Transcript Modern and Future Processors

Dr. Gheith Abandah, Chair
Computer Engineering Department
The University of Jordan
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Multicore Trend
Current Performance Improvement
The Parallel Programming Challenge
The Future
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Modern processor chips contain processing
cores and levels of memory caches.
A multicore processor is an integrated
circuit (IC) that has two or more processors
for
◦ enhanced performance,
◦ reduced power consumption,
◦ and more efficient simultaneous processing of
multiple tasks.
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Company
Processor
Year
Cores
IBM
Power 4
2001
2
Power 5
2003
2
Power 6
2008
2
Cell
2006
9
Sun
UltraSPARC T2
2007
8
Intel
Core 2 Duo
2006
2
Itanium 2 Duo
2006
2
Core 2 Quad
2007
4
Athlon
2005
2
Opteron Quad
2006
4
AMD
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276 million
transistors
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234 million transistors
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Multicore Trend
Current Performance Improvement
The Parallel Programming Challenge
The Future
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Multicore Trend
Current Performance Improvement
The Parallel Programming Challenge
The Future
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All modern
computers are
parallel computers,
often with 2 or
more processors.
Most user
applications are
serial applications
that use one
processor.
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If one core is going to do all your work, why
would you buy new processors with more
cores?
Processor manufacturing companies are:
◦ Promoting parallel programming by providing
tools and training.
◦ Supporting research for innovative ways to utilize
the multiple cores.
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Parallel programming is harder than normal
programming because it involves:
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Additional techniques
Problem partitioning
Synchronization
Access control
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90% of programmers don’t do parallel
programming.
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Multicore Trend
Current Performance Improvement
The Parallel Programming Challenge
The Future
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Research on better semiconductor materials
to build smaller, faster, and cooler
transistors.
Fine power management.
Keep tweaking the cores for more
performance optimizations.
Multiple cores are here to stay.
More and larger caches.
Compilers that generate parallel threads
automatically.
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