Multicore architectures
Trevor Mudge · 2007
In this talk we will give an overview of recent developments in multicore architectures. We will discuss the basic architectural features of today's multicore microprocessors and illustrate those features with examples from current commercial machines from AMD, IBM, Intel, and SUN. We will examine how features have been added to simplify the task of programming these architectures. Hardware support for cache coherence is well-known, but we will also discuss transactional memory, a relatively recent proposal to simplify parallel programming, which has yet to be incorporated in any widely used architecture. Finally, we will look at trends in semiconductor technology to see how they may impact the future of multicore architectures.