

The Real Story of the Write-Only-Memory - joe_bleau
http://www.sigwom.com/?page_id=17

======
jcr
The following pdf is roughly the same as the one linked in the article, but
has better formatting/ocr so it tends to be more effective when trolling your
favorite EE friends.

[http://repeater-builder.com/molotora/gontor/25120-bw.pdf](http://repeater-
builder.com/molotora/gontor/25120-bw.pdf)

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trsohmers
The concept of WOM isn't completely pointless for non von Neumann
architectures, and could even be useful for von Neumann-esque SPMD or MPMD
systolic array
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systolic_array](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systolic_array))
architectures that have strict execution models forced in the core to core
wiring. While not completely free form, you would still have instructions and
data being stored in the same space, it would be only readable by the
individual PU is corresponds to. That PU would not write-back to that same
memory, and instead could only write to an adjacent PU's memory, which then
would only be readable (and not writable) by that next PU in the line.

I've been wanting to implement such an architecture on an FPGA for a while
now... may do so over this winter break.

~~~
whitten
How do you implement this kind of thing in an FPGA ? It sounds intriguing.

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danjayh
Reminds me of the retro encabulator (which was actually a video, not a data
sheet)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpnEiOOfu1Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpnEiOOfu1Q)

"The line-up consisted simply of six hydrocoptic marzul vanes so fitted to the
ambaphascient lunar wain shaft that side fumbling was effectively prevented."

Ahhh, classic.

~~~
JonnieCache
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noSOFIJdfwM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noSOFIJdfwM)

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jontro
Looks like a perfect backing device for /dev/null

~~~
jpmattia
/dev/random gets all the attention, it's high time for a /dev/null hardware
implementation.

~~~
arfar
There is /dev/null as a service: [http://devnull-as-a-
service.com/](http://devnull-as-a-service.com/)

------
robert_tweed
Perhaps not write-only memory per se, but write-only registers are a pretty
common thing if you do any hardware-level programming.

Though admittedly this isn't something I've done for a number of years, IIRC
both the VGA and the original Sound Blaster had write-only registers which you
would use to request some change in state, and some other registers that would
reflect the actual current state of the device if/when the request was
honoured.

Of course these are not write-only in the sense that _nothing_ can read their
contents, since they are provided as an interface to some coprocessor like a
GPU or a sound chip. That coprocessor can of course read the incoming data.
They are more like the hardware equivalent of mutator methods on top of
private properties.

------
nvader
> If the device fails, you have exceeded the ragings.

Minor typo, or anachronistic use of early 21st Century slang that suggests
time traveller activity?

------
vardump
_" Lawson’s contributions too as he was a real comedian with lots of
semiconductor experience. He could have invented the WOM concept. He did
invent the “SCROM”. I doubt if any one else knows what that is. I’ll add
later."_

"SCROM" must mean Self-Clear Read-Only Memory?

~~~
tasty_freeze
It is related to the Self Contained Read Only Temporally Unified Memory.

------
TazeTSchnitzel
Oh goodness, this press release.

> Dr. Morris Breakthrough, a consultant on leave from Uisge Beatha, Ltd., of
> Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland

I lost it.

