Intels Multicore Processor Gurjeet Singh (RK3703B33)

I.

Abstract

At its simplest, multi-core is a design in which a single physical processor contains the core logic of more than one processor. Its as if an Intel Xeon processor were opened up and inside were packaged all the circuitry and logic for two (or more) Intel Xeon processors. The multi-core design puts several such processor cores and packages them as a single physical processor. The goal of this design is to enable a system to run more tasks simultaneously and thereby achieve greater overall system performance. In this design, each core has its own II. Introduction execution pipeline. And each core has the resources required to run without blocking Multi-core processors, as the name implies, contain two or more distinct cores in the same physical package. Figure shows how this appears in relation to previous technologies. While the example in Figure shows a twocore design, there is no inherent limitation in the number of cores that can be placed on a single chip. Intel has committed to shipping dual-core processors in 2005, but it will add additional cores in the future. Mainframe processors today use more than two cores, so there is precedent for this resources needed by the other software threads. Fig.1 (Multi-Core processors have

multiple execution cores on a single chip)

kind

of

development.

approach means you can get a significant boost in performance without the need to run at ruinous clock rates. III. Architecture processor of multicore

The multi-core design enables two or more cores to run at somewhat slower speeds and at much lower temperatures. The combined throughput of these cores delivers processing power greater than the maximum available today on single-core processors and at a much lower level of power consumption. In this way, Intel increases the capabilities of server platforms as predicted by Moores Law while the technology no longer pushes the outer limits of physical constraints. The Need for Multicore Due to advances in circuit technology and performance limitation in wide-issue, super-speculative processors, Chip-Multiprocessors (CMP) or multi-core technology has be-come the mainstream in CPU designs. Speeding up processor frequency had run its course in the earlier part of this decade; computer architects needed a new approach to improve performance. Adding an additional processing core to the same chip would, in theory, result in twice the performance and dissipate less heat, though in practice the actual speed of each core is slower than the fastest single core processor. In September 2005 the IEE Review noted that power consumption increases by 60% with every 400MHz rise in clock speedBut the dual-core

Fig.2 (Architecture of Intels Multicore Processor)

L1 Cache o 32 KB Data, 32 KB

Instruction o 8-Way associativity L2 Cache o 4MB Shared among 2 cores o 16-way associativity o 256 bit width o 10.6 GB/s bandwidth to cores FB-DDR2 o Increased Latency

o memory instructions Executions

disambiguation SIMD Single instruction, multiple data MIMD Multiple multiple data Types of Multiprocessor memory Shared Memory: instructions, Modern graphics cards

allows load ahead store

o Pipeline length 14; 24 bytes Fetch width; 96 reorder buffers o Max decoding rate 4 + 1; Max 4 FP/cycle o 128-bit SSE Units; One SSE instruction/cycle Instruction-level parallelism Parallelism at the machine can re-order, do

In this model, there is one (large) common shared memory for all processors Distributed memory:

instruction level The into processor

In this model, each processor has its own (small) local memory, and its content is not replicated anywhere else IV. Performance Hyper-Threading, or

pipeline instructions, split them microinstructions, aggressive branch prediction, etc. Instruction-level enabled years. Multiprocessor computer processors with is any several rapid parallelism increases in

processor speeds over the last 15

Multithreading, Multi-Core

Programs are made up of execution threads. These threads are sequences of related instructions. In the early days of the PC, most programs consisted of a single thread. The operating systems in those days were capable of running only one such program at a time. The result was-as some of us painfully recall-that your PC would freeze while it printed a document or a spreadsheet. The system was incapable of doing two things

simultaneously. Innovations in the operating system introduced multitasking in which one program could be briefly suspended and another one run. By quickly swapping programs in and out in this manner, the system gave the appearance of running the programs simultaneously. However, the underlying processor was, in fact, at all times running just a single thread. By the beginning of this decade, processor design had gained additional execution resources (such as logic dedicated to floating-point and integer math) to support executing multiple instructions in parallel. Intel saw an opportunity in these extra facilities. The company reasoned it could make better use of these resources by employing them to execute two separate threads simultaneously on the same processor core. Intel named this simultaneous processing Hyper-Threading Technology and released it on the Intel Xeon processors in 2003. According to Intel benchmarks, appli cations that were written using multiple threads could see improvements of up to 30% by running on processors with HT Technology. More important, however, two programs could now run simultaneously on a processor without having to be swapped in and out (See Figure 3.) To induce the operating system to recognize one processor as two possible execution pipelines, the new chips were made to appear as two logical processors to the operating system. HT Technology allows more efficient use of a single execution core by allowing multiple threads to share the cores resources, whereas multi-core capability provides two or more complete sets of execution resources to increase compute throughput. Any application that has been threaded for HT Technology should deliver great performance when run on an Intel multi-core processor-based system. Accordingly, users will be able to take

advantage of many existing applications that are already optimized for two threads from the earliest days of Intels transition to multi-core architectures across its desktop, mobile and server processor product lines. Multi-core architecture doesnt signal the death of HT Technology. Instead, HT Technology makes it possible to further maximize performance by splitting the resources of each individual core in the multi-core system.

Figure 3. HT Technology enables two threads to execute simultaneously on a single processor core

The performance boost of HT Technology was limited by the availability of shared resources to the two executing threads. As a result, HT Technology cannot approach the processing throughput of two distinct processors because of the contention for these shared resources. To achieve greater performance gains on a single chip, a processor would require two separate cores, such that each thread would have its own complete set of execution resources

 V. Evolutionary analysis

8086 Intel 286 Intel 386 Intel 486 Intel Pentium , 1,2,3,4 Intel itanium 1 ,2 Intel i3 , i5 ,i7

The Intel introduce its first multi core processor in November 1971, it is Intel 4004 with 2300 transistors. Until 2005 single-core processors outnumbered multicore processors .In the years before there were only multi-core solutions used in individual cases. In the majority of cases they enhanced the frequency. But at a frequency about 4 GHz the CPU would get too hot and take a lot of electricity. This was the point when multi-core processors became more important. Therefore the demand for multi-core processors increased. In the second half of 2006 the best processors were dual-core processors. Since 2006 the development has gone on, so that the new processors get four or more independent microprocessors. Today, single-core processors are not used in new personal computers. But they remain popular in embedded systems. Here is the list of Intels multi core processors according to their release year 4004 8008 8080
VI.

Software Implications

Multi-core systems will deliver benefits to all software, but especially multi-threaded programs. All code that supports HT Technology or multiple processors, for example, will benefit automatically from multi-core processors, without need for modification. Most server-side enterprise packages and many desktop productivity tools fall into this category; as do most of todays operating systems. Single-threaded applications still benefit from multi-core (although they do not gain the full

advantages offered by the technology), because while they are executing, the operating system can execute tasks on the other cores without for interrupting access to the the running processor. Finally, multi-core processors are wellpositioned to bring performance benefits to emerging software usage models such as virtualization, service-oriented architecture (SOA), and Web services, which require concurrent processes. VII. Comparison of various Intels processor execution of multiple program

cy Bus Raito 28 15 14

VIII.

Advantages Having a multi-core processor in a computer means that it will work faster for certain programs. The computer may as hot when it is turned on. not get

The computer needs less power because it can turn off some sections if they arent needed. More features can be added to the computer. The signals between different CPUs travel shorter distances, therefore they degrade less.

Process or Name Cores Threads Cache Clock Speed Instructi on set Hyper threadin g Turbo boost

I7 4 8 8MB 2.80G Hz 64 bit yes

I5 2 4 3MB 1.50G Hz 64 bit yes

I3 IX. 2 4 3MB 1.40G Hz 64 bit yes

Disadvantages They do not work at twice the speed as a normal processor. They get only 60-80% more speed. The speed that the computer works at depends on what the user is doing with it. They cost more than single core processors. They are more difficult to manage thermally than lower-density single-core processors. Not all operating systems support more than one core. Operating systems compiled for a multi-core processor will run

2.0

2.0

no

Graphics 650M Base Hz Frequen

350MH 350M Z Hz

slightly slower on a single-core processor. X. Summary

questions-intel-multi-coreprocessor-architecture http://software.intel.com/enus/articles/multi-coreprocessor-architectureexplained

The hardware platform must the target total system throughput, rather than the execution speed of a single task. In other words, the hardware must make all tasks run faster as well as increase the capabilities to end-users. Intel was the first company to deliver on this vision when it shipped processors with HT Technology in 2002. Now, with the imminent release of multi-core processors, the company delivers a more powerful solution that will have favorable implications not only for PCs, but for workgroup and departmental servers as well. The first multi-core processors are slated to appear in 2005, followed by a rapid top-to-bottom transition in 2006. When they do, this site will provide additional information as well as advice for customers making the transition to this new technology. XI. REFERENCES http://blazinjewel.hubpages.co m/hub/Multi-Core-ProcessorEvolution http://simple.wikipedia.org/wik i/Multi-core_processor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co mparison_of_Intel_processors http://software.intel.com/enus/articles/frequently-asked-