microprocessor that improves as they progress

Jun 05, 2006 22 Replies
R

Of course it's possible (as already answered). If you aren't talking about AI and processors improving themselves automatically (no learning), maybe reconfigurable computing would be what you're looking for. You put and RAM-based FPGA next to your processor and configure it to do some special tasks on-demand (i.e. if you need DES you configure it to do DES like a dedicated encryption hardware). If the task is recurring (you encrypt a huge file), you can ignore the impact of reconfiguring the chip on overall performace since the gain is far greater.

And there are also ideas for processors that are reconfigurable in a slightly different sense and so their architecture is optimised for one special C program (i.e. MP3 decoding) and these could be dynamically reconfigured during runtime (in FPGA). But it's ultimately left to the system designer to perform SW/HW matching optimisations. This could be taken even futher to multiprocessor designs, C program to system synthesys etc.

Check out NISC (No Instruction Set Computer) and other D. Gajski's ideas on the future of digital design.

- R.

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A

I do not think that it is just in search of a genius. It is also in search of proper economics.

I have some familiarity with FPGA implementations of general purpose microprocessors.

Overall, it looks like you give up at least 10X, and more like 100X, in performance, 10X in power, and 10X in area, for an FPGA implementation.

So your FPGA optimization of the existing microprocessor has to be

10-100X better - more performance, or better power - than an existing full custom design of a general purpose microprocessor, to be worthwhile. That's a big hurdle.

While I, you, and a recent college graduate, can probably create an FPGA design that is 2-4X more efficient in gate delays - even 100X for special problems - doing so across the board is hard, and harder still to overcome that initial hurdle.

And then... say that you have such an FPGA logic design that is 100X better than best full custom gehneral purpose microprocessor. Will it still be better than a full custom implementation of the RTL you put into the FPGA?

FPGAs only make sense if a) you can gain performance by putting it into hardware b) enough to overcome the performande lost by putting the hardware in an FPGA c) the market is big enough to justofy developing the FPGA d) but too small to justofy full custom There are a lot of such markets for FPGAs. Especially if development time is also an issue. But not everything fits this bill.

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B

That doesn't mean that it can't be done reasonably.

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