Room: Florentine I
Organizer: Mehdi Tahoori, KIT Germany, Rob Aitken, ARM, US
Moderator: Mehdi Tahoori, KIT Germany

• Design challenges with mainstream adoption of near-threshold computing (NTC)
  Sriram Vangal (Intel)

  Abstract: Aggressive power supply scaling into the near-threshold voltage (NTV) region holds great promise for applications with strict energy budgets. For many circuits, energy consumption reaches an absolute minimum in the near-threshold regime that is of the order of ~5-10x improvement over super-threshold operation. To retain this excellent energy efficiency while mitigating performance loss, we investigate application of near-threshold voltage (NTV) techniques to an IA core in an effort to quantify and overcome the barriers that have historically relegated ultralow-voltage operation to niche markets. In this talk, we review circuit behavior at low voltages, specifically in the near threshold regime, and suggest strategies and design methodologies for energy-efficient processor design. We discuss barriers to mainstream adoption of near-threshold computing and draw conclusions from 32nm and 22nm CMOS silicon measurements and share key learnings from combining NTV and resiliency techniques; with a goal to eliminate clock frequency guard bands from dynamic supply voltage and temperature variations, which are severe at near-threshold voltages.

• The challenges in the design and testing of sub-threshold circuits for high performance computing systems
  Bal Sandhu (ARM)

  Abstract: The tremendous demand for high-performance computing has led to aggressive technology scaling and allowing for millions of transistors to be placed on a SoC. As a result, this has led to an exponential growth in both dynamic power dissipation due to faster transistors and higher leakage currents due to short channel effects. This leakage current has a direct impact on the battery life for mobile applications where energy consumption is the most critical resource. To address this challenge, circuits are designed to operate in near or sub-threshold operation by lowering the power supply voltage to the minimum energy point(MEP). As a result, this improves the energy efficiency and increase battery life but imposes significant more design and test challenges of the system. In this talk, we address some of the key design challenges and discuss some of the test implications.

• Test Solution for Near-Threshold Circuits
  Yervant Zorian (Synopsys)