Deepak Shankar, CEO and Founder of Mirabilis Deign Inc. hosted a webinar(Feb 17,2016) on the architectural possibilities to improve memory bandwidth. This webinar highlighted that memory plays a role in impacting the performance & power consumption of a system.
2. Why Focus on Memory Sub-System
• Processors have huge number of cycles and
bandwidth
– How do you take advantage of this?
• Memory access is a major bottleneck
– Especially in high-performance systems like
multimedia and networking
• Memory access forms the largest power
consumption
– Too many ACT(RAS, RP and RCD) will dramatically
increase the power
4. Introduction
• Importance of improving Memory
Performance
• Addressing challenges with Architecture Level
Memory explorations
• Need for Performance vs. Power trade-off
analysis
• Memory addressing scheme on Performance
5. About Mirabilis Design
• Provider of system-level architecture exploration
solution for electronics and semiconductors
• Platform to conduct power-performance trade-
offs, hardware-software partitioning and
topology design
• VisualSim- Modeling and simulation software
• Based in Silicon Valley with experts in system
modeling and architectures
• Largest source of system modeling library with
embedded timing, functionality and power
6. Explore/Simulate a Memory System
• Key attributes
– DRAM datasheet
– Memory Controller attributes
– Connected Bus topology
– Workloads including rate, size, command and back
pressure
8. Challenges in Memory Usage
• Product
– Multimedia, Networking, HPC, Avionics
• Situation
– Using an off-the-shelf Processor, FPGA or SoC
• Challenge
– What will be the performance and power
consumption for my use-cases?
• Metrics
– Power per frame or packet
– Latency from sensor input to HDMI output
9. Opportunities in Memory Usage
• Vary the data sizes
• Memory configuration
• Ordering of tasks in the use-case
• Multiple Masters making asynchronous
request to memory- Addresses
• Task and data distribution across multi-core
12. Challenges in Memory System Design
• SoC interface to memory
• AXI bus and NoC topology to minimize the
overhead for each Master
• Single vs. dual channels
• Memory controller algorithm
13. Opportunity and Advantage of Design
• Consolidate read and write
• Split transaction
• Group transaction
• Read re-ordering
• Transaction priority assignment
• Lower clock frequency vs. wider bus
17. System- vs. Pin-level Modeling
Mirabilis Design Inc.
One Router
System Design Transaction-level Cycle-accurate Signal-level
VisualSim
Schematics and RTL are very slow and to detailed for end-to-end metrics
18. System- vs. Pin-level Modeling
Similarity
• Hardware attributes- width,
clock speed, buffer depths
• Timing
• Algorithms & arbitration
• Data & control flow logic
• Use addresses
Differences
• Data & control combined in
transaction not bits
• No pin definitions
• No signal handshaking
• Skip cycles with no change
• Flexible to make major
changes
• 100-1000X Faster
2/18/2016 Mirabilis Design Inc. Confidential Slide18
System model accuracy and simulation is sufficient for the explorations
19. How can System Level Explorations Help
improve Memory Performance
• Evaluate performance and power advantages of
different types of memory technologies.
• Early prediction of latency, throughput, power,
and energy
• Evaluation of next gen Storage device for high
bandwidth and less latency requirements
• Spend more time on analysis and less time on
implementation
20. Modeling Libraries - Semiconductors
SoC
• AMBA (AHB/
APB/ AXI)
• CoreConnect-
PLB & OPB
• NoC, Virtual
Channel
• USB
Memory
• SDR, DDR,
DDR2, DDR3
• QDR, RDRAM
• LPDDR,
LPDDR2,
LPDDR3,
LPDDR4
• HBM
• Flash
Processors
• ARM
• PowerPC-
Freescale and
IBM
• Intel and AMD
• TI
• MIPS
• Tensilica
• Renesas SH
Interfaces
• PCI, PCI-X,
PCIe
• RapidIO
• NVMe
• Serial Switch
• Crossbar
• Ethernet
• Fibre Channel
21. Benefits
Features Benefits
Facilitating transition from concept to design
• Creating realistic workload scenarios
driving simulations
• Models enable experimentation and
enhance innovation
• Simulations facilitate analysis and
exchanges between teams
Increasing productivity • Rapid Exploration and analysis
• Graphics are better suited to handle
complexity
• Graphics are 10x more efficient than C/C++
programming
Optimizing design • HW Footprint, buffers, timings, power
Facilitating implementation and validation
• Providing executable specifications for
implementation
• Reusing test cases for validation
