Computer Architecture Impact of Technology Scaling

Nachiket Kapre (nachiket@imperial.ac.uk)

Who am I?

Who am I? JRF in EEE

Why am I here?

Why am I here? Ask questions

Why am I here? Monday/Thursday this week

This lecture organized as series of questions and answers

Questions Roundup
What is a computer architecture? How is a computer architecture implemented physically? Why is it relevant today/future? What is technology scaling? What does it mean for computer architecture?

What is computer architecture?

What is computer architecture?

Programmer Abstraction - Machine

What is the first* example of one?

* commerical

Deutsches Museum, Munich http://www.flickr.com/photos/nachiketkapre/1393621052/

How is an architecture physically implemented?

Andr DeHon UPenn

Matter computes

Andr DeHon UPenn

Matter computes Sand (Matter) iPhone (Computer)

tomshardware.com

What is the job of a computer architect?

Carver Mead Caltech

Tall, Thin Computer Architect

Firmware/Drivers/OS (Software) Chips (CPUs, GPUs)

Datapaths/Memories/Networks Gates/Circuits
Transistors/Wires

Devices/Fabrication

Why is comp. arch. still relevant?

Why is comp. arch. still relevant? end-of-silicon-scaling

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moores_law

What is it relevant today? Heterogeneity/Specialization

Desktops

Embedded Low-Power Systems Graphics, Scientific Computing

Why will it stay relevant?

Why will it stay relevant? changing silicon costs

What is the impact of scaling?

What is the impact of scaling? change how we organize computation

Transistor scaling

metal gate insulator n drain n source

p substrate

metal gate insulator n drain n source

p substrate

Tox
n drain

metal gate insulator

W
n source

p substrate

Tox/2
n drain

metal gate

insulator
n source

W/2

p substrate

L/2

Tox/2
n drain

metal gate

insulator
n source

W/2
Area? Delay? Power?

p substrate

L/2

Tox/2
n drain

metal gate

insulator
n source

W/2
Area? Delay? Power?

p substrate

L/2

Area ~ W*L

Tox/2
n drain

metal gate

insulator
n source

W/2
Area=2x Delay? Power?

p substrate

L/2

Area ~ W*L

Tox/2
n drain

metal gate

insulator
n source

W/2
Area=2x Delay? Power?

p substrate

L/2

= Q/I

Tox/2
n drain

metal gate

insulator
n source

W/2
Area=2x Delay? Power?

p substrate

L/2

= CV/I

Tox/2
n drain

metal gate

insulator
n source

W/2
Area=2x Delay? Power?

p substrate

L/2

C = *(W*L)/Tox

Tox/2
n drain

metal gate

insulator
n source

W/2
Area=2x Delay=2x Power?

p substrate

L/2

= CV/I

Tox/2
n drain

metal gate

insulator
n source

W/2
Area=2x Delay=2x Power?

p substrate

L/2

(Static) P=V*I

Tox/2
n drain

metal gate

insulator
n source

W/2

p substrate

Area=2x Delay=2x (Dynamic) P=*f*C*V2 Power?

L/2

Tox/2
n drain

metal gate

insulator
n source

W/2

p substrate

Area=2x Delay=2x (Dynamic) P=*f*C*V2 Power=2x

L/2

metal gate n drain

insulator
n source

Width=2 Length=2 Tox=2 Capacitance=2 Voltage=2 Current=2 Area=2x Delay=2x Power=2x

But.

Wire scaling

H W T

R=L/(W*H) CunitL = *W/T = R*C

H W

L W/2

L/2
R=L/(W*H) CunitL = *W/T

= R*C
MIT 6-884/Horowitz

H W

L W/2

L/2
R=L/(W*H)

R=(L/2)/ (W/2)*H)
MIT 6-884/Horowitz

R=L/(W*H)

H W

L W/2

L/2
CunitL = *W/T C unitL= * (W/2)/T
MIT 6-884/Horowitz

H W

L W/2

L/2
R=same C unitL = 2

= 2
MIT 6-884/Horowitz

H W

L L W/2
R=L/(W*H)
R=L/((W/2)*H) R=2 *L/(W*H)

MIT 6-884/Horowitz

H W

L L W/2
R=2 C = same

= 2
MIT 6-884/Horowitz

metal gate n drain

insulator
n source

ITRS roadmap

MIT 6-884 lecture slides

Leakage

Power-Performance Inflection at 90 nm Process Node - FPGAs in Focus - ChipDesign

Summarize
Architecture is an abstraction
It is NOT black magic..

Closely tied to Fab. technology

Conventional scaling will eventually end.

Gate delay vs. Wire delay

Rethink microarchitecture

Upcoming challenges
Power/Vth/Leakage=> Energy efficient design!

Parthenon

"Look," said Roark. "The famous flutings on the famous columns---what are they there for? To hide the joints in wood--when columns were made of wood, only these aren't, they're marble. The triglyphs, what are they? Wood. Wooden beams, the way they had to be laid when people began to build wooden shacks. Your Greeks took marble and they made copies of their wooden structures out of it, because others had done it that way. Then your masters of the Renaissance came along and made copies in plaster of copies in marble of copies in wood. Now here we are making copies in steel and concrete of copies in plaster of copies in marble of copies in wood. Why?

Clifton Bridge - Bristol

Inspired by Henry Petroskis Talk at UPenn

1864

Tay Bridge - Dundee

1880