SHF: Small: A Generic Micro-Architecture for Accuracy-Aware Ultra Low Power Multimedia Processing

在非常严格的能源预算下支持各种多媒体应用的移动设备是未来电子系统的关键驱动力。拟议研究的目标是为未来的移动设备探索一种通用的、可编程的、可重构的和节能的架构平台，用于实时多媒体处理。其目的是利用多媒体应用程序中固有的容错能力来权衡运行时的能量精度。该研究将分析超低功耗计算与实时多媒体处理的误差特性之间的交互作用。这项研究将采用电路-架构-算法协同设计的方法来建模、分析和演示存储器、数据路径和总线的可重构硬件平台，以利用超低功耗实时多媒体处理算法的错误特性。这种用于节能多媒体系统的通用体系结构可以为未来移动超级计算机以最小的能量执行广泛的应用奠定基础。项目督导将通过项目网站、会议和期刊出版物发布研究成果。与领先的微处理器和移动手机制造商的现有互动将为技术转让提供机会。教育的目标是培养了解能量和精度对计算的影响的下一代工程师。PI将从代表不足的群体中招收学生，并在佐治亚理工学院的暑期本科少数民族研究体验(SURE)计划下指导学生。

Mobile devices supporting a wide variety of multimedia applications under a very stringent energy budget are a key driver of electronic systems in future. The objective of the proposed research is to explore a generic, programmable, reconfigurable, and energy-efficient architectural platform for future mobile devices for real-time multimedia processing. The aim is to exploit the inherent error tolerance in multimedia applications for run-time energy-accuracy trade-off. The proposed research will analyze the interaction of ultra-low-power computing and error characteristics of real-time multimedia processing. This research will pursue a circuit-architecture-algorithm co-design approach to model, analyze, and demonstrate a reconfigurable hardware platform for memories, datapath, and buses to exploit the error characteristics of real-time multimedia processing algorithms for ultra-low power. This generic architecture for energy-efficient multimedia systems can lay the foundation of future mobile supercomputers performing wide array of applications with minimal energy. The PIs will disseminate the research results through project website, conference and journal publications. The existing interactions with leading microprocessor and mobile handset manufacturers will provide opportunities for technology transfer. The educational goal is to create next generation engineers who understand the effects of energy and accuracy on computations. The PIs will engage in recruiting students from underrepresented groups and mentor students under the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience for minorities (SURE) program at Georgia Tech.