User-Defined Interfaces for Configurable Processor Data Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional processor architectures face limitations in data transfer efficiency due to fixed and inflexible interfaces, leading to performance bottlenecks in high-data-bandwidth applications like networking and video processing, where data transfer often relies on memory subsystems and lacks configurability and speculative handling.
Innovation Solution
The development of user-defined interfaces for a configurable and extensible microprocessor core allows direct data and control information transfer between processors and external devices, enabling high-speed data transfer without memory subsystems and providing configurability in number, width, and pipeline stage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If standard I/O methods are used with memory subsystems, then data transfer can be performed, but performance bottlenecks occur due to multiple steps and limited speed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the data transfer path from the memory subsystem and creates direct I/O interfaces that bypass memory. This allows data to be transferred directly between external devices and processor registers without going through memory, eliminating the performance bottleneck while reducing the number of operational steps required.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the I/O operation into direct register-to-device transfers, separating the data path from the memory subsystem. This segmentation allows independent optimization of the I/O path, enabling faster data transfer speeds without being constrained by memory bandwidth limitations.
2Speed
If custom RTL logic is used instead of programmable processors, then data transfer performance improves, but design flexibility and adaptability are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic I/O interfaces that can be configured at runtime rather than being fixed in hardware. This allows the processor to adapt its I/O capabilities to different applications and data transfer requirements, maintaining design flexibility while achieving high performance through direct memory access and configurable interface parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal I/O interface architecture that can handle multiple types of data transfers and device communications through a single programmable framework. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for separate custom logic for each application while maintaining high performance through optimized direct transfer paths.
3Productivity
If application specific processors are used, then computational performance improves, but the gap between processor speed and bandwidth widens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces direct I/O interfaces as intermediaries between the high-performance computational units and external devices. These interfaces act as dedicated data transfer pathways that are optimized for bandwidth, allowing the fast computational units to maintain their performance advantage while efficiently moving data to and from external devices without being bottlenecked by memory bandwidth.
4Quantity of substance
If wider interfaces to memory are implemented, then bandwidth gap is reduced, but area and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the high-bandwidth data transfer path from the memory subsystem and creates separate direct I/O interfaces. This allows the implementation of wide data transfer interfaces without proportionally increasing memory interface area, as the wide interfaces are dedicated to I/O operations rather than general-purpose memory access, reducing the overall area and power overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
A technique that improves both processor performance and associated data bandwidth through user-defined interfaces that can be added to a configurable and extensible microprocessor core. These interfaces can be used to communicate status or control information and to achieve synchronization between the processor and any external device including other processors. These interfaces can also be used to achieve data transfer at the rate of one data element per interface in every clock cycle. This technique makes it possible to design multiprocessor SOC systems with high-speed data transfer between processors without using the memory subsystem. Such a system and design methodology offers a complete shift from the standard bus-based architecture and allows designers to treat processors more like true computational units, so that designers can more effectively utilize programmable solutions rather than design dedicated hardware. This can have dramatic effects not only in the performance and bandwidth achieved by designs, but also in the time to market and reuse of such designs.