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Abstract
The primary contribution of computer technology to society is not PCs, the Internet, or supercomputing for "grand challenge" problems; it is the ability to make an amazing range of ordinary devices intelligent. Programmable control is everywhere -- except where the circuit complexity of a microcontroller per device cannot be accommodated and routing signals from many devices to a centralized controller is impractical.
Over the past four years, we have been creating technologies that will allow a parallel computer containing as many as millions of independently programmable "nanocontrollers" to be embedded to control an image sensor or display, MEMS chip, or array of nanofabricated devices. Despite requiring as few as ~100 transistors per nanocontroller, a conventional C-based programming environment is supported. This talk will overview nanocontroller concepts, current status of the research, and opportunities for collaboration.