Leveraging 3D Technology for Improved Reliability

Aggressive technology scaling over the years has helped improve processor performance but has caused a reduction in processor reliability. Shrinking transistor sizes and lower supply voltages have increased the vulnerability of computer systems towards transient faults. An increase in within-die and die-to-die parameter variations has also led to a greater number of dynamic timing errors. A potential solution to mitigate the impact of such errors is redundancy via an in-order checker processor. Emerging 3D chip technology promises increased processor performance as well as reduced power consumption because of shorter on-chip wires. In this paper, we leverage the “snap-on” functionality provided by 3D integration and propose implementing the redundant checker processor on a second die. This allows manufacturers to easily create a family of “reliable processors” without significantly impacting the cost or performance for customers that care less about reliability. We comprehens...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: MICRO
• Authors: Niti Madan, Rajeev Balasubramonian
• Keywords: Checker Processor, Hardware, MICRO 2007, Processor Performance, °C Temperature Increase