Researchers on the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE), IISc, have developed a extremely energy-efficient computing platform which presents promise in constructing next-generation digital units.
According to IISc, the CeNSE researchers in two current research reported the event of this extremely energy-efficient computing platform.
“Instead of using complementary metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOS), which are the building blocks of most electronic circuits today, the team used components called memristors that can both store data and perform computation. By designing unique memristors based on metal-organic complexes, the team could cut down the number of components needed in a circuit, greatly increasing the speed and efficiency,” IISc mentioned in a press launch.
Molecular circuit factor
“We have now discovered a molecular circuit element that can capture complex logic functions within itself, facilitating in-memory computations in a smaller number of time steps and using much fewer elements than usual,” mentioned Sreetosh Goswami, assistant professor at CeNSE who led each the research printed in Advanced Materials.
Existing computing architectures course of and retailer knowledge at separate bodily places. The back-and-forth communication between two places consumes the lion’s share of the computing power. “We are resolving this problem by performing both computation and storage at the same physical location,” Prof. Goswami.
He added that the platform “outperforms” the present state-of-the-art applied sciences by orders of magnitude. “We are [now] able to make arrays of devices that are more robust, consistent, and stable even compared to commercial technologies like flash memories,” Prof. Goswami added.
Previously developed memristor-based circuits additionally endure from limitations in pace and have a better likelihood of errors accumulating as a result of they perform operations sequentially. The design of the brand new platform reduces the variety of operational steps, growing pace and decreasing error, the researchers say.
The metal-organic complexes used to construct their platform have been designed by Sreebrata Goswami, specialist scientist at CeNSE.
When they constructed circuits that perform mathematical operations and in contrast them with a typical CMOS circuit, the staff discovered that the brand new platform supplied 47 instances increased power effectivity and 93 instances sooner working pace, whereas solely taking over 9% of the bodily footprint.
Connecting to censor
Moving ahead, the staff plans to attach the platform to a sensor — for instance, a smartphone display that senses contact — and examine how effectively it processes the info it collects.