Demonstration of a heterogeneous multi-core processor with 3-D inductive coupling links

Abstract

Cube-1 is a heterogeneous multi-core processor which can achieve the required performance with the least energy consumption as possible. It can control the performance and energy with two levels: (1) the number of accelerators can be easily changed by increasing or decreasing the number of stacked chips after fabrication, as they are connected with inductive coupling links. (2) The supply voltage for PE array of the accelerator can be controlled by the host CPU so that the required performance can be obtained with a minimum supply voltage.