The March of Moore’s Law:
Driving System Scale
Integration
Keith D. Underwood
Intel is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United
States and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
1
Intel
Architecture
Group
The History of Computers is a
History of Integration
What Next?7
PCIExpress 6
100
Graphics 5
Memory Controller4
L2 Cache on Die3
10
L2 Cache
2
on Package
FPU 1
0
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
Intel is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United
States and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
2
2010
2015
Intel
Architecture
Group
1
2020
What Next for Integration?
For HPC: It should be the Network
NIC
Discrete NIC creates Challenges:
•
PCIExpress*
•
Designed for commodity board
infrastructure
•
Low demand for bandwidth
improvement in volume space – 8
Gb/s today
•
Semantics designed for broad
adapter ecosystem
•
Adds electrical interface that
•
Adds power
•
Adds latency
Network
Integrating NIC creates Advantages for HPC:
•
Exports native network link
•
Engineered for high performance
electrical channel
•
High demand for bandwidth
improvement – 14 Gb/s today
•
Provides native HPC semantics
•
Eliminates redundant link to CPU
(reduces power, reduces latency,
improves MTBF)
•
Enables “real” remote atomics
Intel is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United
States and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
3
Switch
Network
CPU
Switch
Network
Network
PCIExpress
PCIExpress
CPU
NIC
Intel
Architecture
Group
A Form Factor Opportunity
Intel is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United
States and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
4
Intel
Architecture
Group
Challenges Facing the Integration
of an HPC Network
Ÿ
What to integrate?
–
–
–
Ÿ
Ÿ
Mobile: Wireless!
Server: Ethernet!
HPC: Something Useful!
Platform Challenge: high speed signaling
exiting a CPU socket
Product cycles
–
HPC networks happen every 3 years (or so)
–
–
Must sell enough to match cost of development
Basic technology (signaling, cabling, optics, boards)
does not change any faster
Intel is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United
States
and other countries.
–
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
CPU platforms change every 2 year
5
Intel
Architecture
Group
Summary
Ÿ
Ÿ
Improving transistor density has repeatedly
drawn more system components on die to
deliver superior products
HPC would exploit integration of the
network for significant gains
–
–
–
–
Ÿ
Improved bandwidth off-package
Improved system level form factor
Reduced power
Improved semantics
Biggest challenge facing network
integration: wildly divergent requirements
–
HPC has not traditionally wanted Ethernet
Intel
Architecture
Group
Most capable HPC networks may be harder
to
Intel is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United
States and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
–
6