Power Everywhere, too MUCH power, and how the former prevents the later

2. Power Everywhere, too MUCH power, and how the former prevents the later Dr. Bernard S. Meyerson IBM Fellow Chief Technologist

3. What Constitutes Processor Technology? • Circa 1960-2003 • Semiconductor Technology • Materials, Devices (Ghz.), and the resultant Integrated Circuits.

4. The Basics of Microprocessor Technology; Think Small • Smaller transistors are faster • Smaller transistors are cheaper • Smaller transistors use less power • Smaller transistors can be packed more densely • Smaller transistors had remarkably predictable properties • Smaller transistors have enabled this industry for the past 4 decades A Simple Question: As things shrink, what happens when a transistor’s layers approach the same size as what they’re made of, e.g. atoms?

5. We get to witness a historic discontinuity in technology • Suggestions you don’t want to hear as Chief Technologist • “Let’s make that transistor’s gate oxide layer 9.5 versus 10.0 angstroms” • Why? • Atoms in that layer are a lot bigger than the 0.5 angstrom being debated • Images you don’t want to see as Chief Technologist • Why? • When one atom high “bumps” look significant in a photo of your transistors, both their manufacture and behavior will be “exciting”

6. Reasons why one must rethink past strategies • Further technology shrinks produce seemingly bizarre behaviors • Transistors use the same power doing nothing as when they work • It takes a week on a supercomputer to calculate the shape you need to shine light on in order to get a rectangular shadow behind it (Hint: It is not a rectangle when things get this small) • Your new generation of transistors consume dramatically more power than prior experience would have predicted • Performance gains are slower than past experience would have indicated • This is the “good” news

7. Steam Iron 5W/cm2 ? Recall the title slide: “Too MUCH Power” Module Power (watts/cm2) Year of Product Introduction

8. What Constitutes Processor Technology? • Circa 2004-2044 • Materials, Devices, Scalable and Integrable Cores (IP), System Architecture, System Integration, and System Software • The word “Technology” now encompasses far more than just semiconductors going into the future • Integration, the creation of systems rather than just “chips”, will become the means by which past trajectories for computing performance are maintained • It takes a vibrant processor ecosystem to enable this

9. 2003 Patents 3500 IBM 3000 2500 2000 IBM 300 mm semiconductor facility Year Opened: 2002, East Fishkill NY 1500 Intel HP 1000 Sun Microsoft 500 Compaq Dell Oracle EMC Apple EDS 0 Semiconductors now rely on innovation vs. “shrinks” Semiconductor Innovation: • IBM has teamed up to create Global Semiconductor Technology Platforms, enabling “portable” IP: • Chartered, IBM, Infineon, and Samsung • Common enablement • Avant, Virage • AMD, IBM, Sony, and Toshiba • SOI for high performance processor chipsets

10. Holistic Design; Atoms to Software, A New Imperative • Only the simultaneous optimization of materials, devices, circuits, cores, chips, system architecture, and system software, provides an effective means to optimize for both performance and power. • Power Architecture is taking a major step towards creating an open ecosystem of highly scalable cores having power control and performance characteristics required for future Processor Technology. • Asset virtualization • Fine grained clock gating • Dynamically optimized multi-threading capability • Open (accessible) architecture for system optimization/compatibility • Scalability enabling IP re-use in a broad range of systems and products

11. Where will this take us in the coming decade? • An IP Marketplace to facilitate system Integration • An “Open Source” model enabling System-On-Chip assembly • Technology that is itself adaptive to system needs • Smart systems interacting with base technology to drive dynamic optimization, self-repair, and long term upgrades. • The chip you have may not be the chip you bought • Integration eclipses Ghz • Consumers continue to see dramatic improvements in product functionality as the IP ecosystem blossoms