An original and clever idea was announced by IBM's research department in Zurich. It concerns a processor that operates on the same logic as the human brain. What does this mean? Just as the human brain is powered by energy from the blood and simultaneously ”cooled” by it, the processor also uses a fluid like «electronic blood» that performs exactly the same process, i.e., provides energy and at the same time cools it.
Another earlier attempt by IBM to create three-dimensional circuits in which chips are stacked on top of each other to increase system density is also hindered by the large heat emission, so the only solution so far has been to place them on a flat surface so they can be cooled better. However, this IBM idea could provide a solution to the above problem as it allows the construction of much denser and more efficient processors.
In this new chip that was presented and is shown in the above image, there are small channels with a diameter of 100 micrometers in which the fluid flows, dissipating the generated energy, and at the same time it is also used for supplying electric power.
The new approach according to IBM's beliefs will be ready for commercial deployment not in the distant future but in about a decade. After all IBM's ultimate goal is to develop a supercomputer with 1 petaflops power, i.e., 15 quadrillion operations per second in the size of a modern desktop computer.
Source: grandtechnologyblog.gr
