The ``Braid'' Transformer Memory

This report describes a read-only digital computer memory which utilizes a loom to ``braid'' information into a wire harness. The memory is called a braid memory and is a variation on the type of transformer memory first described by T. L. Dimond. Such memories are useful when permanence of information is desirable. Braids for the memory described in this report were made at the rate of 2
¹³
bits/hour including connections. The use of a loom makes braid manufacture both a fast and an economical process. A number of trade-offs between speed, capacity, and component count exist; hence, braid memories with many different characteristics can be made. The memory described in this report has a capacity of 16 384 words of 16 bits each.