Abstract:
Disclosed is a unique high speed information processing system capable of storing and operating on large volumes of data without the necessity of complicated data file systems or sophisticated programming techniques. Fundamentally, the invention combines an associative processor having a content-addressable memory with a parallel disc magnetic memory. The disc memory is utilized for the bulk storage of data while the associative processor is utilized for performing logical and arithmetic operations on the data. Data transfers between the associative processor and the disc memory are controlled by a servomechanism and an interface circuit. The servomechanism guarantees that the disc memory will operate at a speed synchronous with signals created by the associative processor and the interface circuit, under the control of the associative processor, manipulates data transfers between the disc memory and the associative processor.