Dynamic Pipeline Scaling
dc.contributor.advisor | Dr. Alexander G. Dean, Committee Member | en_US |
dc.contributor.advisor | Dr. Wm. Rhett Davis, Committee Member | en_US |
dc.contributor.advisor | Dr. Thomas M. Conte, Committee Member | en_US |
dc.contributor.advisor | Dr. Eric Rotenberg, Committee Chair | en_US |
dc.contributor.author | Ramrakhyani, Prakash Shyamlal | en_US |
dc.date.accessioned | 2010-04-02T18:10:28Z | |
dc.date.available | 2010-04-02T18:10:28Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2003-06-04 | en_US |
dc.degree.discipline | Computer Engineering | en_US |
dc.degree.level | thesis | en_US |
dc.degree.name | MS | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | The classic problem of balancing power and performance continues to exist, as technology progresses. Fortunately, high performance is not a constant requirement in a system. When the performance requirement is not at its peak, the processor can be configured to conserve power, while providing just enough performance. Parameters like voltage, frequency, and cache structure have been proposed to be made dynamically scalable, to conserve power. This thesis analyzes the effects of dynamically scaling a new processor parameter, pipeline depth. We propose Dynamic Pipeline Scaling, a technique to conserve energy at low frequencies when voltage is invariable. When frequency can be lowered enough, adjacent pipeline stages can be merged to form a shallow pipeline. At equal voltage and frequency, the shallow pipeline is more energy-efficient than the deep pipeline. This is because the shallow pipeline has fewer data dependence stalls and a lower branch misprediction penalty. Thus, there are fewer wasteful transitions in a shallow pipeline, which translates directly to lower energy consumption. On a variable-voltage processor, the shallow pipeline requires a higher operating voltage than the deep pipeline for the same frequency. Since energy depends on the square of voltage and depends linearly on the total number of transitions, on a variable-voltage processor, a deep pipeline is typically more energy-efficient than a shallow pipeline. However, there may be situations where variable voltage is not desired. For example, if the latency to switch voltage is large, voltage scaling may not be beneficial in a real-time system with tight deadlines. On such a system, dynamic pipeline scaling can yield energy benefits, in spite of not scaling voltage. | en_US |
dc.identifier.other | etd-05252003-142725 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/resolver/1840.16/2106 | |
dc.rights | I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. | en_US |
dc.subject | fetch gating | en_US |
dc.subject | clock gating | en_US |
dc.subject | dynamic voltage scaling | en_US |
dc.subject | power and energy management | en_US |
dc.subject | configurable pipeline | en_US |
dc.subject | Variable-depth pipeline | en_US |
dc.subject | shallow and deep pipelines | en_US |
dc.title | Dynamic Pipeline Scaling | en_US |
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