaches the line from generator 21 and the echo pulse is passed to gate 25; this impulse controls the locking of the gate. Counter 23 therefore counts the number of pulses from generator 22 between the time at which a read pulse is sent on the line and the return of this pulse. This makes it possible to determine the location of the change in impedance.

F i g. 9 shows a reading device similar to that of FIG. 8 is the same, but in which the pulses can be fed in on both sides of the line. The device comprises two switches 24 a and 246 and a bistable device, such as. B. a flip-flop 26; in one of its positions this toggle switch locks switch 24 a and unlocks switch 24 b; in the other position it unlocks the switch 24 a and locks 24 b. This arrangement allows either the true value or the nine's complement of a number to be extracted.

The devices described above are all concerned with only one way of realizing the invention. Without departing from the idea of the invention, you can make various changes, Make deletions or additions, or realize the same guiding principles in another way.

You can z. B. the discontinuities of the impedance not caused by series-connected inductors, but generate by short circuits. F i g. 10 shows an example of how to make this type could. The line has short branches 201 in sections; at these points are the two conductors of the line connected with two wires 202 and 203. These are immersed in a bowl Iron filings and thus form a coherer. Two more wires 204 and 205 also dip in this shell and are connected to a voltage source, not shown. If you apply a voltage these two conductors, the metal particles cling to each other and thus create a short circuit. This short circuit can be eliminated by removing the coherer by conventional means shakes.

The invention is not limited to facilities which transmit electrical signals. The signals can also be mechanical, such as B. Be ultrasonic signals. Fig. 11 shows a magnetostrictive one Line 211, which transmits such vibrations. This line is in at both ends sound-absorbing suspensions 219, 220 attached, e.g. B. in rubber cubes. The transmitter 212 provides one electrical pulse train, which the coil converts into magnetic field changes. By magnetostriction an ultrasonic signal is produced in line 211. The sleeves 214 made of remanent soft magnetic Material lies in various places along the line. They are surrounded by coils 215. That Writing is done by creating a remanent magnetic field in a certain sleeve generated and this causes magnetostriction. This results in the corresponding cross section of the line a change in the mechanical tension. The ultrasonic vibrations that the Coil 213 generated are partially thrown back at the voltage discontinuity, and the receding Wave produced by magnetostriction changes in the field of the receiver coil 216 (the may coincide with the transmitter coil 213); these field changes become a recipient and then passed to counter 218.

Claims (4)

Patent claims: 1. Memory for digital values with one for forwarding electrical or mechanical values Waves suitable uniform line, characterized in that at discrete Places of the line facilities (9; 12,13; 214) are provided by the discontinuities of the Waveguide can be generated, and that the transit time of the fed in at one end of the line, Waves reflected at the points of discontinuity and returning to the end of the line is used to determine the memory value. 2. Memory according to claim 1, characterized in that the line consists of a magnetic Cylinder (6) having remanence, helically wound with an electrical conductor (8) exists, which carries windings (9) at discrete points for the local magnetization of the cylinder. 3. Memory according to claim 1, characterized in that the line consists of a soft ma- magnetic, helically wound with an electrical conductor (8) cylinder (6) consists of at discrete points by special windings (13) magnetizable sleeves (12) made of magnetic retentive material. 4. Memory according to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the transmitter for the in the line to be fed waves and the receiver for the reflected waves optionally one of the two line ends can be connected. Considered publications:
U.S. Patent No. 2,736,881. 1 sheet of drawings 709 680/290 10.67 © Bundesdruckerei Berlin