Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (USA) and British PragmatIC Semiconductor have succeeded in creating a functional plastic processor that can be manufactured at an attractive price. Compared to the Arms PlasticArm chip, the Flexicore’s design would be simple enough to be produced on a large scale without any issues. This type of processor should be ideal for supplying (some) computing power to all kinds of objects.
For example, the team led by Rakesh Kumar designed 4-bit and 8-bit processors specifically targeting small size and attractive throughput. They use thin film transistors and these are respectively indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) and plastic. The combination of these materials is very flexible and can withstand bends with a radius of several millimeters.
Engineers determined that 81% of 4-bit chips produced work, which Kumar said was enough to keep the cost under a cent each. This variant has an area of 5.6 mm² and houses 2104 transistors (about the same as the Intel 4004 in 1971), which is 26 times less than PlasticArm’s 56,340 parts. While we won’t go into details, the 8-bit implementation won’t yield impressive results.
In the next few days, the International Computer Architecture Symposium will be held in New York. During this show, researchers will present Flexicore, which is expected to reveal more details.
Source: IEEE Spectrum
Source: Hardware Info
