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Power Everywhere, too MUCH power, and how the former prevents the later. Dr. Bernard S. Meyerson IBM Fellow Chief Technologist. What Constitutes Processor Technology ?. Circa 1960-2003 Semiconductor Technology Materials, Devices (Ghz.), and the resultant Integrated Circuits.
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Power Everywhere, too MUCH power, and how the former prevents the later Dr. Bernard S. Meyerson IBM Fellow Chief Technologist
What Constitutes Processor Technology? • Circa 1960-2003 • Semiconductor Technology • Materials, Devices (Ghz.), and the resultant Integrated Circuits.
The Basics of Microprocessor Technology; Think Small • Smaller transistors are faster • Smaller transistors are cheaper • Smaller transistors use less power • Smaller transistors can be packed more densely • Smaller transistors had remarkably predictable properties • Smaller transistors have enabled this industry for the past 4 decades A Simple Question: As things shrink, what happens when a transistor’s layers approach the same size as what they’re made of, e.g. atoms?
We get to witness a historic discontinuity in technology • Suggestions you don’t want to hear as Chief Technologist • “Let’s make that transistor’s gate oxide layer 9.5 versus 10.0 angstroms” • Why? • Atoms in that layer are a lot bigger than the 0.5 angstrom being debated • Images you don’t want to see as Chief Technologist • Why? • When one atom high “bumps” look significant in a photo of your transistors, both their manufacture and behavior will be “exciting”
Reasons why one must rethink past strategies • Further technology shrinks produce seemingly bizarre behaviors • Transistors use the same power doing nothing as when they work • It takes a week on a supercomputer to calculate the shape you need to shine light on in order to get a rectangular shadow behind it (Hint: It is not a rectangle when things get this small) • Your new generation of transistors consume dramatically more power than prior experience would have predicted • Performance gains are slower than past experience would have indicated • This is the “good” news
Steam Iron 5W/cm2 ? Recall the title slide: “Too MUCH Power” Module Power (watts/cm2) Year of Product Introduction
What Constitutes Processor Technology? • Circa 2004-2044 • Materials, Devices, Scalable and Integrable Cores (IP), System Architecture, System Integration, and System Software • The word “Technology” now encompasses far more than just semiconductors going into the future • Integration, the creation of systems rather than just “chips”, will become the means by which past trajectories for computing performance are maintained • It takes a vibrant processor ecosystem to enable this
2003 Patents 3500 IBM 3000 2500 2000 IBM 300 mm semiconductor facility Year Opened: 2002, East Fishkill NY 1500 Intel HP 1000 Sun Microsoft 500 Compaq Dell Oracle EMC Apple EDS 0 Semiconductors now rely on innovation vs. “shrinks” Semiconductor Innovation: • IBM has teamed up to create Global Semiconductor Technology Platforms, enabling “portable” IP: • Chartered, IBM, Infineon, and Samsung • Common enablement • Avant, Virage • AMD, IBM, Sony, and Toshiba • SOI for high performance processor chipsets
Holistic Design; Atoms to Software, A New Imperative • Only the simultaneous optimization of materials, devices, circuits, cores, chips, system architecture, and system software, provides an effective means to optimize for both performance and power. • Power Architecture is taking a major step towards creating an open ecosystem of highly scalable cores having power control and performance characteristics required for future Processor Technology. • Asset virtualization • Fine grained clock gating • Dynamically optimized multi-threading capability • Open (accessible) architecture for system optimization/compatibility • Scalability enabling IP re-use in a broad range of systems and products
Where will this take us in the coming decade? • An IP Marketplace to facilitate system Integration • An “Open Source” model enabling System-On-Chip assembly • Technology that is itself adaptive to system needs • Smart systems interacting with base technology to drive dynamic optimization, self-repair, and long term upgrades. • The chip you have may not be the chip you bought • Integration eclipses Ghz • Consumers continue to see dramatic improvements in product functionality as the IP ecosystem blossoms