Architecture Exploration of Optimal Many-Core Processors for a Vector-based Rasterization Algorithm
Dong-Koo Son, Cheol Hong Kim, Jong-Myon Kim · IEMEK Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications · 2014
In this paper, we implement and evaluate the performance of a vector-based rasterization algorithm for 3D graphics by using a SIMD (single instruction multiple data) many-core processor architecture. In addition, we evaluate the impact of a data-per-processing elements (DPE) ratio that is defined as the amount of data directly mapped to each processing element (PE) within many-core in terms of performance, energy efficiency, and area efficiency. For the experiment, we utilize seven different PE configurations by varying the DPE ratio (or the number PEs), which are implemented in the same 130 nm CMOS technology with a 500 MHz clock frequency. Experimental results indicate that the optimal PE configuration is achieved as the DPE ratio is in the range from 16,384 to 256 (or the number of PEs is in the range from 16 and 1,024), which meets the requirements of mobile devices in terms of the optimal performance and efficiency.