Dear readers,
The pipe series will end at the 10th post, which will be the one where energy use and other estimates are explained and calculated. There will also be some discussions of possible optimization. I hope you have enjoyed it! It was a somewhat larger effort to author than I expected - I have new respect for teachers and authors who create such materials! I learned a lot myself in doing this. As Feynmann said (that guy again..), to really understand something you should teach it to others.
After the 10th episode there will be a 1 week gap and then a new series will begin.
I have several topics prepared to run beginning in April but have not decided which to start with. The choices include:
a micro-optic array with ideal resolution. If you have wondered what the image used in my emails was, it comes from that work.
a transmissive MEMS optic modulator. Mostly MEMS optics use tilt or interference devices which reflect, but reflection is difficult to arrange below 350nm in the UV. Besides, reflective paths are awkward for some designs, so why not develop a transmissive modulator?
3D DRAM going back to 2D basics. Just like 3D NAND was built by using big cells in the 2D layer, what can we do with layers of big, simple DRAM cells? Can we do that at all? How can we make old school cells even better?
SRAM. There was no SRAM needed in the SHA-256 design, but it is present in most functions, indeed it can be more than half of the area of an SOC chip like the Apple A- or M-series. How is it built, how does it work, and will it scale? And how the heck does it have multiple access ports?
Curved optics. This is a bit of a diversion - cm sized optics for an efficient augmented reality with wide field of view and high resolution. Well, the pixels are micron scale, so parts of it are Very Small
Ultra high voltage switches - lightning in a bottle. Have you ever wanted to switch 100 kilovolts? Well, the key to it may be some nanoscale devices.
What would you like to see first? Let me know. However, DRAM or SRAM will NOT be the first topics - let’s take a breather from silicon layout. But, you can still chat about it.
Now I need to start gathering all my notes on those topics and getting ready. And you, dear readers, have Pipe episodes 9 and 10 to get through, too!
Ultra high voltage switches seem interesting!