On 3/6/2014 11:18 AM, Steve Lafferty wrote:
On the question of whether F-RAM would be a suitable
replacement for
the CY62256 CMOS/battery solution: There was a longevity calculation
posted that appears to have been in error. The 1e14 cycle limit was
said to be good for 30-years continuous access at a 1us cycle rate.
I calculate about 3-years. Perhaps 2us would be a more appropriate
cycle rate for the PDP-8 and that would make it 6-years.
That might be considered sufficient and I have added a section
discussing the availability of various F-RAMs to the article:
http://tronola.com/html/ram_for_pdp-8e.html#F-RAM
Unfortunately, the suitable through-hole devices are now obsolete
but are still available from Hong Kong/China.
I would appreciate any comments you might have.
By the way, in response to comments here about how the Omnibus
interface compatibility issue was handled, I have rewritten parts of
that section. I hope it meets critical approval now. I would like to
say thanks for holding my feet to fire. I think it has improved the
article.
Steve Lafferty
The other alternative is the Simtek STK16C88 quantum trap SRAM (now also
Cypress). This device has unlimited reads and writes but has 1e6
power-down cycle endurance. 100 year data retention.
This device is also pin compatible with the SRAMS and is 5v. It may be
a better choice than the FRAM.
http://www.cypress.com/?docID=34462
They are also available on EBAY for about $10.00.
Rob.