CSR: Medium: Collaborative Research: Static Pipelining, an Approach for Ultra-Low Power Embedded Processors

随着移动嵌入式系统变得越来越普遍，人们对提高处理器流水线的功率效率的需求也越来越大。传统的流水线低效率包括由于重复或在不可能发生的点处不断检查转发和危险、不变值的重复计算而可避免的对寄存器堆的不必要的访问。期望开发一种可替代的处理器设计，其可以避免传统流水线处理器的这些浪费能量消耗方面，同时仍获得可比较的性能。静态流水线处理器期望通过在每个周期期间具有对处理器的每个部分的控制来实现这些目标。流水线实际上是由编译器静态确定的，这具有几个潜在的好处，如在不降低性能的情况下降低能耗，以较低的生产成本支持较不复杂的设计，以及由于指令对处理器的更明确控制而能够应用更有效的编译器优化。如果成功，这项研究的更广泛影响是多方面的。使用超低功耗的嵌入式设备，如可植入生物的微电子设备，可以显著影响日常活动。新一代超低功耗处理器将使这些设备的开发和部署变得更加可行。教育努力在课堂上引入最新的体系结构和编译器增强功能，以补充我们的研究。还将采取措施，增加这两所大学的计算机科学和计算机工程专业的女性和少数族裔入学人数。

As mobile embedded systems become more prevalent, there is an increasing demand to make processor pipelines more power efficient. Conventional pipeline inefficiencies include unnecessary accesses to the register file due to duplication or avoidable computation from constantly checking for forwarding and hazards at points where they cannot possibly occur, repeated calculation of invariant values, etc. It is desirable to develop an alternative processor design that can avoid these wasteful energy consumption aspects of a traditionally pipelined processor while still achieving comparable performance.A statically pipelined processor is expected to achieve these goals by having the control during each cycle for each portion of the processor explicitly represented in each instruction. The pipelining is in effect statically determined by the compiler, which has several potential benefits, such as reducing energy consumption without degrading performance, supporting a less complex design with a lower production cost, and being able to apply more effective compiler optimizations due to instructions having more explicit control of the processor.If successful, the broader impact of this research is manifold. The use of ultra-low power embedded devices, such as bio-implantable microelectronic devices, can significantly affect everyday activities. A new generation of ultra-low power processors will enable these devices to be more feasible to develop and deploy. Educational efforts to introduce the latest architecture and compiler enhancements in the classroom complement our research. Steps will also be taken to increase female and minority enrollment at both institutions in their Computer Science and Computer Engineering programs.