EAGER: Architectures for Biodegradable Processors

计算设备和电子产品在人均基础上变得越来越多，人们拥有多种个人计算设备，如手机、平板电脑和笔记本电脑，以及嵌入式电子设备，如遥控器和计算器。此外，电子产品的进步和过时的速度非常快。虽然这种进步使人类的生产力取得了巨大的进步，但它也以污染环境、产生电子废物和伤害电子回收工人为代价。该项目通过研究如何为由有机半导体制成的可生物降解电子产品创建计算机架构来解决这一挑战。通过采用可生物降解和可堆肥的电子产品，计算和电子行业可以从一个危害环境的行业转变为一个可持续的、不损害环境的行业。这个项目解决了在有机半导体中设计计算机架构的挑战性问题。这是一个全新的领域，因为大多数计算机架构研究的目标是（不可生物降解的）硅基衬底。有机半导体设计中存在许多挑战，包括低迁移率（低速），晶体管与晶体管之间的大可变性，以及与硅半导体不同的互连与晶体管速比。本项目采用自下而上的方法，首先奠定基础，包括创建有机半导体的模型逻辑单元库，然后使用该库作为不同计算机体系结构的合成目标，最后进行体系结构设计权衡研究，以了解管道长度和机器体系结构。这项研究可以广泛地影响人类，为制造和处理电子产品和计算机奠定基础，而不会对环境产生不利影响。这最终会导致电子产品，如完全可生物降解的手机，从而消除了适当回收电子产品的需要，从我们的垃圾填埋场中清除电子垃圾，并减少对电子产品的危害。

Computing devices and electronics have become increasingly numerous on a per-capita basis with people owning multiple personal computing devices such as cell phones, tablets, and laptops along with embedded electronic devices such as remote controls and calculators. Also, electronics advance and become obsolete at a very rapid pace. While this advancement has caused great strides in human productivity, it has come at a cost in terms of pollution to our environment, the creation of electronic waste (e-waste), and harm to electronics recycling workers. This project addresses this challenge by studying how to create computer architectures for biodegradable electronics built out of organic semiconductors. By embracing biodegradable and compostable electronics, the computing and electronics industry can switch from an industry that harms the environment to one that is sustainable and does not harm the environment.This project tackles the challenging problem of designing computer architectures in organic semiconductors. This is a brand new field as most computer architecture research has targeted (non-biodegradable) silicon-based substrates. Many challenges exist in designing for organic semiconductors including, low mobility (low-speed), large transistor-to-transistor variability, and a different interconnect to transistor speed ratio than is found in silicon. This project takes a bottom up approach by first laying the groundwork including the creation of a model logic cell library for organic semiconductors, then it uses that library as a synthesis target for different computer architectures, and finally an architectural design tradeoff study to understand pipeline length and machine architectures.This research can broadly impact humanity by laying the groundwork for electronics and computers that can be manufactured and disposed of without adversely impacting the environment. This can ultimately lead to electronics such as a fully biodegradable cell phone, thereby removing the need to properly recycle electronics, removing e-waste from our landfills, and reducing dangers to electronics.