Random access bubble memory with unified read/write cycle

Abstract

A random access bubble memory directs a plurality of continuous streams of bubbles toward a plurality of storage loops. A write decoder selects one continuous stream of bubbles. An annihilator then transforms this one continuous stream of bubbles into the desired data pattern which is then stored in a selected loop. While the data pattern is being formed, a read decoder directs the data which had been stored in the selected loop to a bubble detector. This memory has a unified read/write cycle which permits intermixed read and write, read/modify/write, and swap operations. This bubble memory allows a user to remove power abruptly during a read/write cycle without returning a partially processed block to its storage loop and without saving the identity of the block. In a preferred embodiment, the read and write decoders are operated simultaneously by identical control currents.