Friday, January 5th 2024
Chinese Researchers Want to Make Wafer-Scale RISC-V Processors with up to 1,600 Cores
According to the report from a journal called Fundamental Research, researchers from the Institute of Computing Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a 256-core multi-chiplet processor called Zhejiang Big Chip, with plans to scale up to 1,600 cores by utilizing an entire wafer. As transistor density gains slow, alternatives like multi-chiplet architectures become crucial for continued performance growth. The Zhejiang chip combines 16 chiplets, each holding 16 RISC-V cores, interconnected via network-on-chip. This design can theoretically expand to 100 chiplets and 1,600 cores on an advanced 2.5D packaging interposer. While multi-chiplet is common today, using the whole wafer for one system would match Cerebras' breakthrough approach. Built on 22 nm process technology, the researchers cite exascale supercomputing as an ideal application for massively parallel multi-chiplet architectures.
Careful software optimization is required to balance workloads across the system hierarchy. Integrating near-memory processing and 3D stacking could further optimize efficiency. The paper explores lithography and packaging limits, proposing hierarchical chiplet systems as a flexible path to future computing scale. While yield and cooling challenges need further work, the 256-core foundation demonstrates the potential of modular designs as an alternative to monolithic integration. China's focus mirrors multiple initiatives from American giants like AMD and Intel for data center CPUs. But national semiconductor ambitions add urgency to prove domestically designed solutions can rival foreign innovation. Although performance details are unclear, the rapid progress shows promise in mastering modular chip integration. Combined with improving domestic nodes like the 7 nm one from SMIC, China could easily create a viable Exascale system in-house.
Source:
The Next Platform
Careful software optimization is required to balance workloads across the system hierarchy. Integrating near-memory processing and 3D stacking could further optimize efficiency. The paper explores lithography and packaging limits, proposing hierarchical chiplet systems as a flexible path to future computing scale. While yield and cooling challenges need further work, the 256-core foundation demonstrates the potential of modular designs as an alternative to monolithic integration. China's focus mirrors multiple initiatives from American giants like AMD and Intel for data center CPUs. But national semiconductor ambitions add urgency to prove domestically designed solutions can rival foreign innovation. Although performance details are unclear, the rapid progress shows promise in mastering modular chip integration. Combined with improving domestic nodes like the 7 nm one from SMIC, China could easily create a viable Exascale system in-house.
26 Comments on Chinese Researchers Want to Make Wafer-Scale RISC-V Processors with up to 1,600 Cores
The ban on exports and such only yielded china to actually invest billions into chip design.
Good game.
Just consider how everything in your home says ‘Made in China’ except for chips. Now imagine how homes in upcoming countries with no China sanctions will look.
You think the current challenges of chip development and manufacturing is a walk in the park and China can just achieve this by throwing billions at it. Well, they've been doing this for some time and realized they couldn't do it, so they started appropriating IP by corrupting employees of large corporations.
Look at intel, they have the billions $$$, experience, subsidies, IP, no sanctions on their backs and yet they are suffering for years to move forward.
Even mature nodes only yield something like 80-90%, so what are the chances you could use a whole wafer. Sure, this is 22nm, not 5nm or less, but still...Capital will only go where it's allowed to go. This isn't a capitalism problem, it's a globalization one.
havent read anything groundbreaking being done with them Though.
and also the precarious situation w TSMC being in Taiwan is making ppl nervous and I hope that AMD will forge a solid backup plan. They need US fabs yesterday!This! Intel has everything going for them, they strong arm manufacturers too, go to dell, lenovo, acer, asus, hp, etc and they have 70% intel systems and only 30% ryzen or epyc or threadripper based systems... not a lot of OEMs have as much AMD based systems as Intel!
Intel owns thier fabs
No sanctions
Literally have everything set up so nicely... Yet THEY FAIL SO HARD RN...
complacency is the enemy of innovation! They've had it too easy and look where they are!
Assuming the same wafer size for normal chips contains 100 smaller chips with 95% yield, a whole wafer chip will have a yield of 0.6%