Hardware Specialization: From Cell to Heterogeneous Microprocessors Everywhere

Abstract

With advances in device technologies, design methodologies, and programming paradigms, microprocessors of today have undergone a complete metamorphosis compared to their predecessors from the 1970s and 1980s. In particular, heterogeneity has become an all-pervasive feature of modern-day processors in device and packaging technologies, architectures, and programming interfaces, resulting in unprecedented enhancements in their performance, power efficiency, and functionality. We explore these heterogeneous designs, from their inception in the early 2000s, to their culmination into a whole new class of processors termed as Systems-on-a-Chip, and finally track their evolution into the microprocessors of tomorrow.