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Energy-efficient computing | MIT Energy Initiative - 2 views

energy.mit.edu/...energy-efficient-computing

potential research idea computer science engineering HSR HSR-2023

shared by Xander Kleiber on 05 Jun 23 - No Cached

Sean Nash liked it

1’s are literally thrown away, and that wasted energy is dissipated as heat.
- Xander Kleiber on 05 Jun 23
  
  In logic gates specifically, because there are cases where a 1 goes in and a 0 can come out, that 1 (directly represented by electrical voltage) gets wasted in the computation and is released as heat.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">In logic gates specifically, because there are cases where a 1 goes in and a 0 can come out, that 1 (directly represented by electrical voltage) gets wasted in the computation and is released as heat.</div>
  
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the inputs are 1-0 and 0-1, and the output is 1-0. That setup is wasteful: An incoming 1 is lost during the computation. The researchers solve that problem by retaining the extra inputs as “garbage bits” that carry useless information (see the bottom example). The 1-0 order doesn’t matter, but now the number of 1’s is preserved after the computation.
- Xander Kleiber on 05 Jun 23
  
  Seems like a great way to solve the issue. However, I don't see anywhere else in the article any sort of actual circuit design/implementation of said solution...
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Seems like a great way to solve the issue. However, I don't see anywhere else in the article any sort of actual circuit design/implementation of said solution...</div>
  
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On the energy front, the goal is to conserve all information—not just the 1’s but the 0’s as well. Their approach is based on “reversible computing,” an idea first proposed in the 1970s.
- Xander Kleiber on 05 Jun 23
  
  Expanded upon later.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Expanded upon later.</div>
  
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...1 more annotation...
“If you can play everything backwards, then no energy has escaped during your computation,” says Demaine.
- Xander Kleiber on 05 Jun 23
  
  So in reversible computing, if an algorithm can be reversed, that means no information (and therefore no 1's, or measures of voltage) are wasted, resulting in an even lower production of waste.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">So in reversible computing, if an algorithm can be reversed, that means no information (and therefore no 1's, or measures of voltage) are wasted, resulting in an even lower production of waste.</div>
  
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Xander Kleiber on 05 Jun 23

Overall, this seems like a decent course of study. After all, mentioned throughout the article is something called "Landauer's limit," which is a limit to the efficiency of computing devices using the current, wasteful methods. Also mentioned briefly in the article is that we are continually getting much closer to this limit. This makes it a timely issue, along with the fact that not many people have elaborated on its implications or tried implementing it.

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Overall, this seems like a decent course of study. After all, mentioned throughout the article is something called "Landauer's limit," which is a limit to the efficiency of computing devices using the current, wasteful methods. Also mentioned briefly in the article is that we are continually getting much closer to this limit. This makes it a timely issue, along with the fact that not many people have elaborated on its implications or tried implementing it.</div>

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