Hewlett-Packard has demonstrated memristors ("memory resistors") cast in an architecture that can be dynamically changed between logic operations and memory storage. The configurable architecture demonstrates "stateful logic" that HP claims could someday obsolete the dedicated central-processing unit (CPU) by enabling dynamically changing circuits to maintain a constant memory of their state. That would let them be powered down at any time without the need to reboot at startup. The architecture makes memristors a candidate for extending Moore's Law beyond the end of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, circa 2020, according to HP. The ITRS has called for a new state variable besides charge or voltage to represent bits, and HP claims that the variable "resistance" employed by its stateful logic circuitry fills the bill.
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