Tuesday 27th May 2008

Brazilian insect may hold secret to optical computing

Posted at: 9:54am 27th May 2008 by James Morris

Scales of bug could provide structure for perfect photonic crystal

When scientists are stumped for a solution to a difficult problem, the natural world has a tendency to step in. Recent research reported in Wired hints that in a few years we could have a small Brazilian beetle to thank for the next big leap in computing power.

Optical technology has been a Holy Grail of computing for decades. It has allowed faster data transmission across long distances, and it has the potential to revolutionise computers themselves. Except scientists could only imagine the right crystal for the purpose, they didn’t know how to build it.

So where does the beetle crawl into the picture? Although diamond has the right structure, it’s too dense. But it turns out that the scales of the Brazilian beetle Lamprocyphus augustus may have all the right properties. Whatever angle the scales are viewed, they always appear the same shade of green. This turns out to be because they have the same structure as the carbon atoms in diamond, making them an ideal semiconductor mould to build the perfect photonic crystal

Optical computers have been a focus of research attention because they would allow three-dimensional chips. Whereas electrons interfere when their paths cross, photons don’t. So instead of making a wafer-thin chip, with transistors arranged in two dimensions, processors with a third dimension could be created. This would dramatically increase the transistor count. For example, a 45nm quad-core Intel Penryn has about 800 million transistors. But a cube-shaped three-dimensional processor with the same gate density would have over 22 trillion transistors. Or, to put it in other terms, it would be nearly 30,000 times more powerful.

An optical computer would have another important advantage, too. Wastage in the form of heat has become a major problem for current processor designs, hindering faster clock speeds and greater transistor densities. But it would not be an issue with an optical computer.

So the scales of this humble Brazilian bug could be the key for a revolution in computing power as great as the invention of the silicon chip. It will be quite some years before the research results in working CPUs. But it’s something to think about next time you crack open a can of fly spray.

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Comments

@ EdArch

Sorry mate, but lightbulbs are usually filled with an inert gas, not vacuum. The reason they implode is because the gas is at lower pressure than 1 bar (ie, atmospheric pressure).

Comment by woe2you at 9:58am 29th May 2008

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@niko...

no need to be sorry, I don't think either of us will be complaining if they do have these kind of speeds :D Nothing wrong with beig a bit hyped up...foaming at the mouth is worrying tho...

Comment by EdArch at 3:46pm 28th May 2008

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@EdArch

I did mean if it came out in 2014 but as for 28Ghz i guess that was just me being (extremely) hyped up, because we may finally see the biggest change that we have seen in IT, for probably over a decade!!... but sorry about the exaggeration...

Comment by NikoBellic at 1:34am 28th May 2008

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Like fiber optics

The amount of information that can be packed into a light signal is far greater than in a copper wire: think fiber optic vs cable for telecommunications. I think this is where the greatest advantage from optical computing will come. By the way, not an expert, but the most efficient way to distribute information in three dimensions seems to be in a sphere rather than in a cube. Our own brains are somewhat spherical in shape. I'm sure this is not accidental as nature usually looks for the most efficient way to do things. Look to see these super-cpus become spherical in shape eventually, just like the robot brains in "I-Robot". ;-)

Comment by rahneshin at 12:09am 28th May 2008

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light bulbs..

..are vacuums so there's no reason why 3-dimensional cpu's can't be. I don't think we'll be seeing cpu speeds of 14-28ghz for some time (interesting numbers you picked, niko!) - although big bucks computers (ie, not consumer) could have that kind of speed. I reckon they could start around 10ghz but the main benefit could be ridiculously low power consumption as I'm quite sure optical technology uses less power than hardwire to achieve the same (or better) performance. Whatever over the details this will be the single biggest step forward in computing technology. Cubic cpu's, gpu's and other chips - I am hoping that this technology will be used across the whole components spectrum, not just in cpu's with everything else playing catch-up - will definetly revolutionise computing possibilities. Perhaps even leading to the much-recently-talked-about real-time ray tracing. But it is a while off...and it WILL make the QX6950 look like a bargain!

Comment by EdArch at 7:10pm 27th May 2008

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Speed of copper

@INeedAnXPS600Now. In actuality the speed of an electron has nothing to do with current limitations. A wave form travels far faster than the individual electrons involved (think of Newton's cradle, the ones in the middle barley move but the wave travels through them exceptionally quickly). A signal traveling over standard Coaxial cable travels at aproximatly 2/3 the speed of light (200,000,000m/s). 300,000,000m/s is the speed of light in a vacume which will not be the case in a CPU. So the fact that light is involved does not change signal speed (well nothing worth mentioning anyway). It is lack of heat emmisions and 3D architecture that will incresae the limits of computing.

Comment by Thorian at 3:55pm 27th May 2008

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@INeedAnXPS600Now

Just a very small correction as 3cm is of course .03 meters so it is even faster. The theoretical speed is then .1 nanosecond from one edge to the opposite edge. Either way bloody fast :)

Comment by jonisaksson at 2:27pm 27th May 2008

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I reckon we'll see this tech available by 2014 with a starting speed of about 14-28Ghz ---and maybe we'll see it adavance to 60Thz as time goes on.... if were lucky... (i just hope i will be lucky enough to see that too!! lol - or at least before i turn 60 so i may just be able to take advantage of it on Crysis 'the 38th tropical island')

Comment by NikoBellic at 2:25pm 27th May 2008

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Speed note:

The speed of light is just under 300,000,000 m/sec. Simple maths time: S=D/T D=ST T=D/S If the die is 3cm long, T=3cm/30,000,000,000 (or 0.3m/300,000,000) T=0.000000001 seconds Taking more or less the current CPU size of about 3cm an edge, a light signal could get from one edge to the opposite edge in 1 nano second. That's about 1,500 times the speed of an electron in a thin wire (copper trace, inside a transistor, whatever). I think whatever speed it's gonna reach, it'll be damn fast.......

Comment by INeedAnXPS600Now at 1:58pm 27th May 2008

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Speed note:

Comment by INeedAnXPS600Now at 1:58pm 27th May 2008

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Back on topic though...

what Ghz (or Thz) could you see this bug helping us to get to?

Comment by NikoBellic at 1:09pm 27th May 2008

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HMMMmmmm...

I guess i'm gonna have3 to find something else to say when someones bugging me... I know... F*ck Off... Plus it sounds a bit more in your face than stop bugging me... lol... and also i'll have to call everything glitches instead of bugs lol... if i have great success with my GTA SA real car mod, then i'll have to tell everyone its buggy... ;P

Comment by NikoBellic at 1:05pm 27th May 2008

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