http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=26055&a=f
A computer chip that performs calculations using probabilities,
instead of binary logic, could accelerate everything from online
banking systems to the flash memory in smart phones and other gadgets.
[...]
The electrical signals inside Lyric's chips represent probabilities,
instead of 1s and 0s. While the transistors of conventional chips are
arranged into components called digital NAND gates, which can be used
to implement all possible digital logic functions, those in a
probability processor make building blocks known as Bayesian NAND
gates. Bayesian probability is a field of mathematics named after the
eighteenth century English statistician Thomas Bayes, who developed
the early ideas on which it is based.
[...]
Lyric has been working on its technology in stealth mode since 2006,
partly with funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency. DARPA is interested in potential defense applications that
would involve working with information that isn't clear cut--for
example, radio signals distorted accidentally or otherwise, and
machine vision systems that try to recognize actions or objects in
images. "They're interested in some James Bond-type applications,"
says Vigoda.
Niels
http://nielsmayer.com