Sign in / up

back to article Teeny, tiny state machine could BREATHE NEW LIFE into Moore's Law

A team from Harvard University and the non-profit military contractor The MITRE Corporation are claiming a miniaturisation breakthrough with what they say is the smallest finite state machine ever built. Their “nanoFSM” is, the group claims, “the densest nanoelectronic system ever built”. It comprises hundreds of transistors …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Some really clever people about.

    4 0
  2. JonP

    deus ex machina

    When your law needs divine intervention, even from the tiniest god (nano FSM - may you be touched by his tiny noodley appendage) you know it's got problems.

    Seriously though, nice tech but what is this obsession with Moore's "Law"?

    4 1
    1. itzman
      Reply Icon

      Re: Seriously though, nice tech but what is this obsession with Moore's "Law"?

      It is what drives the whole industry.

      The proposition that next years code will be so bloated than only next years machines will run it ensure a smooth planned obsolescence aided by the concept that next years code will also produce data incompatible with this years code thus ensuring that users cannot hold onto machines for more than a couple of years and must continually upgrade.

      Also known as MS TE

      More sh**t than ever

      8 1
      1. Wzrd1 Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Seriously though, nice tech but what is this obsession with Moore's "Law"?

        Actually, it was that the number of transistors on a chip double every two years.

        Something that has held true since the term was first coined.

        1 0
        1. Cliff
          Reply Icon

          Re: Seriously though, nice tech but what is this obsession with Moore's "Law"?

          Moore's Law was poorly drafted but incorporated into statute in the 70's, before they realised things would have to get really teensy to fit a logarithmic progression. Originally Moore decreed that in year 1 there would be 100 transistors/square inch, year 2, 200 *and so forth*. He meant it as a linear progression so year 10 would have 1000 per square inch but some lawyer extrapolated exponentially.

          Moore's second law was to always use three data points when defining a curve.

          0 0
  3. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Thumb Up

    The impressive bit seems to be "bottom up"

    IE Self assembly. True nanotechnology, rather than a catch-all name for shrinking photolighography

    So no XUV patterning needed.

    That is impressive.

    Thumbs up for cleverness.

    Architecture wise it seems to be more of a PLA approach to logic.

    3 0
  4. Mephistro
    WTF?

    "...the non-profit military contractor..."

    Isn't that an oxymoron?

    7 0
    1. sabroni Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: "...the non-profit military contractor..."

      Maybe they just like killing people?

      20 0
    2. Wzrd1 Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: "...the non-profit military contractor..."

      Look up what you're blathering about.

      The author should as well.

      MITRE contracts for more than the DoD, but perhaps the author thinks that the FAA, IRS, VA, federal courts and medicaid/medicare are all DoD.

      0 1
      1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: "...the non-profit military contractor..."

        "but perhaps the author thinks that the FAA, IRS, VA, federal courts and medicaid/medicare are all DoD"

        In the US? I wouldn't reject the notion out of hand...

        3 0
    3. xperroni
      Reply Icon

      Re: "...the non-profit military contractor..."

      Yeah, when I read that my first thought was "wait, what? So they work to advance military tech out of an altruistic desire to help the army?"

      Boy, ain't this world got no end of surprises.

      1 0
  5. Ilsa Loving
    Joke

    FSM

    Did anyone else reading the article keep expanding FSM into Flying Spaghetti Monster instead of it's intended terms?

    Certainly made the article entertaining. :)

    1 0
  6. Polleke
    FAIL

    Red Square

    What red square?

    2 0

  7. This post has been deleted by its author

  8. This post has been deleted by its author

This topic is closed for new posts.