Computer hardware that reconfigures itslef

[tedster]

[newscientist.com...]

An experimental supercomputer made from hardware that can reconfigure itself to tackle different software problems is being built by researchers in Scotland.

The system under construction at the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre - part of Edinburgh University, UK - will use Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chips instead of conventional microprocessors.

FPGAs can be reconfigured using software to mimic computer processing equipment that is physically designed to take on specialised tasks. In contrast, conventional microprocessors are designed to act as fixed, general purpose processing devices. Each FPGA chip consists of a block of programmable logic gates that can be electronically organised into different types of circuit.

[oddsod]

>> will use Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chips instead of conventional microprocessors.

Er, isn't that what current Intel processors [google.com] are?

[snowman]

I can just imagine the "fun" that would ensue if someone wrote a virus for just such a system.