New Way to Patch Defective Hardware

brunascle writes "Researchers have devised a new way to patch hardware. By treating a computer chip more like software than hardware, Josep Torrellas, a computer science professor from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, believes we will be able to fix defective hardware by a applying a patch, similar to the way defective software is handled. His system, dubbed Phoenix, consists of a standard semiconductor device called a field programmable gate array (FPGA). Although generally slower than their application-specific integrated circuit counterparts, FPGAs have the advantage of being able to be modified post-production. Defects found on a Phoenix-enabled chip could be resolved by downloading a patch and applying it to the hardware. Torrellas believes this would give chips a shorter time to market, saying "If they know that they could fix the problems later on, they could beat the competition to market.""

Wait a sec...

[Kryptonian Jor-El]

"If they know that they could fix the problems later on, they could beat the competition to market."

That sounds like vista to me...except for the fixing problems later on part...and the beating competition to market...
What was my point again?

Phoenix, eh?

[R.Mo_Robert]

Hmm, he might want to work on changing the name from Phoenix. Good thing the summary says its only "dubbed Phoenix," not that it's the final name.

What's that you say? No, "Firebird" won't work, either...

Re:The latest news... from 1984...

[vivaoporto]

But you don't get it. This is news because it is a new way to Patch Defective Hardware ... in space!!! [slashdot.org]

Re:Wait a sec...

[Frank T. Lofaro Jr.]

What competition is there to Vista?

Linux doesn't even come close in consuming memory and adding vulnerabilities, but it is catching up! :)

Re:So from a customer viewpoint

[26199]

Well, it's a marketing strategy that's worked well for Microsoft.

Re:But, quality _will_ suffer...

[ozphx]

>> "If they know that they could fix the problems later on, they could beat the competition to market."

> So now, consumers will be providing beta testing services for the hardware, in addition to the software.

So what the parent is basically saying:

"Look out for the new EA Console(tm), coming soon to a store near you! Runs* all your favourite games!"

Re:WTF?

[noidentity]

Yeah really, we all know how much more reliable software is compared to currently hard-to-patch hardware. I just can't wait until we have patchable atoms. "Sorry, we've just found that the new-fangled carbon atoms making up all 2032 cars will self-destruct in one week. Please install this new patch, which will take a day to complete transmutation."

d00dz: shut up

[smittyoneeach]

We've got the USPTO convinced that "Prior Art" is just paintings by a moderately famous black comedian with a penchant for potty-mouth.
Don't screw this up, m'kay?

Re:Phoenix, eh?

[Godji]

Heh, I got a good one: how about.... IceWeasel!!!