Researchers At University Of Glasgow Create 1,000-Core Processor

Lead by researcher Dr. Wim Vanderbauwhede, a team of scientists have used the technology found in Field Programmable Gate Arrays, or FPGAs, to create a 1,000-core processor. At this point, they've effectively created a proof of concept that can perform almost 20 times faster than "modern computers." To add to the possibility of this new processor finding its way to the real world eventually, it seems that Intel has been playing around with the idea, very recently, and believe that a processor of that magnitude is certainly "feasible."

The researchers, in order to get the results they wanted, had to separate the millions of transistors within the FPGA, and place them on 1,000 mini-circuits. Each of these mini-circuits are able to process their own instructions, which is why the proof of concept is able to perform at the level that it does. As said above, the researchers claim that the new processor could make computers work up to 20 times faster than modern machines.

As for Intel, Timothy Mattson of Intel's Microprocessor Technology Laboratory says that they've been thinking about this type of processor, and that it certainly could be possible. He mentions Intel's Single-chip Cloud Computer (SCC), which manages to have 48 cores on it. However, Mattson says that it could be upscaled to 1,000 cores. There are always factors to consider, though, and Mattson points out that it will still take some time to get something like this off the ground and into machines.

[via Engadget]