Log In
E-mail or User ID
  Keep me signed in
Recover Password
Create an Account

I want more than bipolar computing.

Computers of today are too limited. In only being able to count by one even the simplest of equations involving large numbers is cumbersome. Storage of those numbers is inefficient and translation of bases from 2 to n a requirement.

If we want to take computers to the next level we need to break out of the bipolar mode. The ideas for doing it have been around for as long as I have been alive (and longer) but it hasn't been implemented in any practical manner. For the simple reason is that electronics is by nature bipolar. In other words it is either on or off.

Due to this restraint and the complexities of designing multilevel circuits for different base numbers. Computers have worked in binary from the word go. There is some great promise on the horizon from the boffins at HP according to the article here. Using an idea proposed while I was still sucking the globes of goodness they managed to develop technology and are able to show a practical working model.

Now if, IF, the proper attention is put into this new/old application of electronics then computers working natively in any number base can be devised. This would dramatically increase the speed of computing more than I could imagine. Storage of data would be insatiably large and the era of computing intelligence may actually become a reality. If CPU's that operate natively in decimal (ie, base 10) were available then any lowly quad core desktop would be massively faster than any supercomputer in existence today.

Ok. Maybe I am exaggerating a bit but not by much. I am very excited about the possibilities but I am disappointed that it was not developed earlier. All due to the almighty buck. Even though this technology is new the ideas have been around since Methuselah and there have been other ways of implementing them. If there had been more development in that area then who knows what we would have today.

I am not talking about analog computing. It would still be digital. It is just the digits are in different number bases. Higher number bases would, I believe, give greater capacity for simpler circuitry. All a computer is is just a manipulator of information. The more information it can manipulate at once the more powerful it is. This is why the designers have been chucking transistors into chips they way I eat peanuts.

Assuming you have read the article I referred to you would know that the memristor can have several states. If they were used in place of the on, off states of transistors, then for very similar circuitry you have a higher number base to work from. Yes I know that transistors can be controlled in a similar manner but that takes control circuitry and is not economically viable.

This would require a drastic change in design of a CPU and I think it is about time. The current one has come to the end of its design limits methinks and I would like to see and use the newer model before I am as old as Methuselah. What do you think?



Visiting Borgs

Read 4 comments


The initial change would bring no signficant change in speed...
there are no logic gates that work on more than a "on/off" basis.
Try working out boolean algebra with more than 2 states. it becomes a very ugly task. If you want a better idea, look at the book "On Intelligence" written by one of the principals of Palm Computing.
Well the idea of having a higher base is so that we didn't have to do boolean algebra :) As for logic gates...Hmmm food for thought. Do you have a link to the book? I would be interested in reading it.
The idea sounds fascinating. I'd love to see it in a working model.

Unca Xitron
@Edward, it would at least have a substantial effect on data storage, more specifically RAM. Although, it is true that it would require extra computing to convert these large base values to lower base values that are more manageable.

Leave a Comment

Connect to this blog to be notified of new entries.
You are not logged in.
Sign In to post unmoderated comments.
Join the community to create your free profile today.
Archive Category: News
Keyword Tags:  cpu   memristor   base number   computing

Receive the latest blog posts:
Share Your Perspective
Get the Buzz!


PCMag Digital Group AdChoices

TRUSTe Privacy Certification