An Approach to Airborne Digital Computer Equipment Construction

One method of building airborne digital equipment is discussed, which makes use of the modularized etched-wiring plug-in philosophy, and which utilizes an all-etched-wiring harness to accomplish the entire complex of connections between plug-in units. Of a possible 364 external connections, 183 are actually brought to a possible 1716 connector contacts. These contacts, and their associated printed wiring, tie together 32 flip-flop modules and 17 diode-gating etched-pattern matrix arrays, without the use of a single piece of conventional wiring. Points of emphasis are miniaturization, reliability, small weight, accessibility, and manufacturability of the equipment.