Patent GB-866602-A (GB)
Title: Electric digital data handling system
IPC: G06F7/76
Filed: 1958-04-09
Abstract: 866,602. Circuits employing bi-stable magnetic elements. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. April 9, 1958 [April 9, 1957], No. 11217/58. Class 40 (9). [Also in Group XIX] An electric digital data handling system comprises a plurality of bi-stable elements each comprising a core of magnetic material capable of assuming first and second states of flux remanence arranged in a co-ordinate array, first, second and third groups of lines linking said elements, said first group of lines being associated with the columns of the array with each line linking a first predetermined number of the elements in a corresponding one of said columns, said third group of lines being associated with rows in the array with each line linking a different predetermined number of elements in a corresponding one of said rows, and the second group of said lines being arranged with each line linking a group of elements including only one element in any one row and only one element in any one column of said array, input means for applying information representing signals to the lines in said first group, control means for applying control signals to the lines in said second group, and means for receiving output signals coupled to the lines in said third group. As described in a first embodiment, Fig. 1, data in a register 18 is entered into every row of a magnetic core matrix 10 and is then read out of the matrix by pulsing a particular diagonal winding selected by switches 16a-16h. In this way the data that was in register 18 is caused to appear on the row conductors 14a-14h cyclically shifted selectively by up to four bit positions leftwards or rightwards. From these row conductors the data passes via gates 30a-30h under control of switches 32a-32h to a register 20. By appropriately controlling switches 32a-32h and pulsing several of the diagonal read out windings successively in turn it is possible to cause the effective transfer of the data that was in the register 18 to register 20 rearranged in any desired order. In a second embodiment, Fig. 3, data from a register 50 is read into each row of a matrix 10 and is then read out in one of three ways selected by control devices 68, 70 and 72. If control device 68 is operative gates 66 and the lowest of gates 82 are opened. A ring counter 60 is then caused to pulse the gates 66 in succesion whereupon the data that was in register 50 is read out into the bottom compartment (as shown in Fig. 3) of a store 84 in serial form. If control device 70 is operative every fourth gate 66 and the bottom four gates 82 are opened. The ring counter then causes the serial read out into the bottom four compartments of store 84 of groups of four bits. Control device 72 causes the serial read out of groups of six bits. In a third embodiment (Fig. 4, not shown) three separate counters are used in place of the single counter 60. The second and third embodiments can be used in reverse. That is data arriving serially in groups of four or six pulses can be applied to the row conductors in synchronism with appropriate half write pulses on the diagonal windings, and then read out in parallel form.