The world’s first wireless CPU prototype breaks cover and could pave the way for a world of seamless modular computing β but for now it still requires a physical power connection
Tokyo-based semiconductor startup Premo (a Latin word meaning “to be close”) has unveiled what it says is the world’s first CPU prototype with inter-chip wireless connections.
This new chip uses Premo’s proprietary technology, Dualibus, which was developed in collaboration with the Irie and Kadomoto Laboratory of the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, University of Tokyo.
Conventional semiconductor chips require physical boards and wiring to pass signals between chips, but Premo’s Dualibus technology uses the principles of magnetic field coupling to allow the chips to communicate wirelessly.
Physical connection for power
Premo says the chip integrates a CPU, sensor, power supply and communications module and uses chip-to-chip wireless connection technology and the company’s proprietary CPU design to deliver a miniaturized device that reduces the need for circuit boards and wiring .
The company, founded in February 2020, envisions the chip’s application in a number of industries, such as infrastructure, vehicles, consumer goods, livestock and IoT. It can even be installed in locations that cannot accommodate traditional, bulkier processors.
Dualibus-equipped chips could reduce the number of pads on silicon wafers, making more efficient use of the semiconductor area, resulting in smaller, flexible device shapes. Premo suggests: βTaking advantage of the proximity and wireless connection between the transmit coil in the thumb and the receive coil in the knuckle, it can be used as a new user interface in AR/VR environments.β
Premo’s breakthrough could potentially pave the way for more cost-effective chips that use fewer raw materials. The company is currently exploring the possibility of making mail-packed chiplets by arranging millimeter-sized chips.