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Building a ternary computer at home: a software emulator

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Re: Building a ternary computer at home: a software emulator

#11

Post by pfortuny »

jblazevic wrote: post #10
edf13 wrote: post #5

What could be the main benefits of Ternary vs. Binary computing in real world applications?

It is mathematically the most "economical" integer base in terms of space, when considering complexity of digit representation along with word length [1]. [1] Hayes, B. (2001). Third base. American Scientist 89: 490-494 ( http://lrss.fri.uni-lj.si/sl/teaching/ont/lectures/third_bas... )

Of course the "optimal one" would be base "e" but nobody is going to be able to do anything remotely reasonable with it... (pg. 491 of that manuscript).

Re: Building a ternary computer at home: a software emulator

#12

Post by shakna »

haqreu wrote: post #9
shakna wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was also the Canadian QTC-1. [0] [0] https://jglobal.jst.go.jp/en/detail?JGLOBAL_ID=2009020829793...

This is ROM only, not a fully functioning computer.

Head to the end of the paper about the ROM [0], and you'll find the QTC-1 was the computer said ROM was designed for, not the ROM design itself.

[0] https://wwwee.ee.bgu.ac.il/~kushnero/ternary/Using%20CMOS%20...

Re: Building a ternary computer at home: a software emulator

#13

Post by haqreu »

shakna wrote: post #12
haqreu wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is ROM only, not a fully functioning computer.

Head to the end of the paper about the ROM [0], and you'll find the QTC-1 was the computer said ROM was designed for, not the ROM design itself. [0] https://wwwee.ee.bgu.ac.il/~kushnero/ternary/Using%20CMOS%20...

AFAIK it was never built, only partially designed.

Re: Building a ternary computer at home: a software emulator

#14

Post by ansible »

pfortuny wrote: post #11
jblazevic wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is mathematically the most "economical" integer base in terms of space, when considering complexity of digit representation along with word length [1]. [1] Hayes, B. (2001). Third base. American Scientist 89: 490-494 ( http://lrss.fri.uni-lj.si/sl/teaching/ont/lectures/third_bas... )

Of course the "optimal one" would be base "e" but nobody is going to be able to do anything remotely reasonable with it... (pg. 491 of that manuscript).

Well, you could... if you want to give up discrete integer representation...

Anyway, if ternary is actually optional in practice depends as much on how efficient the ternary logic can be implemented on a silicon process. If you increase integer storage efficiency by 10%, but circuit density decreases, maybe you're not getting enough value.

Re: Building a ternary computer at home: a software emulator

#17

Post by charlieo88 »

Beautiful!

I once tried using ternary to explain to a semi-retired mainframe programmer how we wanted to modify a binary field to have more than two choices. He was so mad and insisted you can't just MAKE UP MATH when explaining your project goals. This project would have made his head explode.

Re: Building a ternary computer at home: a software emulator

#18

Post by kens »

If you're interested in research, the International Symposium on Multivalued Logic has been studying this area for 50 years: http://www.mvl.jpn.org/ISMVL2020/

As far as practical applications of non-binary circuitry, the Intel 8087 math co-processor used 4-level circuitry in its ROM. (This chip was used in the IBM PC.) Intel needed to do this to fit the large microcode ROM on the chip. The chip's logic, though, was regular binary. http://www.righto.com/2018/09/two-bits-per-transistor-high-d...

Re: Building a ternary computer at home: a software emulator

#19

Post by wolrah »

kens wrote: post #18

If you're interested in research, the International Symposium on Multivalued Logic has been studying this area for 50 years: http://www.mvl.jpn.org/ISMVL2020/ As far as practical applications of non-binary circuitry, the Intel 8087 math co-processor used 4-level circuitry in its ROM. (This chip was used in the IBM PC.) Intel needed to do this to fit the large microcode ROM on the chip. The chip's logic, though, was r…

> As far as practical applications of non-binary circuitry, the Intel 8087 math co-processor used 4-level circuitry in its ROM. (This chip was used in the IBM PC.) Intel needed to do this to fit the large microcode ROM on the chip.

Also, as noted at the bottom of that article, most modern flash storage uses multi-level cell technologies that allow two, three, or four bits of data to be stored per memory cell rather than just one. This obviously significantly increases data density and allows for cheaper drives at the cost of reduced write performance, reduced endurance, and more error correction being necessary for reliable operation.

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