Moore's law has not been holding as of late when you consider the speed. Over the last 10 years or so they have been focusing on eliminating the massive heat sinks required to continue on the earlier path (there have been CPUs dissipating as much heat as a 100 watt lightbulb) with the result that CPU clock speed has not improved at all and CPU performance only trickles ahead each year. So process improvements are no longer a salvation.
The real issue is that it is silly to think there is no cost to using ever increasing amounts of CPU performance. John's own project used a CPU/FPGA which was designed in, only to find he unexpectedly required a bloody CPU fan over the chip. Yeah, he still has room to replace that with an x86 and a GPU or even a bank of GPUs. But at some point Samaritan will decide the computer is a threat and have Decima kill John. So it is a slippery slope.
Rick
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DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
On Fri, 03 Jul 2015 12:23:56 -0400, Joe Gwinn Gave us:
That would make *you* "The Fifth Element". (or Fifth Elemental) :-)
J
John Larkin
On Fri, 03 Jul 2015 12:21:53 -0400, DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno wrote:
I've got several versions, fiddled with now and then in my spare time. Can't recall if I posted the "latest" one. It will certainly change some when it gets to be a real-world PCB schematic. The customer(s) already want more voltage at the Widget, so I need maybe 1400 from the supply, no big deal, just tweak the feedback.
This is about it for now, until I get a purchase order. The sim helped estimate parts cost and board size and such.
SYMATTR Type ind SYMATTR SpiceLine Ipk=3.0 Rser=0.01 Cpar=1pF SYMBOL ind2 592 32 R180 WINDOW 0 -22 77 Right 2 WINDOW 3 -12 42 Right 2 SYMATTR InstName L2
SYMATTR Type ind SYMATTR SpiceLine Ipk=20 Rser=1m Cpar=2pF SYMBOL nmos 528 112 R0 WINDOW 0 114 48 Left 2 WINDOW 3 75 84 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName Q1 SYMATTR Value Si9420DY SYMBOL res 560 272 R0 WINDOW 0 66 54 Left 2 WINDOW 3 48 88 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName R1 SYMATTR Value 100m SYMBOL res 128 -64 R0 WINDOW 0 -50 33 Left 2 WINDOW 3 -52 64 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName R2 SYMATTR Value 1K SYMBOL res 928 208 M180 WINDOW 0 -97 78 Left 2 WINDOW 3 -114 42 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName R3 SYMATTR Value 7Meg SYMBOL res 928 400 M180 WINDOW 0 -74 64 Left 2 WINDOW 3 -80 31 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName R4 SYMATTR Value 20K SYMBOL cap 1072 -32 R0 WINDOW 0 -61 25 Left 2 WINDOW 3 -64 58 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName C1 SYMATTR Value 66n SYMATTR SpiceLine Rser=10m SYMBOL res 80 400 R90 WINDOW 0 7 110 VBottom 2 WINDOW 3 29 111 VTop 2 SYMATTR InstName R5 SYMATTR Value 20K SYMBOL cap -80 368 R180 WINDOW 0 -55 64 Left 2 WINDOW 3 -62 31 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName C2 SYMATTR Value 10n SYMBOL voltage -96 -64 R0 WINDOW 123 -220 84 Left 2 WINDOW 0 50 34 Left 2 WINDOW 3 50 66 Left 2 WINDOW 39 0 0 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName V1 SYMATTR Value 24 SYMBOL res 1168 -48 R0 WINDOW 0 63 38 Left 2 WINDOW 3 64 71 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName R250 SYMATTR Value 250K SYMATTR SpiceLine pwr=12 SYMBOL res -32 -96 R270 WINDOW 0 43 61 VTop 2 WINDOW 3 -9 58 VBottom 2 SYMATTR InstName Rmon SYMATTR Value 1m SYMBOL cap 64 -224 R90 WINDOW 0 -47 29 VBottom 2 WINDOW 3 -40 30 VTop 2 SYMATTR InstName C4 SYMATTR Value 50m SYMBOL diode 784 -96 R270 WINDOW 0 -31 30 VTop 2 WINDOW 3 -32 31 VBottom 2 SYMATTR InstName D2 SYMBOL diode 960 -160 R180 WINDOW 0 56 41 Left 2 WINDOW 3 64 9 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName D1 SYMBOL cap 784 -256 R270 WINDOW 0 111 33 VTop 2 WINDOW 3 104 34 VBottom 2 SYMATTR InstName C6 SYMATTR Value 22n SYMBOL cap 1200 -176 R180 WINDOW 0 -59 45 Left 2 WINDOW 3 -65 15 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName C7 SYMATTR Value 22n SYMBOL diode 1040 -256 R270 WINDOW 0 72 33 VTop 2 WINDOW 3 67 33 VBottom 2 SYMATTR InstName D3 SYMBOL res 1552 -256 R0 WINDOW 0 -119 60 Left 2 WINDOW 3 -116 97 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName R1200 SYMATTR Value 600K SYMBOL diode 1200 -336 R180 WINDOW 0 58 38 Left 2 WINDOW 3 63 6 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName D4 SYMBOL cap 1392 -336 R180 WINDOW 0 44 0 Left 2 WINDOW 3 36 -31 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName C5 SYMATTR Value 22n SYMBOL diode 1248 -416 R270 WINDOW 0 -34 31 VTop 2 WINDOW 3 -37 31 VBottom 2 SYMATTR InstName D5 SYMBOL cap 1024 -416 R270 WINDOW 0 77 32 VTop 2 WINDOW 3 71 33 VBottom 2 SYMATTR InstName C8 SYMATTR Value 22n SYMBOL diode 1392 -512 R180 WINDOW 0 -37 -6 Left 2 WINDOW 3 -27 -35 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName D6 SYMBOL cap 1440 -416 R270 WINDOW 0 -39 32 VTop 2 WINDOW 3 -49 30 VBottom 2 SYMATTR InstName C9 SYMATTR Value 22n SYMBOL diode 1440 -592 R270 WINDOW 0 -31 30 VTop 2 WINDOW 3 -32 31 VBottom 2 SYMATTR InstName D7 SYMBOL cap 1248 -592 R270 WINDOW 0 -38 33 VTop 2 WINDOW 3 -43 34 VBottom 2 SYMATTR InstName C10 SYMATTR Value 22n SYMBOL res 448 240 R90 WINDOW 0 68 52 VBottom 2 WINDOW 3 75 53 VTop 2 SYMATTR InstName R7 SYMATTR Value 5K SYMBOL res 448 176 R90 WINDOW 0 -44 52 VBottom 2 WINDOW 3 -37 53 VTop 2 SYMATTR InstName R8 SYMATTR Value 33 SYMBOL res 432 48 R90 WINDOW 0 -40 54 VBottom 2 WINDOW 3 -33 55 VTop 2 SYMATTR InstName R6 SYMATTR Value 1K SYMBOL cap 272 -64 R0 WINDOW 0 -44 24 Left 2 WINDOW 3 -47 58 Left 2 SYMATTR InstName C3 SYMATTR Value 47p SYMBOL cap 48 48 R90 WINDOW 0 7 -4 VBottom 2 WINDOW 3 24 -2 VTop 2 SYMATTR InstName C11
TEXT 536 -160 Bottom 2 !K1 L1 L2 1 TEXT 216 -408 Left 2 !.tran 12ms startup TEXT 472 -224 Left 2 ;DRQ127 1:1 TEXT 736 272 Left 2 ;0.8V TEXT 992 -224 Left 2 ;MMBD5004 TEXT 112 -472 Left 2 ;HV SUPPLY J LARKIN June 30, 2015 TEXT 792 -312 Left 2 ;500V
John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing laser drivers and controllers
jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
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DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
On Fri, 03 Jul 2015 10:23:50 -0700, John Larkin Gave us:
Or add one more multiplier stage, since you are well below any power requisite. It would probably run even better.
J
John Larkin
Either way, but fewer parts is better; it's looking lopsided already. Adding another mult stage reduces my HV1 output, which is more than I need anyhow.
Looks like 2 mA at 1400 volts will be plenty, so that cheap stock Coiltronics transformer is still OK.
The real advantage, to me, of using Spice here, is evaluating the magnetics. Magnetics tend to be a pain. Spice computes the peak and RMS coil currents, something I prefer not to do any other way.
I could buy a potted brick proportional (unregulated) HV supply for a bit over $100, but it wouldn't make HV1 and I might need to close a feedback loop around it to nail the output voltage. And it wouldn't be as much fun.
John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing laser drivers and controllers
jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
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DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
On Fri, 03 Jul 2015 10:45:15 -0700, John Larkin Gave us:
Their problem is that there are few, if not no models of xformers with a single turn feedback winding in their libraries, and adding one doesn't work, because it needs to be magnetically coupled. So even their modeling structure needs work.
That is one of the main reasons I do not model my supplies with it, as I *do* use a feedback winding.
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Lasse Langwadt Christensen
Den fredag den 3. juli 2015 kl. 20.35.39 UTC+2 skrev DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno:
you just add the inductors and tell it what the coupling between is
formatting link
-Lasse
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DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
On Fri, 3 Jul 2015 11:44:55 -0700 (PDT), Lasse Langwadt Christensen Gave us:
Thanks. It was years ago I gave up on them. Perhaps now, they have facilitated said couplings (obviously so). I give it a gander.
J
John Larkin
My HV supply model has a transformer made from two coupled inductors; I didn't use a transformer model. Just plop down a couple of inductors L1 and L2 and add a Spice directive anywhere on the screen
K L1 L2 N
where N is the coupling coefficient. N=1 is perfect coupling. K1 does slow down the simulation.
Just make the L1/L2 inductance ratio the square of the turns ratio.
You can name several inductors in the K statement, for more windings.
You can add coil ohms into each inductor, or just add resistors outside of ideal inductors. Similarly, you can tweak N down to fake leakage inductance, or add separate visible inductors.
I try to use stock surface-mount parts whenever I can. Those DRQ-series dual inductors can be very handy. As can 4-winding ISDN transformers.
John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing laser drivers and controllers
jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
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krw
Nah. They'll just bail out the culprets. As usual.
The problem with a small tax is that it won't stay small. How about a
1sec delay in reporting sale prices? Perhaps even dithering the delay.
J
John Larkin
The tax could be inverse on holding time, tapering to zero after, say,
5 years. That would change a lot.
John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing laser drivers and controllers
jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
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DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
On Fri, 03 Jul 2015 20:00:08 -0400, krw Gave us:
The term is 'culprits'. Maybe you should delay sends and proofread for a few seconds. Oh... that's right... you thought that was the correct spelling.
R
Robert Baer
...and for dynamic graphing, use Visual Cobol.
M
Martin Brown
Moore's law never made any claims about speed. It was specifically about the number density of transistors on a given area of silicon.
For a long while it did translate to speed gain as features got smaller with lower capacitance, higher frequencies and lower working voltages.
The time to triple the performance of bleeding edge CPUs has gone from about 2-3 years in the old days to about 5-6 years now. The absolute performance of most desktop PCs is now well beyond what any normal user will ever need apart from for video editing, gaming and running spice.
In some gaming PCs the video card has vastly more compute power than the main CPU and for the right problems there are libraries to exploit it directly like NVidias CUDA.
formatting link
Although you could interpret what he said to mean that. I took it to mean the much more sensible position that modern CPUs are already so fast that you can afford to lose some performance to gain *reliability*.
The singularity is coming - beware. We are already letting computers design new bigger chips that no individual human can fully comprehend.
Deterministic number crunching computers are safe enough but when they have neural net hardware or a software simulation of it on a sufficient scale to exceed the human brain connectivity all bets are off.
Regards,
Martin Brown
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Jasen Betts
it's using the wrong function strncopy is for writting to null padded records, where maximal strings are unterminated.
if you want a length limit and a nul at the end use sprintf
sprintf(dest,"%.*s",len-1,src);
umop apisdn
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DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 09:19:35 +0100, Martin Brown Gave us:
Slow light technology will usher in a simple 4 bit optical computer that puts them all to shame.
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Tom Del Rosso
Moore's law will last forever if people keep re-defining it. The number of transistors doubled every year, like Moore said it would, from 1959 to about
1982. Then we hit the first wall. Carver Mead re-wrote the book on VLSI and it continued to double every 1.5 years until about 2000. Since then it has doubled every 2 years. When it doubles every 20 years people will still call it Moore's law. It is continued progress, but it isn't Moore's law.
T
Tom Del Rosso
Build an analog computer.
E
E. Kappos
but most likely would destabilize the ...government!
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Tom Del Rosso
I roll my eyes when I hear "Moore's law" and the "computing power of a chip" in the same sentence. He stated his law when a chip had 4 transistors. Since you can't make a computer with 4, it makes no sense to speak of the computing power of a chip.
What we need is a breakthrough in 3D structures. In 2D we're limited to a few connections per transistor, and a few per gate. It's connections-per-element that will make HAL possible.
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