弱耦合协处理器设计方法研究——以人工智能应用为例  

Research on Design Method of Weakly-Coupled Coprocessor:A Case Study of Artificial Intelligence Application

作　　者：严忻恺 陈芳园[3] Yan Xinkai;Chen Fangyuan(Polytechnic Institute,Zhejiang University,Hangzhou 310000,China;Jiangsu Vocational College of Information Technology,Wuxi 214153,China;Jiangnan Institute of Computing Technology,Wuxi 214000,China)

机构地区：[1]浙江大学工程师学院,浙江杭州310000 [2]江苏信息职业技术学院,江苏无锡214153 [3]江南计算技术研究所,江苏无锡214000

出　　处：《南京师大学报（自然科学版）》2024年第3期112-121,共10页Journal of Nanjing Normal University(Natural Science Edition)

基　　金：江苏省高等学校基础科学(自然科学)研究重大项目(24KJA510005).

摘　　要：近些年随着人工智能、大数据、元宇宙等应用的蓬勃发展和半导体工艺进步的放缓,软件应用与硬件性能之间出现了巨大的算力鸿沟,通过软硬件协同设计的特定领域架构作为应对方案得到了学术界和工业界的广泛关注和认可.所以针对特定领域应用的核心需求设计专用协处理器,研究专用协处理器的设计方法,对于提高软件应用性能和效率,提升硬件设计效率等问题具有重大意义.本文分析了不同耦合度和不同负载需求的协处理器设计空间,重点研究了弱耦合协处理器的设计方法,包括基于RISC-V定制指令设计协处理器指令架构、弱耦合协处理器在不同应用场景下的控制交互接口、访存接口和设计框架;同时归纳总结了人工智能应用的共性需求和人工智能协处理器研究现状;并给出了两种面向不同人工智能应用场景的弱耦合协处理器设计实例,为提高协处理器设计效率提供了有效支撑.Recent years,with the rapid development of artificial intelligence,big data,meta-universe and other applications as well as the slowing down of semiconductor technology progress,there has been a huge computing gap between software application and hardware performance.As a solution,domain-specific architecture through software and hardware co-design has been widely concerned and recognized by academia and industry.Therefore,it is of great significance to design specific-coprocessor and research the design method of coprocessor for the core requirements of specific applications in order to improve the performance and efficiency of software application and improve the efficiency of hardware design.This paper analyzes the coprocessor design space of different coupling degree and different load requirements,and focuses on the design method of weakly coupled coprocessor,including the design of coprocessor instruction architecture based on RISC-V custom instruction,the control interaction interface,access interface and design framework of weakly coupled coprocessor in different application scenarios.The general requirements of artificial intelligence applications and the research status of artificial intelligence coprocessor are summarized,finally two design cases of weakly-coupled coprocessor for different AI application scenarios are described,which provides an effective support for improving the design efficiency of coprocessor.

关 键 词：协处理器 领域特定架构 弱耦合 RISC-V 人工智能 

分 类 号：TP332[自动化与计算机技术—计算机系统结构]