HP claims dense chip breakthrough

THE RESEARCH DIVISION of Hewlett Packard said it had designed architecture which helps the law of physics stop colliding with Moore's Law.

The firm said its research means one day it may be able to create field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that are eight times denser and more energy efficient than current (geddit?!?) semiconductors.

The research indicates what's needed is a nanoscale crossbar switch layered on top of ordinary CMOS (complementary metal oxide silicon) with the catchy title of "field programmable nanowire interconnect".

Said Stan Williams, HP researcher: "As conventional chip electronics continues to shrink, Moore's Law is on a collision with the laws of physics".

HP has published its findings in a document which you can find here. µ