Re: [9fans] Barrelfish

[erik quanstrom <quanstro@quanstro.net>]

totally ot.  sorry.

> > 1.  p. 8. "the most promising devices are quantum effect
> > devices."  (none are currently in use in processors.)
>
> Since quantics means unpredictable, I think that we see more and more
> quantum effects in hardware and software. So, I beg to disagree ;)

you may not fully appreciate what is meant by
quantum effect.  example devices are: resonant-
tunneling transistors, quantum wires and dots.

they are definately not unpredictable.  they are
probabilistic and one can build very useful devices
with them.

in my misguided youth i worked on building an
808nm laser out of quaternary semis and such
quantum structures.  wierd stuff.

there is no fundamental reason one couldn't build
a computer with rt transistors.  here's a rt xor structure
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/vlsi/2009/803974.html

this stuff is insanely hard, and probablly the mythical
"twenty-years out"; it's just not Si-friendly.  and nobody
wants (can afford) to deal with GaAs let alone the funky
quateraries. but if we make any real break throughs in
computing, it'll likely be based on quantum effect.

- erik