4 ms·

Get Ready For the Memristor Revolution

49 points by jaybol 17y ago

moultano 17y ago
Important subject, but this article sucks. Instead of just two states, on or off, as with transistors, memristors can represent many states. This means we can create new types of computing models, we can also create analog computers, which you don’t program, but you let them learn. You can then replicate the learning to other memristor analog computers. - We might be able to use memristors in a similar way to synapses in the human brain. _snort_
- jsmcgd 17y ago
  What is wrong with the article?
  - arethuza 17y ago
    This bit is rather silly: "This means we can create new types of computing models, we can also create analog computers, which you don’t program, but you let them learn." Analog computation is nothing new and has pretty much been superseded by stored program digital computers - for very good reasons. I used to knew am engineer who had used a hydraulic analog computer to solve systems of differential equations that modeled fluid flow... :-)
    - DuncanIdaho 17y ago
      I'm not claiming to be knowledgeable, but isn't it true, that analog computers are easy and fast to use for computations (sliding logarithmic ruler, self regulating hydraulic systems,...). But notoriously hard to construct IF you're looking for something multipurpose and programmable.
      - _delirium 17y ago
        It's mostly the "you don’t program, but you let them learn" part that's a bit weird/inaccurate. You have to program analog computers, and don't get any automatic learning built in. It's just a different kind of programming. Some things, from a digital-programming perspective, are amazing freebies that would require difficult programming on a digital computer. Other things, that on a digital computer would be trivial, are frustratingly difficult to implement. But it's still programming of a sort either way. And it doesn't make a ton of difference these days anyway, because "continuous" vs. "discrete, but with trillions of gradations" are indistinguishable for a lot of problems, so you can simulate an analog computer on a digital one, or vice versa, with reasonable accuracy.
- modeless 17y ago
  For more technical details try this video of a keynote by R. Stanley Williams: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKGhvKyjgLY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKGhvKyjgLY Submitted as a YC story here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1287576 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1287576
izendejas 17y ago
Much better article: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=397335 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=397335 I really hope these make the hard-disk and RAM obsolote. The hard-disk of course is the current bottle neck, so removing it entirely from the picture with potentially smaller, and cheaper devices alone will lead to an insane amount of innovation. For example, the idea that we can move away from the von Neumann model and have in-memory processing (so-to-speak) could lead to a revolution in computer vision and other highly parallel, compute-intensive, pattern matching applications. For now, HP will begin to deploy these things in tiny, very sensitive sensors that will lead to, potentially, more efficient discovery of oil: http://www.hpl.hp.com/news/2009/oct-dec/cense.html http://www.hpl.hp.com/news/2009/oct-dec/cense.html
- eru 17y ago
  I guess clunky hard-disks with all their moving parts will be around for some time to come. Just because they have already been around for so long and survived several other up-and-coming technologies.
uggbootscheap 17y ago
Important principles http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-flap-c-8_211.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-fla... may and must be flexible.That is the http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-flap-c-8_211.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-fla... essence of science: ask an impertinent http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8_231.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8... question, and you are on the way to the http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-255-c-8_206.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-255-c-8_206... pertinent answer.The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8_231.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8... that men may become robots.Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.
uggbootscheap 17y ago
chanel classic flap bags <a href="http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-flap-c-8_211.html>cheap http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-fla... chanel classic flap </a> <a href=http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8_231.html>chanel http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8... reissue bags</a> 另 [url=http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-255-c-8_206.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-255-c-8_206...] chanel flap 2.55[/url] [url="http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-flap-c-8_211.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-fla...] chanel classic flap bags[/url] 另 [chanel reissue bags->http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8_231.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8...] [link=http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-255-c-8_206.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-255-c-8_206...] chanel 2.55 bags[/link]

49 points by jaybol 17y ago

Important subject, but this article sucks. Instead of just two states, on or off, as with transistors, memristors can represent many states. This means we can create new types of computing models, we can also create analog computers, which you don’t program, but you let them learn. You can then replicate the learning to other memristor analog computers. - We might be able to use memristors in a similar way to synapses in the human brain. _snort_

jsmcgd 17y ago
What is wrong with the article?
- arethuza 17y ago
  This bit is rather silly: "This means we can create new types of computing models, we can also create analog computers, which you don’t program, but you let them learn." Analog computation is nothing new and has pretty much been superseded by stored program digital computers - for very good reasons. I used to knew am engineer who had used a hydraulic analog computer to solve systems of differential equations that modeled fluid flow... :-)
  - DuncanIdaho 17y ago
    I'm not claiming to be knowledgeable, but isn't it true, that analog computers are easy and fast to use for computations (sliding logarithmic ruler, self regulating hydraulic systems,...). But notoriously hard to construct IF you're looking for something multipurpose and programmable.
    - _delirium 17y ago
      It's mostly the "you don’t program, but you let them learn" part that's a bit weird/inaccurate. You have to program analog computers, and don't get any automatic learning built in. It's just a different kind of programming. Some things, from a digital-programming perspective, are amazing freebies that would require difficult programming on a digital computer. Other things, that on a digital computer would be trivial, are frustratingly difficult to implement. But it's still programming of a sort either way. And it doesn't make a ton of difference these days anyway, because "continuous" vs. "discrete, but with trillions of gradations" are indistinguishable for a lot of problems, so you can simulate an analog computer on a digital one, or vice versa, with reasonable accuracy.
modeless 17y ago
For more technical details try this video of a keynote by R. Stanley Williams: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKGhvKyjgLY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKGhvKyjgLY Submitted as a YC story here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1287576 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1287576

izendejas 17y ago

Much better article: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=397335 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=397335 I really hope these make the hard-disk and RAM obsolote. The hard-disk of course is the current bottle neck, so removing it entirely from the picture with potentially smaller, and cheaper devices alone will lead to an insane amount of innovation. For example, the idea that we can move away from the von Neumann model and have in-memory processing (so-to-speak) could lead to a revolution in computer vision and other highly parallel, compute-intensive, pattern matching applications. For now, HP will begin to deploy these things in tiny, very sensitive sensors that will lead to, potentially, more efficient discovery of oil: http://www.hpl.hp.com/news/2009/oct-dec/cense.html http://www.hpl.hp.com/news/2009/oct-dec/cense.html

eru 17y ago
I guess clunky hard-disks with all their moving parts will be around for some time to come. Just because they have already been around for so long and survived several other up-and-coming technologies.

uggbootscheap 17y ago

Important principles http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-flap-c-8_211.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-fla... may and must be flexible.That is the http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-flap-c-8_211.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-fla... essence of science: ask an impertinent http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8_231.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8... question, and you are on the way to the http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-255-c-8_206.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-255-c-8_206... pertinent answer.The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8_231.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8... that men may become robots.Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.

uggbootscheap 17y ago

chanel classic flap bags <a href="http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-flap-c-8_211.html>cheap http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-fla... chanel classic flap </a> <a href=http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8_231.html>chanel http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8... reissue bags</a> 另 [url=http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-255-c-8_206.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-255-c-8_206...] chanel flap 2.55[/url] [url="http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-flap-c-8_211.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-classic-fla...] chanel classic flap bags[/url] 另 [chanel reissue bags->http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8_231.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-reissue-c-8...] [link=http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-255-c-8_206.html http://www.09handbags.com/chanel-handbags-chanel-255-c-8_206...] chanel 2.55 bags[/link]