CAREER: Design Automation and Circuits for Energy Efficient Computing using Resonant Clocking

这项职业提案旨在通过开发电路和自动化设计工具来回收耗电的时钟网络中的能量，从而提高计算机芯片的能效。时钟网络同步大多数计算机芯片上的事件。就像混合动力汽车在分解电池时存储动能以供以后使用一样，拟议的谐振计时将最大片上信号的能量存储到片上电感中以供以后使用。建议的技术结合了数字、模拟和射频(RF)电路设计方面的知识，并将与现有的低功耗数字设计方法集成，并使用现有的半导体工艺进行制造。除了电路，PI还提出了工具和设计方法，使数字芯片设计者能够通过抽象先前广泛的知识库来轻松地包括所建议的电路。这将加速采用拟议的技术，以实现最大的普及性和影响力。拟议研究的更广泛影响将是提高计算机芯片的能效，并使设计师能够在从移动电话到大型商业服务器的芯片中加入谐振时钟。以前无法获得的功率收益可以用于延长移动系统中的电池寿命，降低商业数据中心的运营成本，通过减轻环境中的能源负担来提供绿色计算，并提高计算性能，从而使计算机系统能够进行新的应用。国际学生联合会还将开展几项教育和外联工作，通过一系列研讨会和暑期实习，重点关注当地社区中代表不足和处境不利的学生。

This CAREER proposal aims to improve the energy efficiency of computer chips by developing circuits and automated design tools to recycle the energy in the power-hungry clock network that synchronizes events on most computer chips. Much like a hybrid car stores the kinetic energy during breaking into a battery for later use, the proposed resonant clocking stores the energy of the largest on-chip signal into on-chip inductors for later use. The proposed techniques combine knowledge from digital, analog, and radio-frequency (RF) circuit design and will integrate with existing low-power digital design methods and be manufactured using existing semiconductor processes. In addition to the circuits, the PI also proposes tools and design methods that will enable digital chip designers to easily include the proposed circuits by abstracting the previous broad knowledge base. This will accelerate the adoption of the proposed techniques for maximum pervasiveness and impact.The broader impact of the proposed research will be to increase power efficiency in computer chips and enable designers to include resonant clocks in chips ranging from mobile phones to large commercial servers. The previously unattainable power gains can then be used to improve battery lifetimes in mobile systems, decrease operational costs in commercial data centers, provide green computing by lessening the energy burden on our environment and improve computing performance which will enable new applications of computer systems. The PI will also pursue several educational and outreach efforts that focus on under-represented and under-privileged students in the local community through a series of seminars and summer internships.