I, err, think so
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Probabilistic Bits " Palem's team has designed a format for embedded chips that are capable of going with a hunch rather than performing painfully precise calculations. Early testing indicates that the chips can extend battery life and, as a bonus, may also enable mobile devices to run more complex applications, since an awful lot of time is currently wasted in churning out those exact calculations. But building computer circuits that, in effect, just guess at the right answer also seems risky..." I am not sure I want my computer replying with "I, err, think so, not 100% sure though". ;) So how does probability work at this level? It says "a circuit can be 'on' with a high degree of certainty, but not with 100 percent certainty" but in practice how does that neat explanation work with electronics? regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Christopher Duncan quoted: "...that would require my explaining Einstein's Fear of Relatives" Crikey! ain't life grand? XmlTransformer, my latest CP article.
It could be the start of a whole new branch of technology: The Infinite Improbability Drive is a wonderful new method of crossing vast intersteller distances in a mere nothingth of a second without all that tedious mucking about in hyperspace. It was discovered by a lucky chance, and then developed into a governable form of propulsion by the Galactic Government's research team on Damogran. This, briefly, is the story of its discovery. The principle of generating small amounts of finite improbability by simply hooking the logic circuits of a Bambleweeny 57 sub-meson Brain to an atomic vector plotter suspended in a strong Brownian Motion producer (say a nice hot cup of tea) were of course well understood - and such generators were often used to break the ice at parties by making all the molicules in the hostess's undergarments leap simultaneously one foot to the left, in accordance with the Theory of Indeterminacy. Many respectable physicists said that they weren't going to stand for this - partly because it was a debasement of science, but mostly because they didn't get invited to those sort of parties. Another thing they couldn't stand was the perpetual failure they encountered in trying to construct a machine which could generate the infinite improbability field needed to flip a spaceship across the mind-paralysing distances between the furthest stars, and in the end they grumpily announced that such a machine was virtually imposssible. Then, one day, a student who had been left to sweep up the lab after a particulary unsuccessful party found himself reasoning this way: If, he thought to himself, such amachine is a virtual impossibility, then it must logically be a finite improbability. So all I have to do in order to make one, is to work out exactly how improbable it is, feed that figure into the finite improbability generator, give it a fresh cup of really hot tea ... and turn it on! He did this, and was rather startled to discover that he had managed to create the long sought after golden Infinite Improbability generater out of thin air. It startled him even more when just after he was awarded the Galactic Institute's Prize for Extreme Cleverness he got lynced by a rampaging mob of respectable physicists who had finally realized that the one thing they really couldn't stand was a smartass.
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar Coming soon: The
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It could be the start of a whole new branch of technology: The Infinite Improbability Drive is a wonderful new method of crossing vast intersteller distances in a mere nothingth of a second without all that tedious mucking about in hyperspace. It was discovered by a lucky chance, and then developed into a governable form of propulsion by the Galactic Government's research team on Damogran. This, briefly, is the story of its discovery. The principle of generating small amounts of finite improbability by simply hooking the logic circuits of a Bambleweeny 57 sub-meson Brain to an atomic vector plotter suspended in a strong Brownian Motion producer (say a nice hot cup of tea) were of course well understood - and such generators were often used to break the ice at parties by making all the molicules in the hostess's undergarments leap simultaneously one foot to the left, in accordance with the Theory of Indeterminacy. Many respectable physicists said that they weren't going to stand for this - partly because it was a debasement of science, but mostly because they didn't get invited to those sort of parties. Another thing they couldn't stand was the perpetual failure they encountered in trying to construct a machine which could generate the infinite improbability field needed to flip a spaceship across the mind-paralysing distances between the furthest stars, and in the end they grumpily announced that such a machine was virtually imposssible. Then, one day, a student who had been left to sweep up the lab after a particulary unsuccessful party found himself reasoning this way: If, he thought to himself, such amachine is a virtual impossibility, then it must logically be a finite improbability. So all I have to do in order to make one, is to work out exactly how improbable it is, feed that figure into the finite improbability generator, give it a fresh cup of really hot tea ... and turn it on! He did this, and was rather startled to discover that he had managed to create the long sought after golden Infinite Improbability generater out of thin air. It startled him even more when just after he was awarded the Galactic Institute's Prize for Extreme Cleverness he got lynced by a rampaging mob of respectable physicists who had finally realized that the one thing they really couldn't stand was a smartass.
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar Coming soon: The
You know, I never read hitchhikers guide, but now I'm sure I won't ;-) (j/k) Seriously, this pbits thing is either a really bad idea or it was misreported. Oh I can understand how shrinking the logic for a gate and using weaker bias voltages or currents can sacrifice reliability for power in a single gate, but surely you get a much better reliability/power ratio simply by reducing the number of data bits. The vast majortity of logic on a chip handles data, and the area it takes up is proportional to the data width, and likewise power. Said another way: When we ask the question, "which gates can have their reliability reduced and by how much?", the answer is, "the gates handling the least significant data bits should have their reliability completely removed so that more significant gates all get full reliability". that is, remove the least significant bits.
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You know, I never read hitchhikers guide, but now I'm sure I won't ;-) (j/k) Seriously, this pbits thing is either a really bad idea or it was misreported. Oh I can understand how shrinking the logic for a gate and using weaker bias voltages or currents can sacrifice reliability for power in a single gate, but surely you get a much better reliability/power ratio simply by reducing the number of data bits. The vast majortity of logic on a chip handles data, and the area it takes up is proportional to the data width, and likewise power. Said another way: When we ask the question, "which gates can have their reliability reduced and by how much?", the answer is, "the gates handling the least significant data bits should have their reliability completely removed so that more significant gates all get full reliability". that is, remove the least significant bits.
2+2=5???
"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar Coming soon: The Second EuroCPian Event
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You know, I never read hitchhikers guide, but now I'm sure I won't ;-) (j/k) Seriously, this pbits thing is either a really bad idea or it was misreported. Oh I can understand how shrinking the logic for a gate and using weaker bias voltages or currents can sacrifice reliability for power in a single gate, but surely you get a much better reliability/power ratio simply by reducing the number of data bits. The vast majortity of logic on a chip handles data, and the area it takes up is proportional to the data width, and likewise power. Said another way: When we ask the question, "which gates can have their reliability reduced and by how much?", the answer is, "the gates handling the least significant data bits should have their reliability completely removed so that more significant gates all get full reliability". that is, remove the least significant bits.
Grant L. wrote: Said another way: When we ask the question, "which gates can have their reliability reduced and by how much?", the answer is ?
Bill!!!
Maximilien Lincourt Your Head A Splode - Strong Bad
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Probabilistic Bits " Palem's team has designed a format for embedded chips that are capable of going with a hunch rather than performing painfully precise calculations. Early testing indicates that the chips can extend battery life and, as a bonus, may also enable mobile devices to run more complex applications, since an awful lot of time is currently wasted in churning out those exact calculations. But building computer circuits that, in effect, just guess at the right answer also seems risky..." I am not sure I want my computer replying with "I, err, think so, not 100% sure though". ;) So how does probability work at this level? It says "a circuit can be 'on' with a high degree of certainty, but not with 100 percent certainty" but in practice how does that neat explanation work with electronics? regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Christopher Duncan quoted: "...that would require my explaining Einstein's Fear of Relatives" Crikey! ain't life grand? XmlTransformer, my latest CP article.
Normal computations are based on Boole's logic patterns, which assume one of two states - TRUE or FALSE - to be sufficient. But Boole's wife had a less well known logic system in which three states are valid - TRUE, FALSE, and MAYBE. The latter system is proving useful for these new circuits. I suppose this could be implemented using narrower thresholds for logic decisions, wherein most logic levels are maintained in the never-never land of indecision until some random factor - a collision with a stray alpha particle perhaps, tips them over the edge into one definite state or the other. Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.
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Probabilistic Bits " Palem's team has designed a format for embedded chips that are capable of going with a hunch rather than performing painfully precise calculations. Early testing indicates that the chips can extend battery life and, as a bonus, may also enable mobile devices to run more complex applications, since an awful lot of time is currently wasted in churning out those exact calculations. But building computer circuits that, in effect, just guess at the right answer also seems risky..." I am not sure I want my computer replying with "I, err, think so, not 100% sure though". ;) So how does probability work at this level? It says "a circuit can be 'on' with a high degree of certainty, but not with 100 percent certainty" but in practice how does that neat explanation work with electronics? regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Christopher Duncan quoted: "...that would require my explaining Einstein's Fear of Relatives" Crikey! ain't life grand? XmlTransformer, my latest CP article.
I err, therefore I am. :-D Marc Microsoft MVP, Visual C# MyXaml MyXaml Blog
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Normal computations are based on Boole's logic patterns, which assume one of two states - TRUE or FALSE - to be sufficient. But Boole's wife had a less well known logic system in which three states are valid - TRUE, FALSE, and MAYBE. The latter system is proving useful for these new circuits. I suppose this could be implemented using narrower thresholds for logic decisions, wherein most logic levels are maintained in the never-never land of indecision until some random factor - a collision with a stray alpha particle perhaps, tips them over the edge into one definite state or the other. Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.
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Normal computations are based on Boole's logic patterns, which assume one of two states - TRUE or FALSE - to be sufficient. But Boole's wife had a less well known logic system in which three states are valid - TRUE, FALSE, and MAYBE. The latter system is proving useful for these new circuits. I suppose this could be implemented using narrower thresholds for logic decisions, wherein most logic levels are maintained in the never-never land of indecision until some random factor - a collision with a stray alpha particle perhaps, tips them over the edge into one definite state or the other. Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.
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Probabilistic Bits " Palem's team has designed a format for embedded chips that are capable of going with a hunch rather than performing painfully precise calculations. Early testing indicates that the chips can extend battery life and, as a bonus, may also enable mobile devices to run more complex applications, since an awful lot of time is currently wasted in churning out those exact calculations. But building computer circuits that, in effect, just guess at the right answer also seems risky..." I am not sure I want my computer replying with "I, err, think so, not 100% sure though". ;) So how does probability work at this level? It says "a circuit can be 'on' with a high degree of certainty, but not with 100 percent certainty" but in practice how does that neat explanation work with electronics? regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Christopher Duncan quoted: "...that would require my explaining Einstein's Fear of Relatives" Crikey! ain't life grand? XmlTransformer, my latest CP article.
Let's see, where did I put those old Pentium chips. They're gonna be worth something after all.:-D "For all of our languages, we cannot communicate" - Christy Moore, Natives
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Actually that's all Fuzzy Logic is about. I did a course on it about 2 years back , understood nothing, and have stayed away from it like the plague since. :) " Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill ? "
Except that in fuzzy logic there is incertainty only when you need id. In this case you would get incertainty everywhere (Which from the murphy law come excatly when you do not need it). Only Absolute Power and Absolutely No power matters. The rest is slavery.