The era of dual core and core 2 duo is past and now we are accustomed with the terms core i3, i5, i7, quad core and octa core when considering all ranges of devices like mobiles, computers, PCs, desktops and laptops. MIT has revealed a new chip for computers that is 36-core questioning the existence of the above mentioned processors. The new technology innovated by researchers is known as ‘network-on-a-chip’ design. This can be explained in a simple manner. It functions like network in a single chip that means connectivity and data transfer will take place faster and more efficiently.
This 36 core chip functions differently from the conventional multi core processor. In a typical multi core process data transmission takes place through a single wire which only a single core can access at a time. The other cores are in waiting state to access the bus. So as the number of cores increases the time of waiting increases. But in the new type of processor, the cores are arranged in tiles in a 2D array. Hence data can reach to any tile through adjacent tiles and it doesn’t make it wait till the bus is available. So traffic congestion of data also reduces to a great extent.
Even if it seems great it also has many issues, e.g. If all the adjacent 4 tiles are busy at the same time then data won’t travel and congestion will take place. On the other hand the same data can travel through one or many paths. For the latter issue, a shadow network can be implemented as a preventive measure.
However a lot of improve are yet to be done and we can’t assure if computers with 36 core processors will be coming in near future but one thing is clear. A new era of fast computing is arriving soon. The research team is modifying a version to LINUX and testing their chip. Later on the blueprints will be available as open-source hardware descriptor code for anybody to pick up and use.
