Sorting system using cascaded modules with levels of memory cells among which levels data are displaced along ordered path indicated by pointers

A self-sorting memory system for sorting a plurality of multi-word records into an ordered sequence, the system including:

• a plurality of modules intercoupled to one another and each module including memory means for storing a different word of each of the records and the memory means collectively forming a composite storage memory means for storing the records;
• said storage memory means being partitioned into cells, with different numbers of cells in different parts of the partition with the different parts representing different sorting levels;
• input circuit means for serially introducing each word of the records to be sorted to respective ones of the modules;
• circuit means included in each of the modules for comparing the respective words of a record feed into the modules with respective words of a record previously entered into the modules and for passing comparison results to the next module to cause the smaller record, with a pointer pointing to the cell at the next higher level to which the larger record is displaced, to be stored in a memory cell representing a first sorting level in the composite storage memory means and to cause the larger records to be displaced to memory cells representing the next higher sorting level, which comparison and displacement is carried out progressively to the highest sorting level, such that each record in any one of said memory cells in the composite storage memory means representing a particular sorting level is smaller than any of the records in the corresponding memory cell representing the next higher sorting level;
• and control circuitry included in the modules for causing the modules to output records in an ordered sequence by selecting the smallest record in the first sorting level, which record is replaced by the smallest of the records in the cell identified by the pointer of the smallest record at the next lower sorting level and the replacement is carried out progressively to the highest sorting level.