CSR: Small: Simulation of Multicore Processors with One (or More) Fast Core(s) Using Wind River SIMICS

对于科学计算来说，最重要的任务是规划出当前以深亚微米CMOS实现的多核微处理器时代的前进方向。这必须以保证性能改进的方式进行。否则，纳米级制造成本的不断上升将不可持续。异构多核微处理器面临几个主要问题，其中最重要的是在Amdahl？s定律，它表明即使是相对少量的串行或低并行代码也会限制可能的增益。很明显，规避这种困境的最终方法是使用“超越cmos”的高时钟速率单元（HCRU）内核大大加速串行代码。设备的方法。过去的研究表明，对于使用BiCMOS的许多关键组件来说，20-30 GHz的时钟频率是可能的，但需要3D技术来缓解内存墙问题。本研究探索了一种全新的90nm IBM SiGe HBT (300GHz fT) BiCMOS工艺，以实现这一目标，同时以超高速换取4倍的低功耗。该策略将是在这种新工艺中重新设计计算机的某些关键部件，以验证以更低的功率获得相同的高速。该项目的第二个重点是通过高级模拟来验证，以高时钟速率执行串行代码实际上会导致预期的性能改进。这将使用风河SIMICS模拟包进行。

The most important task for scientific computing is to plan the way forward from the current era of multicore microprocessors implemented in deeply submicron CMOS. This has to be done in such a way that performance improvements are guaranteed. Otherwise the escalating costs of fabrication at the nanometer scale will not be sustainable. Heterogeneous multiple core microprocessors face several major problems, not the least of which is codified in Amdahl?s Law, which shows that even relatively small amounts of serial or low-parallelism code can limit the gains that are possible. It is clear that the ultimate way to circumvent this dilemma is to greatly accelerate the serial code using a high clock rate unit (HCRU) core using a ?beyond-CMOS? device approach. Past research suggests that clock rates of 20-30 GHz are possible for many key components using BiCMOS, but 3D technology is needed to mitigate memory wall problems. This research explores a brand new 90nm IBM SiGe HBT (300GHz fT) BiCMOS process to accomplish this goal while trading excess speed for 4X lower power. The strategy will be to redesign certain critical components of a computer in this new process to verify that the same high speed is obtained at a lower power. The second thrust of the project is to verify by high-level simulation that the execution of serial code at a high clock rate will in fact result in the expected improvement in performance. This is to be conducted using the Wind River SIMICS simulation package.