IBM is planning a small SBC
msrobots
Posts: 3,704
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/3/19/17140116/ibm-worlds-smallest-computer-grain-of-salt-solar-powered
interesting, will it really be a 8086?
Mike
interesting, will it really be a 8086?
Mike
Comments
Hmm, from my reading, that 8086 is merely used loosely, and the term 'Computer' is also rather loose,
'has the power of an x86 chip from 1990' does not mean it is an x86 core.
This looks like a ID tag, which is a VERY long way from a 'Computer' in the usual IBM sense.
'IBM’s actual application for this chip seems mostly centered on supply chain management and conterfiet protection'
For that, you do not need anything more than a minimal 8b MCU core ( eg 8051) & some crypto support.
There is no mention of ROM, presumably this has/will have some. An early prototype could use RAM and link-bootloader for development (as in P2's verilog ROM).
Still, the general purpose use of this is unlikely, if it targets ID tags.
Interesting feature set
'Feature-wise, the computer has a processor with “several hundred thousand” transistors, SRAM memory, a photo-voltaic cell for power, and a communications unit that uses an LED and a photo-detector to talk with the outside world.'
So you illuminate this to read it, no mention if the led is Visible, or infrared ? I'm guessing infrared given the application and power profiles.
Could this communicate with a cell-phone ? - maybe it could, on an enhanced one, ie one that modulated the Flash/Torch, and used the camera to capture the LED ?