Machine learning is the brain, VPUs (Vision Processing Units) are the eyes, what more does a machine need to be human? The answer is blood. If machines need to be as intelligent as humans, they need to perform as efficiently. They can't heat up easily, and they must be able to regulate the temperature efficiently when they do. That's exactly what IBM Research, along with partners, have been working on, since 2013. "The general concept has been something I first began focusing on in 2006 when the Stern Reporter was released. This triggered me to pivot my research towards inventing incredibly powerful computers, which are densely packed and therefore very energy efficient using 3D chip stacks," said Dr. Bruno Michel from IBM Research.
The actual project is called REPCOOL. It stands for Redox flow electrochemistry for power delivery and cooling, but it's popularly known as Electronic Blood. "This groundbreaking approach is modeled after the structure and power supply of the brain, where blood capillaries serve both to cool it and to supply it with energy," said Michel. It stems from a very real need in modern chips, the need for heat regulation and power. More powerful a computer, more is the heat that it generates, and more room it needs. According to Michel, the researchers at IBM believe that they can drastically reduce the size of such computers.
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