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Defect-Tolerance in Cellular Nanocomputers

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Abstract

For the manufacturing of computers built by nanotechnology, defects are expected to be a major problem. This paper explores this issue for nanocomputers based on cellular automata. Known for their regular structure, such architectures promise cost-effective manufacturing based on molecular self-organization. We show how a cellular automaton can detect defects in a self-contained way, and how it configures circuits on its cells while avoiding the defects. The employed cellular automaton is asynchronous, i.e., it does not require a central clock to synchronize the updates of its cells. This mode of timing is especially suitable for the high integration densities of nanotechnology implementations, since it potentially causes less heat dissipation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Computer Engineering, University of Hyogo, 2167 Shosha, Himeji, Hyogo, 671-2280, Japan

    Teijiro Isokawa & Shin’ya Kowada

  2. Canopus Co., Ltd, 1-2-2 Murotani, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 651-2241, Japan

    Yousuke Takada

  3. Nano ICT group, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, 588-2 Iwaoka, Iwaoka-cho, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 651-2492, Japan

    Ferdinand Peper

  4. Division of Computer Engineering, University of Hyogo, 2167 Shosha, Himeji, Hyogo, 671-2280, Japan

    Naotake Kamiura & Nobuyuki Matsui

Authors
  1. Teijiro Isokawa
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  2. Shin’ya Kowada
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  3. Yousuke Takada
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  4. Ferdinand Peper
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  5. Naotake Kamiura
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  6. Nobuyuki Matsui
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Teijiro Isokawa.

Additional information

A short version of this paper was presented at the IEEE-Nano Conf. on 12 July, 2005 in Nagoya, Japan.

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Isokawa, T., Kowada, S., Takada, Y. et al. Defect-Tolerance in Cellular Nanocomputers. New Gener. Comput. 25, 171–199 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00354-007-0010-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00354-007-0010-z

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