HP Unveils Chip Advancement

Hewlett-Packard Co. has unveiled research that could lead to the creation of a chip that is up to eight times denser and uses less energy than those that are currently being produced. The best part is that these field programmable gate arrays, (FPGA), can be built using the same sized transistors that are being used in today's FPGAs, meaning that they can be built in current fabrication facilities with only minor modifications.

An FPGA is an integrated circuit with programmable logic components and interconnects that can be adapted by end-users for specific applications. They are used in a wide range of industries, including communications, automotive and consumer electronics.

This research uses a conceptual breakthrough for connecting a crossbar to CMOS by Dmitri Strukov and Konstantin Likharev of Stony Brook University in New York. The HP approach relies on extensive experience in fabricating crossbars and makes a number of changes designed to improve the manufacturability of the circuits.

Because of the tiny sizes of the nanowires and switches in the crossbars, the researchers said they expected defect rates to be relatively high. However, with the crossbar interconnect it is possible to route around defects, the researchers said. Their simulations showed that an FPNI chip with 20 percent of the nanowires broken in random locations still had an effective production yield of 75 percent and did not present significant performance compromises, which should make it economically feasible to produce.