SHF: Small: Leveraging the Interplay between Process Variation and NBTI in Nanoscale Reliable NoC Architecture Design

多核/多核设计的趋势使片上网络（NoC）成为未来微处理器的关键硬件组成部分。随着CMOS处理技术的不断缩小，可靠性成为NoC设计的首要目标。负偏置温度不稳定性（NBTI）是深亚微米CMOS技术可靠性的关键威胁。NBTI增加了PMOS晶体管的阈值电压，降低了驱动电流，导致逻辑电路和存储结构由于时序违规或最小电压限制而失效。与此同时，随着CMOS制造技术规模的扩大，由于难以控制亚波长光刻和通道掺杂，导致晶体管工艺参数与其设计规范的差异，导致电路性能/功率的变化，并成为未来微处理器和noc设计和制造的主要挑战。由于NBTI和PV都会影响NoC延迟和功率，因此必须在NoC架构设计阶段解决这些挑战，以确保其效率，因为底层CMOS制造技术不断扩展。该项目的目标是开发设计新颖、经济高效的路由器微架构和自适应路由方案的技术，通过利用NBTI和PV之间的相互作用，减轻对noc的影响。未来多核处理器的可扩展性和可持续性在很大程度上取决于noc的可靠性。同时耐受PV和NBTI的机制将被研究，以提高使用纳米级晶体管技术制造的noc的可靠性。教育和研究活动包括从代表性不足的群体中招募研究生和本科生参与该项目，并将研究和教育结合起来。

The trend towards multi-/many- core design has made network-on-chip (NoC) a crucial hardware component of future microprocessors. With the continuous down-scaling of CMOS processing technologies, reliability is becoming a primary target in NoC design. Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI) is a critical reliability threat for deep sub-micrometer CMOS technologies. NBTI increases the PMOS transistor threshold voltage and reduces the drive current, causing failures in logic circuits and storage structures due to timing violations or minimum voltage limitations. Meanwhile, process variation (PV) - the divergence of transistor process parameters from their design specifications - caused by the difficulty in controlling sub-wavelength lithography and channel doping as CMOS manufacturing technology scales, results in variability in circuit performance/power and has become a major challenge in the design and fabrication of future microprocessors and NoCs. Since NBTI and PV affect both NoC delay and power, it is imperative to address these challenges at the NoC architecture design stage to ensure its efficiency as the underlying CMOS fabrication technologies continue to scale. The goal of this project is to develop techniques for designing novel, cost-effective router microarchitectures and adaptive routing schemes that mitigate NBTI and PV impact on NoCs by leveraging the interplay between the two. The scalability and sustainability of future many-core processors crucially depend on the dependability of NoCs. Mechanisms that can simultaneously tolerate PV and NBTI will be investigated for enhancing the reliability of NoCs fabricated using nanoscale transistor technologies. The educational and outearch activities include recruiting graduate and undergraduate students from under-represented groups for this project and integration of research and education.