Re: Hardware Fractal Generator (HFG) for Mandelbrot Movie?

On Sat, 5 Apr 2008 15:39:33 -0700 (PDT), mike3 <mike4ty4@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Hi.

I was wondering: What would it take to have a special hardware fractal
generator (HFG)
that could calculate, say, the Mandelbrot set, to extremely deep zoom
levels (say,
4096 bits of precision (!))? How much of an advantage would it offer
over a regular
computer?
(snip)

Is this possible?

Judging from the improved speeds of assembly coded Mandelbrot
algorithms and edge tracing routines, a dedicated hardware embodiment
should go whizzing at impressive speeds.

Two similar constructs come to mind. The Feistel cipher is often
depicted as a ladder of calculations which are only slightly similar
to the Mandelbrot iterates but provides a model for the hardware
embodiment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feistel_cipher#Construction_Details

Another similar construct is the Linear Predictive Coding chip first
used in the Texas Instruments toy, Speak and Spell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speak_&_Spell_(game)
"The Speak & Spell used the first single-chip voice synthesizer, the
TI TMC0280, which utilized a 10th-order linear predictive coding (LPC)
model and the electronic DSP logic.[2]."

The Speak and Spell chips produced the effect of a ladder of
difference filters in order to simulate the human voice box. Depending
on your interest, a search for the current expressions of these
technologies should illuminate the basic approach for a dedicated
M-brot generator. My guess is that standard DSP IC's would suffice for
the building blocks.

.

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