Toward Large Interposer-based Multi-core Systems

Tuesday Dec. 15, 2015
Location: CIC Panther Hollow Room
Time: 4:30PM-5:30PM

gabe_loh.jpg

Gabe Loh
(AMD)

Abstract

Silicon interposers are already being commercially used for the aggressive integration of multiple 3D memory stacks in high-performance systems. This provides significant amounts of memory capacity within the package with very high bandwidths and low energy-per-bit costs. In this talk, I will provide an overview of the underlying technologies, and then discuss some challenges in future interposer-based systems. I will first consider a large multi-core CPU with 3D memory, and explore how the full potential of the integrated memory may be squandered if the in-package interconnect architecture cannot keep up with the data rates provided by the multiple memory stacks. I will then discuss a potential approach to leverage the interposer to “disintegrate” the multi-core CPU into several smaller (cheaper) chips while addressing the performance challenges that arise from fragmenting the multi-core into many more pieces. I will then conclude with a discussion of the many open research topics related to this approach, which will hopefully provide fertile ground for future research efforts and projects.

Bio

Gabriel H. Loh is a Fellow Design Engineer in AMD Research, the research and advanced development lab for Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Gabe received his Ph.D. and M.S. in computer science from Yale University in 2002 and 1999, respectively, and his B.Eng. in electrical engineering from the Cooper Union in 1998. Gabe was also a tenured associate professor in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a visiting researcher at Microsoft Research, and a senior researcher at Intel Corporation. He is a senior member of IEEE and distinguished scientist of the ACM, (co-)inventor on over eighty US patent applications and twenty-seven granted patents, and a recipient of the U.S. National Science Foundation Young Faculty CAREER Award. His interests include computer architecture, processor microarchitecture, memory systems, emerging technologies, 3D die stacking, cooking and eating, ice hockey, and endurance sports.



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