ASIC chips

A Few of the Ways ASIC Chips are integrated into Newer Technologies

/in /by

Technologies of today are indeed getting more advanced thanks to the integration of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). In the world where processes are done in a repeated function, it is important to use dependable systems like ASICs designed for a very specific purpose.

 

 

Here are some ways in which ASIC chips are used in newer technology these days:

 

Tensor Processing Units (TPU) of Google

A type of ASIC designed to run key deep learning algorithms, which is part of the TensorFlow machine learning framework. Originally, Google used CPUs and GPUs for training machine learning models. A new generation of TPUs has then been developed to both train and run the models. TensorFlow, as an open-source machine learning library developed by Google, not only runs best on TPUs but also on both CPUs and GPUs.

 

 

Blockchain

Many cryptocurrencies to discover blocks by running hashing algorithms and these discoveries may increase in difficulty over time with more blocks being found. As a result, the difficulty will lead to an arms race of computing power resulting in the ASICs overtaking CPUs and GPUs.

 

For instance, Bitcoin was first mined on CPUs and GPUs. However, the first Bitcoin ASICs were created in 2013, which was intended to run the SHA-256 hashing algorithm for more efficient and faster processing compared to general-purpose chips. As a result, CPUs and GPUs have become obsolete for this function.

 

The market has become very popular that even Samsung, the world leader in chip manufacturing, is supplying ASIC chips for mining cryptocurrency. Some companies, like Bitmain, are now turning their experience in ASIC into artificial intelligence, competing with the likes of Google and AWS.

 

 

IoT ‘edge’ Devices

Circuits embedded into smart devices have become the driving force of the digital revolution. In fact, custom-built ASICs are used by IoT devices themselves to reduce the physical space on the chip and they function under low energy demands.

 

IoT kits connect cloud platforms such as AWS IoT Core, Google Cloud, or TensorFlow which may also run ASICs. Basically, IoT devices are able to utilize ASIC chip technologies to gather data with the use of sensors, push the said data into algorithm models running on cloud-based ASICs, and send alerts from the model back to the end-user.

 

 

Multi-Cloud

It is important to view enterprise IT holistically as a multi-cloud environment. Normally, enterprise IT powers all things from social media to sports events to ATMs. In other words, digital businesses in today’s world would rely on a combination of private or public cloud and on-premises hardware.

 

 

Nowadays, ASIC chip technologies are powering digital transformation and beginning to play a pivotal role in data centers. The problem is the integration of ASICs with conventional CPUs and GPUs within the multi-cloud environment. Moreover, IT leaders today should be concerned about the costs through the lifecycle of software development and production deployment.

 

Therefore, risks are to be taken by IT leaders of today due to technological obsolescence, which could be the burden of those companies disrupting the digital economy. Perhaps developing custom ASIC chips could be a possible option for digital leaders taking an edge at the forefront of their markets.

 

 

 

Linear MicroSystems, Inc. is proud to offer its services worldwide as well as the surrounding areas and cities around our Headquarters in Irvine, CA: Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Fountain Valley, Anaheim, Orange County, Fullerton, and Los Angeles.