Heterogeneity and interconnect
Ganapati Srinivasa · 2012
The current usage of client devices - smart phones, tracking devices and wearable electronics - force us to take a deep look at energy consumption, they demand long battery life. Energy needs also get exacerbated by the demands of high level of connectivity, the Always On Always Connected usage model expected of such devices. We are unable to predict the demands on these devices or the usable models two to three years down the future. But few things are certain, namely the demand for higher power, energy efficiency and a wide dynamic range of operation. The talk will explore the trends and show how these affect the hardware and software architecture and its directions. In particular, the heterogeneity of mixing various types of processing elements, accelerators with a flexible interconnect fabric will be explored and some architectural findings on flexible interconnect and 3DIC will be shared.