Has Moore’s Law Been Repealed?

Alex Bard
Published: 2006-06-01

Moore's Law may have been repealed, only to be replaced by the "More Than Moore's Law" which could be in place by 2010 (Coincidentally, the year in which the second of Arthur Clarke's ‘Space Odyssey' Series takes place.)

Briefly, Moore's Law holds that the number of transistors on an IC doubles every 18 months. In the world of computers, that means increased chip speed and more functions.

But Moore's Law ICs only deal with 10 percent of the system. The remaining 90 percent stays fixed for the most part because you are dealing with passive components like capacitors, antenna, resistors, filters and switches -all connected on a printed circuit board.

The Microsystems Packaging Research Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta, has found a way to leap Moore's Law and create real miniaturization by something called system-on-package (SOP) approach.

SOP combines ICs with micrometer-scale thin-film versions of discrete components. Then it embeds everything in a type of package so small that handhelds will eventually become anything from multi- to megafunctional devices.

SOP products can be developed for wireless communications, computing and entertainment. If sensors are added, SOPs could enable equipment to detect all kinds of substances in the environment, food and the human body, and whether or not the substances in question are toxic or benign.

Eventually, there will be the ability with these SOPs to produce capsules small enough to be introduced into the human body to monitor daily personal health by checking vital signs and then wirelessly signal if something is awry. Or the capsule could be used to deliver drugs in regular intervals.

It's even possible that a hub the size of a credit card could be used for home function control and entertainment. It would combine video, data, voice, a computer, a cell phone and environmental sensors.

The future is now. If they would just invent those darn flying cars!