Skip to content

Comment on Cores in space: The core memory module from a 1980 Spacelab computerparent

Comments

ahh - I see where my dots weren't connecting, then.

I pictured having a current driver on each plane, so the data bits coming in would be enable bits for the current drivers. Which obviously means 18xQty current drivers.

I think you're describing having one big current driver for the whole job, and then data bits drive the inhibits to counter them.

I guess I'm looking through too modern a lens - pumping 18*600mA into the write cycle, plus (up to 18)*600mA into the inhibit, sounds insane to me (hitting 20A for a write) - but I can see that multiplying the current drivers may have sounded nuts in the 50s.

There are different ways of implementing core memory. The "traditional" way uses the inhibit line. The module I examined uses a "2½D" approach, which is what you originally pictured: separate current drivers for each bit and no inhibit line.

AboutSource Built by g1lg1l

Hackerly is an independent reader for Hacker News, built on the public HN API. Not affiliated with Y Combinator.