Mike, you mentioned the other day about some of the Moore’s Law drivers perhaps dissipating — clock speed slowing and cost per transistor scaling less aggressively, I believe. What are the renewed drivers for “More Moore”?
Aaron, it does appear that the drivers for further scaling are shifting emphases. Density and cost are still very important drivers, however performance (clock frequency) is giving way to lowering chip power. Demand for lower power is broad-based across segments, from mobile devices to servers. Form factor - getting more functionality on an SOC -- is another mobile computing driver. In my opinion, density scaling will continue to provide significant overall value for several nodes to come.
I agree. I believe that enabling parallel programming (including CUDA) is a key requirement for being albe to take advantage of leading edge nodes faster. The stuff is too hard for most ordinary humans to handle... But one key innovation there can launch a whole series of applications that all of the sudden could use more compute "space". But yeah, it's all got to be done without having to water cool the chip. So lower power is key both for battery life and for fire prevention.
Aaron, it does appear that the drivers for further scaling are shifting emphases. Density and cost are still very important drivers, however performance (clock frequency) is giving way to lowering chip power. Demand for lower power is broad-based across segments, from mobile devices to servers. Form factor - getting more functionality on an SOC -- is another mobile computing driver. In my opinion, density scaling will continue to provide significant overall value for several nodes to come.
Regarding #1
I agree. I believe that enabling parallel programming (including CUDA) is a key requirement for being albe to take advantage of leading edge nodes faster. The stuff is too hard for most ordinary humans to handle... But one key innovation there can launch a whole series of applications that all of the sudden could use more compute "space". But yeah, it's all got to be done without having to water cool the chip. So lower power is key both for battery life and for fire prevention.