Addressing the System-on-a- Chip Interconnect Woes Through ...Adapt the behaviors of processes and...

Addressing the System-on-a-Addressing the System-on-a-Chip Interconnect Woes ThroughChip Interconnect Woes Through

Communication-Based DesignCommunication-Based Design

J.J. Rabaey, Rabaey,M.M. Sgroi Sgroi, M. Sheets, A. Mihal, K. Keutzer, S., M. Sheets, A. Mihal, K. Keutzer, S. Malik Malik, J. Rabaey,, J. Rabaey,

A. Sangiovanni-A. Sangiovanni-VincentelliVincentelli

University of California, Berkeley and Princeton UniversityUniversity of California, Berkeley and Princeton University

The SOC Interconnect ChallengeThe SOC Interconnect Challenge


“Femme se“Femme se coiffant coiffant””Pablo Ruiz PicassoPablo Ruiz Picasso19401940


Bridge

DMA CPU DSP

MemCtrl.

MPEG

C I O O

System Bus

PeripheralBus

Control Wires

CustomInterfaces

Ad-hoc ApproachAd-hoc Approach


Alternative:Alternative:

Bridge

DMA CPU DSP

MemCtrl.

MPEG

C I O O

System Bus

PeripheralBus

Control Wires

Ad-hoc ApproachAd-hoc Approach

A disciplined SOCdisciplined SOCinterconnect design approachinterconnect design approachthat addresses:• reliability• predictability• performance• power dissipationconcerns caused by deep-submicron effects andcomplexity considerations,and exploits advancedcommunication techniques

CustomInterfaces

The Network-on-a-Chip (NOC) ApproachThe Network-on-a-Chip (NOC) ApproachEmbeddedProcessorsEmbeddedProcessors

MemorySub-system

MemorySub-system

Baseband ProcessingBaseband Processing

ConfigurableAcceleratorsConfigurableAccelerators

ProgrammableProtocol StackProgrammableProtocol Stack

Interconnect Backplane

Communication-based DesignCommunication-based Design•• OrthogonalizesOrthogonalizes function and communication function and communication•• Builds on well-known Builds on well-known models-of-computationmodels-of-computation and correct-by-construction and correct-by-construction synthesis flow synthesis flow•• Parallels Parallels layered approachlayered approach exploited by communications community exploited by communications community

How Does the Communication NetworkHow Does the Communication NetworkWorld Deal with these Problems?World Deal with these Problems?

• Scalable clusters ofheterogeneous networks

• Wide range of data unitsat different levels ofabstraction (streams,packets, bits)

• With varying throughput,latency and reliabilityrequirements

Clusters

Massive Cluster

Gigabit Ethernet

Central tenet: Layered approach standardized as the ISO-OSI Reference Model.

The ISO Protocol StackThe ISO Protocol Stack

• Reference model for wired andwireless protocol design —Alsouseful guide for for conceptionand decomposition of NOCs

• Layered approach allows fororthogonalization of concernsand decomposition of constraints

• Not required to implement alllayers of the stack

– depends upon application needs andtechnology

• Layered structure must notnecessarily be maintained in finalimplementation

– e.g., multiple layers can be mergedin implementation optimization

NetworkNetwork

TransportTransport

SessionSession

Data LinkData Link

PhysicalPhysical

Presentation/ApplicationPresentation/Application


NetworkNetwork

TransportTransport

SessionSession

Data LinkData Link

PhysicalPhysical


Transmit bits over physicalinterconnect medium

(signal waveform, voltages, timing,synchronization)

Example: synchronous reduced-swing pulse-based signaling


NetworkNetwork

TransportTransport

SessionSession

Data LinkData Link

PhysicalPhysical


Reliable transmission over physical link +media access control (MAC)

(error detection and coding, multiple-access scheme, arbitration)

Example: Bus


NetworkNetwork

TransportTransport

SessionSession

Data LinkData Link

PhysicalPhysical


Topology-independent end-to-endcommunication over multiple data links

(routing, bridging, repeaters)

Example: Statically-configured mesh network of FPGA


NetworkNetwork

TransportTransport

SessionSession

Data LinkData Link

PhysicalPhysical

Presentation/ApplicationPresentation/ApplicationEstablish and maintain end-to-end

communications (flow control, messagereordering, packet segmentation and

reassembly)

Example: Establish, maintain and rip-upconnections in dynamically reconfigurable SOCs


NetworkNetwork

TransportTransport

SessionSession

Data LinkData Link

PhysicalPhysical


Adds state to the end-to-end connectionprovided by the protocol stack

Example: Synchronous messaging, requiring sender and receiver to rendez-vous using semaphore


NetworkNetwork

TransportTransport

SessionSession

Data LinkData Link

PhysicalPhysical

Presentation/ApplicationPresentation/ApplicationExports communication architecture to

system and performs data formatting andconversion

Example: Change byte-ordering of data to ensure compatibility

Example: The Pleiades Network-on-a-ChipExample: The Pleiades Network-on-a-Chip

Configuration

DedicatedArithmetic

Configuration Bus

Reconfigurable Interconnect Network

EmbeddedProcessor

FPGA MemoryAddress

Generator

ArithmeticProcessor

ArithmeticProcessor

..

..

Network Interface

• Programmable/configurable platform intended for low-energy communication and signal-processing applications (wireless, media)

• Allows for dynamic task-level reconfiguration of large-granularitymodules into dedicated “data-flow” accelerators

[Zhang, ISSCC 00]

MaiaMaia: Reconfigurable : Reconfigurable BasebandBasebandProcessor for WirelessProcessor for Wireless

A Session-level PerspectiveA Session-level Perspective

for(i=1;i

The Network LayerThe Network Layer

UniversalSwitchbox

Cluster

Cluster

Level-1 Mesh Level-2 Mesh

HierarchicalSwitchbox

• Network statically configured at start of session and ripped up at end• Structured approach reduces interconnect energy with factor 7 over straightforward cross-bar

Hierarchical reconfigurable mesh network

The Physical LayerThe Physical Layer

Reconfigurable NetworkReconfigurable Network

Co-ProcessorCo-ProcessorModuleModule

((µµProcProc, ALU, MPY, SRAM…), ALU, MPY, SRAM…)

din reqin ackin dout reqout ackout

DinREQ

in

done

GloballyGloballyAsynchronousAsynchronous

2-phase self-timedhandshaking protocol

Allows individual modulesto dynamically trade-off performancefor energy-efficiency



Physical Layer Interface Module

Co-ProcessorCo-ProcessorModuleModule

(ALU, MPY, SRAM…)(ALU, MPY, SRAM…)


din dout clk

DinREQ

in

Clk

done

LocallyLocallysynchronoussynchronous

done

GloballyGloballyAsynchronousAsynchronous



Physical Layer Interface Module

Co-ProcessorModule

(ALU, MPY, SRAM…)


din dout clk done

clk

in

d

out

A B

0.4V1V

clk

in

d

out

A B

0.4V1V

0.4 V0.4 V

1 V1 V

Reduced voltage swingReduced voltage swingon interconnect reduceson interconnect reducesenergy by factor 3.4energy by factor 3.4

level-converters

Metropolis Design MethodologyMetropolis Design Methodology

P P

P1’ P2’

P1’ P2’

P1’ P2’AA

P1” P2”

• Orthogonalization of concerns:separation of communication andcomputation

• Formal system representation(supporting multiple Models ofComputation)

• Formal Methodology forCommunication Refinement:sequence of adaptation stepsbetween objects (processes andchannel) with incompatible behaviors


P1 P2

3 kb 1 kb

P1 P2

Behavior Adapter:Adapt communicating processes with incompatible behaviors


P1 P2

3 kb 1 kb

P1 P2

BA

Segmentation

BA



P1’ P2

1 kb 1 kb

P1’ P2’



Channel Selection:Select a (non-ideal) channel that physically transports messages

P1’ P2

P1’ P2’

Wireless Channel (BER=10-3)Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous Model


Channel Adaptation:Adapt the behaviors of processes and channel to meetcommunication requirements

P1’ P2

P1’ P2’CA CA

CA CA

CA: CRC + Retransmission of incorrect packets


Optimization:Merge adapters and processes

P1’’ P2’’

P1’’ P2’’

Example: Wireless Application ProtocolExample: Wireless Application Protocol

PAP

HTTP

TCP

IP

WSP

WTLS

OTA

WTP

Internet Protocol StackInternet Protocol Stack WAP Protocol StackWAP Protocol Stack

“over-the-air ““push-applicationprotocol“


PAP

HTTP

TCP

IP

WSP

WTLS

OTA

WTP

Internet Protocol StackInternet Protocol Stack WAP Protocol StackWAP Protocol Stack


PAP

HTTP

TCP

IP

WSP

WTLS

OTA

WTP

Gateway

HTTP

Encoding OTA

WSP

WTLS

WTPTCP

IP

Behavior AdaptationBehavior Adaptation


PAP

HTTP

TCP

IP

WSP

WTLS

OTA

WTP

HTTP

Encoding OTA

WSP

WTLS

WTPTCP

IP

GSM-SMS GSM-SMSATM

Channel SelectionChannel Selection

ATM

Fiber OpticFiber Optic EtherEther

Gateway


PAP

HTTP

TCP

IP

WSP

WTLS

OTA

WTP

HTTP

Encoding OTA

WSP

WTLS

WTPTCP

IP

GSM-SMS GSM-SMSATM

Channel Channel AdaptationAdaptation

ATM

AALAAL WDP WDP

Gateway

Example: The PicoRadio II (TCI) DesignExample: The PicoRadio II (TCI) Design


2 Mbit flash

Network

Protocol MAC

CPU(Xtensa)

FlashCtrl.

1 kB I$

I/O

64 kB IRAM64 kB DRAM

Baseband

FPGA

to RF


DATADATASRAMSRAM

64Kbit64Kbit

INSTRUCTIONINSTRUCTIONSRAMSRAM

64Kbit64Kbit

LINK/LINK/MACMAC

XTENSAXTENSANetworkNetwork

I/OI/O2 Mbit flash

Network

Protocol MAC

CPU(Xtensa)

FlashCtrl.

1 kB I$

I/O

64 kB IRAM64 kB DRAM

Baseband

FPGA

to RF

Mapping Behavior onto Architecture*Mapping Behavior onto Architecture*

*Using the VCC tools fromCadence Design Systems

BehaviordescribedusingCFSMs

BehaviorBehavior


ArchitectureArchitecture



BehaviorBehavior





Collection ofinterconnectmodelsenablesexploration

BehaviorBehavior



BehaviorBehavior



Collection ofinterconnectmodelsenablesexploration

Choosing the Interconnect ArchitectureChoosing the Interconnect Architecture

“The Silicon Backplane”“The Silicon Backplane”(Courtesy Sonics, Inc)(Courtesy Sonics, Inc)

DSP MPEGCPUDMA

C MEMI O

Open CoreProtocolTM

SiliconBackplaneAgentTM

Choosing the Interconnect ArchitectureChoosing the Interconnect Architecture

“The Silicon Backplane” (Sonics,“The Silicon Backplane” (Sonics,Inc)Inc)

DSP MPEGCPUDMA

C MEM I O

Open CoreProtocolTM

SiliconBackplaneAgentTM

TDMA Multiple Access Scheme TDMA Multiple Access Scheme guarantees bandwidthguarantees bandwidthfor time-critical links;for time-critical links;

Combined with contention slots for Combined with contention slots for other communicationsother communications

Modeling the Impact of Interconnect ChoiceModeling the Impact of Interconnect Choice

InitiatorCore

InitiatorAgent

Inte

rcon

nect

OCP

TargetAgent

TargetCore

OCP

Arbiter

ØFlexible bandwidth arbitrationmodelØTDMA slot map gives slot

owner right of refusalØUnowned/unused slots

fall to round-robinarbitration

ØLatency after slice granted isuser-specified between 2-7Bus Clock cyclesSilicon Backplane

Model in VCC

Example: The MESCAL Architecture*Example: The MESCAL Architecture*• A MESCAL Communication Architecture is a general,

coarse-grained interconnection scheme for systemcomponents

• Communicators are Processing Elements, I/Os, Memories,Switches, Reconfigurable fabrics

IOIOIO IOIOIO IOIOIO

ProcessingElement

ProcessingProcessingElementElement

ProcessingElement


SWSWSW

SWSWSW

MEMMEMMEM MEMMEMMEM

PEPEPE ReconfigurableReconfigReconfigurableurable

*MESCAL is a GSRC project, targeting full-programmable SOC design

ApplicationApplicationApplication

TransportTransport

NetworkNetwork

Data LinkData Link

PhysicalPhysicalPhysicalPEPE

LocalMemoryLocal

Memory

CacheCache

CommunicationAssist

CommunicationAssist

The MESCAL Interconnect ArchitectureThe MESCAL Interconnect Architecture• Stack layers map to software

and hardware components:– PE software– CA software– CA hardware– Channel Hardware

Communicator

Communication Architecture DesignCommunication Architecture Design• Describe a stack at each node using a formal Ptolemy model• Describe the interconnect topology• Use a correct-by-construction synthesis approach to

implement on a programmable platform

ProcessingElement


ProcessingElement


SummarySummary

• Designing a SOC has become a communications-design problem

• Refinement-based formal methodology, inspiredby OSI protocol stack, leads to predictable,verifiable and testable solution

• Methodology opens the door for innovativesolutions to the interconnect problem– Ultra-low swing signals with error-correction and

retransmission– Data compression for high-rate links– Globally asynchronous design– Dynamic routing of data (see talk of Bill Dally)

Addressing the System-on-a- Chip Interconnect Woes Through ...Adapt the behaviors of processes and...

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