DOCSLIB.ORG

Adaptation of Magnetic Bubble Memory in a Standard Microcomputer Environment

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Adaptation of Magnetic Bubble Memory in a Standard Microcomputer Environment Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive Theses and Dissertations Thesis Collection 1981 Adaptation of magnetic bubble memory in a standard microcomputer environment Hicklin, Michael S. Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School http://hdl.handle.net/10945/20407 %M\- '('''''•''-• ,v?j'' -'''"I- IK?:<J,e4;^/>':f';^.•^''' >if"4';r;.'i.'''; „ " ? ..^' V V DUDLEY KNOX LIBRARY NAVAL P^STCr^-iJATE SCHOOL MONiEmE,, CA;..F. 93940 NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL Monterey, California THESIS ADAPTATION OF MAGNETIC BUBBLE MEMORY IN A STANDARD MICROCOMPUTER ENVIRONMENT by Michael S. Hicklin and Jeffrey A. Neufeld December 1981 Thesis Advisor: R- R. Stilwell Approved for public release; distribution unlimited T20Z 1 ; IINCT^SSTFTED SKCuniTV CLASSiriCATlOM OF THIS ^ACe fWhmit 0«« Enlmfd) READ INSTRUCTTONS REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE BEFORE COMPLETTNO FORM \ nIpONT NUMaCM 2. OOVT ACCKtSiOM NO. 1 *eCl^ltNT"S CATALOG NUMBER 4. Sublltlmi 5. TITLE fmta TYPE OF REPORT ft PEOtOO COWERED Mas ter ' s Thesis Adaptation of Magnetic Bubble Memory in December 1981 a Standard Microcomputer Environment • . Pe«FO«MINO ORG. REPORT NUMSCR 7. AuThONi'*> • . CONTRACT OR GRANT NLMSCRC*; Michael S, Hicklin Jeffrey A, Neuf eld * PCMFOffMIMa OnOANlZATION NAMC ANO AOOMCtS 10. PROGRAM ELEMENT PROJECT T*S< AREA « WORK UNIT NUMBERS Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, California 93940 n CONTROLLING OFFICE NAMC AND AODMCSt 12. REPORT OATE Naval Postgraduate School December 1981 Monterey, California 93940 IS NUMBER OF PACES U MONlTOHiNC AGENCY NAME * AOORCStC'/ aillarwnt tram Catttroltlni OHIe») IS. SECUNITY CLASS, (ol Ihit r*>ortj Naval Postgraduate School Unclas s if ied Monterey, California 93940 rSa. OCCLASSIFICATION/ OOWNGRAOlNG SCHCOULC l«. OlSTRlSUTtON STATEMENT re/ tM« Ktptrt) Approved for public release; distribution unlimited 17. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT (ot (/•• •**«r«e( cfilcrvd In Block 30. II dllUrmnI Iram Hmport) I*. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 19. KEY WORDS (Coniinu* art tmr»f »ldm tl naemaamtr fd Idonilly »r Mock nwmkor) Magnetic bubble memory, microcomputer operating svstem, CP/M-86, secondary storage media 20. ABSTRACT (Conilinio on ravara* aida // nococmmr antf Idotnltr kr klock mmtkot) Magnetic bubble memory is a new digital storage technology that offers many significant advantages over currently existing secondary storage media. Bubble memories, with high densities and relatively fast access times, are non-volatile semiconductor devices that provide a high degree of reliability in harsh environments. This technology has the potential for a vital and unique role in FORM EDITION OF I NOV <• IS OBSOLETE DO I jAN 7 , 1473 S/N a 102-0 14- $60 -^iCLA.'^f^Ty^"]^ SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF 'HIS PAGE '»^a«l Daia Jtniorod) UNCLASSIFIED l'**^«M rtat* •m****^ (continuation of abstract) both the civilian and military computing environments due to the combination of characteristics exhibited by magnetic domain devices. This thesis presents an implementation of a magnetic bubble device utilizing a conventional operating system, Digital Research's CP/M-86, and a standard commercial 16-bit microcomputer, the Intel iSBC 86/]2A. A fully operational system capable of testing, evaluating and utilizing a magnetic bubble device in a standard user environment is presented . DD Fornj 1473 UNCLASSinzD Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. Adaptation of Magnetic Bubble Memory in a Standard Microcomputer Environment by Michael S. fjicklin Captain, United States Marine Corps B.S.M.E., University of Utah Jeffrey A, Neufeld Captain, United States Marine Corps B.S.S.E., United States Naval Academy Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OP SCIENCE IN COMPOTEB SCIENCE from the NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL December 1981 DUDLEY KNOX LIBRARY NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CAUF. 99HQ^^ AfiSTBACT .Magnetic bubble memcry is a new digital storage technology that offers many significant advantages over currently existing secondary storage media. Bubble memories, with high densities and relatively fast access timss, are non-volatile semiconductor devices that provide a high degree cf reliability in harsh environments. This technology has the potential for a vital and unigue role in both the civilian and military computing environments due to the combination of characteristics exhibited by magnetic domain devices. This thesis presents an implementation of a magnetic buttle device utilizing a conventional operating system. Digital Research's CP/M-86, and a standard commercial 16-bir microcomputer, the Intel iSBC 86/12A. A fully operational system capable of testing, evaluating and utilizing a magnetic bubble device in a standard user environment is presented. ' TABLE CF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION 9 II. BACKGROUND OF HUBBLE MEMOFIES 12 A. MAGNETIC BOBBLE DOMAINS 12 B. BUBBLE DOMAIN DEVICES 17 C. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 25 D. CURRENT TECHNOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE 27 III. APPLICABILITY OF MAGNETIC BOBBLE MEMORIES 36 A. COMPARISON CF MASS STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES 36 B. APPLICATIONS OF MAGNETIC BUBBLE MEMORY 42 IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEM — 46 A. TIB0203 MAGNETIC BUBBLE MEMORY 46 B. PC/M MBB-80 BUBBLE MEMORY SYSTEM 48 C. DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEM 50 D. IMPLEMENTATION HOST SYSTEM 52 V. LOW-LEVEL BUBBLE DEVICE INTERFACE 56 A. INTEL 8080 IMPLEMENTATION 56 3. USE OF THE CP/M-80 MBE-80 DIAGNOSTIC PROGRAM — 60 C. INTEL 8086 INTERFACE CONSIDERATIONS 62 D. INTEL 8086 IMPLEMENTATION 65 E. USE OF THE CP/M-86 aBB-80 DIAGNOSTIC PROGRAMS - 71 ^I. CP/M-86 INTERFACE IMPLEMENTATION 75 A. BOBBLE DEVICE STOBAGE ORGANIZATION 75 B. CP/M-86 BIOS CONSIDERATIONS 79 1. Structured Standards for the BIOS 79 2. Structured Approach to the BIOS 81 3. Jump Vector Interfaces 84 C. aSE OF THE CP/M-86 MEB-80 FORMAT PROGRAM 88 D. CP/M-86 BIOS IMPLEMENTATION 90 1. Modification of the Existing BIOS 90 2. Disk Parameter Table 92 3. Disk Configuration Tables 95 !* . BIOS Generation Procedure 99 5. Reconfiguring the BIOS 101 E. EVALOATION OP THE IMPLEMENTATION 102 1. Performance 102 2. Limitations 105 3. Applications 107 II. 300TL0ADING CP/M-86 FROM THE MEB-80 109 A. BOOT ROM AND LOADER CONSIDERATIONS 109 B. BOOT ROM AND LOADER IMPLEMENTATION 112 C. SPRCM GENERATION 115 VIII. CONCLUSIONS 118 A. IMPLEMENTATION SYNOPSIS 118 B. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK 120 t C. POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS 122 APPENDIX A PROGRAM LISTING OF DIAG80.ASM 126 APPENDIX B PROGRAM LISTING OF DIAG86S.A86 135 APPENDIX C PROGRAM LISTING OF DIAG86M.A86 146 APPENDIX D PROGRAM LISTING OF MB80FMT.A86 159 APPENDIX E PROGRAM LISTING OF MBBIOS.A86 166 APPENDIX F PROGRAM LISTING OF MB80ROM.A86 187 LIST OF REFERENCES 196 INITIAL DISTRIBUTION LIST •' 198 DISCLAinER Many tarms used in this thesis are registered trademarks cf ccmmercial products. Rather than attempt to cite each individual occurrence of a trademark, all registered trademarks appearing in this thesis will be listed below, following the firm holding the trademark. Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, California: Intel HOLTIBUS INTELLEC MDS Intel 8080 Intel 8086 iSBC 86/12A iSBC 202 i8259 Pacific Cyber/Metrixs Incorporated, Dublin, California: Eubbl-Tec Bubbl-Machine MBB-80 Bubbl-Board Digital Research, Pacific Grove, California: CP/M-80 CP/M-86 CP/M I. IMTRODOCTIQN Magnetic bubble memory is a new digital storage technology that offers many significant advantages over currently existing secondary storage mediums. Bubble raencries, with high densities and reiauively fast access tines, are non-volatile semiconductor devices that provide a high degree of reliability in harsh environments. This technology has the potential for a vital and unique role in both the civilian and military computing environments due to the combination of characteristics exhibited by magnetic dcnain devices. This thesis presents an itcplementation of a magnetic bubble device (M3B-80) utilizing a conventional operating syst=m (CP/M-86) and a commercial 16-bit microprocessor (Intel 8086) . A fully operational system capable of testing, evaluating, and utilizing a magnetic bubble device in a standard user environient is presented. There are four major phases inro which this thesis is organized. The first phase will present an overview of bubble domain devices tc provide an understanding and evaluation of their potential applications as mass storage lediums. Chapter II will describe the theory of magnetic butble devices and the current state of magnetic dooain Technology. Chapter III will present an evaluation of bubfcls memory technology and utilization along with a justification for the applicability of magnetic bubble devices. The second phase will address the low-level interface requirements for the MBB-80 Bubbl-Bcard (produced by PC/M Inc.) when interfacing with either the Intel 8080 or Intel 8086 microprocessor. The purpose of this phase will be to: (1) verify the operational characteristics of the MBB-80; and, (2) design and implement the low-level systems software necessary to interface the operating system's I/O structure with the magnetic bubble menoory ccntrcller. The third phase will address the issues necessary to implement the interface of the bubble memory system with the operating system's primitive secondary storage access routines. The tasks necessary in this phase are to: (1) design a memory organization and management scheme for the magnetic bubble memory; and, (2) design the interface such that the magnetic bubble memory appears as a "standard" mass storage device (disJc) to the host operating system. The fourth phase is the actual interface of the MBB-80 Bubbl-Boards into the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Computer Problem Solving 1) What Is the First 640K of Memory Addresses Called?
    Computer Problem Solving 1) What is the first 640k of memory addresses called? a. extended memory b. upper memory c. high memory d. conventional memory Competency: Personal computer components 2) What was the first socket to support dual voltage inputs? a. Socket 7 b. Socket 5 c. Socket 8 d. Socket 423 Competency: Personal computer components 3) Which card is used to add modems and network cards to the portable computer? a. Type 1 b. Type 2 c. Type 3 d. Type 4 Competency: Laptop and portable devices 4) Which type of battery is used most often in notebook computers? a. NiMH b. NiCad c. Li-ION d. Zinc Air Competency: Laptop and portable devices 5) Which of the following does the erase lamp remove? a. static charge from the developed image area on the paper b. static charge from the margin areas of the paper c. leftover toner particles from the paper d. any static charge that may remain on the drum Competency: Printers and scanners 6) Which standard that was first available in Windows 95 and that incorporated as a BIOS configuration option to conserve electrical power? a. ACPI b. APM c. PCMIA d. Energy Star Competency: Operating systems 7) Which of the following files is the virtual memory swap file needed to boot Windows 2000/XP? a. Pagefile.sys b. Hal.dll c. Kernel32.dll d. Himem.sys Competency: Operating systems 8) Which of the following protocols guarantees packet delivery? a. HTTP b. IP c. TCP d. UDP Competency: Networks 9) What is the standard recommendation for changing your password? a.
    [Show full text]
  • Magnetic Recording and Readout Memory
    SNS college of Technology Coimbatore-641 035 MAGNETIC RECORDING AND READOUT MEMORY Nowadays, large number of information are stored in (or) retrieved from the storage devices, by using devices is magnetic recording heads and they function according to the principle of magnetic induction. Generally Ferro or Ferrimagnetic materials are used in the storage devices because in this type of materials only the magnetic interaction between only two dipoles align themselves parallel to each other. Due to this parallel alignment even if we apply small amount of magnetic field, a large value of magnetization is produced. By using this property information are stored in storage devices. In the storage devices, the recording of digital data (0‟s and 1‟s) depends upon the direction of magnetization in the medium. Magnetic parameters for Recording 1. When current is passed through a coil, a magnetic field is induced. This principle called “Electromagnetic Induction” is used in storage devices. 2. The case with which the material can be magnetized is another parameter. 3. We know the soft magnetic materials are the materials which can easily be magnetized and demagnetized. Hence a data can be stored and erased easily. Such magnetic materials are used in temporary storage devices. 4. Similarly, we know hard magnetic materials cannot be easily magnetized and demagnetized. So such magnetic materials are used in permanent storage devices. 5. In soft magnetic materials, the electrical resistance varies with respect to the magnetization and this effect is called magneto-resistance. This parameter is used in specific thin film systems. 19PYB102 & PHYSICS OF MATERIALS AND PHOTONICS D.SENGOTTAIYAN /AP/PHYSICS Page 1 SNS college of Technology Coimbatore-641 035 The magnetic medium is made of magnetic materials (Ferro or Ferric oxide) deposited on this plastic.
    [Show full text]
  • Magnetic Storage- Magnetic-Core Memory, Magnetic Tape,RAM
    Magnetic storage- From magnetic tape to HDD Juhász Levente 2016.02.24 Table of contents 1. Introduction 2. Magnetic tape 3. Magnetic-core memory 4. Bubble memory 5. Hard disk drive 6. Applications, future prospects 7. References 1. Magnetic storage - introduction Magnetic storage: Recording & storage of data on a magnetised medium A form of „non-volatile” memory Data accessed using read/write heads Widely used for computer data storage, audio and video applications, magnetic stripe cards etc. 1. Magnetic storage - introduction 2. Magnetic tape 1928 Germany: Magnetic tape for audio recording by Fritz Pfleumer • Fe2O3 coating on paper stripes, further developed by AEG & BASF 1951: UNIVAC- first use of magnetic tape for data storage • 12,7 mm Ni-plated brass-phosphorus alloy tape • 128 characters /inch data density • 7000 ch. /s writing speed 2. Magnetic tape 2. Magnetic tape 1950s: IBM : patented magnetic tape technology • 12,7 mm wide magnetic tape on a 26,7 cm reel • 370-730 m long tapes 1980: 1100 m PET –based tape • 18 cm reel for developers • 7, 9 stripe tapes (8 bit + parity) • Capacity up to 140 MB DEC –tapes for personal use 2. Magnetic tape 2014: Sony & IBM recorded 148 Gbit /squareinch tape capacity 185 TB! 2. Magnetic tape Remanent structural change in a magnetic medium Analog or digital recording (binary storage) Longitudinal or perpendicular recording Ni-Fe –alloy core in tape head 2. Magnetic tape Hysteresis in magnetic recording 40-150 kHz bias signal applied to the tape to remove its „magnetic history” and „stir” the magnetization Each recorded signal will encounter the same magnetic condition Current in tape head proportional to the signal to be recorded 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Computing :: Operatingsystems :: DOS Beyond 640K 2Nd
    DOS® Beyond 640K 2nd Edition DOS® Beyond 640K 2nd Edition James S. Forney Windcrest®/McGraw-Hill SECOND EDITION FIRST PRINTING © 1992 by James S. Forney. First Edition © 1989 by James S. Forney. Published by Windcrest Books, an imprint of TAB Books. TAB Books is a division of McGraw-Hill, Inc. The name "Windcrest" is a registered trademark of TAB Books. Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved. The publisher takes no responsibility for the use of any of the materials or methods described in this book, nor for the products thereof. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Forney, James. DOS beyond 640K / by James S. Forney. - 2nd ed. p. cm. Rev. ed. of: MS-DOS beyond 640K. Includes index. ISBN 0-8306-9717-9 ISBN 0-8306-3744-3 (pbk.) 1. Operating systems (Computers) 2. MS-DOS (Computer file) 3. PC -DOS (Computer file) 4. Random access memory. I. Forney, James. MS-DOS beyond 640K. II. Title. QA76.76.063F644 1991 0058.4'3--dc20 91-24629 CIP TAB Books offers software for sale. For information and a catalog, please contact TAB Software Department, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294-0850. Acquisitions Editor: Stephen Moore Production: Katherine G. Brown Book Design: Jaclyn J. Boone Cover: Sandra Blair Design, Harrisburg, PA WTl To Sheila Contents Preface Xlll Acknowledgments xv Introduction xvii Chapter 1. The unexpanded system 1 Physical limits of the system 2 The physical machine 5 Life beyond 640K 7 The operating system 10 Evolution: a two-way street 12 What else is in there? 13 Out of hiding 13 Chapter 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Table of Contents
    ^9/08/89 11:43 U206 883 8101 MICROSOFT CORP.. 12)002 Table of Contents m-^mm Table of Contaits 09/08/89 11:44 'Q206 883 8101 MICROSOFT CORP _ _ [ 1003 The Story Begins JAN The story of MS-DOS_begins ..in a hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 1975 In 1975, Albuquerque was the home of Micro Instrumentation'Telemetry MiTS introduces the 8080-baseci Systems, better known as MITS- In January of that year, MITS had intro- Altair computer. duced a kit computer called the Altair. When it was first snipped, the Altair consisted of a metal box with, a panel of switches for input and output, a power supply, and-two boards. One board was the CPU.. At its heart was the 8-bit 8080 microprocessor chip from InteL The other board provided 256 bytes of memory. The Altair had no keyboard, no monitor, and no permanent storage. But it had a revolutionary price tag. It cost $397. For the first time, the term "personal computer" acquired a real-world meaning. The real world of the Altair was not, however, the world of business computing. It was-primarily the world of the computer hobbyist These first users of the microcomputer were not as interested in using spreadsheets and word processors as they were in programming. Accordingly, the first soft- ware for the Altair was a programming language. And the company that developed it was a two-man firm, in Albuquerque, called Microsoft FEB The two men at MiCTosof^ej^PailjAJten^and Bffl Gates-Allen and 1975 Gates-had met when-they were both students at Lakeside High School in Microsoft sails first BASIC to Seattle, where they began their computer-science education oa the school's MITS lor Altair time-sharing terminal By the time Gates had graduated, me two of them had computer.
    [Show full text]
  • IMS D7305A IBM 386 PC Occam 2 Toolset Delivery Manual
    ·. ,i .. W .. ~.~.. mrumos®[] IMS D7305A IBM 386 PC occam 2 Toolset delivery manual INMOS"'Y£'-is a member of the SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics Group © INMOS Limited 1993. This document may not be copied, in whole or in part, without prior written consent of INMOS. •,DIITI11OS·, IMS, and occam are trademarks of INMOS Limited. ~~em is a registered trademark of the SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics Group. INMOS Limited is a member of the SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics Group. WATCOM is a trademark of WATCOM Systems Inc. INMOS document number: 72 TDS 389 01 IContents 1 Introduction . 1 1.1 Layout of this manual . 1 1.2 Prerequisites for running the toolset . 1 1.3 Compatibility with previous releases . 1 2 Installing the release . 3 2.1 Installation . 3 2.2 Hosted and non-hosted tools . 4 2.3 Setting up the toolset for use . 5 2.3.1 Setting the FILES variable . 5 2.3.2 Setting the correct PATH . 5 2.3.3 Configuring the DOS extender . 5 2.3.4 Setting up the iserver . 6 Selecting the required iserver . 6 Special notes for users of the PC-NFS iserver . 7 Notes common to both versions of the iserver . 7 Note for users of the IMS B008 motherboard . 8 2.3.5 Use of the iserver by transputer tool driver programs 8 2.3.6 Setting the board memory size . 9 2.3.7 Setting root memory size for idebug . 9 2.3.8 Setting a file system search path . 9 2.3.9 Setting the device driver and terminal definition file 10 2.3.10 Environment space .
    [Show full text]
  • Microsoft Windows Resource
    Chapter 13 Troubleshooting Windows 3.1 This chapter provides information about troubleshooting Microsoft Windows for both general users and experts. If you have trouble installing Windows, or if Windows doesn’t run as well as you expected, this chapter will help you find out why and show you how to isolate and solve common problems. Related Information • Windows User’s Guide: Chapter 15, “Maintaining Windows with Setup” See also Chapter 4, “Troubleshooting,” in the Getting Started booklet • Windows Resource Kit: “The Troubleshooting Flowcharts for Windows 3.1” in “Welcome” Contents of this chapter About Troubleshooting.....................................................................................396 Getting Started with Troubleshooting........................................................396 Creating a “Clean Boot” for Troubleshooting ...........................................398 Troubleshooting Setup......................................................................................399 Troubleshooting TSR s During Setup .........................................................400 Troubleshooting MS-DOS Mode Setup......................................................401 Troubleshooting Windows Mode Setup ....................................................402 Troubleshooting Windows Configuration ........................................................403 Troubleshooting the Desktop Configuration .............................................403 Troubleshooting TSR Compatibility Problems ..........................................404
    [Show full text]
  • Microsoft Windows Resource
    Appendix D Articles This appendix contains technical articles on these topics: • Microsoft Windows for Pens • Quarterdeck’s QEMM –386 and Windows 3.1 • PC-NFS and Windows 3.1 • FastDisk: An Introduction to 32–Bit Access Contents of this appendix Windows for Pens.............................................................................................506 Why Pens?.................................................................................................506 Technical Highlights .................................................................................508 The Internal Architecture of Pen for Windows..........................................509 RC Manager ..............................................................................................510 Pen for Windows Support Resources ........................................................511 Quarterdeck’s QEMM –386 and Windows 3.1 ..................................................515 QEMM –386 Features for Windows ...........................................................515 Troubleshooting for QEMM -386 ...............................................................516 Getting Additional Help ............................................................................518 PC-NFS and Windows 3.1.................................................................................519 Installation Tips.........................................................................................519 Using PC-NFS With Windows ...................................................................519
    [Show full text]
  • Memory Management
    University of Mississippi eGrove American Institute of Certified Public Guides, Handbooks and Manuals Accountants (AICPA) Historical Collection 1993 Memory management American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Information echnologyT Division Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_guides Part of the Accounting Commons, and the Taxation Commons Recommended Citation American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Information echnologyT Division, "Memory management" (1993). Guides, Handbooks and Manuals. 486. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_guides/486 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Historical Collection at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Guides, Handbooks and Manuals by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIVISION BULLETIN AICPA American Institute of Certified Public Accountants TECHNOLOGY Notice to Readers This technology bulletin is the first in a series of bulletins that provide accountants with information about a particular technology. These bulletins are issued by the AICPA Information Technology Division for the benefit of Information Technology Section Members. This bulletin does not establish standards or preferred practice; it represents the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the policies of the AICPA or the Information Technology Division. The Information Technology Division expresses its appreciation to the author of this technology bulletin, Liz O’Dell. She is employed by Crowe, Chizek and Company in South Bend, Indiana, as a manager of firmwide microcomputer operations, supporting both hardware and software applications. Liz is an Indiana University graduate with an associate’s degree in computer information systems and a bachelor’s degree in business management.
    [Show full text]
  • Investigation of Fast Initialization of Spacecraft Bubble Memory Systems Karen T, Looney, Charles D, Nichols., and Paul J, Hayes
    N 8 4 - 2 7 0 7 7 NASA Technical Memorandum 85832 INVESTIGATION OF FAST INITIALIZATION OF SPACECRAFT BUBBLE MEMORY SYSTEMS KAREN T, LOONEY, CHARLES D, NICHOLS., AND PAUL J, HAYES JUNE 1984 NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley Research Center Hampton, Virginia 23665 SUMMARY Bubble domain technology offers significant improvement in reliability and functionality for spacecraft onboard memory applications. In considering potential memory system organizations, minimization of power in high capacity bubble memory systems necessitates the activation of only the desired portions of the memory. In power strobing arbitrary memory segments, a capability of fast turn-on is required. Bubble device architectures, which provide redundant loop coding in the bubble device, limit the initialization speed. Alternate initialization techniques have been investigated to overcome this design limitation. An initialization technique using a small amount of external storage has been demonstrated, using software written in 8085 assembly language and PL/M. ' This technique provides several orders of magnitude improvement over the normal initialization time. INTRODUCTION Bubble memory systems are quickly becoming a preferred storage medium in environments where a non-volatile storage medium is required. The utilization of a bubble storage system offers the benefits of increased reliability, reduced maintainance, and permanent data integrity. The implementaton of large bubble memory systems in spacecraft applications requires that the memory modules be power strobed for the conservation of the available energy resources. Each time a module is turned on for use it must be initialized to code the redundant loop information of the selected bubble devices into the bubble controller. Present structures of bubble systems dictate that a faster initialization procedure is needed in order to capitalize on the advantages offered by a bubble memory system.
    [Show full text]
  • Older Operating Systems
    Older Operating Systems Class Notes # 14 Computer Configuration November 20, 2003 The default configuration of DOS, which may be adequate for many users, is intended to work with the greatest number of systems. DOS also allows users to take full advantage of their computers features. We could configure our computer to operate more efficiently. There are two general ways of making our computers efficient: • Add or replace hardware • Use software to attain an optimal configuration for existing hardware resources DOS falls in the second category. With DOS we can manage our memory more efficiently and we can also use special device drivers and utility programs to enhance the performance of our hardware and software. Device Drivers Device drivers are software programs, which is used by DOS to control hardware devices. Most device drivers are loaded at boot time by including the device driver in your CONFIG.SYS. The DEVICE command tells DOS to load a device driver and uses the following syntax: DEVICE = driver /switches The driver is the actual software for the device, and the /switches are any switches that the device driver software needs. For example, the mouse device driver (MOUSE.SYS) is loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file with this command: DEVICE = C:\DRIVERS\MOUSE.SYS The DEVICE = command tells DOS that the program file name MOUSE.SYS stored in the \DRIVERS directory on drive C is a TSR needed to drive the mouse device. You may also load certain device drivers in AUTOEXEC.BAT. For example, the mouse device driver can also be loaded from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
    [Show full text]
  • Ramcram.Txt MEMORY MANAGEMENT for CD-ROM WORKSTATIONS
    ramcram.txt MEMORY MANAGEMENT FOR CD-ROM WORKSTATIONS by Peter Brueggeman Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library University of California San Diego "Memory management for CD-ROM workstations, Part II", CD-ROM PROFESSIONAL, 4(6):74-78, November 1991. "Memory management for CD-ROM workstations, Part I", CD-ROM PROFESSIONAL, 4(5):39-43, September 1991. The nature of the memory in IBM compatible microcomputers can be confusing to understand and worse to manage. If you are lucky, everything runs fine on the CD-ROM workstation or network and an article on memory management will be interesting but lack immediacy. Try to load other software concurrent with CD-ROM software or to implement network access and you may be due for a crash course in DOS memory, its limitations, and management. Running CD-ROM software usually demands considerable memory resources. Software in general has become more memory-hungry with time, and CD-ROM software have a reputation for being very hungry. Many CD-ROM products state that 640K RAM memory is required; this is not the exact memory requirement of the CD-ROM software. The CD-ROM software itself uses some of the 640K RAM as does DOS. Rarely will the exact memory requirement of a CD-ROM software be readily accessible. Sales representatives usually will not know it and only experienced technical support staff may know. CD-ROM workstation/network managers should try to learn the exact memory requirement of their CD-ROM software. Knowing their memory requirement helps greatly in selecting the level of solution(s). Addressing memory shortfalls may involve considerable tinkering and patience and involve seemingly endless rebooting.
    [Show full text]