Slashdot Mirror


Chips That Flow With Probabilities, Not Bits

holy_calamity writes "Boston company Lyric Semiconductor has taken the wraps off a microchip designed for statistical calculations that eschews digital logic. It's still made from silicon transistors. But they are arranged gates that compute with analogue signals representing probabilities, not binary bits. That makes it easier to implement calculations of probabilities, says the company, which has a chip for correcting errors in flash memory claimed to be 30 times smaller than a digital logic-based equivalent."

2 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. There are 10 kinds of people in the world.. by Deus.1.01 · · Score: 5, Funny

    12.5% that understands binary 87.5 that don't...

    --
    My -1 Troll is actually a +1 funny. And my -1 flame is actually a +1 insightfull.
  2. Re:Analog Computers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, it does. We aren't trying to reduce error in logic operations. We're passing analog values between one and zero into logic circuits. Literally, at the lowest level, the "bits" pumping through the chip are probabilities. It's not analog in the sense that we use op amps, we still use gates, but the inputs and ouptuts of the gates are probabilities, not hard bits.