Post on 27-Mar-2015
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Reconfigurable Systems Emerge
Nick Tredennick, EditorGilder Technology Report
bozo@computer.org
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
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Moore’s Law
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Top View: Field-Effect Transistor
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
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
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
The PC Is Good Enough
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
The Path To The Value Transistor
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Transistors Are Good Enough
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Foundries: Adoption Rate By Process
Modeled after: TSMC http://www.tsmc.com/english/technology/t0203.htm
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
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.
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
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Microprocessors
• Microprocessor advantages– Flexibility– High-volume production– Usable by programmers
• Microprocessor limitations– Too slow– Too much power
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Microprocessors Are Unsuitable
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
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Programmable Logic Devices
• PLD advantages– Flexibility– High-volume production
• PLD limitations– Chips too expensive– Too slow– Requires logic design
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
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Supply and Demand: ASICs & PLDs
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Microprocessor Markets
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Million
s of
Uni
ts
Embedded PCs Servers
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Computer Microprocessors
• x86– AMD– Intel– Transmeta– Via
• Proprietary– IBM– Freescale– Sun
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Embedded Microprocessors
• x86 AMD, Transmeta, Via
• ARM ARM
• PowerPC IBM, Freescale
• Old stuff Everyone– Triscend (Xilinx)
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Configurable Microprocessors
• ARC ARC
• Ascenium Ascenium
• MIPS MIPS
• Nios Altera
• Tensilica Stretch, Tensilica
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
PLD Microprocessors
• Altera– Nios (soft)
• Xilinx– MicroBlaze (soft)– PicoBlaze (soft)– PowerPC (hard)
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
Microprocessor-like
• DSPs
• Network processors
• Specialty processors
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
ASICs & Microprocessors
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
ASICs & Microprocessors
April 10, 2023 Nick Tredennick
ASICs & Microprocessors
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
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
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