3D-DNaPE: Dynamic Neighbor-Aware Performance Enhancement for Thermally Constrained 3D Many-Core Systems

Abstract

The continuous scaling of silicon technology has enabled many-core systems to become ubiquitous, offering enormous computational power for various applications spanning from high-performance computing to mobile devices. However, this advancement resulted in increased power density that exacerbated the thermal challenges of dark silicon, where certain cores are turned off or become dark due to thermal constraints. While various methods have been put forward to enhance the performance of thermally constrained 2D many-core systems, 3D designs introduce more serious thermal issues due to heightened power density and challenges with heat dissipation in vertically stacked configurations. This paper introduces a dynamic neighbor-aware performance enhancement for thermally constrained 3D many-core systems (3D-DNaPE). 3D-DNaPE is a technique that improves the performance of a thermally constrained 3D many-core system where only a limited number of cores can be activated. Initially, it uses the proposed neighbor-aware pattern (NaP) algorithm to select the coldest core among the four adjacent dark cores suitable for task migration. Subsequently, it uses the proposed 3D dynamic thermal management (3D-DTM) algorithm to optimize system performance by considering the core and memory bank temperatures. A static non-uniform cache access (S-NUCA) configuration mitigates cache misses resulting from task migration. Comprehensive evaluations indicate that 3D-DNaPE performs better than its contemporaries, showing improvements reaching up to 43% in execution time, a 34% decrease in performance slowdown, and an up to 51% enhancement in energy efficiency. This research not only underscores the challenges faced by 3D many-core systems but also provides a robust solution with promising implications for future 3D many-core designs.