9 ms·

I'm confused. Is there any relationship between the recent Ampere Arm64 servers (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22475036 https://news.ycombinator.com/ite

I'm confused. Is there any relationship between the recent Ampere Arm64 servers (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22475036 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22475036) and Nvidia's "Ampere Architecture", or is it just a case of them using the same name?

tylerhou 6y ago
Same name, but Ampere the company probably came first (2017). They're both named after the famous mathematician and physicist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9-Marie_Amp%C3%A8re https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9-Marie_Amp%C3%A8re
- BobbyJo 6y ago
  Ampere has been on NVidia's roadmap for the better part of a decade.
  - tylerhou 6y ago
    > Ampere has been on NVidia's roadmap for the better part of a decade. Not publicly, at least, since rumors of the "Ampere" naming surfaced around late 2017. https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/matthew-wilson/report-claims-nvidias-next-gpu-architecture-will-be-ampere-may-debut-in-2018/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/matthew-wil...
    - BobbyJo 6y ago
      Ah, I thought I remembered seeing the name on their roadmap earlier than that, but I must have been mistaken. In any case I think it's safe to say the name wasn't ripped off anyone give the names of pervious products and the timing of those rumors.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
dijit 6y ago
I don't like that people downvoted you for asking a question. If someone thinks the question is stupid or not doesn't mean that a downvote is warranted. (nor an upvote, answer the question and move on.) To answer though; it's just a coincidence, as you might already know Nvidia uses famous scientists (especially in the field of electricity) as the names of their microarchitectures. * Volta (Alessandro Volta, inventor of the electric battery) * Tesla (inventor/designer of A/C current) * Maxwell (James Clerk Maxwell, founder of electromagnetic radiation) * Pascal (Blaise Pascal, lots of science around "pressure", arguably his work led to the creation of vacuum tubes used in early computers) Ampere (from André-Marie Ampère, who lent his name to his discovery and classification of "amps") is just an electrical scientists name. Coincidentally a new company founded in 2017 decided that it was a good name for them, and thus the confusion.
- blattimwind 6y ago
  Tesla is famous in the US for inventing polyphase AC and induction motors, but this is really one of these stories were a bunch of people invented the same thing very closely to each other due to a precipitating reaching of understanding. Note that Tesla's designs were IIRC two-phase which is largely inferior to three-phase. The push for three-phase and associated designs and inventions (three phase transformers on a single core etc.) came from outside the US.
  - ska 6y ago
    > but this is really one of these stories were a bunch of people invented the same thing very closely to each other due to a precipitating reaching of understanding. This is by far the dominant case of invention. Truly independent work is incredibly rare.
    - chrischen 6y ago
      And yet we grant patents so liberally, giving a windfall to the first person who files.
      - 6y ago
btian 6y ago
ARM server chip is from a company named Ampere that has nothing to do with Nvidia

tylerhou 6y ago

Same name, but Ampere the company probably came first (2017). They're both named after the famous mathematician and physicist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9-Marie_Amp%C3%A8re https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9-Marie_Amp%C3%A8re

BobbyJo 6y ago
Ampere has been on NVidia's roadmap for the better part of a decade.
- tylerhou 6y ago
  > Ampere has been on NVidia's roadmap for the better part of a decade. Not publicly, at least, since rumors of the "Ampere" naming surfaced around late 2017. https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/matthew-wilson/report-claims-nvidias-next-gpu-architecture-will-be-ampere-may-debut-in-2018/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/matthew-wil...
  - BobbyJo 6y ago
    Ah, I thought I remembered seeing the name on their roadmap earlier than that, but I must have been mistaken. In any case I think it's safe to say the name wasn't ripped off anyone give the names of pervious products and the timing of those rumors.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

dijit 6y ago

I don't like that people downvoted you for asking a question. If someone thinks the question is stupid or not doesn't mean that a downvote is warranted. (nor an upvote, answer the question and move on.) To answer though; it's just a coincidence, as you might already know Nvidia uses famous scientists (especially in the field of electricity) as the names of their microarchitectures. * Volta (Alessandro Volta, inventor of the electric battery) * Tesla (inventor/designer of A/C current) * Maxwell (James Clerk Maxwell, founder of electromagnetic radiation) * Pascal (Blaise Pascal, lots of science around "pressure", arguably his work led to the creation of vacuum tubes used in early computers) Ampere (from André-Marie Ampère, who lent his name to his discovery and classification of "amps") is just an electrical scientists name. Coincidentally a new company founded in 2017 decided that it was a good name for them, and thus the confusion.

blattimwind 6y ago
Tesla is famous in the US for inventing polyphase AC and induction motors, but this is really one of these stories were a bunch of people invented the same thing very closely to each other due to a precipitating reaching of understanding. Note that Tesla's designs were IIRC two-phase which is largely inferior to three-phase. The push for three-phase and associated designs and inventions (three phase transformers on a single core etc.) came from outside the US.
- ska 6y ago
  > but this is really one of these stories were a bunch of people invented the same thing very closely to each other due to a precipitating reaching of understanding. This is by far the dominant case of invention. Truly independent work is incredibly rare.
  - chrischen 6y ago
    And yet we grant patents so liberally, giving a windfall to the first person who files.
    - 6y ago

btian 6y ago

ARM server chip is from a company named Ampere that has nothing to do with Nvidia