Re: FPGAs and Heat (Re: Paranoid Musings)

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 9:39 AM 8/1/96, Scott Schryvers wrote:

>This was about a year and a half ago.
>I can't remember the name of it,  but this chip fab industry mag was
>talking about how the NSA was obtaining out side help in fabricating what
>was at the time a type of ram that did processing off chip in parrallel.

This was a company in Bowie, Maryland, closely linked with the NSA and with
the "supercomputer centers." The idea of "processing in memory" has been
explored by various companies.

By the way, on the subject of using FPGAs for computers, here's a URL I
found that's interesting:

http://www.io.com/~guccione/HW_list.html

>Side note: Wired just recently talked about IRAM or Intelligent ram, and
>how it seems to be the future of high speed computation.

Side side note: I worked on Intel's "iRAM," standing for "intelligent RAM,"
in 1980-81. It found little market success. The idea of changing the
architecture of RAM bubbles up every few years, but has not yet succeeded
(except in some video-specific applications).

Cautionary Note: Bubble memories, laser pantography, integrated injection
logic, e-beam addressed memory, neural nets, Josephson junctions....

When you've watched the industry for enough years you'll learn to cast a
jaundiced eye on pronouncements that a technology is the Next Big Thing.
The above list--which covers only chips, not similar Next Big Things in
software--is a list of some of the things "Wired" would've hyped, had it
been published back then.

Most such announcements come out public relations departments at major
public labs, or from over-enthusiastic VCs. Or from claims made in papers
presented at the International Solid State Circuits Conference and similar
conferences. Reporters seeking stories then push the story.

The usual form of the press release goes something like this:

"The discovery of foobartronic switches may mean chips that are ten times
faster and one hundred times denser. Researchers say the foobartronic
revolution could reshape the entire industry..."

Few of the advances reported in "Wired" will ever see the light of day....
Some will, of course, but it's useful to remember that most of it is hype.

--Tim May


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