Interaction of scaling trends in processor architecture and cooling

Abstract

It is predicted that two important trends are likely to accompany traditional CMOS semiconductor technology scaling - chip multiprocessors and 3D integration. With the ever-increasing power consumption and the consequent difficulty in heat removal, it is important to consider the limits and implications of different cooling methods for the upcoming many-core and 3D era. In this paper, we consider both technology scaling and many-core architecture scaling trends in conjunction with conventional air cooling and advanced microchannel cooling for both 2D and 3D microprocessors and identify interesting inflection design points down the road.