论文标题
FlexWatts:用于节能微处理器的功率和工作量感知的混合动力输送网络
FlexWatts: A Power- and Workload-Aware Hybrid Power Delivery Network for Energy-Efficient Microprocessors
论文作者
论文摘要
现代客户处理器通常使用三个常用的电力输送网络之一(PDN):1)主板电压调节器(MBVR),2)集成电压调节器(IVR)和3)低脱落电压调节器(LDO)。我们观察到,这些PDN的每个PDN的能效随处理器功率(例如,热设计功率(TDP)和动态功率)和工作量特性而变化。这会导致效率低下和性能损失,因为现代客户处理器在各种功耗中运作并执行各种工作量。我们提出了FlexWatts,这是一种用于现代客户加工机的混合自适应PDN,其目标是通过将PDN分配给处理器域,在处理器广泛的功耗和工作负载之间提供高能效率。 Flexwatts基于三个关键想法。首先,它以一种新颖的方式将IVR和LDO结合在一起,以共享多种芯片和片外资源。该混合PDN分配给具有较宽功耗范围的处理器域,并在两种模式之间动态切换:IVR模式和LDO模式,具体取决于功耗。其次,对于所有其他处理器域,FlexWatts在静态上分配了片外VR。第三,FlexWatts引入了一种预测算法,该算法将混合PDN切换到最有益的模式。为了评估PDN的权衡,我们开发和开源PDNSpot,这是第一个经过验证的架构PDN模型,可以对PDN指标进行定量分析。使用PDNSpot,我们评估了各种规格CPU2006、3DMark06的FlexWatts,以及对现代客户处理器中最先进的PDN IVR的电池寿命工作负载。对于4W TDP处理器,FlexWATTS分别提高了规格CPU2006和3DMark06工作负载的平均性能,分别提高了22%和25%。 FlexWatts具有可比的成本和面积的IVR面积。
Modern client processors typically use one of three commonly-used power delivery network (PDN): 1) motherboard voltage regulators (MBVR), 2) integrated voltage regulators (IVR), and 3) low dropout voltage regulators (LDO). We observe that the energy-efficiency of each of these PDNs varies with the processor power (e.g., thermal design power (TDP) and dynamic power-state) and workload characteristics. This leads to energy inefficiency and performance loss, as modern client processors operate across a wide spectrum of power consumption and execute a wide variety of workloads. We propose FlexWatts, a hybrid adaptive PDN for modern client processors whose goal is to provide high energy-efficiency across the processor's wide range of power consumption and workloads by dynamically allocating PDNs to processor domains. FlexWatts is based on three key ideas. First, it combines IVRs and LDOs in a novel way to share multiple on-chip and off-chip resources. This hybrid PDN is allocated for processor domains with a wide power consumption range and it dynamically switches between two modes: IVR-Mode and LDO-Mode, depending on the power consumption. Second, for all other processor domains, FlexWatts statically allocates off-chip VRs. Third, FlexWatts introduces a prediction algorithm that switches the hybrid PDN to the mode that is the most beneficial. To evaluate the tradeoffs of PDNs, we develop and open-source PDNspot, the first validated architectural PDN model that enables quantitative analysis of PDN metrics. Using PDNspot, we evaluate FlexWatts on a wide variety of SPEC CPU2006, 3DMark06, and battery life workloads against IVR, the state-of-the-art PDN in modern client processors. For a 4W TDP processor, FlexWatts improves the average performance of the SPEC CPU2006 and 3DMark06 workloads by 22% and 25%, respectively. FlexWatts has comparable cost and area overhead to IVR.