A thin, flexible 6502 processor has been created!
Like the ones used in the NES, Apple II, and C64... except thin. And flexible.
File this under “super awesome tech we can’t actually use quite yet”:
Researchers at KU Leuven (a university in Belgium) have created a thin, flexible version of the 6502 processor (the famous CPU that powered the NES, Commodore 64, Apple II, and so many other classic computers and consoles).
The appropriately named “Flex6502” is built with a metal-oxide Thin-film technology (“TFT”), printed on an 8″ polyimide wafer less than 30 μm thick.
It’s like a giant, floppy CPU pancake.
According to WikiChip:
“The chip achieved a maximum operating speed of 71.4 kHz (at Vdd=3V/Vbias=6V) while consuming a maximum of 134.91 mW. Likewise, the chip can run as low as 10 kHz at 2V while consuming just 11.6 mW.”
To put this in perspective:
The Apple II used a 6502 processor running at 1.023 MHz (or 1023 kHz). With the maximum speed of the Flex6502 currently hitting just 71.4 kHz, that means this flexible CPU is only capable of running at roughly 7% of the speed of an Apple II.
Not exactly a speed demon. At least… not yet.
Plus, there’s the power consumption issue.
The original 6502 required 450 mW to run at 1 MHz. An updated 6502 (known as the 65C02) was released in 1981… which could run at the same 1 MHz, but only needed 20 mW.
The Flex6502 is requiring over 6 times the electricity… for 7% of the speed.
Obviously there is work to do. Luckily this is all still in the research stages. Plenty of time to iron out the kinks. Regardless of any current drawbacks… it’s a flexible 6502 processor. Which is, all by itself, incredibly cool.
