@head: Max's Chips and Dips: The Computing Universe
@deck: There are fundamentally three different ways of performing computations, from a great big hairy single-core processor to a great big "pile of gates", with a plethora of esoteric architectures in-between.
@text: Good grief Charlie Brown! Things certainly do have a way of growing while you're not looking. As a case in point, not-so-long ago I was talking to the folks at <a href=" target="_new">picoChip</a> about the various chip architectures that can be used to perform computations (in the most general sense).
As part of these discussions, we decided that there were fundamentally three different ways of doing things. At one end of the spectrum we have a great big hairy single-core processor formed from hundreds of millions of transistors, such as the classical offerings from Intel and AMD. At the other end of the spectrum we have a great big "pile-of-gates," by which we mean implementing algorithms directly in silicon in the form of ASIC gates or FPGA lookup tables (LUTs).
And then linking these two extremes we have a continuum of different architectures, including multi-cores (two, four, eight, etc) and arrays of programming elements (PEs), where each of these PEs may be an ALU, CPU, DSP, or more esoteric mixtures of elements. For example, the picoArray from picoChip comprises a mixture of several hundred CPU and DSP cores.
And don’t even talk to me about hardware accelerators versus co-processors, because (having talked to lots of folks each having their own unique implementations), I've yet to find a definition that everyone will agree to. You think this is strange? Did you know that there isn’t actually a rigorous definition that everyone agrees on as to what is (and is not) a planet. Seriously!
The ninth planet, Pluto, which was discovered in 1930, has always been something of a pain. This was largely due to its eccentric orbit, which – apart from anything else – means that some of the time Pluto comes closer to the sun than Neptune. Then, in 2004, astronomers discovered what some regarded at that time as being the tenth planet – Sedna – which takes 10,500 years to orbit the sun (as compared to Pluto, which completes the trip in <i>only</i> 249 years). But things really came to a head 18 months later in 2005, when astronomers discovered what is now commonly called Xena. This little rascal, which takes 560 years to orbit the sun, falls between the orbits of Pluto and Sedna. This would make Xena the tenth planet and Sedna the eleventh planet.
<p>We now feel confident that we are going to discover many objects that are similar to Xena and Sedna. On this basis, some astronomers would prefer to class these little rapscallions as asteroids, while others would like to classify
them – and to <i>reclasify</i> Pluto – as being so-called "minor planets."
And I thought I had problems! But we digress. Now, I'm a visual person, so it struck me that it would be a great idea to create a diagram illustrating this "Computing Universe." Initially I had a mental image of a simple linear illustration with a single hairy processor on the right, a great big pile of gates on the left, and the various other architectures "schmeered" across the middle.
Sadly, this was not to be. My representation grew in the telling, transmogrifying itself along the way, until I eventually ended up with a somewhat more "knobbley" depiction with things bulging out here, there, and everywhere. Much to my surprise, however, since I first made this image available in a <a href=" target="_new">Computing Universe</a> paper I penned, I haven’t actually had anyone come back to me saying "this is wrong." Instead, I've had lots of folks saying "you missed us out, and we think we fit just above xxx and just to the right of yyy."
Truth to tell, this was a great deal of fun. I'm constantly learning new stuff, and every weekend or so I usually end up adding something new to the diagram and to the paper. Why not take a look, and let me know if you think I'm still missing something. Until next time, have a good one!
Clive (Max) Maxfield is author of <a href=" target="_new">Bebop to the Boolean Boogie (AnUnconventional Guide to Electronics)</a> and <a href=" target="_new">The Design Warrior's Guide to FPGAs (Devices, Tools, and Flows)</a>, Max is also the co-author of <a href=" target="_new">How Computers Do Math</a>, featuring the pedagogical and phantasmagorical virtual <a href=" target="_new">DIY Calculator</a>. In addition to being a hero, trendsetter, and leader of fashion, Max is widely regarded as being an expert in all aspects of computing and electronics (at least by his mother). Max was once referred to as "an industry notable" and a "semiconductor design expert" by someone famous who wasn't prompted, coerced, or remunerated in any way.