probabilistic
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Imprecise computers 'R' good enough for you, save power, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
You may have heard of probabilistic computing, a concept that relies on "good enough" calculations to save processing power. You may not know just why and where we should use it, however; thankfully, ExtremeTech has just offered an explanation of the technology's merits. The site notes that it's getting difficult to maintain accuracy and power efficiency as processors get ever more complex. By reducing precision in areas where it's not as essential, such as browsing and media playback, chip designers can significantly improve battery life. The technology isn't in widespread use just yet, but it may become commonplace in the near future. NXP is already making limited use of imprecise computing to improve security, while Intel has investigated variable-precision floating-point math units that scale back for less intensive tasks. While accurate processors are here to stay, there's a real chance they'll be accompanied by probabilistic circuitry in future energy-efficient gadgets.
I-Slate's probabilistic chip-powered tablet PC for the OLPC set
Researchers have developed a solar-powered, WiFi, stylus-controlled tablet PC called I-Slate, which makes use of the probabilistic CMOS technology designed by Dr. Krishna Palem and his team at Rice University. Introduced to the world this week at the IEEE's 125th Anniversary event, the machine is designed to replace the old chalk slates apparently still used in some parts of the world (and on re-runs of Little House On The Prairie) with something that can download lesson plans and help children with their math, among other things. But this is just the beginning -- Dr. Palem and the gang are looking forward to the day when the chips find a home in all sorts of gadgets, from cellphones to televisions and beyond. Prototype slates should start making the rounds in India this spring.
Probabilistic logic makes microchip more energy efficient
We'll be straight up with you -- there's a lot of fancy work going on with this one that laypeople will have a tough time grasping, but the long and short of it is this: a team from Rice University (Krishna Palem pictured) and Nanyang Technological University have created a microchip that "uses 30 times less electricity while running seven times faster than today's best technology." Already crying snake oil? Not so fast. By trashing the traditional set of mathematical rules (that'd be Boolean logic) and instead applying probabilistic logic, researchers have figured out how to deliver similar results with a fraction of the energy. The tech is being dubbed PCMOS (probabilistic CMOS), and could eventually end up in embedded systems and even cellphones. In the case of the latter, this type of chip will be able to display streaming video on a minuscule display with more artifacts than usual, but due to the small screen size and the human brain's ability to piece together nearly-perfect images, the errors involved would be all but forgotten. Meanwhile, your battery bar would still be nearly full. We always heard there was beauty in imperfections -- now, at long last, we finally get it.
