jdr+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jeff Rosenfeld) (09/28/88)
There have recently been posts here concerning ideas involving the use of phase
logic in digital(?) computers. This concept intrigues me but I am unable to
locate any articles describing how such a thing might work.
Would some kind soul be able to enlighten a curious engineering student with
regard to how these beasts might work?
I am particularly curious about how sequential logic and memory cells might
work with phase logic.
Thanks,
- Jeff.beyer@houxs.UUCP (J.BEYER) (09/28/88)
In article <oXE4Uvy00V4B80o0Rl@andrew.cmu.edu>, jdr+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jeff Rosenfeld) writes: > There have recently been posts here concerning ideas involving the use of phase > logic in digital(?) computers. This concept intrigues me but I am unable to > locate any articles describing how such a thing might work. > Do you mean parametrons? These were, if memory serves, devices with two magnetic cores powered by an AC power supply. They were a resonant circuit with two stable states: One in one phase with respect to the power supply and one in the other phase. You could change the phase by suitable inputs. The things held promise for low-cost before transistors could be made for less than about $10./each. But they were slow. As I recall, 100000 operations per second was an upper bound, and 10000 to 20000 were more typical. I imagine they were quite resistant to nuclear radiation. I believe the Japanese built some computers using these. I would look them up in literature of the late 1950's or early 1960's. -- Jean-David Beyer A.T.&T., Holmdel, New Jersey, 07733 houxs!beyer
ECULHAM@UALTAVM.BITNET (User name Unknwon) (09/29/88)
In article <oXE4Uvy00V4B80o0Rl@andrew.cmu.edu>, jdr+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jeff Rosenfeld) writes: >There have recently been posts here concerning ideas involving the use of phase >logic in digital(?) computers. This concept intrigues me but I am unable to >locate any articles describing how such a thing might work. > >Would some kind soul be able to enlighten a curious engineering student with >regard to how these beasts might work? >I am particularly curious about how sequential logic and memory cells might >work with phase logic. > >Thanks, > - Jeff. There was a very interesting article in IEEE Transactions on Computers Vol 37, No 2, Feb. 1988, pages 138-145. It was titled "Embedding Computation in One-Dimentional Automata by Phase Coding Solitons". If anyone is interested in actually building one of these parity-next-state computers in VLSI, please contact me. Earl Culham, ECULHAM@UALTAVM.BITNET