Magnetic Film Scratch-Pad Memories

An economic comparison has been made between fully integrated scratch-pad memories and thin magnetic-film scratch-pad memories on the basis of assumed component costs. On this basis, magnetic film memories are more expensive than fully integrated memories for very small memories, as expected. In terms of the assumptions made, the economic crossover as a function of memory size between the two memory types lies between 500 and 10 000 bits of storage. Two sample thin-film scratch-pad memory designs are given which have comparatively simple electronic circuitry using integrated circuit power supplies. This electronic circuitry also is amenable to integrated or hybrid circuit implementation.