HP developing new architecture of computers

HP has initiated a project to revamp the basic architecture of computers. The initial target is servers, but it says that it may be able to work on an Android version of smartphones that it says could lead to smartphones with 100TB of storage.

The new computer architecture, dubbed The Machine, based on a type of memory called memristors and a communications technology called silicon photonics, which uses light beams to move data around at high speeds.

As many as three-quarters of its labs staff are working on it, though it estimates delivery range from three years to the end of the decade.


CTO Martin Fink said a key goal for The Machine is to replace the different storage technologies in use today with a single “universal memory” pool made from memristors. That type of memory uses ions instead of electrons to represent the 1s and 0s of computer code.

HP said on its website: “Today, all our devices—from phone to supercomputer—constantly shuttle information between three layers of memory: what’s needed this instant (SRAM), what will be needed very soon (DRAM) and what may be needed later (storage). Memristors will be fast, dense and cheap enough to play both the ‘soon’ and ‘later’ roles at once, and thereby speed up throughput by eliminating most of the to and fro.”

senior analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, Paul Teich, commented: “After The Machine architecture and OS are in place, at some point in the future, the theory is that when you connect a memristor based Android device to a network with high enough bandwidth, it will become a node in a cloud with immediate access to the rest of that cloud. It’s a different model of looking at device capabilities. Nothing will need to be ‘downloaded’ unless you plan to be disconnected from the larger network.”