xstream: rapid generation of custom processors for asic designs
DESCRIPTION
XStream: Rapid Generation of Custom Processors for ASIC Designs. Binu Mathew. * ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit. Logical Design is the Primary Cost Barrier in ASIC Design. Spec. Chip. Logical Design. Physical Design. Fabrication. 15 months, 10 designers. 2 months, - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
XStream: Rapid Generation of Custom Processorsfor ASIC Designs
Binu Mathew
* ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit
Logical Design is the Primary Cost Barrier in ASIC Design
Logical Design
Physical Design
FabricationSpec Chip
15 months, 10 designers
2 months,2 layout engineers
2 months,ASIC vendor’s fabrication facility
80% of cost 20% of cost Time to market is critical
The Business Opportunity 11,000 ASIC designs in year 2000 (DataQuest)
Average team: 10 designers, 15 months/design (Collett)
Design cost: $33B, mostly salaries ECAE revenue forecast, 2004: $1.88B (Gartner)
Per person, per year, license Volume royalties Customisation and training contracts
The XStream Technology
Very high performance custom processors replace ASIC modules Reduce design time for stream oriented ASIC modules
by 95% Retain 40-90% of ASIC performance
Software replaces hardware design Software prototype already exists Flexible, fast bug fixes, feature upgrades Share chip across product family
Usage Scenario: MPEG Encoder
Usage Scenario: MPEG Encoder
Usage Scenario: MPEG Encoder
Software(C Benchmarks)
Performance, area, power specifications
XStreamCAD Suite
3-10 HDL OptionCost/Benefit report
Flexibility requirement
XStream: Unique Technology Performance
Pattern accelerators Do restricted domains extremely well Fall back to traditional methods
Reactive Threads Fast response to events like in custom circuits
Compiler controlled data flow Mimics custom circuits
Power efficiency Compiler controlled clock gating
Competitive Comparison Features
Competitors
Examples Rapid Automated Generation
Fast/ late cycle
bug fix
10+ copies/ chip
Low power
ASIC level performance
XStream
ASIC + HDL Verilog, VHDL
Programmable chips
CPUs, FPGAs
Domain specific chips
Network processors
GPUs: NVidia, ATI
Custom CPUs Tensilica’s Xtensa, Coware’s LisaTek
Easier Development Better Performance
Summary
Reduce a large fraction of the $33B/year ASIC design cost: Replace ASIC modules with XStream processor +
Software 95% time savings for many ASIC modules 159x energy reduction compared to embedded CPUs Flexibility
Easy to do bug fixes late in product cycle Platform ASICs shared across product family
Blank Slide
Competitive Comparison Features
Competitors
Examples Rapid Automated Generation
Fast/ late cycle
bug fix
10+ copies/ chip
Low power
ASIC level performance
XStream ASIC + HDL Verilog,
VHDL Programmable chips
CPUs, FPGAs
Domain specific chips
Network processors: Intel
GPUs: NVidia, ATI
Custom CPUs Tensilica’s Xtensa, Coware’s LisaTek
Usage Scenario – Showing BenefitReduce design time for stream oriented
ASIC modules by 95% Retain 40-90% of ASIC performance 159x energy advantage over general
purpose processor 175% performance of high performance
CPU
Back-up Slides
Data validating different claims
Competitive Comparison Features
Competitors
Examples Rapid Automated Generation
Fast/ late cycle
bug fix
10+ copies/ chip
Low power
ASIC level performance
XStream
ASIC + HDL Verilog, VHDL
Programmable chips
CPUs, FPGAs
Domain specific chips
Network processors: Intel
GPUs: NVidia, ATI
Custom CPUs Tensilica’s Xtensa, Coware’s LisaTek
Usage Scenario: Camera Phone
CameraMPEGEncoder
User InterfaceCPU Wireless
Module
Control CPU
FlashMemory
Much morestuff
Screen
Antenna
Much much more stuff
System on Chip (SOC)
Microphone Speaker