WORLD FIRST AT FABRIAM
13 March 2006
Once again, the Fabriam Centre at Silverlink is the location for a technology first.
New tenants at the technology centre, Northern Digital have developed a ground breaking computer chip which is set to revolutionise work in applications such as computer graphics, communications and digital filtering.
Initially a spin-off from Newcastle University, Northern Digital has established a base at Fabriam to further develop the technology, known as the European Logarithmic Microprocessor (ELM). They also hope to copy the track record of other firms based at Fabriam and fully realise the commercial potential of the breakthrough.
Nick Coleman, chief engineer and the brains behind the ELM commented: "This really is a world first. Increased speed has always been the holy grail in chip design, but there is a limit to how fast a device can work. The ELM is a processor that simply does more with the available speed by using Logarithms. For some operations, our chip is forty times faster than a typical competing product."
The initial concepts grew from a paper published by Nick Coleman in 1995, which prompted an ESPRIT project involving Newcastle University, Philips Research, the Czech Academy of Sciences and University College Dublin.
Since then, Coleman and his team spent much time in the lab in their quest to develop such dramatic boosts in speed when compared with conventional technology and produced their first prototypes in 2002.
Now, UK government SMART funding has enabled Northern Digital to establish a business base at one of the North East's leading locations for technology firms.
"Our new product is set to revolutionise a wide spectrum of applications and our first line of development will be for specialised graphics chips", said Nick.
He added: "Fabriam has an excellent track record of companies taking leading edge products into the commercial market. We needed a new base for our four staff that will allow the company to grow as our product takes off and Fabriam is providing the ideal choice."