A 507 GMACs/J 256-Core Domain Adaptive Systolic-Array-Processor for Wireless Communication and Linear-Algebra Kernels in 12nm FINFET

Kuan-Yu Chen, Chi-Sheng Yang, Yu-Hsiu Sun, Chien-Wei Tseng, Morteza Fayazi, Xin He, Siying Feng, Yufan Yue, Trevor N. Mudge, Ronald G. Dreslinski, Hun-Seok Kim, David T. Blaauw

Abstract: We present DAP (Domain Adaptive Processor), an adaptive systolic-array-processor of 256 programmable cores in 12 nm CMOS for wireless communication workloads. DAP uses a globally homogeneous but locally heterogeneous architecture, decode-less reconfiguration instructions for data streaming, single-cycle data communication between functional units (FUs), and lightweight nested-loop control. We show how configuration flexibility and fast program loading allows a wide range of communication workloads to be mapped and swapped in sub-µs, supporting continually evolving communication standards such as 5G. DAP achieves 507 GMACs/J and a peak performance of 264 GMACs.