Design space exploration for device and architectural heterogeneity in chip-multiprocessors

As we enter the deep submicron era, the number of transistors integrated on die is exponentially increased. While the additional transistors largely boost the processor performance, a repugnant side effect caused by the evolution is the ever-rising power consumption and chip temperature. It is widely acknowledged that the shortage of power supplied to a processor will be a major hazard to sustain the generational performance scaling, if the processor design is to follow the conventional approach. To utilize the on-chip resources in an efficient manner, computer architects need to consider new design paradigms that effectively leverage the advantages of modern semiconductor technology. In this paper, we address this issue by exploiting the device-heterogeneity and two-fold asymmetry in the processor manufacturing. We conduct a thorough investigation on these design patterns from different evaluation perspectives including performance, energy-efficiency, and cost-efficiency. Our observations can provide insightful guidance to the design of future processors.