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Top 5 Reasons Reliability is the Biggest Fallacy in Computer Architecture Research

Top 5 Reasons Reliability is the Biggest Fallacy in Computer Architecture Research. Scott Mahlke University of Michigan. Thanks to Jason Blome, Shuguang Feng, and Shantanu Gupta for putting their research on reliable systems on hold to help with this presentation. Disclaimer.

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Top 5 Reasons Reliability is the Biggest Fallacy in Computer Architecture Research

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  1. Top 5 ReasonsReliability is the Biggest Fallacy in Computer Architecture Research Scott Mahlke University of Michigan Thanks to Jason Blome, Shuguang Feng, and Shantanu Gupta for putting their research on reliable systems on hold to help with this presentation. 1

  2. Disclaimer Still a need for high reliability designs for mission critical systems • Space shuttle, airplanes, etc. • Cost is not an issue – use high degrees of redundancy I would like to convince you reliability is a fallacy for mainstream computer systems used in consumer/business electronics* *The speaker may not agree with this position 2

  3. Reason 1: It’s the Software, Stupid! • “Mature OS can have an MTTF measured in months, while newer OS may crash every few days.” – Peter Chen: Reliability Hierarchies, 1999 HOT OS. • Sources: [1] www.nstl.com [2] A system-level approach for memory robustness, ICMTD05 [3] Lifetime Reliability: Towards an architectural solution, IEEE Micro 2005 [4] www.calce.umd.edu 3

  4. Hmm… My ATM Does Not Work 4

  5. “The average working life of a mobile phone is 7 years, but the average consumer changes their mobile every 11 months. Reason 2: Disposable Electronics 5

  6. “Take-away something.” http:/ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/9100/28876/01299720.pdf PCs/Laptops Not Far Behind 6

  7. Reason 3: A Transient Fault is About As Likely As … 7

  8. Reason 4: Does Anyone Care? Which is flawed? • Can a human identify errors in video, images, or sound? • Glitches are accepted by the consumer (dropped cell calls) • Natural redundancy and resiliency in software 100% reliable operation of hardware is not important or worth extra cost in many situations 8

  9. Intra-die variations in ILD thickness clk D1 Q1 0 Main Flip-Flop 1 Error_L Shadow Latch comparator Error RAZOR FF clk_del Reason 5: This Problem is Better Solved Closer to the Circuit Level Electromigration in copper • Lower overhead • Many designs benefit • In-situ solutions naturally handle variation 9

  10. Some Hope? What if we assume reliability is a looming problem. Then we need solutions that are: • Low overhead, high rate of return solutions Joint circuit/architectural techniques • Domain specific solutions – know thy customer • Reliability features provide other benefits Its not just a tax The bottom line 10

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