I just saw this at CNET: IBM speeds Java on mainframes. The first line of the article reads:
The zSeries Application Assist Processor (zAAP) is essentially a dedicated processor for Java applications.
Made me think:
Hmm. Wouldn’t a microprocessor that runs .NET IL be cool? I would assume it would be possible. I wonder if it is economically viable? I wonder if anyone will (ever) build one?
Not being a hardware dude, though, I really have no idea; does anyone reading this have enough real knowledge on the subject to comment? If so, I’d love to hear it. It just seems like a way cool idea to me.
Though, if someone did make one, I’d hate to see it cost $125k per CPU!
Hi Mike,
I went to a talk by Neal Glew, who works in Intel’s VM research division. They’re building a virtual machine that runs Java and .NET bytecode/IL. From talking with Neal, it seems that the purpose of the research is not for virtual machine sales, but so that Intel can better understand the demands that a VM makes on their chips, and where to develop or modify their chips to make things work more efficiently.
Anyway, that’s nothing concrete, just that Intel are thinking about this sort of thing (which is no surprise).
My homepage link points to my short summary of the talk.
Kirk
Very cool!
I’m sure this is a business that Transmeta is pretty close to as well.
Double cool!