Well the folks over at the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering have unveiled a prototype of a new computer system that they are claiming is 100 times faster than today’s desktop systems. Their new system incorporates what they call parallel processing that allows an array of chips to perform many different task at once, compared to today’s lone serial chips. I guess one could describe this as a supercomputer for the desktop.

On their Web site, the inventors state:

A prototype of what may be the next generation of personal computers has been developed by researchers in the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering. Capable of computing speeds 100 times faster than current desktops, the technology is based on parallel processing on a single chip.

Parallel processing is an approach that allows the computer to perform many different tasks simultaneously, a sharp contrast to the serial approach employed by conventional desktop computers. The prototype developed by Uzi Vishkin and his Clark School colleagues uses a circuit board about the size of a license plate on which they have mounted 64 parallel processors. To control those processors, they have developed the crucial parallel computer organization that allows the processors to work together and make programming practical and simple for software developers.

Parallel processing on a massive scale, based on interconnecting numerous chips, has been used for years to create supercomputers. However, its application to desktop systems has been a challenge because of severe programming complexities. The Clark School team found a way to use single chip parallel processing technology to change that.

If this new technology is as good as the inventors say it is, then we are entering a new phase of future computers that should put our dual core and quad core processors in the antiques category already!

Complete article can be found here.

If you are so inclined, you can also enter into their contest to give the new computer a name. A prize of $500 will be sent to the winner. Enter here.

Comments welcome.

[tags]computer, super, parallel, chips, contest[/tags]