Balancing static islands in dynamically scheduled circuits using continuous petri nets

High-level synthesis (HLS) tools automatically transform a high-level program, for example in C/C++, into a low-level hardware description. A key challenge in HLS is scheduling, i.e. determining the start time of all the operations in the untimed program. A major shortcoming of existing approaches to scheduling – whether they are static (start times determined at compile-time), dynamic (start times determined at run-time), or a hybrid of both – is that the static analysis cannot efficiently explore the run-time hardware behaviours. Existing approaches either assume the timing behaviour in extreme cases, which can cause sub-optimal performance or larger area, or use simulation-based approaches, which take a long time to explore enough program traces. In this article, we propose an efficient approach using probabilistic analysis for HLS tools to efficiently explore the timing behaviour of scheduled hardware. We capture the performance of the hardware using Timed Continous Petri nets with immediate transitions, allowing us to leverage efficient Petri net analysis tools for making HLS decisions. We demonstrate the utility of our approach by using it to automatically estimate the hardware throughput for balancing the throughput for statically scheduled components (also known as static islands) computing in a dynamically scheduled circuit. Over a set of benchmarks, we show that our approach on average incurs a 2% overhead in area-delay product compared to optimal designs by exhaustive search

차세대 HBM 용 고집적, 저전력 송수신기 설계

학위논문 (박사) -- 서울대학교 대학원 : 공과대학 전기·정보공학부, 2020. 8. 정덕균.This thesis presents design techniques for high-density power-efficient transceiver for the next-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM). Unlike the other memory interfaces, HBM uses a 3D-stacked package using through-silicon via (TSV) and a silicon interposer. The transceiver for HBM should be able to solve the problems caused by the 3D-stacked package and TSV. At first, a data (DQ) receiver for HBM with a self-tracking loop that tracks a phase skew between DQ and data strobe (DQS) due to a voltage or thermal drift is proposed. The self-tracking loop achieves low power and small area by uti-lizing an analog-assisted baud-rate phase detector. The proposed pulse-to-charge (PC) phase detector (PD) converts the phase skew to a voltage differ-ence and detects the phase skew from the voltage difference. An offset calibra-tion scheme that can compensates for a mismatch of the PD is also proposed. The proposed calibration scheme operates without any additional sensing cir-cuits by taking advantage of the write training of HBM. Fabricated in 65 nm CMOS, the DQ receiver shows a power efficiency of 370 fJ/b at 4.8 Gb/s and occupies 0.0056 mm2. The experimental results show that the DQ receiver op-erates without any performance degradation under a ± 10% supply variation. In a second prototype IC, a high-density transceiver for HBM with a feed-forward-equalizer (FFE)-combined crosstalk (XT) cancellation scheme is pre-sented. To compensate for the XT, the transmitter pre-distorts the amplitude of the FFE output according to the XT. Since the proposed XT cancellation (XTC) scheme reuses the FFE implemented to equalize the channel loss, additional circuits for the XTC is minimized. Thanks to the XTC scheme, a channel pitch can be significantly reduced, allowing for the high channel density. Moreover, the 3D-staggered channel structure removes the ground layer between the verti-cally adjacent channels, which further reduces a cross-sectional area of the channel per lane. The test chip including 6 data lanes is fabricated in 65 nm CMOS technology. The 6-mm channels are implemented on chip to emulate the silicon interposer between the HBM and the processor. The operation of the XTC scheme is verified by simultaneously transmitting 4-Gb/s data to the 6 consecutive channels with 0.5-um pitch and the XTC scheme reduces the XT-induced jitter up to 78 %. The measurement result shows that the transceiver achieves the throughput of 8 Gb/s/um. The transceiver occupies 0.05 mm2 for 6 lanes and consumes 36.6 mW at 6 x 4 Gb/s.본 논문에서는 차세대 HBM을 위한 고집적 저전력 송수신기 설계 방법을 제안한다. 첫 번째로, 전압 및 온도 변화에 의한 데이터와 클럭 간 위상 차이를 보상할 수 있는 자체 추적 루프를 가진 데이터 수신기를 제안한다. 제안하는 자체 추적 루프는 데이터 전송 속도와 같은 속도로 동작하는 위상 검출기를 사용하여 전력 소모와 면적을 줄였다. 또한 메모리의 쓰기 훈련 (write training) 과정을 이용하여 효과적으로 위상 검출기의 오프셋을 보상할 수 있는 방법을 제안한다. 제안하는 데이터 수신기는 65 nm 공정으로 제작되어 4.8 Gb/s에서 370 fJ/b을 소모하였다. 또한 10 % 의 전압 변화에 대하여 안정적으로 동작하는 것을 확인하였다. 두 번째로, 피드 포워드 이퀄라이저와 결합된 크로스 토크 보상 방식을 활용한 고집적 송수신기를 제안한다. 제안하는 송신기는 크로스 토크 크기에 해당하는 만큼 송신기 출력을 왜곡하여 크로스 토크를 보상한다. 제안하는 크로스 토크 보상 방식은 채널 손실을 보상하기 위해 구현된 피드 포워드 이퀄라이저를 재활용함으로써 추가적인 회로를 최소화한다. 제안하는 송수신기는 크로스 토크가 보상 가능하기 때문에, 채널 간격을 크게 줄여 고집적 통신을 구현하였다. 또한 집적도를 더 증가시키기 위해 세로로 인접한 채널 사이의 차폐 층을 제거한 적층 채널 구조를 제안한다. 6개의 송수신기를 포함한 프로토타입 칩은 65 nm 공정으로 제작되었다. HBM과 프로세서 사이의 silicon interposer channel 을 모사하기 위한 6 mm 의 채널이 칩 위에 구현되었다. 제안하는 크로스 토크 보상 방식은 0.5 um 간격의 6개의 인접한 채널에 동시에 데이터를 전송하여 검증되었으며, 크로스 토크로 인한 지터를 최대 78 % 감소시켰다. 제안하는 송수신기는 8 Gb/s/um 의 처리량을 가지며 6 개의 송수신기가 총 36.6 mW의 전력을 소모하였다.CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 MOTIVATION 1 1.2 THESIS ORGANIZATION 4 CHAPTER 2 BACKGROUND ON HIGH-BANDWIDTH MEMORY 6 2.1 OVERVIEW 6 2.2 TRANSCEIVER ARCHITECTURE 10 2.3 READ/WRITE OPERATION 15 2.3.1 READ OPERATION 15 2.3.2 WRITE OPERATION 19 CHAPTER 3 BACKGROUNDS ON COUPLED WIRES 21 3.1 GENERALIZED MODEL 21 3.2 EFFECT OF CROSSTALK 26 CHAPTER 4 DQ RECEIVER WITH BAUD-RATE SELF-TRACKING LOOP 29 4.1 OVERVIEW 29 4.2 FEATURES OF DQ RECEIVER FOR HBM 33 4.3 PROPOSED PULSE-TO-CHARGE PHASE DETECTOR 35 4.3.1 OPERATION OF PULSE-TO-CHARGE PHASE DETECTOR 35 4.3.2 OFFSET CALIBRATION 37 4.3.3 OPERATION SEQUENCE 39 4.4 CIRCUIT IMPLEMENTATION 42 4.5 MEASUREMENT RESULT 46 CHAPTER 5 HIGH-DENSITY TRANSCEIVER FOR HBM WITH 3D-STAGGERED CHANNEL AND CROSSTALK CANCELLATION SCHEME 57 5.1 OVERVIEW 57 5.2 PROPOSED 3D-STAGGERED CHANNEL 61 5.2.1 IMPLEMENTATION OF 3D-STAGGERED CHANNEL 61 5.2.2 CHANNEL CHARACTERISTICS AND MODELING 66 5.3 PROPOSED FEED-FORWARD-EQUALIZER-COMBINED CROSSTALK CANCELLATION SCHEME 72 5.4 CIRCUIT IMPLEMENTATION 77 5.4.1 OVERALL ARCHITECTURE 77 5.4.2 TRANSMITTER WITH FFE-COMBINED XTC 79 5.4.3 RECEIVER 81 5.5 MEASUREMENT RESULT 82 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION 93 BIBLIOGRAPHY 95 초 록 102Docto

Robustness and durability aspects in the design of power management circuits for IoT applications

With the increasing interest in the heterogeneous world of the “Internet of Things” (IoT), new compelling challenges arise in the field of electronic design, especially concerning the development of innovative power management solutions. Being this diffusion a consolidated reality nowadays, emerging needs like lifetime, durability and robustness are becoming the new watchwords for power management, being a common ground which can dramatically improve service life and confidence in these devices. The possibility to design nodes which do not need external power supply is a crucial point in this scenario. Moreover, the development of autonomous nodes which are substantially maintenance free, and which therefore can be placed in unreachable or harsh environments is another enabling aspect for the exploitation of this technology. In this respect, the study of energy harvesting techniques is increasingly earning interest again. Along with efficiency aspects, degradation aspects are the other main research field with respect to lifetime, durability and robustness of IoT devices, especially related to aging mechanisms which are peculiar in power management and power conversion circuits, like for example battery wear during usage or hot-carrier degradation (HCD) in power MOSFETs. In this thesis different aspects related to lifetime, durability and robustness in the field of power management circuits are studied, leading to interesting contributions. Innovative designs of DC/DC power converters are studied and developed, especially related to reliability aspects of the use of electrochemical cells as power sources. Moreover, an advanced IoT node is proposed, based on energy harvesting techniques, which features an intelligent dynamically adaptive power management circuit. As a further contribution, a novel algorithm is proposed, which is able to effectively estimate the efficiency of a DC/DC converter for photovoltaic applications at runtime. Finally, an innovative DC/DC power converter with embedded monitoring of hot-carrier degradation in power MOSFETs is designed