Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

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22-07-2021, 11:11 AM
HEXUS

Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Quote:

Cortex-M0-based SoC, runs at just 29kHz, but may unlock "the full potential of the IoT".

Read more.
22-07-2021, 11:55 AM
John_Amstrad

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

The heat melted the arm in the pan
22-07-2021, 12:13 PM
CAT-THE-FIFTH

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

I didn't even know plastic CPUs were a thing!!
22-07-2021, 12:26 PM
gagaga

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

56,340 transistors. About the same as a 6502 used in the C64.
22-07-2021, 01:03 PM
philehidiot

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Quote:

Originally Posted by gagaga

56,340 transistors. About the same as a 6502 used in the C64.

So, what you're saying is... it can't play Crysis?
22-07-2021, 01:40 PM
Sim0n

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Quote:

Originally Posted by philehidiot

So, what you're saying is... it can't play Crysis?

Who needs Crysis, when you can play Daley Thompson's Decathlon and destroy a few joysticks with frantic waggling :D
22-07-2021, 02:08 PM
harrisonm65

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

A nice game of Pitstop 2 while you wait for the kettle to boil......
22-07-2021, 02:45 PM
ik9000

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sim0n

Who needs Crysis, when you can play Daley Thompson's Decathlon and destroy a few joysticks with frantic waggling :D

I remember that. That was horrific controller interfacing wasn't it!
22-07-2021, 03:39 PM
NewtonDeadface

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Quote:

Originally Posted by gagaga

56,340 transistors. About the same as a 6502 used in the C64.

More like a twelth of that - MOS 6502 used 4528 transistors.
22-07-2021, 05:30 PM
kompukare

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewtonDeadface

More like a twelth of that - MOS 6502 used 4528 transistors.

Almost enough for a 68000 then:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transi...icroprocessors
32-bit registers! No strange Intel x86 like address modes.
On the other hand ARM 1 was only 25,000 transistors

EDIT: So e-waste is now pure(r) plastic waste?
22-07-2021, 05:46 PM
kalniel

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Quote:

Originally Posted by kompukare

EDIT: So e-waste is now pure(r) plastic waste?

Sadly no, the transistors are still metal oxides (TFT, like monitors), it's just on a plastic substrate rather than solid silicon substrate.
22-07-2021, 07:00 PM
Iota

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Quote:

Originally Posted by HEXUS

Obviously, plastics aren't as thermally robust as materials like silicon.

So I guess when it melts it'll be like a dead arm?

I'll get my coat...
23-07-2021, 06:53 AM
lumireleon

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

so we can sustain an EMP after a nuclear blast/solar flare?
23-07-2021, 07:48 AM
kalniel

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Quote:

Originally Posted by lumireleon

so we can sustain an EMP after a nuclear blast/solar flare?

Why would changing substrate help with that?
23-07-2021, 09:03 AM
3dcandy

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Daley Thompsons Decathlon - great version of Yellow Magic Orchestras Rydeen when loading though!
23-07-2021, 04:06 PM
DanceswithUnix

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewtonDeadface

More like a twelth of that - MOS 6502 used 4528 transistors.

But most 6502 machines managed more than 29KHz (and the 6502 was pretty efficient, so the two stage pipe of this CPU probably isn't much better). I don't think you are going to get a BBC Micro grade Elite out of this.

For really simple chips like this, RISC-V might have been a better target than ARM.
24-07-2021, 10:02 AM
CAT-THE-FIFTH

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Ian Cutress does a good analysis of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waevGf8MPiA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waevGf8MPiA

ARM thinks that one million transistors is tje upper limit of the technology,so it is going to be limited to simple devices. Also,apparently implementing resistors in plastic is not as easy as it appears,and is a limitation.However,it is incredibly cheap to make.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3dcandy

Daley Thompsons Decathlon - great version of Yellow Magic Orchestras Rydeen when loading though!

Good to see someone else also knows about YMO!!
26-07-2021, 12:22 AM
Xlucine

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

Ian Cutress does a good analysis of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waevGf8MPiA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waevGf8MPiA

ARM thinks that one million transistors is tje upper limit of the technology,so it is going to be limited to simple devices. Also,apparently implementing resistors in plastic is not as easy as it appears,and is a limitation.However,it is incredibly cheap to make.

Good to see someone else also knows about YMO!!

The "several orders of magnitude cheaper than silicon" claim would mean a whole microcontroller for less than the cheapest surface mount resistor that RS stock
26-07-2021, 07:55 AM
DanceswithUnix

Re: Arm shows off its non-silicon PlasticArm processor

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

Also,apparently implementing resistors in plastic is not as easy as it appears,and is a limitation.

Kind of an interesting video.

I can't imagine resistors are that hard to make, though with NMOS/PMOS you need a lot of them. But he was pointing at capacitors on the Intel CPU and I can imagine capacitors to any precision will be hard to make.

Ian's doctorate isn't in electronics ;)

29mW is a bit of a killer for usability, they need to get a CMOS process working to get that right down or the power cost will dwarf the CPU cost.