Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Forward Slice Core

Project description

An ideal core microarchitecture for processors

As the market of edge devices grows, there is still no ideal solution for the processor architecture. The choice is between the out-of-order cores providing high performance at the expense of increased complexity and power consumption and the in-order cores, which are simpler and less power hungry but with poorer performance. To find a solution, the EU-funded FSC project aims to provide a novel core microarchitecture – the Forward Slice Core (FSC). It provides both flavours of processor core microarchitectures by replacing the out-of-order hardware with much simpler in-order hardware queues smartly steered with instructions using the notion of a load’s forward slice: the in-order and the out-of-order core for high performance.

Objective

There are two major flavors of processor core microarchitectures, namely the in-order core and the out-of-order core. Out-of-order processors deliver high performance while incurring high design complexity, large chip area and high power consumption. In-order processors on the other hand feature low complexity, small chip area and low power consumption, but deliver limited performance. There is a clear need for a novel core microarchitecture that delivers high performance at low hardware complexity, low cost and low power consumption. This is of particular interest for mobile and edge devices (e.g. tablets, smartphones, smartwatches, etc.) where increasingly high performance is needed at low cost and low power consumption. The mobile and edge device market is a huge market which continues to grow. High-performance out-of-order processors are too costly and too power-hungry, while in-order processors deliver insufficient performance for the increasingly high-performance demands of emerging mobile and edge workloads and use cases.

We propose a novel core microarchitecture, called the Forward Slice Core (FSC) microarchitecture, which provides high performance at low cost and low power consumption. FSC achieves a dramatic improvement in efficiency by replacing the expensive and high-complexity out-of-order hardware with much simpler in-order hardware queues into which instructions are intelligently steered for high performance using the notion of a load's forward slice. FSC has the potential to improve performance per Watt per euro by at least an order of magnitude.

The overall objective of this PoC project is to build a strong benchmarking and IPR portfolio to convince potential processor manufacturers to license the Forward Slice Core microarchitecture. The project will strengthen the evaluation of the FSC proposal through simulation and real-hardware implementation, and develop a licensing strategy for commercialization.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2020-PoC

See all projects funded under this call

Host institution

UNIVERSITEIT GENT
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 150 000,00
Address
SINT PIETERSNIEUWSTRAAT 25
9000 GENT
Belgium

See on map

Region
Vlaams Gewest Prov. Oost-Vlaanderen Arr. Gent
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Beneficiaries (1)

My booklet 0 0