A High-Speed Barrier Grid Store

Abstract

This paper describes a high-speed random access memory developed to serve an experimental electronic telephone switching system. The memory uses a barrier grid type electrostatic storage tube which is incorporated in a complete general-purpose store with a capacity of 16,384 bits. Random access to any bit together with a full storage cycle of reading and writing is complete in 2.5 microseconds, permitting a 400-kc repetition rate. Experience with this store indicates that barrier grid storage can provide stable, compact, economical memory for data handling systems.