As expected processor licensor ARM Holdings and Handshake Solutions NV, a Royal Philips Electronics subsidiary, have developed an asynchronous processor based on the ARM9 core. The ARM996HS is thought to be the first commercial clockless processor and is being described as particular suited to use as an automotive microcontroller. Because clockless processors consume zero dynamic power when there is no activity, they can significantly extend battery life compared with clocked equivalents.
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Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2006-02-08
I don't think they'll ever try to go for the PC market.
What they don't tell you is that asynchronous designs all suffer from a lot of startup delay. These chips are probably not meant for interactive applications like we use the PC for - so in those cases it's toally fine for them to take a little time to ramp up
Member since:2005-10-18
That's exactly what I was thinking. The whole startup process would be the kicker. I mean, don't get me wrong, I think it would be great if it could get into PC tech, but I don’t see it happening with major adjustments.
Good point (a post above) that this is targeted mainly at mobile devices, and most probably will stay that way.
And I must say, even if it appears your CPU is idle, it's is nearly ALWAYS computing something. Whether it's detecting minuscule mouse movements (mouse interrupt calls), or its processing background dhcp requests or other TCP stack stuff, it's always working.
We could say that the CPU may at times be doing negligible work, but I doubt it ever really "stops".
ZaNkY
Member since:2005-07-11
I feel a little dubious at this technology. Sure it will save lots of power, but there's never really a time that a CPU is completely idle.
You betcha there is time that a cpu is completely idle. Depending on the use of the system of course, but most cpus in the world spend most of their time doing nothing. They're usually halted, waiting on the next interrupt.
Member since:
2005-10-18
Sounds interesting, But how would it compare (performance wise) to a clocked processor?
I feel a little dubious at this technology. Sure it will save lots of power, but there's never really a time that a CPU is completely idle. Sure this is being used for an automotive microcontroller, but I'm sure that It'll *try* to make it into the PC market. I guess we'll have to wait and see the progress of the tech.
ZaNkY