Submission + - More Info on Terascale (tgdaily.com)
IceDiver writes: "Tom's Hardware has a brief article giving us more information on Intel's Terascale project (an 80 core CPU prototype). Highlights include 1.6 Teraflops on just 62W power, and an inter-core communication system that allows for custom CPUs to be designed with different mixes of core types.
What I found most interesting, however, is that Intel has worked out a way to greatly reduce the power required for the clock signal.
This seems like a technology that could be rapidly adapted to current CPUs, greatly reducing power requirements."
What I found most interesting, however, is that Intel has worked out a way to greatly reduce the power required for the clock signal.
The prototype also used a reduced clock signal distribution system. Whereas traditional CPUs assign about 30% of their power budget to clock distribution, according to Bautista, Tera-scale uses only about 10%, which was enabled by having fewer "repeaters" throughout.
This seems like a technology that could be rapidly adapted to current CPUs, greatly reducing power requirements."