Lasercomputer
Molecularcomputer
Quantumcomputer
DNAcomputer
Biologicalcomputer
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Technologyused
Currently,anewsupercomputeradoptsoneofthefastestmicroprocessorsintheworldandusesaninnovativewater-coolingsystemtoperformcooldown.ThenewPower575supercomputerisequippedwithIBM'slatestPOWER6microprocessor,andusesawater-cooledcopperplateinstalledaboveeachmicroprocessortotakeawaytheheatgeneratedbytheelectronicdevices.Thenumberofairconditionersrequiredforsupercomputersusingwater-coolingtechnologycanbereducedby80%,andtheheatdissipationenergyconsumptionofgeneraldatacenterscanbereducedby40%.Scientistsestimatethatwatercoolingofcomputersystemscanbeupto4000timesmoreefficientthanaircooling.Thisnicknamed"water-cooledcluster"systemcansupportverylargeclusterswithhundredsofnodes,andcanachieveextremelyhighperformanceindenseconfigurations.
Maincomponents
IBMannouncedonAugust27,2001thattheirscientistshavebuilttheworld’ssmallestcomputerlogiccircuit,whichisasinglemoleculeofcarbon.Dual-transistorcomponents.Thisachievementwillmakefuturecomputerchipssmaller,fasterintransmission,andconsumelesspower.
Thematerialthatmakesupthisdualtransistoriscarbonnanotubes,ahollowtubethatis100,000timesthinnerthanahair.Carbonnanotubesarethetoughestsubstanceinnature,tentimestougherthansteel;andtheyalsohavesupersemiconductorcapabilities.IBMscientistsbelievethatinthefutureitismostlikelytoreplacesiliconandbecomethemainmaterialformakingcomputerchips.AccordingtoSupratik,IBM'sdirectorofphysicalsciences,"Simulationsshowthatchipsmadeofcarbonnanotubesare5timesfasterthantraditionalsiliconchips."Inthefuture,microprocessorsmadeusingcarbonnanotubetechnologywillmakecomputersbecomecomputers.Smaller,faster,andmoreenergy-efficient.Dr.RandyIsaacintroduced:"Thisisahugescientificbreakthrough.Forthefirsttime,wehavemadethemostbasiccircuitcomponentsofacomputeronasinglemolecule.Thisisacarbonmolecule,notsilicon.Thiswillenablethefutureofcomputers.Therewillbemorebreakthroughsinmanufacturing,andtheremaybeathree-dimensionalcomputer.Itsbasicmaterialwillnolongerbesilicon.Itwillbesmaller,faster,andcheaper,andcanaccomplishmanytasksthatcouldnotbedonebefore."
Thesmallerthesizeofthecomputertransistor,thefewerpathsforcurrenttransmissionandthefastertheoperationspeed.AccordingtoMoore'sLaw,every18months,thenumberoftransistorsthatcanbeaccommodatedinanintegratedcircuitwillincreasegeometrically,therebydoublingtheperformanceofcomputerchips.However,somepeoplepredictthatinthenext10-15years,duetothephysicalpropertiesofsilicon,thecurrentlycommonlyusedsilicontransistormanufacturingtechnologywilldeveloptoitslimitanditwillbedifficulttocontinue.IBMbelievesthatbythentheeraofcarbonnanotubeswillcome.,Itwillmaketheprocessorsmaller,canintegratemoretransistors,andfurtherimprovetheperformanceofthecomputer.
CarbonnanotubeswerediscoveredbyNECCorporationofJapanin1991;in1998,scientistsfromIBMandNECjointlymanufacturednanotransistors,completingthefirststepinmanufacturingcarbonnanotransistors.Today,IBMhasproducedthesmallestdoubletransistorconsistingofapositiveelectrodeandanegativeelectrode.Thelaststepistoembedtheminanintegratedcircuit,connectthem,andstartprocessingcomplexcalculations.
IBMscientistssaidthattheuseofcarbonnanotubetechnologytoproduceproductswillneedtowaitanother10yearsormore.
In2013,accordingtotheNewYorkTimesreport,IBMrecentlyannouncedabreakthroughincarbonnanotubechipmanufacturingtechnology,whichisexpectedtoallowMoore'sLawtocontinuetotakeeffectinthenextdecade.
Computationalspeed
AccordingtoAmericanexperts,anewgenerationofsupercomputersislikelytocomeout,withfloating-pointoperationspersecondupto1,000trillionoperations,whichisapproximatelylocatedinLawrence,California,USAThe"BlueGene/L"computerinLivermoreNationalLaboratoryistwiceasfast.Thesupercomputingpowerofthisgigabitsupercomputerislikelytoacceleratevariousscientificresearchmethodsandleadtomajorscientificdiscoveries.
AccordingtotheWashingtonPostonthe3rd,thecomputingpowerofagigabitcomputerisequivalenttothesumofmorethan10,000desktopcomputers.Ittakesabout5hourstocompleteontoday’ssupercomputers,andonly2hoursifyouuseagigabitcomputer.
Inthenewgenerationofsupercomputers,IBMandtheU.S.DepartmentofEnergyareinLosAngeles.The"Roadrunner"supercomputerco-builtbySalamosNationalLaboratoryisthemostpromisingtobecompletedfirst.Thiscomputeralsoconsumes4millionwattsofelectricityduringcalculations,whichisenoughtolightup10,000lightbulbs.
Size
ComputerWorldNetworkNewsStationannouncedthatithassuccessfullydevelopedapowerfulmicrochipusingmicrotransistorsthatareninetimessmallerthanexistingtransistors.Thisbreakthroughcanmakefuturesupercomputersonlythesizeofanail.
ThisiscalledFinField-effecttransistor(FinField-effecttransistor)isanewcomplementarymetaloxidesemiconductor(CMOS)transistor,itslengthislessthan25nanometers,thefuturecanbefurtherreducedto9millimetersMicrometers.Thisisaboutonetenthousandthofthewidthofahumanhair.
Thisisamajorbreakthroughinsemiconductortechnology,andfuturechipdesignersareexpectedtodesignsupercomputerstobeonlythesizeofafingernail.
Fin-typefield-effecttransistorsarederivedfromaninnovativedesignofcurrenttraditionalstandardfield-effecttransistors.Inthetraditionaltransistorstructure,thegatethatcontrolstheflowofcurrentcanonlybeononesideofthegate,anditcontrolstheonandoffofthecircuit.Inthefinfieldeffecttransistorstructure,thegateisdesignedintheshapeofafishfin,whichallowsthetwosidesofthetransistortocontroltheonandoffofthecircuit.Thisdesigngreatlyimprovesthecontrollabilityofthecircuitandreducesleakage,andcanalsogreatlyshortenthegatelengthofthetransistor.
TSMChassuccessfullyusedexistingequipmenttoproducefin-typefieldeffecttransistors,whichprovesthatthecurrentleakageandoverheatingproblemsencounteredintheproductionoftraditionaltransistorscanbesolved.Thisindicatesthatthemetaloxidesemiconductorproductionlinecancontinueformorethan20years,anditwillalsobringnewprospectstothesemiconductorindustry.
Energyconsumption
Withtherapiddevelopmentofcomputertechnologyandtherapidpopularityofmulti-corechips,thepowerconsumptionofcomputershasdoubled,andhowtoreducepowerconsumptionunderlimitedenergyIthasalsobecomeaproblemthatmoreandmoreusersareconcernedabout.Therefore,atpresent,thenewstandardmustbedevelopedfromtheaspectoflowpowerconsumptionifitistoberecognizedbymoreusers.ThenumberofPCsworldwideisgrowingrapidlyeveryyear.TheannualpowerconsumptionofPCsisalsoquiteamazing,evenifeachPCisreducedby1W,itspowersavingisveryconsiderable.
SemiconductormarketresearchorganizationiSupplialsopredictedthatDDR3memorywillreplaceDDR2asthemainstreamproductinthemarketin2008.iSupplibelievesthatDDR3'smarketsharewillreach55%atthattime.However,intermsofspecificdesign,thereisnoessentialdifferencebetweenDDR3andDDR2'sinfrastructure.Fromacertainpointofview,DDR3isaproductspawnedtosolvethelimitationsfacedbythedevelopmentofDDR2.
Fromthepointofviewofspecifications,DDR3willstillusetheFBGApackagingmethod,soitisnotmuchdifferentfromDDR2memoryinproduction.Butfromadesignpointofview,becauseDDR3'stake-offoperatingfrequencyis1066MHz,thiswillbeabigchallengeincircuitlayout,especiallyelectromagneticinterference,whichwillalsoreflectthecostofincreasingmodulesonthePCB.
ItisestimatedthatintheearlystageofDDR3enteringthemarket,itspricewillbeamajorobstacle,andwiththegradualpopularity,theincreaseinoutputcanfurtherreducethecost.
Reducepowerconsumptionforthebenefitoftheindustry
WhenDDR3memoryachieveshighbandwidth,itspowerconsumptioncanbereduced,anditscoreoperatingvoltageisreducedfrom1.8VofDDR2to1.5V.RelevantdatapredictthatDDR3willsave30%ofthepowerconsumptioncomparedtothecurrentDDR2.Ofcourse,wedon'tneedtoworryabouttheamountofheat.Tomakeabalancebetweenbandwidthandpowerconsumption,comparedwiththeexistingDDR2-800products,thepowerconsumptionratiosofDDR3-800,1066and1333are0.72X,0.83Xand0.95X,respectively.Notonlythememorybandwidthisgreatlyimproved,butthepowerconsumptionratioisgreatlyimproved.Theperformanceisalsobetterthanthepreviousgeneration.
Nowadays,DDRhasbeencompletelyeliminatedinhistory,andDDR2willalsobecometheendofthebattle.FromthepriceofDDR2memory,itcanbeseenthatDDR2memoryhasdeclined,butinashortperiodoftime,DDR2memorywillnotDisappearedfromeveryone'ssight.However,bothIntelandAMDhavehintedthattheeraofDDR3memoryiscoming,especiallyIntelhaslaunchedanumberofchipsetsthatsupportDDR3.Asthelatestmemoryspecification,DDR3reducesthevoltageto1.5v,andthenumberofpre-readingdesignbitsisincreasedfrom4bitto8bit,whicheffectivelysolvesthebottleneckofmemorybandwidthwhileimprovingelectricalperformance.Inaddition,DDR3memoryisintheproductionprocessTheabovehasbeenimproved,andtheresetfunctionandZQcalibrationfunctionhavebeenadded,whichlaysthefoundationforenergysavingandstableworkathighfrequencies.ItcanbeseenthatDDR3memoryistheperfectpartnerforthenextgenerationofCPUs.
Inthefuture,theenergyconsumptionofcomputerswilldevelopaccordingtotwoextremes,theeasy-to-usetypewilldeveloptowardslowenergyconsumption,andthehigh-endwilldeveloptowardsgreaterpower.
Thefifthgenerationofcomputers
Thefifth-generationcomputerreferstoanew-generationcomputerwithartificialintelligence,whichhasfunctionssuchasreasoning,association,judgment,decision-making,andlearning.Whenwillthedevelopmentofcomputersenterthefifthgeneration?Whatisthefifthgenerationofcomputers?Thereisnoclearandunifiedstatementonsuchissues.Japanannouncedin1981thatitwoulddevelopafifth-generationcomputerthat"canhear,speak,read,andthink"within10years.Itinvested100billionyenandorganizedalargenumberofscientificandtechnologicalelitestofight.ThismagnificentplanonceattractedtheattentionoftheworldandcausedsomeAmericanstopanicforalongtime.Someevenexclaimedthatthiswasthe"PearlHarborincidentonthetechnologicalbattlefield."Lookingbacknow,Japan'soriginalresearchplancanonlybesaidtohavebeenpartiallyrealized.Asoftoday,nocomputerhasbeenclaimedtobeafifth-generationcomputer.
Butonethingiscertain,inthefuturesociety,computer,network,andcommunicationtechnologywillbeintegrated.Computersinthenewcenturywillfreepeoplefromrepetitiveandboringinformationprocessing,therebychangingourwayofworking,livingandlearning,andexpandinghumansandsocietymoreroomforsurvivalanddevelopment.Whenthewheelofhistoryentersthe21stcentury,wewillfaceallkindsoffuturecomputers.
Computersthatcanrecognizenaturallanguage
Futurecomputerswillgaincomprehensiveprocessingcapabilitiesinpatternrecognition,languageprocessing,sentenceanalysis,andsemanticanalysisAmajorbreakthrough.Itcanrecognizeisolatedwords,continuouswords,continuouslanguageandnaturallanguage(includingspokenlanguage)ofspecificornon-specificobjects.Inthefuture,humanswilltalktomachinesmoreandmore.Theywill"dictate"letterstopersonalcomputers,"discuss"proceduresforprotectingclotheswithwashingmachines,or"subduing"disobedienttaperecorderswithlanguage.Theeraofkeyboardsandmicewillgraduallyend.
High-speedsuperconductingcomputer
Thepowerconsumptionofahigh-speedsuperconductingcomputerisonlyonethousandthofthatofasemiconductordevicecomputer.ItonlyneedstoexecuteoneinstructionOnebillionthofasecond,dozensoftimesfasterthansemiconductorcomponents.Theintegratedcircuitchipsofsuperconductingcomputersmanufacturedwithcurrenttechnologyareonly3to5squaremillimetersinsize.
Lasercomputer
Lasercomputerisacomputerthatuseslaserasacarrierforinformationprocessing.Itisalsocalledopticalbrain.Itscalculationspeedwillbefasterthanthatofordinaryelectroniccomputers.Atleast1000timesfaster.Itreliesonthelaserbeamtoenterthearraycomposedofmirrorsandlensestoprocessinformation.
Similartoelectroniccomputers,lasercomputersalsorelyonaseriesoflogicaloperationstoprocessandsolveproblems.Thenon-interferencecharacteristicsofthelightbeamsundergeneralconditionsenablethelasercomputertoopenupmanyparallelinformationchannelsinaverysmallspace,withanastonishingdensity.Aprismwithacross-sectionequaltothesizeofafive-centcoinhasapassingcapacitymanytimesthatofallexistingcablesintheworld.
Molecularcomputer
Molecularcomputerisbrewing.TheHewlett-PackardCompanyandtheUniversityofCaliforniaannouncedonJuly16,1999thattheyhadsuccessfullydevelopedalogicgatecircuitinamolecularcomputerwithalinewidthofonlyafewatomicdiameters.Thecalculationspeedofamolecularcomputeris100billionthatofcurrentcomputers.Times,itwilleventuallyreplacesiliconchipcomputers.
Quantumcomputer
Quantummechanicsprovesthatindividualphotonsusuallydonotinteract,butwhentheycometogetherwiththeatomsintheopticalcavity,theyWillhaveastronginfluenceoneachother.Thischaracteristicofphotonscanbeusedtodevelopinformationprocessingdeviceswithquantummechanicaleffects-opticalquantumlogicgates,andthentomakequantumcomputers.Quantumcomputersusemultiplespinsofatoms.Quantumcomputerscancalculateonqubitsandcancalculatebetween0and1.Intheory,theperformanceofquantumcomputerscanexceedanyimaginablestandardcomputer.
DNAcomputer
Scientistshavediscoveredthatdeoxyribonucleicacid(DNA)hasacharacteristicthatcancarryalargeamountofgeneticmaterialoforganisms.Mathematicians,biologists,chemists,andcomputerexpertshavebeeninspiredbyitandarecollaboratingtoresearchandbuildtheliquidDNAcomputerofthefuture.TheworkingprincipleofthiskindofDNAcomputerisbasedoninstantaneouschemicalreactions.Throughtheinteractionwithenzymes,themolecularcodingoftheprocessoccursandthebinarynumbersaretranslatedintofragmentsofthegeneticcode.Eachfragmentisthefamousdoublehelix.Achain,andthenthequestionisansweredinanewformofDNAcoding.
Comparedwithordinarycomputers,DNAcomputershavethefirstadvantageofsmallsize,buttheamountofinformationstoredexceedsthatofallcomputersintheworldtoday.
Thesixth-generationcomputer
Neuroncomputer
Thepowerandmagicofhumanneuralnetworksarewellknown.Inthefuture,peoplewillcreatecomputersystemsthatcanperformfunctionssimilartothehumanbrain,thatis,artificialneuronnetworks.Themostpromisingapplicationareaofneuroncomputerisnationaldefense:itcanidentifyobjectsandtargets,processcomplexradarsignals,anddecidewhichtargetstodestroy.Theneuroncomputer'sassociativeinformationstorage,naturaladaptabilitytolearning,andparallelrepetitionindataprocessingwillbeextremelyeffective.
Biologicalcomputer
Biologicalcomputerismainlyacomputerconstructedwithbiologicalelectroniccomponents.Itutilizestheswitchingpropertiesofproteinsandusesproteinmoleculesascomponentstomakebiochips.Itsperformanceisdeterminedbytheswitchingspeedofthecurrentonandoffbetweencomponents.Acomputerchipmadeofproteinhasastoragepointofonlyonemoleculesize,soitsstoragecapacitycanreachonebilliontimesthatofanordinarycomputer.Anintegratedcircuitmadeofproteinisonlyequivalenttoonehundredthousandthofasiliconintegratedcircuit.Anditrunsfaster,only10-11seconds,whichgreatlyexceedsthethinkingspeedofthehumanbrain.
Futuretrend
Chip-levelenergy-savingtechnology
Chip-levelenergy-savingtechnologymainlyincludesCPUpowerconsumptioncontrol,CPUfrequencyadjustmentanddedicatedLow-powercomponents.
ThecontinuousimprovementofCPUprocessingtechnology,multi-coreandCPUintegratedmemorycontroller,whileimprovingperformance,reducethepowerconsumptionofthemotherboardchipset.Ontheotherhand,thedynamicpowerconsumptionoftheCPUcanalsobereducedbyreducingthevoltageandfrequency.IntermsofCPUpowercontrol,forexample,Intel’sDynamicNodeManagement(DynamicNodeManagement)isanout-of-bandembeddedintheIntelserverchipset.(OOB)Powermanagementstrategyengine.ItcooperateswithBIOSandoperatingsystempowermanagement(OSPM)todynamicallyadjustplatformpowerconsumptiontomaximizeserverperformance/powerconsumption.Intheresearchofdedicatedlow-powercomponents,includingtheadvancedmemorycacheAMBchip,SSDsolidstateelectronicharddriveandothertechnologiesandproductsdevelopedbyShanghaiLanqiCompany.
Infrastructure-levelenergy-savingtechnologies
Infrastructure-levelenergy-savingtechnologiesmainlyincludeliquidcooling,storagerefrigeration,high-efficiencypowersupplies,high-efficiencyheatdissipationandcoolingtechnologies,etc.technology.
High-efficiencyheatdissipationandcoolingtechnologyincludesresearchonmoreefficientheatdissipationmethodsandbetterperformancecoolingequipment,suchasHPPARSECarchitecture(ParallelRedundantScalableEnterpriseCooling),IBM'scomputerroomcoolingsystem,etc.Storagecooling(StoredCooling)referstothestorageofpartofthecoolingcapacitybasedontherefrigerationequipmentinadvance,andtheneffectivelyreleaseitwhenneeded,similartothebatterystoragefunction,suchasIBM'scomputerroomcoolingsolutionbasedonstoragecoolingtechnology.Liquidcoolingtechnologyincludeswatercoolingandliquidmetalcooling.Duetoitsstrongthermalconductivityandlargerheatcapacity,itcanalleviatetheheatdissipationpressurecausedbysuddenloadchangesandabsorbmoreheat.Itismoreandmorecommonincurrentlargecomputers.SuchasIBMCoolBluecabinetsystem.
System-levelenergy-savingtechnology
Intermsofpowerconsumption,inadditiontotheabove-mentionedCPUpowercontrol,CPUoperatingfrequencyadjustment,liquidcooling,andlowpowerconsumptionInadditiontotechnologiessuchasdedicatedchipsandchip-levelcooling,academiaandenterprisesarealsostudyingsystem-levelenergy-savingtechnologiesandproducts,including:dynamicallyadjustingsystemstatesbasedonloadconditions,implementinghibernationofsomenodesorcomponents;accordingtothedifferenceinenergyconsumptionofeachprocessAdjusttheCPUtaskqueue,suchasmigratingsometasksthatgeneratemoreheatfromahighertemperatureCPUtoalowertemperatureCPUtoachieveabalanceofenergyconsumption.Forexample,theadaptivepowermanagementsystemdevelopedbytheNationalHighPerformanceComputerEngineeringTechnologyResearchCentercanimplementenergyefficiency-basedjobschedulingstrategies.IBMPowerExecutiveallowsusersto"meter"theactualpowerusagedataandtrenddataofanysinglephysicalsystemoragroupofphysicalsystems,Andcanmonitortheactualpowerconsumption,andeffectivelyallocatethepowerconsumptionandheatconsumptioninthedatacenteratthesystem,chassisorracklevel...