Modular Accelerator Function Unit Design via Device Feature Headers
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing accelerator circuits require an intermediate software data structure to discover device feature parameters, which is not modular and becomes outdated with hardware changes, leading to inefficiencies and inflexibility.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating device feature headers (DFHs) within the hardware to form a device feature list (DFL), allowing direct discovery of device feature parameters by software applications, enabling modular and flexible specification of accelerator function units and reusable library components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If an intermediate software data structure is used to discover device feature parameters, then software applications can access device features, but the system becomes non-modular and outdated with hardware changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces device feature headers (DFHs) as hardware-based intermediaries that store device feature parameters directly in the accelerator circuit. This mediator structure enables software applications to discover and access device features through a standardized interface while maintaining hardware modularity, as the DFHs can be dynamically configured to match different hardware configurations without requiring software data structure updates
2Ease of operation
If device feature parameters are stored in intermediate software data structures, then software can manage device features, but efficiency is reduced due to indirect access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts device feature parameters from software data structures and places them directly in hardware (device feature headers within the accelerator circuit). This extraction eliminates the indirect access layer, allowing software applications to read device features directly from hardware registers, thereby improving execution efficiency while maintaining ease of management through standardized access interfaces
3Ease of manufacture
If accelerator function units are supplied as integrated components, then system integration is simplified, but flexibility and reusability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments accelerator function units into modular components with clearly defined device feature headers that can be independently configured. Each AFU can be supplied as a separate module with its own DFH containing feature parameters, allowing vendors to provide reusable library components that can be selectively instantiated and configured in different system configurations, thus maintaining both integration simplicity and modular flexibility
Data Source
AI summary
A system comprising an accelerator circuit comprising an accelerator function unit to implement a first function, and one or more device feature header (DFH) circuits to provide attributes associated with the accelerator function unit, and a processor to retrieve the attributes of the accelerator function unit by traversing a device feature list (DFL) referencing the one or more DFH circuits, execute, based on the attributes, an application encoding the first function to cause the accelerator function unit to perform the first function.