Fast, Flexible Computer Chips and Optical Chipsets

MONARCH is a new "supercomputer on a chip" capable of 64 Gigaflops with memory bandwidth of 60 Gbps and off-chip data bandwidth of 43 Gbps.

Granacki is director of the Advanced Systems Division at ISI, and Research Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering Systems and Biomedical Engineering in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

"What we have been creating is essentially a supercomputer on a chip," he said, "and not just a supercomputer, but a flexible supercomputer that reconfigures itself into the optimal supercomputer for each specific part of a multi-part task."

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Meanwhile IBM has created the world's fastist optical chipset.

Measuring 3.25 by 5.25 millimeters, IBM's new optical chipset contains both driver and receiver circuits, and was built using industry-standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Optical-grade plastic fibers are used to transmit data, and optical components use indium phosphide (InP) and gallium arsenide (GaAs).

Because of the large number of communication channels as well as the very high speeds for each channel, IBM said the chipset provides the highest record ever of transmitted information per unit of physical space.

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These very powerful chips will soon be available in large quantities, which makes one wonder how they will be used. The IBM optical chip has enough data throughput to run a medium sized war--ground, sea, air, and space (data equivalent to four million simultaneous telephone conversations). All on a chip roughly the size of a dime.

The MONARCH supercomputer-on-a-chip has the ability to reconfigure itself to adapt to different computing tasks on the fly.

If you consider these powerful chips to be mere building blocks of a more powerful system, or networks of systems, you may begin to see the potential for systems designers.

Most people will probably just want better video gaming and more realistic virtual reality effects. Computer hobbyists will want to build extremely fast custom systems to impress their friends. Financial and security interests will want more advanced systems to provide better data security. Domestic and international criminals and terrorists will likewise want the features of these advanced chips.

With the rate of advancement in chip processing power and data bandwidth, it becomes more difficult for the holders of wealth and power to keep the wolves at bay. I recommend diversifying.
;-)