ULA

Changeset

121:8b00fd59f03a
2020-04-13 Paul Boddie raw files shortlog changelog graph Added notes on 4164 RAM costs referencing historical remarks.
Electron.txt (file) ULA.txt (file)
     1.1 --- a/Electron.txt	Sun Apr 12 17:05:08 2020 +0200
     1.2 +++ b/Electron.txt	Mon Apr 13 17:05:49 2020 +0200
     1.3 @@ -100,6 +100,18 @@
     1.4  component cost increase proving to be less than projections made early in the
     1.5  design process, particularly if slower (and smaller) RAM chips became usable.
     1.6  
     1.7 +In the document "One of the Most Popular 65,536-Bit (64K) Dynamic RAMs The TMS
     1.8 +4164", a note is made of 4164 RAM prices dropping from $25 to $5 per unit in
     1.9 +1981. Perhaps the initial pricing influenced the design process, anticipating
    1.10 +costs of $100 for 32K of RAM and the need for a reduced number of memory
    1.11 +chips. Had the subsequent pricing been noted or anticipated, a decision might
    1.12 +have been made to employ eight 64Kbit chips, which would have afforded
    1.13 +additional capabilities due to the doubling of RAM (such as shadow memory) for
    1.14 +less than half of the originally anticipated memory costs. (Naturally, eight
    1.15 +32Kbit memory chips, which might also have exhibited similar price reductions,
    1.16 +would potentially have offered the delivered 32K for an even smaller fraction
    1.17 +of the anticipated costs.)
    1.18 +
    1.19  Improving Display Capabilities
    1.20  ------------------------------
    1.21  
     2.1 --- a/ULA.txt	Sun Apr 12 17:05:08 2020 +0200
     2.2 +++ b/ULA.txt	Mon Apr 13 17:05:49 2020 +0200
     2.3 @@ -136,6 +136,8 @@
     2.4       http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Acorn/Manuals/Acorn_ElectronSM.pdf
     2.5  See: http://mdfs.net/Docs/Comp/Electron/Techinfo.htm
     2.6  See: http://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?p=120438#p120438
     2.7 +See: One of the Most Popular 65,536-Bit (64K) Dynamic RAMs The TMS 4164
     2.8 +     http://smithsonianchips.si.edu/augarten/p64.htm
     2.9  
    2.10  A Note on 8-Bit Wide RAM Access
    2.11  -------------------------------