Microsoft, Baidu find speedier search results through specialized chips

Microsoft reported Tuesday that a new "Catapult" board, running a specialized type of reprogrammable chip, improved the performance of its Bing search engine dramatically enough that it plans to deploy the technology in a data center in 2015. Baidu, one of the largest Web giants in China, reported similar results. Both companies presented papers at Hot Chips, an academic conference in Cupertino dedicated to describing improvements in microprocessors and related technologies. By now, graphics chips are accepted components of PCs and game consoles. Years ago, dedicated audio accelerators were, too.