Modeling the computational efficiency of 2-D and 3-D silicon processors for early-chip planning

Hierarchical models from physical to system-level are proposed for architectural exploration of high-performance silicon systems to quantify the performance and cost trade offs for 2-D and 3-D IC implementations. We show that 3-D systems can reduce interconnect delay and energy by up to an order of magnitude over 2-D, with an increase of 20–30% in performance-per-watt for every doubling of stack height. Contrary to previous analysis, the improved energy efficiency is achievable at a favorable cost. The models are packaged as a standalone tool and can provide fast estimation of coarse-grain performance and cost limitations for a variety of processing systems to be used at the early chip-planning phase of the design cycle.