The Big Chip: Challenge, model and architecture

Area of Science:

• Semiconductor technology
• Integrated circuit design
• Computer engineering

Background:

• Moore's Law is reaching its limits, hindering performance gains through transistor scaling.
• Increasing chip area is a current strategy for integrating more transistors.
• The "area-wall" limits continuous chip area expansion due to reticle size, cost, and manufacturing yield constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the challenges posed by the "area-wall" in high-performance chip design.
• To propose a novel chip form, the "Big Chip," as a solution to the area-wall.
• To introduce a performance model and discuss the architecture and future trends of the Big Chip.

Main Methods:

• Detailed analysis of the "area-wall" limitations.
• Development of a performance model for evaluating the proposed "Big Chip" concept.
• Architectural discussion and trend derivation for future "Big Chip" development.

Main Results:

• The "area-wall" presents a significant barrier to performance improvement in conventional chip design.
• The proposed "Big Chip" offers a viable approach to overcome the area-wall.
• A performance model and architectural framework for the "Big Chip" have been established.

Conclusions:

• The "Big Chip" presents a practical and novel solution for overcoming the limitations of the "area-wall".
• This approach enables continuous performance enhancement beyond traditional scaling.
• Future development trends indicate the potential of "Big Chip" architecture in advancing semiconductor technology.