Comment Similar Idea to EnerJ Language (Score 3, Interesting) 128
The idea of fault tolerable computing is similar to the EnerJ programming language being developed at the University of Washington for power savings The Language of Good Enough Computing
The jist of the idea is that the programmer can specify which variables need to be exact and which variables can be approximate. The approximate variables would then be stored a low refresh RAM which is more prone to errors to save power, while the precise variables would be stored a higher power memory which would be error free.
The example they gave was calculating the average shade of grey in a large image of 1000 by 1000 pixels. The running total could be held in an approximate variable since the error incurred by adding one pixel incorrectly out of a million would be small, while the control loop variable would be accurate since you wouldn't want your loop to overflow.
The jist of the idea is that the programmer can specify which variables need to be exact and which variables can be approximate. The approximate variables would then be stored a low refresh RAM which is more prone to errors to save power, while the precise variables would be stored a higher power memory which would be error free.
The example they gave was calculating the average shade of grey in a large image of 1000 by 1000 pixels. The running total could be held in an approximate variable since the error incurred by adding one pixel incorrectly out of a million would be small, while the control loop variable would be accurate since you wouldn't want your loop to overflow.
