I suppose there will evolve a molecular scale device of about 1,000 atoms, interacting by light speed signals, with local memory modules directly adjacent in six directions -- what would be the cycle time for this?
Since 1660 the growth of all science has been exponential -- that's the actual empirical evidence -- if the single hyperinfinity is, well, infinite, then exponential growth of "science" goes forever, especially accepting a fractal multi-universe reality... our universe bubble must be somewhere in the "middle" of all this... wihin the fellowship of service, Rich On Mon, Jan 26, 2015 at 5:24 PM, James Bowery <jabow...@gmail.com> wrote: > This is nonsense. > > In microcomputer architecture there is something known as the radius of > control, which is bounded by the distance that can be traversed by a signal > from a processing unit to memory and back. That feedback time is, even in > some hypothetical all-optical computer, limited by the speed of light. > Light travels one foot per nanosecond or thereabouts. So if you had > wafer-scale optical computing you could support radius of control at a > cycle time of about 1GHz. This is a hard limit -- very hard. > > I've attacked this computation limit as directly as just about anyone with an > analog mutex crossbar circuit that keeps main memory access on chip > <http://jimbowery.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-circuit-minimizing-multicore-shared.html>. > This is critical because as soon as you go off chip you suffer orders of > magnitude slowdown in your primary control cycle. > > Architectures that attempt to hide this problem with lots of processors > accessing local stores in parallel are drunks looking for their keys under > the lamp post. > > > On Mon, Jan 26, 2015 at 6:22 PM, Rich Murray <rmfor...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> doubling speed every 2 years for decades more, Intel silicon photonics >> now revolutionizing data centers, Michael Kassner: Rich Murray 2015.01.26 >> http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2015/01/doubling-speed-every-2-years-for.html >> >> >> [ See also: >> >> exponential information technology 1890-2014 10exp17 more MIPS per >> constant 2004 dollar in 124 years, Luke Muehlhauser, Machine Intelligence >> Research Institute 2014.05.12: Rich Murray 2014.12.27 >> >> http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2014/12/exponential-information-technology-1890.html >> >> >> since 1890, increase by 10 times every 7.3 years -- >> >> since 1950 -- 2014 = 64 years, with about 10exp13 times more = >> 10,000,000,000,000 times more per device, from vacuum tubes to multicore >> processors -- increase by 10 times every 5 years per constant 2004 dollar. >> >> >> CSICON -- Murray's Law -- Eternal Exponential Expansion of Science: Rich >> Murray 1997.04.05, 2001.06.22, 2011.01.03 >> >> http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2011/01/csicon-murrays-law-eternal-exponential.html >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rmforall/message/102 ] >> >> >> >> http://www.techrepublic.com/article/silicon-photonics-will-revolutionize-data-centers-in-2015/ >> >> >> NETWORKING <http://www.techrepublic.com/topic/networking/> >> Silicon photonics will revolutionize data centers in 2015 >> >> By Michael Kassner >> <http://www.techrepublic.com/search/?a=michael+kassner> January 23, >> 2015, 11:23 AM PST >> >> - Email Alert >> >> <http://www.techrepublic.com/article/silicon-photonics-will-revolutionize-data-centers-in-2015/?tag=nl.e101&s_cid=e101&ttag=e101&ftag=TRE684d531#> >> - RSS <http://www.techrepublic.com/rssfeeds/topic/networking/> >> >> >> - Comments >> >> <http://www.techrepublic.com/article/silicon-photonics-will-revolutionize-data-centers-in-2015/?tag=nl.e101&s_cid=e101&ttag=e101&ftag=TRE684d531#postComments> >> - Save >> - Facebook0 >> - Twitter0 >> - Linkedin0 >> - >> - More >> >> Data centers are morphing into computing singularities, albeit large >> ones. Silicon photonics will hasten that process. The reason why begins >> with Moore's Law. >> >> [image: siliconphotonics012815.jpg] >> Image courtesy of Intel >> >> Gordon Moore's prediction known as Moore's Law >> <http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/history/museum-gordon-moore-law.html> >> -- >> "The number of transistors incorporated in a chip will approximately double >> every 24 months." -- has been uncanny in its accuracy since he made it in >> April 1965. That didn't stop pundits from saying Moore's Law >> <http://www.computerhistory.org/semiconductor/timeline/1965-Moore.html> had >> a nice run, but like all good things, it was coming to an end. The pundits' >> prediction was erroneous, thanks to Intel (the company Moore co-founded). >> The reason is light, or more accurately photons. >> The problem photons overcome >> >> [image: gordonmooreintel.png] >> Gordon Moore >> Image courtesy of Intel >> Moore's Law requires scientists and engineers to continually figure out >> how to pack larger quantities of transistors and support circuitry into >> chips. It's a challenge, but not as difficult as figuring out what to do >> about the by-products of shoving electricity through an ever-more dense >> population of chips: heat buildup, current leakage, and crosstalk between >> adjacent wire traces. >> >> Multi-core technology >> <https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/frequently-asked-questions-intel-multi-core-processor-architecture> >> breathed >> new life into Moore's Law, but only for a short time. Using copper wires to >> transmit the digital information becomes the limiting factor. This MIT >> Technology Review 2005 article >> <http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/404358/intels-breakthrough/>explains >> why copper wires were no longer good enough. "The problem is that >> electrical pulses traveling through a copper wire encounter electrical >> resistance, which degrades the information they carry," states author >> Robert Service. "As a result, data bits traveling through copper must be >> spaced far enough apart and move slowly enough that devices on the other >> end of the wire can pick them up." >> >> That challenge becomes evident when walking through a data center, >> because most, if not all, copper-based Ethernet runs have been replaced >> with fiber optics. Using *existing* fiber-optic technology will not help >> Moore's Law -- that requires a new technology called the silicon laser >> <http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/intel-research/Silicon-Laser_WhitePaper.pdf> >> . >> Fast forward to 2009 >> >> Intel's Photonics Technology Laboratory >> <http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/research/intel-labs-silicon-photonics-research.html> >> in >> 2009 mastered the silicon laser. "We have done all the things that skeptics >> said we could not," mentions Intel Fellow Mario Paniccia >> <http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/bios?n=Mario%20J.%20Paniccia&f=Fellows> >> in >> this SPIE article <http://optics.org/article/40732>. "We have got beyond >> the proof-of-principle stage. Now we're putting it all together so that >> Moore's Law can extend for decades into the future." >> >> The article goes on to explain how Paniccia and his team created >> high-speed silicon modulators and photodetectors so small they will fit on >> chips. The slide below depicts the two devices and their interconnections. >> >> [image: intelsilicondevices012315.png] >> Image courtesy of Intel >> >> Innovations since 2009 >> >> Since 2009, Intel introduced: >> >> - 50 Gigabit per second silicon-based optical data connection >> >> <http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/intel-research/Intel_SiliconPhotonics50gLink_FINAL.pdf>. >> The world's first silicon-based photonics link running at 50 Gbps, using >> technology that combines fiber-optic attributes with silicon manufacturing >> processes. >> - Photonics technology operating at 100 gigabits per second >> >> <http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/research/intel-labs-idf2013-justin-rattner.html>. >> This is an integrated module including silicon modulators, detectors, >> waveguides, and circuitry. >> - Optical PCI Express server >> >> <http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/research/intel-labs-silicon-photonics-optical-pci-express-server.html>. >> Fujitsu and Intel showcased new silicon-photonic connections that allow >> PCI >> cards to be moved off the main board, which creates shared pools of >> compute >> and storage, enhances cooling flexibility, and lowers costs by moving hot >> components farther apart. >> >> Moving data centers to a single computing entity >> >> One by-product of securing Moore's Law for the foreseeable future will be >> the complete redesign of data centers. Racks and racks of heat-spewing >> servers will be replaced by efficient, discrete components that are >> connected using silicon photonics. >> >> For example, in 2013, Intel and Facebook released information >> <http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2013/01/16/intel-facebook-collaborate-on-future-data-center-rack-technologies> >> about >> using silicon photonics at the rack level. "Intel and Facebook are >> collaborating on a new disaggregated, rack-scale server architecture that >> enables independent upgrading of compute, network, and storage subsystems >> that will define the future of mega-datacenter designs for the next >> decade," said Justin Rattner, Intel's then CTO. "The disaggregated rack >> architecture includes Intel's new photonic architecture...that enables >> fewer cables, increased bandwidth, farther reach and extreme power >> efficiency compared to today's copper based interconnects." >> >> Disaggregated refers to separating compute, storage, networking, and >> power distribution resources into modules housed in the rack. >> "Traditionally, a server within a rack would each have its own group of >> resources," according to the press release. "When disaggregated, resource >> types can be grouped together and distributed throughout the rack, >> improving upgradability, flexibility and reliability while lowering costs." >> >> So look for a two-pronged attack on copper in the data center. First, >> what Intel considers "pluggable" -- its MXC connector >> <http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/research/intel-labs-silicon-photonics-mxc-connector.html> >> and >> new technology will revamp connections even as short as five inches. >> Second, embedded technology using silicon photonics will supply high-speed >> optical links to and from the processor. >> >> I have written that data-center technologists are striving to morph data >> centers into a virtual and physical singularity. It appears that silicon >> photonics will help them reach their goal. >> >> Automatically subscribe to TechRepublic's Data Centers newsletter. >> Subscribe >> >> <http://www.techrepublic.com/search/?a=michael+kassner> >> About Michael Kassner >> >> Information is my field...Writing is my passion...Coupling the two is my >> mission. >> >> - Full Bio >> >> <http://www.techrepublic.com/article/silicon-photonics-will-revolutionize-data-centers-in-2015/?tag=nl.e101&s_cid=e101&ttag=e101&ftag=TRE684d531#modal-bio> >> - Contact >> >> <http://www.techrepublic.com/article/silicon-photonics-will-revolutionize-data-centers-in-2015/?tag=nl.e101&s_cid=e101&ttag=e101&ftag=TRE684d531#author-contact> >> - See all of Michael's content >> <http://www.techrepublic.com/search/?a=michael+kassner> >> - Google+ <https://plus.google.com/108264533098601176125/?rel=author> >> >> >> >> >> >
