The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 23, 1988
Filed:
Oct. 06, 1986
Douglas R McGregor, Glasgow, GB;
Jon R Malone, Glasgow, GB;
University of Strathclyde, , GB;
Abstract
A computer memory device (10) for storing identified associations between data items of a data collection comprises an array (15) of signal flow pathways (1,2,3 etc) which are respectively rendered representative of data items by an indexing component (12) and input/output circuitry (18) connected to the array (15). Controllable interconnect elements (A,B,C,D,E, etc) selectively interconnect the pathways (1,2,3 etc) in one or more pairs and effect directional control of signal flow between each interconnected pair in accordance with the identified association between the respectively represented data items of the data collection. The interconnect elements (A,B,C etc) are status controlled by signals delivered thereto over respective channels (20A,20B,20C etc) from respective control devices (22A,22B,22C etc) which are contained in a memory (17) which is externally addressable by component (11). The memory (17) may be a conventional random access memory having bi-state memory locations or it may have tri-state memory locations. The interconnect elements (A,B,C etc) are each multi-state, having preferably four states of which one is disconnect. A plurality of devices (10) can be interconnected to increase memory capacity by external permanent connections of only a few of the signal pathways.