Hacker News

16-bit fully functional DIY magnetic core memory

37 points by oliculipolicula 5 days ago | 16 comments

Geof25 5 hours ago

You can buy FRAM (Ferroelectric RAM) which are effectively the same thing just in smaller package. But I have seen them only about few kB. However the amount of R/W operations is effectively unlimited,

accrual 2 hours ago

FRAM is handy for replacement N64 Controller Paks where the capacity only needs to be 256Kbit / 32 KB, such as the FM28V020-SG used in this project:

https://github.com/Element18592/N64-FRAM-Memory-Pak

trollbridge 3 hours ago

Yes, although (like some flash technology) read cycles are slower than write cycles, and it takes longer to read a 0 bit and than 1 bit (or vice versa).

Neywiny 3 hours ago

You can get them up to 16Mb/2MB. Which is 1/128 what NOR flash comes in for a similar price and package. Certainly a trade.

I think MRAM is the future though.

Joker_vD 3 hours ago

It is the future, and has been the future for almost 40 years already! I bet that's what the hoverboards will use inside their microcontrollers — gotta drive those portable fusion reactors reliably!

kjs3 3 hours ago

I though bubble memory was the future. Dammit, I missed another memo.

dlcarrier 3 hours ago

Phase-change memory is the most advanced high-endurance nvram, with Intel and Micron's XPoint being the most advanced to have hit production. If it had stuck around long enough for the RAMpocalypse, they'd probably sell out their production capacity.

amelius 5 hours ago

With the current DRAM shortages, this couldn't have come at a better time.

JKCalhoun 2 hours ago

Core64 has been selling a kit like this for some time:

https://www.core64.io/buy

(I chatted with them at the VCFMW, Vintage Computer Festival Mid-Waste, and they are very cool.)

kjs3 3 hours ago

Dataram, back in the day, made 'generic' core memory planes. That is, the had a relatively speaking simple electrical interface, and many vendors just implemented whatever was needed to hook it up to the vendors (usually) proprietary interface.

I have a couple I've been (very) slowly trying to get working with a modern-ish microcontroller with USB connectivity.

cadr 3 hours ago

I have a little envelope of cores that I’ve been meaning to do something with for years, but they are just so tiny I haven’t wanted to mess with them. (Not sure when they were made, but I’m assuming fairly late based on the size.)

kristopolous 4 hours ago

I thought they meant bus width ...still impressed for entirely unexpected reasons.

andai 2 hours ago

Neat! My Japanese is a bit rusty, how much memory is this?

Wait, is each of the rings one bit?

accrual 2 hours ago

[dead]

Beijinger 3 hours ago

I doubt that this is the future. The future is to do calculations directly in the RAM.

trollbridge 3 hours ago

You don't say.

Beijinger 2 hours ago

I don't say what?

PIM. https://www.ramxeed.com/tech-column/pim-basics-and-applicati...

And strictly speaking, this a not a von Neumann architecture anymore.