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September 8, 2008 5:15:07 AM CDT

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Chip Trades Precision for Power Usage

Posted Mar 1, 08 7:38 PM CST in Technology 

(Newser) – Smaller, faster and more precise are the goals of engineers who design microchips, those tiny, power-hungry processors at the core of modern electronics. But a Rice University professor is going against the grain, trading a little bit of precision for a major savings in power, and potentially leading a revolution in how chips are manufactured, reports Technology Review.

Krishna Palem’s "probabilistic complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology, “ or PCMOS, is ideal, he believes, for devices that rely less on computational accuracy than on brute force to process audio and video files.  To ensure precision, chips have traditionally run at high voltage; PCMOS chips use much less voltage, making them ideal for applications like music players and mobile phones where battery life is critical.

Source MIT Technology Review

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Microchips, like this wafer of them, are prized for speed and accuracy. A new design trades some accuracy for a reduction in power usage.   (Getty Images)
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microchips  • Moore's Law  • Rice University


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