---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment Keith, I didn't send it to YOU , I sent it to the LIST with OT clearly=20 displayed in the header. The delete key is located on the near right side of most computer=20 keyboards. Use it. Greg At 08:58 AM 9/22/2003, you wrote: >Do you have that choice? I didn't have that choice when you sent it to me. >Keith >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Greg Newell" <gnewell@ameritech.net> >To: <pianotech@ptg.org> >Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 4:14 AM >Subject: OT Fwd: NYTimes.com Article: New Sun Microsystems Chip May Unseat >the Circuit Board > > >perhaps of some mild, general interest. If not ... I DON'T WANT TO HEAR >ABOUT IT. > > > > > > > >New Sun Microsystems Chip May Unseat the Circuit Board > > > >September 22, 2003 > > By JOHN MARKOFF > > > > > > > > > > > > > >MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 19 - Written off lately by the > >computer industry as a has-been, Sun Microsystems may still > >have a few tricks up its engineers' shirt sleeves. > > > >On Tuesday, Sun researchers plan to report that they have > >discovered a way to transmit data inside a computer much > >more quickly than current techniques allow. By placing the > >edge of one chip directly in contact with its neighbor, it > >may be possible to move data 60 to 100 times as fast as the > >present top speeds. > > > >For the computer industry, the advance - if it can be > >repeated on the assembly line - would be truly > >revolutionary. It would make obsolete the traditional > >circuit board constructed of tiny bits of soldered wires > >between chips, familiar to hobbyists who hand-soldered > >connections when assembling Heathkit electronic projects. > > > >"It could represent the end of the printed circuit board," > >said Jim Mitchell, director of Sun Laboratories here. "It > >makes things way, way faster." > > > >Sun, an icon of Silicon Valley, has been losing market > >share and laying off thousands of workers as corporate > >computing customers turn increasingly to Microsoft and > >Intel for their software and hardware. Sun is in desperate > >need of a technical advance that can differentiate it from > >the others. > > > >The new technology is being developed as part of a > >military-financed supercomputer effort. But Sun executives > >said they were seeking ways to find commercial uses quickly > >for a future generation of computer systems. > > > >Sun has not decided whether to license the technology to > >other manufacturers or reserve it exclusively for Sun's own > >systems, Dr. Mitchell said. Analysts, though, say they > >believe that the company is moving toward a more liberal > >technology licensing policy. > > > >"This is a big thought project," said Vernon Turner, vice > >president for global enterprise servers at the > >International Data Corporation, a market research firm. "It > >will give them some leadership if they can pull it off." > > > >The recent resignation of Sun's co-founder, William Joy, a > >leading software designer and developer of the Java > >programming language, has been seen as evidence that the > >company is struggling to remain innovative. Still, Sun has > >maintained its research spending despite corporate > >cutbacks. > > > >The new breakthrough is based on an insight by Ivan E. > >Sutherland, a Sun vice president and research fellow who is > >a pioneer of modern computing. Dr. Sutherland, 65, was a > >co-founder of Evans & Sutherland, an early maker of > >high-performance computers. He is also the inventor of > >interactive computer graphics. > > > >In a paper to be presented at the Custom Integrated > >Circuits Conference on Tuesday in San Jose, Calif., Dr. > >Sutherland, Robert J. Drost and Robert D. Hopkins plan to > >report that they were able to send data at a speed of 21.6 > >billion bits a second between chips in a scaled-down > >version of the new technology. By comparison, an Intel > >Pentium 4 processor, the fastest desktop chip, can transmit > >about 50 billion bits a second. But when the technology is > >used in complete products, the researchers say, they expect > >to reach speeds in excess of a trillion bits a second, > >which would be about 100 times the limits of today's > >technology. > > > >Currently, computer data is moved in and out of an > >integrated circuit through tiny wires soldered to the > >surface at special pads that ring the edge of each chip. > >While the pads are small, they are vastly larger than the > >transistors and wires that make up the chip's circuitry. > > > >A typical gold or aluminum wire might be 25 microns in > >width and soldered to a pad that is 100 microns wide, about > >the width of a human hair. Compared with the internal > >circuitry, this passageway requires relatively large > >amounts of power. Also, the size of the pads and wires > >necessarily limits the number there are to ferry > >information in and out of the circuit. > > > >The new Sun chip has tiny transmitters that are only a few > >microns in width. In addition to having many more > >connecting points, the chip should consume far less power. > >The chip's additional channels increase the processing > >speed, like adding lanes to a highway; being able to > >eliminate the pads is another benefit of the chip's design, > >like getting rid of a series of tollbooths. > > > >Chip-to-chip bottlenecks have long been a vexing challenge > >for computer designers, who have explored many ways of > >increasing the overall speed of systems that are composed > >of hundreds of chips. > > > >Other potential technologies have included optical lasers > >and even the idea of quantum entanglement of electrons, > >which holds out the possibility of moving huge amounts of > >data instantaneously. > > > >Transmitting data between chips by placing a transmitter > >next to a receiver, along the lines of the Sun design, > >employs an effect known as "capacitive coupling" to send > >electrical pulses at high speed. The idea came to Dr. > >Sutherland when he was visiting Steve Jacobsen, a robotics > >expert based in Utah, who has developed a technique for > >ultraprecise mechanical alignment. > > > >This technique might be applied to connect large arrays of > >ultrasmall transmitters and receivers, Dr. Sutherland > >decided. > > > >While the concept has yet to be validated fully, Sun > >researchers have already received an important vote of > >confidence from the Defense Advanced Research Projects > >Agency of the Pentagon. > > > >In July, Sun was a surprise winner of a $49.7 million award > >from the agency to work on supercomputer designs. Cray and > >I.B.M. also won contracts, but Sun was chosen over two > >competitors, Silicon Graphics and Hewlett-Packard. > > > >The choice of Sun surprised many supercomputing researchers > >because both Silicon Graphics and Hewlett-Packard have > >larger supercomputer businesses. > > > >"This is one of those things that could have great > >potential if they can work out the details," said William > >J. Dally, a professor of electrical engineering and > >computer science at Stanford University and a consultant > >for Cray on its supercomputer project financed by the > >Pentagon agency. > > > >The Sun technique could pack hundreds of chips in > >face-to-face checkerboard fashion far more densely than is > >possible today. The technique holds out the hope of > >attaining what had been one of Silicon Valley's far-off > >dreams: a computer packaging technique known as wafer-scale > >integration. > > > >Today, chips are manufactured in wafers that contain > >hundreds of identical circuits. The individual chips are > >cut apart and each chip is wired into a separate package. > >The chips are then laid out on printed circuit boards and > >connected to other packages by wires that are thousands of > >times thicker than the chip circuits. > > > >For decades, computer designers have tried to figure out > >how to make computer systems out of single large wafers. > >But designers have stumbled over the fact that it is > >virtually impossible to create large wafers that are free > >of defects. > > > >Now the Sun researchers may have surmounted the hurdle with > >a simple mechanical solution - having a bunch of small > >chips work together with the computing properties of a > >single wafer. > > > >"This is a very novel idea that could give you a way to > >make a very compact computer," said David Patterson, a > >computer scientist at the University of California at > >Berkeley who is a Sun consultant. "From the very beginning > >people have been making circuits on wafers and then > >chopping them up and then wiring them back together again." > > > > > >As a graduate student in the 1970's, Dr. Patterson worked > >on a Pentagon-financed wafer-scale integration research > >project at Hughes Aircraft. Even though it was not > >cost-effective, he said, it was one of the few successful > >efforts to build such a computer. > > > >Since then, the industry has tried unsuccessfully to > >commercialize wafer-scale circuits aimed at avoiding > >chip-to-chip communication bottlenecks. > > > >All of them have failed and several have collapsed in > >spectacular fashion. Gene M. Amdahl, the designer of > >I.B.M.'s 360 mainframe computer, founded Trilogy Systems in > >1980 to build an advanced mainframe computer based on > >wafer-scale technology. He was able to raise $279 million > >from computer partners, venture capitalists and a public > >offering, before going under. > > > >Dr. Sutherland acknowledged that Sun has more to do before > >it could determine if its proximity communication > >technology was viable. One issue is potential interference > >between the tiny transmitters and receivers. A second issue > >is cooling. As chips are moved closer together the > >challenges in removing heat increase sharply. > > > >At the same time, Sun's computer designers said they were > >optimistic about the technology and were eager to consider > >ways of using it in future Sun computers. > > > >"It's pretty exciting in what it has enabled," said Marc > >Tremblay, a Sun microprocessor designer. "As you cross > >boundaries between chips, that's where the pipe has been > >narrow." > > > >He said that faster chip-to-chip speeds might also lead to > >a rethinking of the internal layout of computers in ways > >that would enhance performance even more. > > > >Dr. Sutherland said that he was uncertain where the new > >technology might be applied first commercially, but that > >there was already great interest from the company's > >computer division. > > > >"The news we hear from product-land is, `We want this > >yesterday,' " he said. > > >= >http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/22/technology/22SUN.html?ex=3D1065228809&ei= =3D1& >en=3D98818ea3d19c143c > > > > > >--------------------------------- > > > >Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine > >reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! > >Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy > >now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: > > > >http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html > > > > > > > >HOW TO ADVERTISE > >--------------------------------- > >For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters > >or other creative advertising opportunities with The > >New York Times on the Web, please contact > >onlinesales@nytimes.com or visit our online media > >kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo > > > >For general information about NYTimes.com, write to > >help@nytimes.com. > > > >Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company > >Greg Newell >Greg's piano Fort=E9 >mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net > > > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------= - >---- > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > > > >_______________________________________________ >pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives Greg Newell Greg's piano Fort=E9 mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net=20 ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC