Real-time memory on an excitable field

Recently, we proposed a novel method for computing logic operations based on the time-sequential information in a geometrically arranged excitable field. As an extension of this study, in the present article we describe a strategy for creating real-time memory. Using a numerical simulation, we show that input pulse trains can be stored as a sequence of rotating traveling waves in a circular excitable field, by using its characteristics as a diode due to spatially asymmetric arrangement. Furthermore, through an experiment on an excitable chemical reaction, we demonstrate that this real-time memory actually works in the real world.