British startup Pragmatic Semiconductor may have started a small revolution in simple microprocessors. The company introduced a 32-bit processor that can be bent around a straw, for example. However, the production is not at all similar to the classic production of today’s processors.
Instead of classic silicon, the RISC-V microprocessor uses indium gallium zinc oxide, which is “glued” to a special type of plastic. The video that the startup published together with the studio is also interesting. It shows that the entire processor can be bent around a straw, while processor still up and running.
So far it is not a speedster, for its size it contains 12,600 logic gates, the maximum frequency is 60 kHz. But the startup most likely wants to target today’s modern machine-learning, because the processor contains an accelerator for ML, together with the consumption of 6 mW and the alleged price of under one dollar per production, it could be a very interesting technology of the future.
“This is a step forward for flexible semiconductor technology. This silicon-free, open-standard 32-bit microprocessor opens up access to computing, new applications, and sub-a-dollar computers.” says Emre Ozer, director of processor development.
Source: pctuning.cz
