8 february 2014nick tredennick reconfigurable systems emerge nick tredennick, editor gilder...
TRANSCRIPT
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Reconfigurable Systems Emerge
Nick Tredennick, EditorGilder Technology Report
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Overview
• Major trends affecting the microprocessor market– Value PC– Value transistor– Emerging economies
• Microprocessors– Computer microprocessors– Embedded microprocessors– Configurable microprocessors– PLD microprocessors
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Moore’s Law
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Top View: Field-Effect Transistor
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
The Microprocessor
• 10 years of Moore’s-law progress led to the microprocessor
• The second generic component
• Raised engineers’ productivity
• Problem-solving became programming
• Grew to billions of units/year
• Stalled progress in design methods for thirty years
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
The Personal Computer
• 10 years of microprocessor progress led to the PC
• Dominated the industry for 20 years
• Supply of performance grows with Moore’s law
• Demand grows more slowly
• Diverging growth in supply and demand leads to the value PC
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
The PC Is Good Enough
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
The Path To The Value Transistor
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Transistors Are Good Enough
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Foundries: Adoption Rate By Process
Modeled after: TSMC http://www.tsmc.com/english/technology/t0203.htm
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Semiconductors: Industry In Transition
• Causes– The transistor is good enough– The PC is good enough
• Effects– Shift from tethered to mobile systems
• Changes design emphasis– From: cost-performance– To: cost-performance-per-watt
– Non-volatile memory will emerge– Wafer stacking will emerge– MEMS will emerge
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Design Alternatives
What Value Who• Microprocessors $40B Programmers• ASICs $30B Logic designers• FPGAs $3B Logic designers
FPGAs and microprocessors are usurping a declining ASIC market. Microprocessors (and their derivatives) will win.
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Programmers
Logic designers
Programmers And Logic Designers
• Logic designers optimize hardware– Microprocessors– Memory
• Programmers optimize software– Languages– OS– Compilers– ApplicationsThe Users Manual
is the (problematic)
bridge
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Microprocessors
• Microprocessor advantages– Flexibility– High-volume production– Usable by programmers
• Microprocessor limitations– Too slow– Too much power
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Microprocessors Are Unsuitable
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Application-Specific Integrated Circuits
• ASIC advantages– Best performance– Smallest chip– The benchmark for function efficiency
• ASIC limitations– Inflexible– Expensive to design– High fixed costs require large production
runs– Requires logic design
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Programmable Logic Devices
• PLD advantages– Flexibility– High-volume production
• PLD limitations– Chips too expensive– Too slow– Requires logic design
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
ASICs and PLDs (FPGAs)
• ASICs and PLDs are competing in a $30-billion market– This competition will not cross into the
microprocessor market because designs require logic designers
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Supply and Demand: ASICs & PLDs
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Microprocessors and ASICs
• For the ultimate in flexibility, programmers map the application onto a general-purpose microprocessor.
• For the ultimate in performance, logic designers map the application into a custom circuit.
App
licat
ion
Microprocessor
ASIC
Programmers
Logic designers
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Microprocessor
Design-time configurable
microprocessor
Run-time reconfigurable microprocessor
Dynamically reconfigurable microprocessor
ASIC
FPGA
ARCMIPSTensilica
Stretch
Ascenium
Microprocessor Evolution
Programmers
Logic designers
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Design-Time Configurable MicroprocessorA
pplic
atio
n
Programmers
Logic designers
Design-time configurable
microprocessor
Profile the application
Create custom hardware and instructions to
accelerate critical application sections
Most of the application runs as
execution of general-purpose
instructions
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Design-Time Configurable Microprocessor
• Profile the application• Create custom instructions for critical code sections• Build specialized execution units• Can be 10 to100 times faster than a general-purpose
microprocessor on the target algorithm• Examples: ARC and Tensilica• Customized microprocessor limitations
– Requires logic designers– Creates an application-specific, limited-function
microprocessor– Accelerates only critical sections
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Run-Time Reconfigurable MicroprocessorA
pplic
atio
n
Programmers
Logic designers
Run-time reconfigurable microprocessor
Profile the application
Create custom instructions in an FPGA fabric to
accelerate critical application sections
Most of the application runs as
execution of general-purpose
instructions
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Run-Time Reconfigurable Microprocessor
• Build a general-purpose microprocessor with integrated FPGA fabric
• Profile the application• Create custom instructions for critical code sections• Build custom execution units in FPGA fabric• Can be 10 to 100 times faster than a general-purpose
microprocessor on the target application• Example: Stretch• Run-time reconfigurable microprocessor limitations
– Accelerates only statically identifiable critical sections– Limited to problems for which profiling works– Profiling is difficult
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Dynamically Reconfigurable MicroprocessorA
pplic
atio
n
Programmers
Logic designers
Dynamically reconfigurable microprocessor
Create custom instructions in a custom fabric to
accelerate the entire application
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Dynamically Reconfigurable Microprocessor
• Each cycle creates a new microprocessor implementation– Each cycle creates a custom circuit (Ascenium instruction)
representing hundreds to thousands of conventional instructions
• Programmed using ANSI-standard programming languages (e.g., C/C++)
• Tens to 100s of times faster than a general-purpose microprocessor
• Dynamically reconfigurable microprocessor limitations– There are none on the market today
• Until Ascenium, no one has figured out how to “program” a dynamically reconfigurable circuit
– VCs don’t understand it
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Microprocessors
• x86 AMD, Intel, Transmeta, Via• ARC ARC• ARM ARM• MicroBlaze Xilinx• MIPS MIPS• Nios Altera• PowerPC IBM, Freescale• SPARC Sun• Tensilica Stretch, Tensilica• Old stuff Everyone
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Microprocessor Applications
• Supercomputers• Workstations and servers• PCs• Embedded systems
– Automobiles– Cameras– Cell phones– Game players– MP3 players– Set-top boxes
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Computer Markets
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Million
s of
Uni
ts
Windows Servers SuperCs
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Microprocessor Markets
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Million
s of
Uni
ts
Embedded PCs Servers
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Computer Microprocessors
• x86– AMD– Intel– Transmeta– Via
• Proprietary– IBM– Freescale– Sun
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Embedded Microprocessors
• x86 AMD, Transmeta, Via
• ARM ARM
• PowerPC IBM, Freescale
• Old stuff Everyone– Triscend (Xilinx)
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Configurable Microprocessors
• ARC ARC
• Ascenium Ascenium
• MIPS MIPS
• Nios Altera
• Tensilica Stretch, Tensilica
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
PLD Microprocessors
• Altera– Nios (soft)
• Xilinx– MicroBlaze (soft)– PicoBlaze (soft)– PowerPC (hard)
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Microprocessor-like
• DSPs
• Network processors
• Specialty processors
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
ASICs & Microprocessors
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
ASICs & Microprocessors
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
ASICs & Microprocessors
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Semiconductor Trends
• Value PCs outsell leading-edge PCs– Mobile applications emerge– Design emphasis shifts from cost
performance to cost-performance-per-watt
• Value transistors outsell leading-edge transistors– Transistor performance overshoots many
applications– Increasing demand in emerging economies– Foundry strength grows
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Consequences
• Rise of mobile applications– New non-volatile memories
• Rise of foundries– Rise of soft (IP) cores– Horizontal fragmentation of integrated device
manufacturers
• Rise of non-volatile FPGAs• Rise of reconfigurable systems• Growing market for embedded microprocessors
– Tethered: traditional role– Mobile: supervisory role
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April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Industries in Transition• Automotive
Analog ► DigitalMechanical ► ElectricalIsolated ► Connected
• TelecomAnalog ► DigitalCopper ► Optical, Wireless
• BiomedicalAnalog ► DigitalWet labs ► Bioinformatics
• Film/videoAnalog ► DigitalIsolated ► Connected
• ConsumerAnalog ► DigitalIsolated ► ConnectedTethered ► Untethered
• ComputersDesktop ► Embedded