Chips and processor hardware

floating-point operations per second (FLOPS)

Floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) is a measure of a computer's performance based on the number of floating-point arithmetic calculations that the processor can perform within a second. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

IBM says all the building blocks for analogue AI are in place

Analogue electronics promises a more efficient way to train AI systems than computers that rely on zeros and ones Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Biden administration bans investment in Chinese high tech

Executive Order prohibits investment firms from supporting Chinese firms specialising in AI, quantum and advanced semiconductors Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

semiconductor fab

A semiconductor fab -- short for fabrication -- is a manufacturing plant in which raw silicon wafers are turned into integrated circuits (ICs). Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati
• Carol Sliwa

UK government recruits panel to focus on semiconductors

A panel of experts is being recruited as part of the government's national semiconductor strategy to ensure the UK’s chip sector can grow Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Hybrid quantum workflow offers potential for hydrogen fuel cell efficiency

BMW, Airbus and Quantinuum have collaborated on a project to simulate a reaction that could pave the way to more efficient hydrogen fuel cells Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Meta results show impact of data fines and datacentre upgrade strategy

The owner of Facebook is battling with regulators over transferring EU data to the US. It is also seeing less improvements on CPUs Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

CW EMEA: Can we trust AI?

Artificial intelligence and the opportunities and dangers it introduces into society has been a hotly debated subject in tech circles for many years, but today with the increased use of platforms such as ChatGPT, these debates include a wider section of the public. The fact that schoolchildren are even asking ChatGPT for help with their homework brings home the importance of these debates and the responses to them by national policy-makers. Continue Reading

HSBC explores quantum-safe comms to AWS edge

Banking group HSBC is looking at how to secure transactions and the benefits of quantum computing in finance Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Coping with the ongoing chip crisis in the UK

China has imposed export restrictions on key semiconductor compounds, so how will the UK's National Semiconductor Strategy cope? Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

CTO interview: Europe benefits from energy gains in AMD chips

AMD CTO Mark Papermaster explains how the latest chip technology can help European organisations solve the IT energy puzzle. Continue Reading

The politics of AI

In this week’s Computer Weekly, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer both spoke at London Tech Week to present their visions of an AI future for the UK – we compare their plans. We talk to the CTO of chip giant AMD about making tech more energy efficient. And we look at optimising networks for hybrid working. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

multiprocessing

Multiprocessing is the utilization of two or more central processing units (CPUs) in a single computer system. Continue Reading

By

• Kinza Yasar, Technical Writer

Interview: Michael Kagan, chief technology officer, Nvidia

The chip maker's CTO explains how the compute demands of AI are pushing semiconductor technology beyond the principles of Moore's Law Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

Belgian researchers build energy-efficient AI frameworks

Researchers in Belgium are working on a new generation of platforms to support artificial intelligence applications in an energy-efficient manner Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

wall time

Wall time, also called real-world time, clock time, wall-clock time or -- more accurately -- elapsed real time, is the amount of time that a program or process takes to run from start to finish as measured by a person. Continue Reading

By

• Gavin Wright

Lenovo ups ante on AI infrastructure investments

Lenovo is investing $1bn over three years to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure offerings, including services to help organisations deploy and tap AI capabilities in a responsible manner Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

RISC-V rises to software ecosystem challenge

The open source hardware and software system on a chip specification has recognised the need to coordinate low-level software development Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Rishi Sunak calls for urgency in building out UK tech

The UK prime minister used his speech during London Tech Week to discuss funding tech, attracting talent and AI safety Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

UK-US Atlantic Declaration bolsters tech and data collaboration

Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak agree greater collaboration on responsible artificial intelligence, quantum computing and Open RAN Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Researchers in Belgium move towards industrial production of qubits

Using existing equipment and know-how, researchers at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (Imec) in Belgium are finding ways of mass-producing qubits Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

Nvidia CEO sees ChatGPT as iPhone moment for AI

It took the iPhone to kickstart a revolution in mobile phone usage, and Jensen Huang believes datacentres will radically change to support AI workloads Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Can the UK cash in on chips?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, the UK government has committed £1bn to the semiconductor sector – but can it ever compete with the US and China? The potential of 5G networking could transform manufacturing – we examine the implications. And we talk to the global CIO at cloud storage provider Box about plans to incorporate AI and machine learning. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

BASF ramps up petaflops with new Quriosity HPE-build hardware

The AMD-powered 3 petaflops supercomputer will offer BASF the ability to run more complex simulations of chemical processes Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

National semiconductor strategy: Balancing skills, migration and security

The UK government is putting £1bn into semiconductor research and design over the next 10 years to develop a robust chip sector Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Mini-ITX

Mini-ITX is a compact motherboard configuration designed to support relatively low-cost computers in small spaces such as in automobiles, set-top boxes and network devices. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati
• Jason Williams

CTO interview: Europe benefits from energy gains in AMD chips

AMD’s chief technology officer explains how the latest chip technology can help European organisations solve the energy puzzle facing IT departments Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

How lab grown neurons could power the future of AI

Melbourne-based Cortical Labs’ lab grown neurons could speed up AI training in a more energy efficient way and its work has caught the eye of hyperscalers and Amazon’s CTO Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

protected mode

Protected mode, also called protected virtual address mode, is the primary mode of operation for an Intel-based x86 microprocessor. Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

Swedish university demos quantum chemistry simulation

A quantum computer, named after a slaughtered pig, is being used to test a new approach to modelling quantum chemistry Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Windows on ARM: test driving the Lenovo Thinkpad X13s

The ThinkPad X13s is Lenovo’s first notebook PC powered by an ARM chip. Weighing just 1.06 kg, it uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 SC8280XP Processor (3.00 GHz), offers integrated graphics ... Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Pentium

Pentium is a widely used series of microprocessors developed by Intel Corporation. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

Intel co-founder Gordon Moore dies

Moore was instrumental in the pace of development in the tech industry Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Dutch discovery brings energy-efficient computers a step closer

An international group of researchers at the University of Twente have developed a molecular switch that can increase the energy-efficiency of electronics Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

MPs explore how to expand quantum computing in business

Commons Science and Technology Committee is looking for evidence of where the UK’s new quantum strategy needs improvement Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

clock speed

Clock speed is the number of times a second that a circuit operates and is most associated with the central processing unit (CPU). Continue Reading

By

• Gavin Wright

AMD Virtualization (AMD-V)

AMD-V (AMD Virtualization) technology refers to a set of hardware extensions and on-chip features for the AMD family of x86 microprocessors. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

UK government commits £2.5bn to boost quantum

Decade of funding aims to fast-track quantum computing engineers to the UK and drive business adoption of this emerging technology Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

megahertz (MHz)

Megahertz (MHz) is a unit multiplier that represents one million hertz (106 Hz). Hertz is the standard unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI). Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

How Dell is future-proofing its business

Dell Technologies is building a more resilient supply chain, investing in growth areas like edge and multicloud, and responding to shifts in consumption models to position itself for long-term growth Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Dell tells suppliers to diversify fab and backend facilities

Dell calls for chip suppliers to diversify their fabrication and backend facilities by the end of 2024 to improve its supply chain resilience Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

UK seeks head of quantum office

A vacancy on the civil service jobs site suggests the UK’s new quantum strategy is about to be rolled out – and there’s going to be a new chief Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Crédit Agricole tests quantum in finance

The corporate and investment bank has run experiments with Pasqal and Multiverse to demo quantum computing in finance Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

translation lookaside buffer (TLB)

A translation lookaside buffer (TLB) is a type of memory cache that stores recent translations of virtual memory to physical addresses to enable faster retrieval. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

Alibaba: Generative AI among top tech trends in 2023

Alibaba’s research arm Damo Academy has recently published a list of top trends that are likely to shape the technology landscape this year. Chief among them is the rise of generative AI, which ... Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

PC industry sees biggest decline ever, says Gartner

Gartner figures show an industry stuck between high levels of inventory and a lack of affordable products to tempt buyers in the PC market Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

What’s happening with quantum-safe cryptography?

Chinese researchers claim quantum technology is reaching a point where a quantum device will soon be able to crack RSA 2048 public key encryption Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Tech firms failing to address forced labour in supply chains

Subpar due diligence processes in the tech sector – including poor purchasing practices, sparsely implemented collective bargaining coverage, and a lack of redress for workers – is leaving supply chain workers open to abuse, says KnowTheChain Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

thyristor

A thyristor is a four-layer semiconductor device, consisting of alternating P-type and N-type materials (PNPN). Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

debouncing

Debouncing is removing unwanted input noise from buttons, switches or other user input. Continue Reading

By

• Gavin Wright

UK government to assess semiconductor industry

The ongoing global chip crisis, geopolitical tension with China and deal-blocking are the backdrop to this latest review of the UK semiconductor industry. Continue Reading

DCMS to assess UK semiconductor industry

The ongoing global chip crisis, geopolitician tension with China and deal-blocking are the backdrop to this latest assessment Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

microchip

A microchip -- also called a chip, computer chip or integrated circuit (IC) -- is a unit of integrated circuitry that is manufactured at a microscopic scale using a semiconductor material, such as silicon or, to a lesser degree, germanium. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

Government needs to do more for UK semiconductor industry, say MPs

Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee report says the government is putting the UK chip industry at ‘significant risk’ by failing to support it sufficiently, and calls on Whitehall to publish its semiconductor strategy immediately Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

USART (universal synchronous/asynchronous receiver/transmitter)

A USART (universal synchronous/asynchronous receiver/transmitter) is hardware that enables a device to communicate using serial protocols. Continue Reading

By

• Gavin Wright

coulomb (C)

A coulomb (C) is the standard unit of electric charge in the International System of Units (SI). Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

How the US-China chip war will affect IT leaders

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the US ramps up semiconductor sanctions on China, we examine the ramifications across the tech sector. Cyber criminals are turning to new forms of encryption – we talk to the Dutch researchers trying to catch them. And we look at what cloud providers need to do to improve customer experience. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Russia risks shortage of PCs and software

Russian consumers and businesses could face a shortage of IT equipment including PCs and software Continue Reading

By

• Computer Weekly correspondent

embedded device

An embedded device is part of a larger computing system and has a specific purpose. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

SoftIron’s HyperCloud to ease private cloud deployments

SoftIron claims its technology stack fully automates the provisioning of storage, compute, networking and infrastructure services, providing a fully functioning, multi-tenant cloud Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

IBM takes the bits out of deep learning

Computing giant is developing an ASIC optimised for training deep neural networks, which can be plugged into a PC Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Biden ramps up China chip sanctions

The war of words between China and the US has ramifications across the high-tech sector. We report on the latest developments Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Russia ready for complete switch to domestic IT infrastructure

In a bid to counter sanctions imposed following its invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government is implementing a policy of import substitution in the country’s domestic IT sector Continue Reading

By

• Computer Weekly correspondent

Tech Nation announces 13 startups for 11th Future Fifty cohort

Thirteen high-growth startups set to join Tech Nation’s 11th annual Future Fifty programme to help them scale further Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Energy crisis IT impact: Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

In this special edition of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Gartner analyst Tiny Haynes discusses datacentre energy management. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Has Putin started a server revolution?

The European Commission wants Member States to reduce consumption. “Demand reduction is fundamental: it lowers energy bills, ends Putin's ability to weaponise his energy resources, reduces ... Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Does quantum matter? A Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

In this special edition of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Ilyas Khan, CEO of Quantinuum, discusses the quantum computing revolution Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Arm sues Qualcomm over Nuvia tie-up

Qualcomm hopes to integrate Nuvia’s technology into its system-on-a-chip products based on Arm cores – but Arm says this infringes its IP Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Quantum computing: Industrial opportunities

Mainstream quantum computing may be years away, but some companies are finding ways to pilot the technology now, to see if it can deliver tangible business benefits Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Apple to make iPhone 14 in India

Tech giant Apple is ramping up iPhone production in India through contract manufacturer Foxconn in a move that will benefit local consumers and the country’s burgeoning manufacturing industry Continue Reading

By

• Pratima Harigunani

Alibaba Cloud unveils RISC-V chip development platform

The Wujian 600 chip development platform will help developers build systems-on-chip to support edge applications such as home robots, medical imaging and video conferencing Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Indian semiconductor component market to hit $300bn by 2026

India’s semiconductor component market will see cumulative revenues climb to $300bn by 2026, amid growing demand for mobile devices and industrial products Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

operation (computing)

An operation, in computing, is an action that is carried out to accomplish a given task. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

How worsening economic climate impacts IT spending

As inflation rises, purse strings are tightening at the tech giants, which will have a material impact on chipmakers and providers of IT equipment Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

stack pointer

A stack pointer is a small register that stores the memory address of the last data element added to the stack or, in some cases, the first available address in the stack. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

The implications of blockchain in the chip shortage

Blockchain has been a significant contributor to the global chip shortage. Explore the role this rising technology has played. Continue Reading

By

• Alan R. Earls

‘We must do better’ says Gelsinger on Intel’s latest results

Chipmaker has reported a massive decline across its major business divisions Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Quantum researchers advance error handling

Handling errors is one of the hot areas of research to advance quantum computing Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

interrupt

An interrupt is a signal emitted by a device attached to a computer or from a program within the computer. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

UKtech50 2022: The most influential people in UK technology

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we reveal the 50 most influential people in UK IT for 2022, and talk to the winner of the 12th annual UKtech50, National Cyber Security Centre CEO Lindy Cameron. Also, we take an in-depth look at the crisis in chip supply and what’s needed to solve it. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Why is it so hard to fix the chip crisis?

 Continue Reading

How Lenovo is making the transition into services

Although Lenovo is late to the as-a-service game, it is making headway through its One Lenovo and services-led transformation strategies, says a top company executive Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Why is it so hard to fix the chip crisis?

Through subsidies and grants, the EU and the UK are focused on building out local chip manufacturing to alleviate semiconductor shortages Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

US court rules no conflict of interest in tech firms’ mining deaths case

A US district court judge who dismissed a forced labour case against five technology companies was found to have investments in four of the firms, with a separate court now ruling against the victims’ motion for reversal that there was no conflict of interest Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

accumulator

An accumulator is a type of register for short-term, intermediate storage of arithmetic and logic data in a computer's central processing unit (CPU). Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

CEA-Leti and the Silicon Valleys of Grenoble, France

At the intersection of three valleys in the French Alps lies the city of Grenoble, a hotbed of microelectronics, where much of the innovation is fuelled by CEA-Leti Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

UK needs to upskill to achieve quantum advantage

Quantum computing bridges the IT and scientific community, and although it may be years away, skills developed during pilot projects are key Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

IT Sustainability Think Tank: Incorporating circular economy principles into IT procurement

With sustainability moving up the boardroom agenda, CIOs and IT managers should look to revamp their IT procurement strategies to align with the principles of the circular economy, but where should they start? Continue Reading

By

• Craig Melson, TechUK

IT departments need holistic circular economies to fight climate change

With sustainability moving up the boardroom agenda, IT managers should revamp procurement strategies to align with the principles of the circular economy, but what does this mean for managing the IT lifecycle? Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

quad-core processor

A quad-core processor is a chip with four independent units called cores that read and execute central processing unit (CPU) instructions such as add, move data and branch. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

Singapore doubles down on quantum technology

The city-state is shoring up its quantum talent and quantum device manufacturing capabilities in a bid to advance its knowhow in the emerging technology Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

multithreading

Multithreading is the ability of a program or an operating system to enable more than one user at a time without requiring multiple copies of the program running in the computer. Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

New inquiry looks at the state of UK chips

Foreign Affairs Committee is fishing for evidence in a new inquiry assessing skills, security and end-to-end semiconductor supply chain concerns Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Building a pathway to commercial quantum computing

The shortage of expertise in quantum technologies will drive up salaries. A new report from TechUK assesses the route to commercialisation Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

instruction set

An instruction set is a group of commands for a central processing unit (CPU) in machine language. Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

Hardware longevity should be encouraged

Any efforts to improve energy efficiency and cut waste should be applauded. But for every good outcomes, the IT industry seems to take several steps backwards, in its ability to promote energy ... Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

What will a quantum datacentre look like?

IBM has set out plans for hybrid supercomputing, with quantum and classical computing. This impacts both hardware installation and software Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Qualcomm announces Wi-Fi 7 product line

Chip giant announces product line that supports latest version of wireless standard, anticipating a new class of customer systems for current applications and emerging Wi-Fi 7 ecosystem Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

London’s too small for Arm IPO, says Hermann Hauser

Hauser who helped spin out Arm from Acorn, joins campaign for dual London and New York listing, while the PM writes to SoftBank chief Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Prepare for smart robot revolution

While industrial robots are well established, smart robots are being deployed across retail and logistics – but much of the tech is still nascent Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor