Processor Tradeoffs For AI Workloads


AI is forcing fundamental shifts in chips used in data centers and in the tools used to design them, but it also is creating gaps between the speed at which that technology advances and the demands from customers. These shifts started gradually, but they have accelerated and multiplied over the past year with the rollout of ChatGPT and other large language models. There is suddenly much more... » read more

Reaching For ROI


The simplest way to assess power and performance ROI of a chip design is to ask if the chip works and whether it meets the design specifications. But chips can be used in very different ways, and a single chip may have a number of operational modes, so that formula isn't so clear anymore. "Preventing failures is the No. 1 priority when it comes to ROI," said Aveek Sarkar, vice president of p... » read more

Architecting For Efficiency


By definition, to be efficient is to perform or function in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort; having and using requisite knowledge, skill, and industry. As this relates to SoC design today, achieving the highest level of efficiency is a challenge with many dimensions. Efficiency comes in multiple ways. “One dimension would be power consumption,” said Oz Le... » read more

The Power Game


By Ann Steffora Mutschler Semiconductor engineering teams always have focused on stepping up performance in new designs, but in the mobile, GPU and tablet markets they’re finding that maintaining the balance between higher performance and the same or lower power is increasingly onerous. The reason: Extreme gaming applications can create scenario files that cause dynamic power consumpt... » read more

Tradeoffs On The Fly


By Ann Steffora Mutschler With classical bulk planar technology no longer shrinkable, the industry has been honing in on new ways to continue some scaling, achieve extra speed or better power while minimizing leakage. “To overcome the limits [of bulk planar technology] we need a different solution,” explained Giorgio Cesano, technology R&D marketing director at STMicroelectron... » read more