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Nano-Photonic Networks-on-Chip for Future Chip Multiprocessors

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More than Moore Technologies for Next Generation Computer Design

Abstract

To meet energy-efficient performance demands, the computing industry has moved to parallel computer architectures, such as chip-multi-processors (CMPs), internally interconnected via networks-on-chip (NoC) to meet growing communication needs. Achieving scaling performance as core counts increase to the hundreds in future CMPs, however, will require high performance, yet energy-efficient interconnects. Silicon nanophotonics is a promising replacement for electronic on-chip interconnect due to its high bandwidth and low latency, however, prior techniques have required high static power for the laser and ring thermal tuning. We propose a novel nano-photonic NoC architecture, LumiNOC, optimized for high performance and power-efficiency. This paper makes three primary contributions: a novel, nanophotonic architecture which partitions the network into subnets for better efficiency; a purely photonic, in-band, distributed arbitration scheme; and a channel sharing arrangement utilizing the same waveguides and wavelengths for arbitration as data transmission. In a 64-node NoC under synthetic traffic, LumiNOC enjoys 50 % lower latency at low loads and ∼ 40 % higher throughput per Watt on synthetic traffic, versus other reported photonic NoCs. LumiNOC reduces latencies ∼ 40 % versus an electrical 2D mesh NoCs on the PARSEC shared-memory, multithreaded benchmark suite.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Quality factor characterizes a resonator’s bandwidth relative to its center frequency. Higher Q indicates a lower rate of energy loss relative to the stored energy of the resonator.

  2. 2.

    Extinction ratio is the ratio of two optical power levels of a modulated optical signal, expressed in dB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. HP Laboratories, 1501 Page Mill Rd., Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA

    Cheng Li

  2. Texas A&M University, 3128 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Paul V. Gratz & Samuel Palermo

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  1. Cheng Li
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  2. Paul V. Gratz
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  3. Samuel Palermo
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Correspondence to Paul V. Gratz .

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  1. IBM, Hopewell Junction, New York, USA

    Rasit O. Topaloglu

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Li, C., Gratz, P.V., Palermo, S. (2015). Nano-Photonic Networks-on-Chip for Future Chip Multiprocessors. In: Topaloglu, R. (eds) More than Moore Technologies for Next Generation Computer Design. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2163-8_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2163-8_7

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