Flow introduces PPU and claims it can boost performance of any CPU by 100x

A young company called Flow Computing claims to have developed technology that can increase CPU performance by up to 100 times. This technology is compatible with all major architectures currently used in the market.

The company calls its development PPU — Parallel Processing Unit. This is a small block that needs to be integrated into the processor. By parallel processing data, this block can significantly boost CPU performance. On paper, this is clearly a revolution, as Flow speaks of a 100-fold increase, which is hard to even imagine.

However, there are nuances. If the CPU itself is not changed, performance will only increase by about two times, which is still very significant. To achieve a two orders of magnitude increase, software needs to be recompiled for the PPU.

Flow states that its block can be integrated into processors of any modern widespread architecture (x86, Arm, RISC-V, etc.). It is claimed that any modern processor with a von Neumann architecture can integrate the PPU.

Moreover, the PPU configuration can be tailored to the needs of specific segments. In particular, the number of cores can vary from 4 to 256, and the company says the PPU can be used in both smartwatches and supercomputers.

However, there is one big caveat in this whole story. The point is that the company has not yet demonstrated any of this because Flow has not created a chip with the PPU and does not necessarily plan to create one. As explained by the authors of The Verge, Flow is currently just a set of patented technologies.