3 ms·
Average distance from points in a unit circle to center is 2/3; average distance from points in a unit sphere to center is 3/4. Or if you prefer squares and cub
by T-A 10y ago
Average distance from points in a unit circle to center is 2/3; average distance from points in a unit sphere to center is 3/4. Or if you prefer squares and cubes, you are essentially replacing a sqrt(2) diagonal with a sqrt(3) triagonal.
Even worse, surface area available for heat dissipation grows quadratically, while volume and therefore heat generated grows cubically. That's why 3D memory is a thing (most memory cells are not active at any given time), but seriously 3D processors (trigate notwithstanding) are not.
- snovv_crash 10y agoYes, but your diameter can shrink significantly if you have more than a single plane of thickness. Currently the thickness of the die is less than 1% of the typical diameter, so that 2/3 -> 3/4 increase is negligible compared to the >100x decrease in diameter for the same number of transistors. The biggest issue (IMO) will be heat dissipation and manufacturing time.
- Razengan 10y agoWell, biological brains are 3D processors, and have been a thing for billions of years..
- T-A 10y agoYou might be surprised how little 3D they are. Look at the top line model: the human cortex is only about 3 mm thick, and comprised of only six layers of neurons. It may look like a big lump of meat, but that's because it's folded to fit more area into the limited volume available in the skull. If you unfold it, you get this very thin sheet with a whopping area of 2500 cm^2.