The device, created by the startup Flow Computing, is designed specifically to end years of stagnation in the performance of central processors. The CPU has become the weakest link in the computing architecture. The Finnish company intends to change this situation. It loudly announced itself with the promise to “improve the performance of the central processor with any architecture by a hundred times” using the parallel data processing unit.
Although modern CPUs can operate at the nanosecond level, they have room to grow in terms of speed due to the basic limitation of sequential computing: before starting the next task, the previous one must be completed. Flow technology removes this limitation.
The startup announced the creation of a coprocessor for parallel computing. “Block of parallel calculations” (Parallel Performance Unit, PPU) does not increase the clock frequency and does not overclock the system, forcing it to consume more energy and generate more heat, – it just uses CPU cycles more efficiently. Also, the PPU does not require a separate core and has a variable width of parallelism. And the use of special software that optimizes the performance of the combination of CPU and PPU will allow to further increase the efficiency of processors – a hundred times, if Flow is to be believed.
This thought occurred to computer science specialists before. However, they came to the conclusion that to implement it, the entire code would have to be rewritten from scratch. Flow's achievement lies precisely in the fact that they managed to solve this problem without changing the software.
The downside of Flow technology is that it needs to be integrated into the processor at the production level. And this means that you will have to convince chip manufacturers that it is profitable for them, writes Tom’s Hardware.
The startup, which received 4 million euros from venture firms, is aimed at the market of mobile devices, PC and supercomputers. According to Timo Valtonen, the company's founder and general director, in the current conditions of cloud computing and AI development, CPU modernization has become a necessity.