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Lyric Semiconductors,
an MIT startup, is rethinking its chip architecture. Instead of using 0's and 1's their chips
architecture is based on probabilities. Using probability instead of
traditional binary and Boolean logic gates Lyric claims they can make chips
that are about 1000 times faster.
Although there is not
much information on exactly how the chip works Lyric explains that current
chips process information serially, while the probability chip could process
the information in parallel, saving time and energy.
Applications
Spam
filters are a great example of how probability can be used. Certain phrases
such as "earn money" or "you're a winner" make an email more likely to be
considered spam by a filter. Lyric shows an example of their algorithm solving
a Sudoku puzzle.
http://www.lyricsemiconductor.com/technology-programs.htm
"One
familiar example of such an application is the traditional game of Sudoku.
Given incomplete information about the numbers that fill a grid, you want to
figure the best answer that satisfies all the rules of the game. Here, you can
see a program written in Lyric's probability programming language considering
the alternatives for filling in each square. As the answer becomes more
certain, the number becomes more opaque, until a complete solution is found."
Funding
Lyric
was founded in 2006 by MIT Ph.D. Ben Vigoda and David Reynolds who is a veteran
in the semiconductor industry with over 25 years of experience. Over $20
Million Dollars in funding has been received from DARPA and other agencies and
venture investment from Stata Venture Partners.
Do you think Probability processing is the future of chip design or is it
better in theory?
Reference:
http://www.lyricsemiconductor.com/
http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2010/08/probabilistic-processors-possibly-potent.ars
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Re: Binary or Probability
Good Answers: