Moore's law
Chip density prediction
Moore's law is the observation that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles approximately every two years, with costs halving.
Named after Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, who proposed it in 1965, the principle guided semiconductor industry expectations for decades: Moore's law predicted exponential growth in computing power.
Though not a physical law, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy as companies planned around it.
Recent years have seen debate about whether Moore's law is slowing or has reached its limits.
Multiplying by two
- exponentialIncreasing by constant ratio
- growthIncrease in size
- scalingClimbing or resizing
- trajectoryPath of moving object
forecast · trend · timeline · roadmap · observation · empirical · projection · extrapolation
Semiconductor switching devices
- siliconMetalloid in electronics
- chipsThin fried slices
- microprocessorsChips that execute programs
- circuitryInterconnected electronic components
integrated circuit · fabrication · wafer · lithography · photolithography · CMOS · die · gate
Decreasing expenditure amounts
- affordabilityState of being purchasable
- commoditizationReduction to undifferentiated goods
- investmentDeploying capital for returns
- R&DCreating new products
capital expenditure · yields · manufacturing · Intel · Samsung
Carrying out a task
- speedRate of motion
- capacityMaximum amount containable
- frequencyRate of recurrence
- clock speedProcessor cycle rate
throughput · efficiency · hardware · processors · memory · DRAM · compute · parallelism
At the termination of
- slowdownReduction in pace
- heat dissipationTransfer of warmth outward
- power wallMounted residential energy storage
- plateauingCeasing to rise
doubling
Multiplying by two
- exponentialIncreasing by constant ratio
- growthIncrease in size
- scalingClimbing or resizing
trajectory · forecast · trend · timeline · roadmap · observation · empirical · projection · extrapolation · curve
transistors
Semiconductor switching devices
- siliconMetalloid in electronics
- chipsThin fried slices
- microprocessorsChips that execute programs
circuitry · integrated circuit · fabrication · wafer · lithography · photolithography · CMOS · die · gate · doping
cost reduction
Decreasing expenditure amounts
- affordabilityState of being purchasable
- commoditizationReduction to undifferentiated goods
- investmentDeploying capital for returns
R&D · capital expenditure · yields · manufacturing · Intel · Samsung
performance
Carrying out a task
clock speed · throughput · efficiency · hardware · processors · memory · DRAM · compute · parallelism · cores
end of
At the termination of
- slowdownReduction in pace
- heat dissipationTransfer of warmth outward
- power wallMounted residential energy storage
- Computing HistoryENIAC, UNIVAC, mainframe, mainframes, punch card
- technologyelectronics, computing, computer, internet, social media
- Microchipschip, CPU, microchip, IC, integrated circuit
- runaway effectschain reaction, domino effect, snowball effect, runaway effect, feedback loop
- Tech Competitionspace race, chip wars, streaming wars, tech giants, format wars
- semiconductorssilicon, semiconductor, semiconductors, silicon wafers, transistor
Moore's lawlaws of thermodynamics
Fundamental energy behavior principles
speed of light · physical constants · Planck's constant · conservation laws · Newton's laws
Moore's lawlaw of diminishing returns
Added effort produces declining benefit
peak oil · resource depletion · entropy · carrying capacity · overshoot
Moore, law, laws, lawful, lawfully, lawfulness, unlawful, unlawfully, lawless