SILICON CHIP
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Leo Simpson , B.Bus.
Editor
Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.)
Technical Staff
John Clarke , B.E.(Elec.)
Robert Flynn
Advertising Manager
Paul Buchtmann (02) 982 9553
Regular Contributors
Neville Williams, FIREE, VK2XV
Bryan Maher, M.E. B.Sc.
Jim Yalden, VK2YGY
Garry Cratt, VK2YBX
Jim Lawler, MTETIA
John Hill
Jennifer Bonnitcha, B.A.
Photography
Bob Donaldson
Editorial Advisory Panel
Philip Watson , MIREE , VK2ZPW
Norman Marks
Steve Payor, B.Sc. , B.E.
SILICON CHIP is published 1 2 times
a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. All material
copyright (c). No part of the contents of this publication may be
reproduced without prior written
consent of the publisher. Kitset
suppliers may not photostat articles without written permission
of the publisher.
Typesetting/makeup: Magazine
Printers Pty Ltd, Rozelle , NSW
2039.
Printing: Macquarie Publications
Pty Ltd, Dubbo , NSW 2830.
Distribution: Network Distribution
Company.
Subscription rates: currently
$42 per year (12 issues) inside
Australia. For overseas rates,
refer to the subscription page in
this issue.
Liability: Devices or circuits
described in SILICON CHIP may be
covered by patents . SILICON CHIP
disclaims any liability for the infringement of such patents by the
manufacturing or selling of any
such equipment.
Address all mail to: Silicon Chip
Publications Pty Ltd, PO Box
139, Collaroy Beach , NSW
2097. Phone (02) 982 3935.
Fax (02) 982 9553.
ISSN 1 030-2662
2
SILICON CHIP
PUBLISHER'S LE't·tER
Dynamic RAMs are getting
bigger & cheaper
Welcome to the December 1989 issue of SILICON CHIP. What do
think of the cover photo on this issue? It is intended to be whimsical
while highlighting the great strides that are being made in the production of random access memory for personal computers. The unit pictured in the girl's hands is actually a normal sized 18-pin chip which
we have blown up somewhat to emphasise its enormous capacity
which is 4 megabits. Made by Fujitsu, it is the latest dynamic RAM to
use that company's 3-dimensional "stacked capacitor cell" (3D STC)
which is crucial to achieving really large capacity.
Now I don't know about you but I find dynamic RAM chips about as
exciting as a pile of dead batteries. They don't have a lot of charisma
do they? Even a really significant development such as a 4 megabit
DRAM fails to grab me. Yes, I know that 4 megabits is a humongous
amount of storage and it uses extremely fast refresh times (56ns) and
ultra tiny chip geometry.
Nevertheless, I have to acknowledge that without the developments
of the last few years in RAM technology, our computers would be a lot
more expensive, a lot slower and a whole lot less capable. And
memory chips would be very expensive.
Two articles this month actually emphasise how cheap memory
chips have become. The first is a project which should interest many
readers, even if they have not the slightest interest in computers. The
digital voice board does not use a computer but does use 4256 memory
chips which are now, well, as cheap as chips, considering their
capacity. It will have many applications which will have little to do
with computers.
The second article related to DRAMs is Jennifer Bonnitcha's "Computer Bits" column which is devoted this month to adding more
memory to your computer. If you want more memory, now is a good
time to add it because memory chips are presently pretty cheap.
But if you are turned off by our apparent emphasis on memory chips
have no fear. We won't let them take over the magazine. We will continue to present articles to appeal to the widest possible readership.
On the other hand, since dynamic RAM chips are being made in such
huge numbers and in such huge capacities, we can hardly ignore them,
can we?
And since it will shortly be the festive season, I and the staff of
SILICON CHIP magazine wish you a happy and safe Christmas. Thank
you for your support over the last two years. You can look forward to
even bigger things from SILICON CHIP next year.
Leo Simpson
