IBM
unveiled a “brain-like” computer chip on Thursday that is the size of a
postage stamp and capable of processing massive amounts of data while
handling inputs from many different sources, the company said.
The
announcement comes one month after IBM unveiled a $3 billion investment
over the next five years in chip research and development to find a
game-changing breakthrough that can help revive its slumping hardware
unit.
Unlike
most chips, which operate on pre written paths, IBM’s version processes
data in realtime and is capable of dealing with ambiguity, the company
said. It runs on the energy equivalent of a hearing aid.
Built on Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co Ltd’s 28nm process technology, the chip only consumes 70mW of energy.
A
product of almost a decade of research, the chip aims to bridge the
divide between existing computers and the brain’s high cognitive power
and low energy use. “After years of collaboration with IBM, we are now a
step closer to building a computer similar to our brain,” said
Professor Rajit Manohar at Cornell Tech, where the chip was designed.
The
chip contains one million programmable neurons and could allow a
thermometer to scan and smell chemical signals and deliver a diagnosis,
or help a search and rescue robot to identify people in need during a
disaster, the company said.
IBM
hopes it can integrate multi-sensory processing into mobile devices and
says the chip can handle future advances in memory, 3G integration,
logic and sensor technologies.
Posted by : Gizmeon
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