Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering

Graduate Exam Abstract

Charles Thangaraj
Ph.D. Preliminary
Jul 07, 2008, 2.00 to 4.00 pm
Engr. conf. room
Early Design Phase Design Target Trade-Offs Using In-Situ Macro Models
Abstract: Rapid and effective design space exploration at all
stages of a design process enables faster design convergence and
shorter time-to-market. This is particularly important during
the early stage of a design where design decisions can have a
significant impact on the design later. Accurate and yet simple
design target prediction models based on legacy design data, technology
scaling trend, and low level physical design parameters
can be iteratively used during early design phase to explore design
space for desired design quality and time-to-market requirement.
This paper describes a methodology for design space exploration
using design target prediction models. These models are driven
by legacy deisgn data, technology scaling trends and, an in-situ
model-fitting process. Experiments on ISCAS benchmark circuits
validate the feasibility of the proposed approach and yielded
power centric designs that improved power by 7% - 32% for
a corresponding 0% - 4.3% performance impact; performance
centric system designs improved performance by 10.31% - 17%
for a corresponding 2% - 3.85% power penalty. The results of
the prediction model were verified against SPICE on a test circuit
and found to be within 13.8% (worst case) of SPICE, sufficient
for early design optimizations. Pareto analysis using the proposed
method on an industrial 65 nm design uncovered design tradeoffs
not obvious to designers. Power centric design improved both
system power consumption and performance by 19.6% and 6.3%,
respectively; while the performance centric design improved both
performance and power by 11.7% and 1.63%, respectively.
Adviser: Dr. Tom Chen
Co-Adviser: NA
Non-ECE Member: Dr. Phillip Chapman, Dept. of Statistics
Member 3: Dr. George Collins
Addional Members: NA
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