Reusable Tile architecture design method and device for middle and rear ends

Abstract

The invention provides a reusable Tile architecture design method and device for middle and rear ends, and the method comprises the steps: determining the number of rows and columns of crossbar switches and the position of a connection channel according to the number of Tiles, and integrating a switch and a Tile exit module in each Tile; a first output port of a switch in each Tile is fixedly connected with a first input port of a corresponding Tile outlet module, and a remapping module is utilized to determine a routing remapping rule according to a connection rule of the Tile and a connection channel; and the routing information input into the Tiles is converted according to a routing remapping rule and then transmitted to a switch in the Tiles, interface connection is established between each Tile and the connection channel, and interconnection among the multiple Tiles is established in the connection channel. According to the technical scheme, implementation and integration of front-end designers and comprehensive implementation of middle and rear ends are facilitated, and the reusability of the Tile structure is enhanced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of network switching structure, and in particular, relates to a method and device for designing a reusable Tile architecture for the middle and back ends. Background Art

[0002] High-performance computing clusters use advanced system interconnection network architecture to achieve efficient interconnection of thousands of computing nodes. These nodes include but are not limited to heterogeneous computing resources such as CPU, GPU and TPU, which together form a powerful parallel processing network. Switches are important interconnection devices in the network. The switching structure and scheduling algorithm of switches determine the performance and cost of switches.

[0003] Crossbar switching structure is widely used in switches due to its good scalability and high speed. For N×N switching network, as the value of N increases, the complexity of Crossbar in the back-end implementation and line layout will increase sharply. Therefore, by splitting the N×N switching network into smaller units (Tile), the unit integrates the routing forwarding module (FTB), input / output cache, arbitration unit and output unit. This relatively centralized arbitration module design can effectively reduce the difficulty of back-end layout and wiring.

[0004] However, as the scale of the Crossbar grows, the number of tiles will also increase. Although the Tile architecture has certain rules, it still faces some design and physical implementation problems, including increased complexity of the connection interface; increased difficulty of physical implementation in the middle and back ends; and increased power consumption and latency. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of this application is to provide a reusable Tile architecture design method and device for the middle and back ends, aiming to realize a reusable Tile architecture.

[0006] According to a first aspect of the present application, a reusable Tile architecture design method for a mid- and back-end is provided, comprising:

[0007] Determine the number of rows and columns of the crossbar switch and the position of the connection channel (Chnl) according to the number of tiles, wherein the tile integrates a switch (Switch) and a tile exit module;

[0008] Fixedly connect the first output port of the switch in each tile to the first input port of the corresponding tile egress module, and use the remapping module to determine the routing remapping rule according to the connection rule between the tile and the connection channel;

[0009] The routing information input to the Tile is converted according to the routing remapping rule and then transmitted to the switch in the Tile, an interface connection is established between each Tile and the connection channel, and interconnection between multiple Tiles is established within the connection channel.

[0010] In an optional embodiment, the method of fixedly connecting the first output port of the switch in each tile to the first input port of the corresponding tile egress module further includes:

[0011] The first output port of the switch is fixedly connected to the first input port of the Tile egress module inside the Tile.

[0012] In an optional implementation, after the first output port of the switch in each tile is fixedly connected to the first input port of the corresponding tile egress module, the method further includes:

[0013] The other output ports of the switch are used as the output ports of the Tile, and the other input ports of the Tile egress module are used as the input ports of the Tile.

[0014] In an optional implementation, after determining the routing remapping rule according to the connection rule between the tile and the connection channel by using the remapping module, the method further includes:

[0015] When the connection rule between the tile and the connection channel is changed according to the tile placement position, the corresponding routing remapping rule is matched with the changed connection rule.

[0016] In an optional implementation, the remapping module is located in the Tile.

[0017] According to a second aspect of the present application, a reusable Tile architecture design device for a mid- and back-end is provided, comprising:

[0018] A layout unit, used to determine the number of rows and columns of the crossbar switch and the location of the connection channel according to the number of tiles, wherein the tile has an integrated switch and a tile exit module;

[0019] A connection unit, used to fixedly connect the first output port of the switch in each Tile to the first input port of the corresponding Tile egress module, and to determine a routing remapping rule according to a connection rule between the Tile and the connection channel using a remapping module;

[0020] A remapping unit is used to convert the routing information input to the tile according to the routing remapping rule and transmit it to the switch in the tile, establish an interface connection between each tile and the connection channel, and establish interconnection between multiple tiles within the connection channel.

[0021] In an optional embodiment, the connecting unit is further used for:

[0022] The first output port of the switch is fixedly connected to the first input port of the Tile egress module inside the Tile.

[0023] In an optional embodiment, the connecting unit is further used for:

[0024] The other output ports of the switch are used as the output ports of the Tile, and the other input ports of the Tile egress module are used as the input ports of the Tile.

[0025] In an optional embodiment, the connecting unit is further used for:

[0026] When the connection rule between the tile and the connection channel is changed according to the tile placement position, the corresponding routing remapping rule is matched with the changed connection rule.

[0027] In an optional implementation, the remapping module is located in the Tile.

[0028] Compared with the related art, the technical solution of this application has the following advantages:

[0029] By adding a remapping module to remap the input mapping relationship, the port 0 connection of the Switch module and the Egress module is fixed, that is, the structure of each Tile is completely consistent, which is convenient for the integrated implementation of the middle and back ends, and only two modules need to be integrated; at the same time, since there is one signal inside the Tile, Chnl only needs to process the connection relationship of 7 signals, which is conducive to the design and implementation of large-scale Tile architecture.

[0030] Other features and advantages of the present application will be described in the following description, and partly become apparent from the description, or be understood by practicing the present application. The purpose and other advantages of the present application can be realized and obtained through the structures and processes indicated in the description and the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the related technologies, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the related technical descriptions are briefly introduced below. It is obvious that the drawings described below are certain embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0032] Figure 1 This is a 3×3 Crossbar structure diagram implemented using Tile according to the relevant technology.

[0033] Figure 2 This is a diagram of a 3×3 Crossbar structure composed of improved tiles according to the present application.

[0034] Figure 3 It is a flowchart of a reusable Tile architecture design method for the middle and back ends according to the present application.

[0035] Figure 4 This is a 5×5 Crossbar structure diagram according to this application.

[0036] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the connection relationship between Tile and Chnl according to this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0038] In the related art, a 3×3 Crossbar design architecture implemented using a Tile structure is as follows Figure 1As shown (hereinafter referred to as the relevant scheme 1). Among them, the input end InX has completed the path routing selection in the FTB module. The input end InX writes the data to the input buffer of each Tile in the specified row. The number of its buffers is determined by the number of input ends. Multiple buffer queues initiate requests to the Switch. The Switch module selects the egress end according to the carried routing information, and then arbitrates the output. The egress information that succeeds in arbitration is output from the designated port to the input buffer queue of the Egress (Tile egress, abbreviated as EGR) module. Each Egress module then arbitrates multiple input buffer information and selects one path of information for output. The multiple ports of the Switch in a Tile correspond to the port outputs of different Egress modules, such as Figure 1 The 3×3Switch shown has 9 inputs and 9 outputs for the entire Crossbar. Each Tile has three inputs and three outputs. The output ports are connected to three different Tiles. Each Tile contains an Egress export, which arbitrates the inputs of the three Tiles. Therefore, in the above structure, the three exports of each Switch are respectively connected to the inputs of the Egress modules of the three Tiles in the same column; each Tile has only one Egress export, and the outputs of the Switch modules of the three Tiles in the same column need to be arbitrated; the three exports (0, 1, 2) of the Switch correspond to the Egress modules in the three Tiles connected in the same column; that is, the port 0 of the Switch must be connected to the first Tile in the same column, and the port 1 of the Switch is connected to the second Tile in the same column. No matter where the Switch exists, its connection relationship is consistent; the output port of the Tile is connected to the input port of other Tiles, and its connection rules and beat numbers are all implemented in Chnl, where Chnl is a design architecture of a channel module used to group together long traces of beat logic.

[0039] The above connection relationship will introduce the following problems. The connection relationship between the Switch export of each Tile in the same column and the input port of the Egress module is not fixed; for example, port 0 of Switch0 in Tile0 is connected to port 0 of Egress0, port 1 of Switch3 in Tile3 is connected to port 1 of Egress3; port 2 of Switch6 in Tile6 is connected to port 2 of Egress6; therefore, these three Tiles are three different Tile modules for mid- and back-end implementations. When using this Tile architecture to implement a large-scale Crossbar, Tiles cannot be reused due to different placement positions, which will also bring a very large workload to the physical implementation in silicon. In addition, for front-end designers, since Tiles are placed in different positions in the Crossbar and have different connection relationships, the design implementation and top-level integration are relatively cumbersome.

[0040] Another solution in the related art (hereinafter referred to as Related Solution 2) separates the Switch and Egress modules from one Tile into two modules. Each module is also independent and reusable. At the same time, the interface connections of each module are all integrated by Chnl, and there is no need to consider integration issues for the design of Switch and Egress. However, this approach will introduce new problems. The middle and back ends need to physically implement the Tile, Egress and Chnl modules, that is, Egress needs to be independently integrated. Since the Egress module is independent, the connections of all its interfaces are implemented in Chnl, which has one more signal than Related Solution 1, and consumes additional register and routing resources according to the path length. The wiring rules between modules are all implemented in Chnl, and Chnl integration is relatively complex.

[0041] To sum up, the best solution is to combine Switch and Egress into one Tile and fix the connection relationship.

[0042] Based on the above analysis, the present application provides a reusable Tile architecture design method and device for the middle and back ends. To address the shortcomings of the related structure, port 0 of the Switch in the Tile and the Egress input port 0 are designed as a fixed connection method, and the remaining Switch output ports are used as the output ports of the Tile, and the remaining Egress input ports are used as the input ports of the Tile.

[0043] like Figure 2 As shown, in Figure 1On the basis of the crossbar architecture, the Switch and the Egress are integrated into one Tile. Since the port 0 of the Switch is fixedly connected to the port 0 of the Egress, when multiple Tiles are used to implement a large-scale Crossbar, the basic unit Tile does not need to change the internal connection relationship according to the different placement positions, that is, each Tile that constitutes the Crossbar is exactly the same. However, the Switch exit selected by the original routing information needs to change. In order to ensure the correctness of data transmission, a remap module is added to the Tile to remap the original routing information carried by the data and input it into the Switch to match the connection rules of the Chnl to complete the correct forwarding of the data. The routing information carried by the request information of each route is converted according to the predefined remap rules to adapt to the connection relationship of the current Tile architecture. The remap rules need to match the matching Chnl. The interconnection between Tiles is completed through Chnl.

[0044] See also Figure 3 The flowchart of the present application provides a reusable Tile architecture design method for the middle and back ends, including: Step 301: Determine the number of rows and columns of the cross switch and the position of Chnl according to the number of Tiles, wherein the Tile integrates the Switch and Tile export modules.

[0045] Specifically, the Crossbar structure is determined according to the target requirements, that is, the number of rows and columns and the placement of Chnl are determined according to the number of tiles; for example Figure 4 The 25 tiles shown form a 5×5 structure.

[0046] Step 302: The first output port of the Switch in each Tile is fixedly connected to the first input port of the corresponding Tile export module, and the remapping module is used to determine the routing remapping rule according to the connection rule between Tile and Chnl. The connection rule between Tile and Chnl is determined after the physical placement of the Tile interface and Chnl is determined, and each interface is manually connected, and then the difficulty of implementing the remap algorithm is considered, and the two are determined in cooperation with each other.

[0047] According to the system routing algorithm, the Switch routing information is obtained, which is used by the Switch in the Tile to determine the Egress exit; the remap rules are set according to the connection rules between the Tile and Chnl and the fixed connection port information between the Tile and the Egress module. The first output port (output port 0) of the Switch in the Tile and the first input port (input port 0) of the Egress module are set as a fixed connection, and this group of interfaces is integrated inside the Tile. Therefore, the routing information entering the Tile needs to be converted through the remap module and then transmitted to the Switch to complete the arbitration, thus ensuring the correctness of data transmission.

[0048] The remap module of each tile infers the export of the original data based on the position of the tile in the entire crossbar structure, such as the number of rows and columns.

[0049] For example, the conversion rules shown in Table 1 below may be set:

[0050] Table 1

[0051]

[0052] Among them, Column represents the column number of the Tile in the 5×5 Crossbar, and Switch port i represents the i-th output port (0≤i≤4) of the Switch module inside the Tile. For example, Switch port0 represents going to Egress0, Switchport1 goes to Egress1, and so on. However, since this application fixes the connection between port 0 of the Switch of each Tile and the input port 0 of the Egress, a "connection change" occurs between the outlet of the Switch of the Tile that is not in the first column and the EgressA port. In order to ensure the correctness of data transmission, this "connection change" is corrected by remap and the connection relationship between each port. The corresponding connection relationship of this method is as follows Figure 5 shown.

[0053] The above connection rules can be changed by the designer according to the placement of the tile, but the corresponding remap rules need to be matched to ensure that the data entering the tile is correctly forwarded to the specified output port.

[0054] Step 303: The routing information input to the Tile is converted according to the routing remapping rule and transmitted to the Switch in the Tile, each Tile is connected to the Chnl through an interface, and interconnections between multiple Tiles are established within the Chnl.

[0055] For example, an interface connection is established between each Tile and Chnl, and the interconnection relationship between Tiles is realized in Chnl. If the number of Tiles is increased or decreased, it is adjusted according to the number of rows and columns, and the remap and integrated connection rules are maintained. In addition to port 0, other ports can also be fixedly connected. For different fixed connection methods, the remap rules and the chnl integrated connection rules can be modified synchronously.

[0056] This application modifies the original routing information input to the Switch by remap, thereby making an output port of the Switch in a Tile fixedly connected to an input port of the Egress. In the Crossbar design using the Tile architecture, the Tile implemented using the solution of this application means that all the Tiles that make up the Crossbar are completely consistent. This method is easy for front-end designers to implement and integrate, as well as the comprehensive implementation of the middle and back ends, which enhances the reusability of the Tile structure and the high scalability of the Crossbar.

[0057] The following is a specific example to illustrate the comparison between the related solutions and the solution of this application. When the Tile structure is used to implement an 8×8 Crossbar, the comparison between this application and the related solution 1 and the related solution 2 is shown in Table 2. 7 or 8 represents the number of n-way signals entering Chnl; 1024 represents the data bit width; P refers to the number of beats required in Chnl according to the path length; multiplied by 2 represents the bidirectional routing of this signal.

[0058] Table 2

[0059]

[0060] For the related solution 1, the 8×8 Crossbar has 8 rows and 8 columns, each row has 8 tiles (8 columns), and the internal connection relationship (Switch and Egress) of each tile is different. One of the 8 signals is implemented in the tile, so the middle and back ends need to implement them separately. Tiles of each connection relationship are reused only in different rows.

[0061] For the related solution 2, the Egress module is separated out based on the related solution 1, so that Tile and Egress can be reused, but all interface connections are implemented in Chnl, that is, all 8 signals need to be combined, connected and beat in Chnl, which increases the integration complexity and consumes additional register and line resources.

[0062] It can be seen that the reusable Tile architecture design method for the middle and back ends provided by this application has the following advantages compared with the related technologies:

[0063] By adding a remapping module to remap the input mapping relationship, the port 0 connection of the Switch module and the Egress module is fixed, that is, the structure of each Tile is completely consistent, which is convenient for the mid- and back-end integrated implementation, and only two modules need to be integrated; at the same time, since there is one signal inside the Tile, only the connection relationship of 7 signals needs to be processed in Chnl. As the scale of Crossbar increases, the advantages of this method will become more and more significant. The structural method designed in this article is very friendly to the mid- and back-end implementation, which is conducive to the design and implementation of large-scale Tile architecture.

[0064] Accordingly, the present application provides, in a second aspect, a reusable Tile architecture design device for a mid- and back-end, including:

[0065] A layout unit, used to determine the number of rows and columns of the crossbar switch and the position of the Chnl according to the number of Tiles, wherein the Switch and Egress modules are integrated in the Tile;

[0066] A connection unit, used to fixedly connect the first output port of the Switch in each Tile to the first input port of the corresponding Egress module, and use the remapping module to determine the routing remapping rule according to the connection rule between the Tile and the Chnl;

[0067] The remapping unit is used to convert the routing information input to the Tile according to the routing remapping rule and transmit it to the Switch in the Tile, establish an interface connection between each Tile and the Chnl, and establish interconnection between multiple Tiles inside the Chnl.

[0068] The above-mentioned device can be implemented through the reusable Tile architecture design method for the middle and back ends provided by the embodiment of the first aspect above. The specific implementation method can be found in the description of the embodiment of the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0069] It is understood that the circuit structures, names and parameters described in the above embodiments are only examples. Those skilled in the art can also easily combine and adjust the structural features of the above embodiments according to the use requirements, and should not limit the concept of the present application to the specific details of the above examples.

[0070] Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, a person skilled in the art should understand that he or she may still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent substitutions for some of the technical features therein; and these modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A reusable Tile architecture design method for the middle and back ends, characterized in that: include: Determine the number of rows and columns of the crossbar switch and the location of the connection channel according to the number of tiles, wherein the tile has an integrated switch and a tile exit module; Fixedly connect the first output port of the switch in each tile to the first input port of the corresponding tile egress module, and use the remapping module to determine the routing remapping rule according to the connection rule between the tile and the connection channel; The routing information input to the Tile is converted according to the routing remapping rule and then transmitted to the switch in the Tile, an interface connection is established between each Tile and the connection channel, and interconnection between multiple Tiles is established within the connection channel.

2. The method for designing a reusable Tile architecture for the middle and back ends according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method of fixedly connecting the first output port of the switch in each tile to the first input port of the corresponding tile egress module further includes: The first output port of the switch is fixedly connected to the first input port of the Tile egress module inside the Tile.

3. The method for designing a reusable Tile architecture for the middle and back ends according to claim 1, characterized in that: After the first output port of the switch in each tile is fixedly connected to the first input port of the corresponding tile egress module, the method further includes: The other output ports of the switch are used as the output ports of the Tile, and the other input ports of the Tile egress module are used as the input ports of the Tile.

4. The method for designing a reusable Tile architecture for the middle and back ends according to claim 1, characterized in that: After determining the routing remapping rule according to the connection rule between the tile and the connection channel by using the remapping module, the method further includes: When the connection rule between the tile and the connection channel is changed according to the tile placement position, the corresponding routing remapping rule is matched with the changed connection rule.

5. The method for designing a reusable Tile architecture for the middle and back ends according to claim 1, characterized in that: The remapping module is located in the Tile.

6. A reusable Tile architecture design device for the middle and back ends, characterized in that: include: A layout unit, used to determine the number of rows and columns of the crossbar switch and the location of the connection channel according to the number of tiles, wherein the tile has an integrated switch and a tile exit module; A connection unit, used to fixedly connect the first output port of the switch in each Tile to the first input port of the corresponding Tile egress module, and to determine a routing remapping rule according to a connection rule between the Tile and the connection channel using a remapping module; A remapping unit is used to convert the routing information input to the tile according to the routing remapping rule and transmit it to the switch in the tile, establish an interface connection between each tile and the connection channel, and establish interconnection between multiple tiles within the connection channel.

7. The reusable Tile architecture design device for the middle and back end according to claim 6, characterized in that: The connecting unit is further used for: The first output port of the switch is fixedly connected to the first input port of the Tile egress module inside the Tile.

8. The reusable Tile architecture design device for the middle and back end according to claim 6, characterized in that: The connecting unit is further used for: The other output ports of the switch are used as the output ports of the Tile, and the other input ports of the Tile egress module are used as the input ports of the Tile.

9. The reusable Tile architecture design device for the middle and back end according to claim 6, characterized in that: The connecting unit is further used for: When the connection rule between the tile and the connection channel is changed according to the tile placement position, the corresponding routing remapping rule is matched with the changed connection rule.

10. The reusable Tile architecture design device for the middle and back end according to claim 6, characterized in that: The remapping module is located in the Tile.

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