State Of The Fast Chips

According to MIT physicist Seth Lloyd, a leading researcher in quantum computation, the raw information-processing performance of the universe is on the order of "approximately 10105 elementary operations per second on about 1090 bits." How does Lloyd arrive at that number? By calculating the number of protons in the universe as best he can, then determining how often those tiny magnets "flip" directions on their poles to produce a binary digit, or bit—just like transistorized switches on microprocessors do to perform their calculations.

All of which, according to Lloyd, goes to show that the universe is pretty darn smart when running at full capacity in ideal conditions. Of course, those of us who have all too much experience with a universe that does really dumb things (tax audits, anyone?) know that there must be some genuine glitches between the proton-based processor and the motherboard of reality.

So, what does Lloyd's quantum computational work have to do with systems builders? Well, it's interesting for perspective's sake. But also consider what Intel founder Gordon Moore had to say about the possibility of quantum computers at September's Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. In the context of predicting the end of Moore's Law, Gordon speculated that the regular shrinking of microprocessor dies would hit a physical wall in 10 to 15 years. With transistors currently only a few thousand atoms across, we could see something very close to Lloyd's proton processor in our lifetime.

In the meantime, here's what's been happening in chips in the present.

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