Power.org: Addressing challenges and opportunities through collaborative enablement
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A technical vision by Michael W. Paczan Chairman, Power.org Technical Committee |
Introduction
In 1965, Gordon Moore predicted that integrated circuits would double in density roughly every 18 months. In what is one of the most remarkable outcomes for such a prediction, this estimation proved to be essentially correct across four decades in time, and six decades of increasing semiconductor content on a chip of fixed size. Today’s microprocessors are arguably the most complex creations of mankind, exceeding upwards of 1 billion devices on chip and offering processing capabilities never imagined.
Feeding on itself, this technology has become so complex that the sole means to further it is our now absolute reliance upon the very processors developed in this generation to design and deploy the next generation of systems. With today’s integration capabilities, we are also seeing an increasing trend towards bringing even more function onto a single die, now deploying what amount to complete multi-processor systems on a chip to deliver the desired end product’s capabilities. We are also finding that classical semiconductor technology scaling is no longer giving us the performance gains on par with past levels as we move from generation to generation. Where maintenance of historical performance growth rates is demanded, it will need to come from more creative SoC architectures and system designs. At the same time, we are in an environment where market diversity continues to increase. No single company can anticipate or execute upon the many divergent markets.
This combination of vast hardware integration capability, diminished performance scaling, and growing market diversity creates significant challenges and opportunities. The industry is at a turning point regarding the optimal approach to technology development to move forward faster and better. Leveraging open standards and a diverse collaborative community formed from a range of independent product-oriented businesses with applicable and complementary intellectual property is the only practical approach to address these challenges and opportunities.
Vision
Our vision is to overcome the challenges created by the technology and market trends and accelerate the progress in the design and deployment of future systems enabling member companies to rapidly respond to market opportunities. We will accomplish this through the creation of a strong and open technology ecosystem around Power Architecture™ technology. At the core of that ecosystem is Power.org, a growing community of diverse member companies that value open standards and recognize the benefits of a collaborative approach.
Initial Power.org technical initiatives: Building the foundation
Power.org member companies are collaborating on several technical initiatives of mutual interest that will enable members to provide complementary hardware and software components and tools with broad appeal for product development. These initiatives include the Power Architecture Advisory Council and several ecosystem enhancing Technical Subcommittees. Members collaborate on business enabling specifications for hardware, firmware, operating systems, software, and tools. These initiatives, in conjunction with other industry standard’s work, form the foundation for rapid and lower cost SoC and system development with core hardware and software interface compatibility to Linux and other operating systems. Current initiatives are briefly described.
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Power Architecture Advisory Council
The Power Architecture technology is the foundational technology behind the Power.org initiative. The architecture, through standardization of features, enables a range of microprocessor implementations. Licensees develop cores or processors optimized for divergent applications. The Power Architecture Advisory Council (PAAC) provides Power.org members, who are general Power Architecture technology licensees, the opportunity to participate in a structured forum for collaboration on instruction set architecture change and evolution. Solutions to meet functional requirements are expected to be more innovative, comprehensive, and timely through the use of a collaborative process.
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SoC Design Hierarchy
The SoC Design Hierarchy Technical Subcommittee attacks the complexity and enablement challenges by focusing on the creation of a world-class SoC design eco-system. The objective is to achieve a position at the forefront for simplified SoC implementation with Power Architecture technology cores and complimentary IP. In particular, the group seeks to improve the availability of portable models and tool kits, enable easier integration of intellectual property cores (IP) from which to design complete SOC products, and facilitate IP reuse and portability across designs, design environments, and member’s semiconductor technology and manufacturing operations. Contributions from this group are expected to result in lower development costs, reduced time to market, and increased IP licensing opportunities for member companies.
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Bus Hierarchy and Architecture
A highly complementary effort to the SoC Design Hierarchy initiative and another one that is important to design challenge management and enablement is the Bus Hierarchy and Architecture Technical Subcommittee. This group’s goal is to select and/or define the multiple bus architectures required for easy IP core integration and reuse to meet the requirements of the Power Architecture technology SoC product development community. It also seeks to specify the elements of the required support infrastructure (bus specifications, development toolkits, protocol checkers, compliance checklists, etc.). Success in this effort will contribute to realization of the benefits identified in the SoC area and overcoming the design challenges presented by the technology trends.
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Platform Architecture
Platform architecture standards can play an important role in creating a strong technical and business ecosystem. They promote lower hardware and software costs through standardized functional requirements and hardware/software interface definitions. They can also be structured to provide a base around which member companies can differentiate while retaining many of the cost benefits of a standard platform. The vision of the Platform Architecture Technical Subcommittee is to provide scalable and extensible platform architectures from a stable set of core requirements and defined levels of abstractions that enable a true shrink wrap OS ecosystem typical of successful general purpose computer ecosystems. The team intends to endorse key industry directions, extending and adapting them for Power Architecture technology as necessary. Initial domains of interest include platform architectures for High Volume Server and Storage Platforms.
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Reference Design: Linux High Volume Server
Platform
The Linux High Volume Server Platform Technical Subcommittee aims to define and publish one or more reference platform specifications. These specifications will enable ODMs/OEMs to design and build compatible Linux-based low cost Power Architecture technology based servers that work with a wide variety of available software to provide complete solutions.
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Reference Design: SMB Storage Platform
The SMB Storage Platform Technical Subcommittee’s vision is to enable ODMs/OEMs to design and build a HDD Storage Raid Shelf for the Small Medium Business (SMB) segment. They intend to accomplish this by defining and publishing a functional platform requirements specification. The proposed shelf is an entry-level solution to support data archiving, reference data, and near-line storage applications for SAN environment.
Power.org technical initiatives: Future
Power.org initiatives will evolve and extend significantly beyond those described so far. Members are already engaged in exploring several other potential areas for collaboration. These areas include accelerator frameworks, networking/switching, and media platform architecture. As membership expands and new thinking and ideas are brought forward, the areas of collaboration will grow.
Summary
In a world of exponentially increasing combinatorial complexity and
diminished performance scaling from classic semiconductor technology
scaling, the ODM and OEM are faced with increasing design
challenges. Power.org strives to overcome these
challenges by providing an environment in which diverse member companies can
work closely to first understand and then resolve these
challenges. Centered on Power Architecture technology
computing capabilities and open standards, the consortium will enable the
creation of a wide variety of products that are better integrated, more cost
effective, more scalable, and more competitive within their target markets
than could otherwise be envisioned. The result will
be increased business opportunity for member companies.
Mr. Paczan is currently IBM's Chief Technology Officer for the Power.org initiative. Prior to this position, he was the Director of the STI Design Center with overall responsibility for managing the development of the "Cell" microprocessor targeted for Sony's PS3. His experience spans microprocessor development, program management, system architecture and development, business development, and alliance development for computer systems for commercial and defense related applications.
Published October 5, 2005