Multi-dimensional optimization for approximate near-threshold computing

The demise of Dennard’s scaling has created both power and utilization wall challenges for computer systems. As transistors operating in the near-threshold region are able to obtain flexible trade-offs between power and performance, it is regarded as an alternative solution to the scaling challenge....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers of information technology & electronic engineering 2020-10, Vol.21 (10), p.1426-1441
Main Authors: Wang, Jing, Liang, Wei-wei, Niu, Yue-hua, Gao, Lan, Zhang, Wei-gong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Co-design
Communications Engineering
Computation
Computer Hardware
Computer Science
Computer Systems Organization and Communication Networks
Dynamic programming
Electric potential
Electrical Engineering
Electronics and Microelectronics
Energy consumption
Instrumentation
Multiple objective analysis
Networks
Optimization
Reliability
Voltage
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Summary:The demise of Dennard’s scaling has created both power and utilization wall challenges for computer systems. As transistors operating in the near-threshold region are able to obtain flexible trade-offs between power and performance, it is regarded as an alternative solution to the scaling challenge. A reduction in supply voltage will nevertheless generate significant reliability challenges, while maintaining an error-free system that generates high costs in both performance and energy consumption. The main purpose of research on computer architecture has therefore shifted from performance improvement to complex multi-objective optimization. In this paper, we propose a three-dimensional optimization approach which can effectively identify the best system configuration to establish a balance among performance, energy, and reliability. We use a dynamic programming algorithm to determine the proper voltage and approximate level based on three predictors: system performance, energy consumption, and output quality. We propose an output quality predictor which uses a hardware/software co-design fault injection platform to evaluate the impact of the error on output quality under near-threshold computing (NTC). Evaluation results demonstrate that our approach can lead to a 28% improvement in output quality with a 10% drop in overall energy efficiency; this translates to an approximately 20% average improvement in accuracy, power, and performance.
ISSN:2095-9184
2095-9230
DOI:10.1631/FITEE.2000089