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Reprogrammable Chips Could Enable Instant Gadget Upgrades — Parallax Forums

Reprogrammable Chips Could Enable Instant Gadget Upgrades

UnknownUnknown
edited 2011-04-18 08:53 in General Discussion
Reprogrammable Chips Could Enable Instant Gadget Upgrades

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37406/?p1=A1&a=f
Changing chip design on demand could allow TVs and other devices to upgrade their own hardware.

How is this idea different than regular FPGAs? It is a hardware change rather than a software change in the chip.

Comments

  • Peter KG6LSEPeter KG6LSE Posts: 1,383
    edited 2011-04-16 11:02
    I was thinking the same thing .

    Peter
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2011-04-16 11:04
    It's a new concept in programmable devices:

    http://www.tabula.com/technology/technology.php

    FPGAs can be reconfigured, of course, but not on the fly like the Tabula devices.

    I thought that they might be very expensive, like top-end FPGAs, but that doesn't appear to be the case. They have less logic than an equivalent FPGA, and use a 40 nm process.

    I want some!
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2011-04-16 11:08
    If it works well, I can almost see there being a lot of money in that.
  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2011-04-16 13:40
    Gosh, surely somebody is busily engaged whipping up an
    arduina shield for it. Time to market, first out, speed wins.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,260
    edited 2011-04-16 14:03
    Manufacturers would prefer to sell you a new TV every year, so they're in no hurry to implement anything like this until customers demand it.

    Meantime, these reprogrammable guys better be careful. If they are perceived as a credible threat, they just might start disappearing like everyone who ever built a 200 MPG carburetor.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2011-04-16 14:04
    The smallest one is $200 (large quantity price) and they are only interested in high-end applications at present such as:

    * LTE, EPC, WiMAX, 4G Wireless Backhaul
    * 40G/100G Ethernet
    * Carrier-Grade Ethernet
    * Fixed Mobile Convergence
    * Video Networks and IPTV
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    edited 2011-04-18 07:55
    An interesting read.

    Leon: If I am not mistaken, some of the latest Xilinx chips can have sections reprogrammed on the fly. I know it is not the same, but an interesting concept.

    Imagine being able to reconfigure part of the prop to perform fp by hardware when required, and then back to normal when not required. Or change the function of the counters and video.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2011-04-18 08:53
    They do offer some very interesting computing possibilities.
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