How Optical Switches Can Cut AI Hyperscale Data Center Power by 40%

I’m about to wax eloquent on a new generation of optical switches that are poised to revolutionize the communication capacity and performance of data centers—especially the AI and hyperscale flavors (ooh, tasty—and very real, as operators like Google have already proven)—while also cutting power by 40%, but first…

The phrase “It’s a funny old world, and no mistake” is an informal, colloquial British … Read More → "How Optical Switches Can Cut AI Hyperscale Data Center Power by 40%"

The Electrified Skies: Battery Design Challenges for Electric Aircraft

In this week’s podcast, we are investigating the challenges of designing batteries for electric aircraft with Dr. Graham Dudgeon from MathWorks. Graham has some great insights on how modeling and simulation are helping aerospace engineers tackle the thermal, electrical, and mechanical complexities of these cutting-edge power systems. Graham and I also chat about … Read More → "The Electrified Skies: Battery Design Challenges for Electric Aircraft"

Efficient Computer’s Efficient Computer is 100X More Energy Efficient than Other General-Purpose Processors

I remember the heady days of the 1970s, when new and exciting 8-bit processor architectures were sprouting like metaphorical mushrooms. I’m sure that, like me, you are thinking of little beauties like the 8008 (1972), 8080 (1974), and 8085 (1976) from Intel, the 6800 (1974) from Motorola, the 6502 (1975) from MOS Technology, and the Z80 (1976) from Zilog.

However, there were many other contenders that deserve mention, such as the 8-bit PPS-8 (1974) from Rockwell International, which … Read More → "Efficient Computer’s Efficient Computer is 100X More Energy Efficient than Other General-Purpose Processors"

January 15, 2026
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featured chalk talk

eUSB2 Redriver (Non-Retiming Repeater)
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Dong Nguyen from NXP and Amelia Dalton explore the features of NXP’s PTN3222 eUSB Redriver. They investigate how it overcomes signal integrity challenges and why it’s the ideal solution for ensuring seamless compatibility between your cutting-edge silicon and the world of standard USB 2.0.
Jan 12, 2026
1,074 views

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Revolutionizing AI Chip Development: Synopsys Solutions for the Future

Sponsored by Synopsys

In the AI era, demand for advanced chips is soaring, creating scaling and power challenges. Discover how Synopsys accelerates AI chip development with innovative solutions, robust partnerships, and cutting-edge silicon IP for first-pass silicon success.

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discussion
Posted on Jan 15 at 11:09am by monsonite
Max, A Nvidia H200 needs 600W to run, and a further 400W to circulate its coolant. That is more energy input than an average European house. We are literally turning hydrocarbons into teraflops, or petaflops or whatever. What do these teraflops do for us? Well Trump is going to get ...
Posted on Jan 15 at 7:11am by Max Maxfield
Although not related to my current 4-bit CPU project, you might find my old HRRG Computer concept to be of interest: https://www.clivemaxfield.com/diycalculator/sp-hrrgcomp.shtml
Posted on Jan 14 at 10:52am by monsonite
I disagree, the 74181 was a convenient kludge. It is long dead - so no need to worship it anymore. If you don't nail your colours to its mast, you can probably come up with something much better for a lower transistor count. How about 40 simple gates, for something that is ...
Posted on Jan 14 at 10:37am by monsonite
Max, I will link your blog to all my members in Minimalist Computing. Part of the groups' activities is to study early, simpler machines, and find ways to implement them using readily available parts. We try to stick to a list of 60 or so 74HC parts that can still be ...
Posted on Jan 14 at 8:01am by Max Maxfield
WOW! That IS tasty -- Led-Transistor Logic (LTL) -- who would have "thunk"?
Posted on Jan 14 at 7:59am by Max Maxfield
Not yet -- it's evolving as we speak -- we just added the ability to select between 8-bit and 12-bit addressing. Just to add to the fun, we can switch the addressing mode under program control on the fly (that should give disassemblers a bit of a headache LOL). Just ...
Posted on Jan 14 at 7:54am by Max Maxfield
This is very interesting -- re the shifts and rotates, rather than a 194 shift register, I was planning on implementing them via combinatorial logic in the form of multiplexers -- re the Facebook group, I'm not on Facebook, but I'm sure many other readers of this column are.
Posted on Jan 14 at 4:42am by monsonite
You might be interested in this modern equivalent. Each gate has a forward biassed LED built into the base circuit of the transistor inverter. Not only does it provide an essential voltage hurdle, which improves noise immunity, but every gate lights up. This hackaday project built a very small 8-bit ...
Posted on Jan 14 at 4:34am by monsonite
Do you have any further online documentation of what you propose?
Posted on Jan 14 at 4:26am by monsonite
Hi Max, Looking forward to the next update on your 4-bit explorations. Many years ago (2004) Dieter Muller wrote a great article on how to use multiplexers to build ALUs. http://6502.org/users/dieter/a1/a1_4.htm A 4-input mux, like a 74xx153 can generate all 16 Boolean combinations of 2 input bits. ...
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featured blogs
Jan 13, 2026
The last thing I need at the moment is yet another project, but I'm sorely tempted by the Framework Laptop 12 DIY Edition....
Unlocking Cost-Effective and Low-Power Edge AI Solutions
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Miguel Castro from STMicroelectronics and Amelia Dalton explore how you can jump-start the evaluation, prototyping, and design your next edge AI application. They also investigate the details of the cost-effective and lower power edge AI solutions from STMicroelectronics and how the tools, the ecosystem, and STMicroelectronics MCUs are enabling sophisticated AI inference right on the device.
Jan 15, 2026
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Power-over-Coax (PoC): Solutions for Automotive SerDes
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High-Speed FAKRA-Mini Interconnect System
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Simplifying Position Control with Advanced Stepper Motor Driver
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