The experimental 48-core Single-chip Cloud Computer from Intel is quite incredible. The new chip has 48 cores that can talk to each other in ways never before accomplished before.
Justin Ratner, Chief Technology Officer explains the future implications of what this chip could bring:
"The machine will be able of understanding the world around them much as humans do," Rattner said. "They will see and hear and probably speak and do a number of other things that resemble humanlike capabilities, and will demand as a result very (powerful) computing capability."
To think our computers could be containing these chips in just a few years is mind-blowing. Here is a little more info on what the makeup of this chip is all about:
The SCC has 48 Intel-Architecture (IA) core, the largest number ever put on a CPU, connected by an on-die network with latency and bandwidth (256GB/sec) only dreamed of by designers of traditional clusters. SCC is both a microcosm of a Cloud datacenter and an example of a possible architecture for a future many-core datacenter processor that exploits the efficiencies of high-integration silicon design. Power management is also a focus, providing fine-grained software control off voltage and frequency. SCC can run all 48 cores at a time over a range of 25 to 125W, or selectively vary to voltage and frequency of the mesh and sets of cores.
It appears Moore’s Law is still making its way from day to day. I know I can’t wait to have this sort of power and capability in our home computers and devices. Too bad we will have to wait awhile.
