Microprocessor Hardware

We expect tremendous improvements both on the hardware and the software front. Work in each area influences the other and many times the technological advances in the hardware can only be achieved by specially designed software, not the off-the-shelf wordprocessor or spreadsheet program.

Computer speed will drastically improve, as will the ability to store information. RAM chips that can store 64 Megabits are currently under development. Many researchers feel that the future of computer hardware might not be in further miniaturization, but in radical new architectures such as optics or biochips.

Today's computers process information serially, one element at a time. Parallel computing (potentially of hundreds of linked computers) breaks tasks into units and assigns each task to a separate processor. With many processors simultaneously working on a given task, the problem can be solved much more quickly. Still relatively new is a technology called RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing), as opposed to the CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computing) used by the current breed of popular computers. RISC computers, such as the recently announced PowerPC, allow computers to process more than one instruction at the time, which results in a faster computer.

Robotics is another development with great potential. At assembly lines, robots are already putting together the cars we drive or performing tasks in harsh environments not compatible with human life. When computers become more efficient and artificial intelligence programs become more sophisticated, robots will be able to perform more difficult and more human-like tasks.

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