A FAST ACCESS BUBBLE MEMORY (FAB) BY FIELD ACCESS STORAGE AND CURRENT ACCESS INTERFACE

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES AN INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE TO CREATE FAST ACCESS MAGNETIC BUBBLE MEMORY DEVICE (FAB). TRADITIONALLY, OPERATION OF BUBBLE DEVICES HAS BEEN LIMITED TO INPUT-OUTPUT DATA RATES OF 50-100 KBITS/EC. THE PROPOSED TECHNIQUE ACHIEVES DATA RATES BETWEEN 1 AND 10 MBITS/SEC. A FAST INPUT-OUTPUT (I/O) TRACK (GENERATOR, PROPAGATOR, AND DETECTOR) BASED ON CURRENT ACCESS TECHNOLOGY IS SUBSTITUTED FOR THE SLOWER I/O TRACK USED IN FIELD ACCESS BUBBLE DEVICES. QUESTIONS OF FEASIBILITY ARE ADDRESSED IN THIS RESEARCH, SINCE CURRENT ACCESS DEVICES HAVE NEVER BEEN FABRICATED. SEVERAL DESIGNS ARE CONSIDERED IN WHICH DIFFERENT VARIATIONS OF GENERATORS, PROPAGATORS, AND DETECTORS ARE COMBINED TO FORM I/O TRACKS. OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL CHARACTERIZATION WILL BE USED FOR EVALUATION OF THE I/O TRACK PERFORMANCE. THE FAB TECHNOLOGY, IF SUCCESSFUL, WILL ENHANCE THE PERFORMANCE OF BUBBLE MEMORIES AND WILL MAKE THEM MORE ATTRACTIVE IN APPLICATIONS WHERE FASTER DATA RATES AND SMALLER ACCESS TIMES ARE REQUIRED.