SHF: Small: Leveraging Dynamic Pin Switching to Power Up Dark Silicon and Increase Off-Chip Bandwidth

SHF：小型：利用动态引脚切换为暗硅供电并增加片外带宽

• 批准号: 1422408
• 负责人: Lu Peng
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: Louisiana State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-01 至 2018-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1422408&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SHF; Small; Leveraging; Dynamic; Pin

The end of Dennard Scaling, i.e., as transistors get smaller the power density is no longer constant, has led to a large number of inactive or significantly under-clocked transistors on modern chip multi-processors in order to comply with the power budget and prevent overheating. This so-called ?dark silicon? is one of the most critical constraints that will hinder scaling in accordance with Moore?s Law in the future. Additionally, off-chip memory bandwidth has also proven to be a major performance limiting factor, especially for multi- and many-core processors.To address these concerns, this project proposes a novel design in which off-chip pins can dynamically switch between supplying power and transmitting signals. The circuit implementation for the proposed dynamic pin switching design, requiring only minor changes to existing processor and motherboard circuitry, will be investigated. Many issues including the impact of interfacing with the DRAM and the power delivery network, signal transmission and integrity, thermal issues, and area overhead will be thoroughly and carefully considered. A switchable pin design could be used to mitigate dark silicon by delivering extra power or to boost processor performance by increasing memory bandwidth. The broader impacts include incorporating the research advances into undergraduate and graduate education, as well as K-12 outreach activities.

Dennard Scaling的结束，即，随着晶体管变得越来越小，功率密度不再恒定，这导致了在现代芯片多处理器上大量的不活动的或显著欠时钟的晶体管，以便符合功率预算并防止过热。这所谓的？暗硅是阻碍按照摩尔理论进行扩展的最关键的限制之一？法律在未来。此外，片外存储器带宽也被证明是一个主要的性能限制因素，特别是对于多核和众核处理器，为了解决这些问题，本项目提出了一种新的设计，其中片外引脚可以动态切换之间提供电源和传输信号。电路实现拟议的动态引脚切换设计，只需要轻微的变化，现有的处理器和主板电路，将进行调查。许多问题，包括与DRAM和电源传输网络的接口的影响，信号传输和完整性，热问题，以及面积开销将得到彻底和仔细的考虑。可切换引脚设计可用于通过提供额外功率来缓解暗硅，或通过增加内存带宽来提高处理器性能。更广泛的影响包括将研究进展纳入本科和研究生教育，以及K-12推广活动。