Lecture 2.

0: Multi-core
computing

Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA)

 Learning Objectives
 Introduction
 Motivation for Multi-Core
 What is multi-core processor?
 Properties of Multi-core systems
 Applications benefit from multi-core
 Multiprocessor memory types
 Multi-core design
 Symmetric multi-core processor
 Asymmetric multi-core processor
 Advantages & disadvantages of multi-core
 Introduction
First Microprocessor(1970’s)
Intel 4004
4-bit central processing unit (CPU)

PC spreads in the world(1980’s)

Up to 32bits microprocessor
AMD followed Intel’s technology
 Introduction
 Rapid increase of computer tasks(1990’s)
 Increasing of computer users
 Server management → Construct the database
▪ High requirements of better performance of PC or Server.
→ Accelerate the development of microprocessor.
 Emergence of Multi-core Processor(2000’s)
 Caused by the issues of single core
 Turn over of the idea that improve the MP technology
▪ Put execution cores in one die
 Introduction
An example of an x86-compatible, 64-bit multi-core
processor is captured below

AMD Athlon (early

version) – a technically
different but fully
Intel Core 2 Duo compatible x86
implementation
 Multi-Core
Exploits increased feature-size and density

Increases functional units per chip (spatial

efficiency)

Limits energy consumption per operation

Constrains growth in processor complexity

 Multi-Core Computer
 A multi-core processor is a processing system
composed of two or more independent cores (or
CPUs). The cores are typically integrated onto a
single integrated circuit die (known as a chip
multiprocessor), or they may be integrated onto
multiple dies in a single chip package.

 A many-core processor is one in which the number

of cores is large enough that traditional multi-
processor techniques are no longer efficient - this
threshold is somewhere in the range of several tens
of cores - and likely requires a network on chip.
 Multi-Core Computer
dual-core processor contains two
independent microprocessors.
A dual core set-up is somewhat comparable to
having multiple, separate processors installed
in the same computer, but because the two
processors are actually plugged into the same
socket, the connection between them is faster.
Ideally, a dual core processor is nearly twice
as powerful as a single core processor. In
practice, performance gains are said to be
about fifty percent: a dual core processor is
likely to be about one-and-a-half times as
powerful as a single core processor.
 Multi-Core Computer
A multi-core processor implements multiprocessing in a single
physical package. Cores in a multi-core device may be coupled
together tightly or loosely. For example, cores may or may not
share caches, and they may implement message passing or
shared memory inter-core communication methods. Common
network topologies to interconnect cores include: bus, ring, 2-
dimentional mesh, and crossbar.
All cores are identical in symmetric multi-core systems and they
are not identical in asymmetric multi-core systems. Just as with
single-processor systems, cores in multi-core systems may
implement architectures such as superscalar, vector processing,
or multithreading.
 Multi-Core Computer
Multi-core processors are widely used across many
application domains including: general-purpose,
embedded, network, digital signal processing, and
graphics.
The amount of performance gained by the use of a multi-
core processor is strongly dependent on the software
algorithms and implementation.
Multi-core processing is a growing industry trend as
single core processors rapidly reach the physical limits of
possible complexity and speed.
Companies that have produced or are working on multi-
core products include AMD, ARM, Broadcom, Intel, and
 Chip Multi-Processor (CMP)
benefits
with a shared on-chip cache memory,
communication events can be reduced to just a
handful of processor cycles.
therefore with low latencies, communication
delays have a much smaller impact on overall
performance.
threads can also be much smaller and still be
effective.
automatic parallelization is more feasible.
 Properties of Multi-core systems
Cores are shared with a wide range of other
applications dynamically.
Load can no longer be considered symmetric across
the cores.
Cores are likely not be asymmetric as accelerators
become common for scientific hardware.
Source code are often be unavailable, preventing
compilation against the specific hardware
configuration.
 What applications benefit
from multi-core?
Database servers
Web servers
Telecommunication markets
Multimedia applications
Scientific applications
In general, applications with Thread-
level parallelism (as opposed to
instruction-level parallelism)
 Multi-core architectures
 Replicate multiple processor cores on a single die.

 The cores fit on a single processor socket.

 The cores run in parallel
(like on a single processor)
several several several several
threads threads threads threads

c c c c
o o o o
r r r r
e e e e

1 2 3 4
 Programming for multi-core
Programmers must use threads or processes.

Spread the workload across multiple cores.

Write parallel algorithms.

OS map threads/processes to cores

 Interaction with OS
Most major OS support multi-core
today.

OS perceives each core as a separate

processor.

OS scheduler maps threads/processes

to different cores.
 Examples
Editing a photo while recording a TV show through a
digital video recorder.

Downloading software while running an anti-virus

program.

“Anything that can be threaded today will map

efficiently to multi-core”.

BUT: some applications difficult to parallelize.

 Why Multi-core?
Better Performance
For the Multi tasking
e.g. Burning CD with graphic works at
the same time
Power consumption and Heat generation
Caused from the advance of CPU clock
speed
 Why Multi-core?
Save the room of motherboard
Two single cores → In one die
We can use this room more efficiently
Simplicity
We need additional systems to control the
several single cores.
Economical efficiency
A dual-core is much cheaper than two single
cores
Multiprocessor memory types
Shared memory:
In this model, there is one (large) common
shared memory for all processors.

Distributed memory:
In this model, each processor has its own
(small) local memory, and its content is not
replicated anywhere else.
 Microprocessor Design
Taking the idea of superscalar operations to
the next level, it is possible to put multiple
microprocessor cores onto a single chip, and
have the cores operate in parallel with one
another.
Symmetric Multi-core Processor(SMP)
A symmetric multi-core processor is one that has
multiple cores on a single chip, and all of those cores are
identical.
Example: Intel Core 2:
The Intel Core 2 is an example of a symmetric
multi-core processor.
The Core 2 can have either 2 cores on chip ("Core 2
Duo") or 4 cores on chip ("Core 2 Quad").
Each core in the Core 2 chip is symmetrical, and
can function independently of one another.
It requires a mixture of scheduling software and
hardware to farm tasks out to each core.
Symmetric Multi-core Processor

All cores which exist in a die are

exactly identical
 Symmetric Multi-core Processor
 A symmetric multi-core processor is a
processor which has multiple cores that are all
exactly the same. Every single core has the
same architecture and the same capabilities.
 Each core has the same capabilities, so it
requires that there is an arbitration unit to give
each core a specific task. Software that uses
techniques like multithreading makes the best
use of a multi-core processor like the Intel
Core2.
 Symmetric Multi-core Processor
Applications
Personal Computers

 Server / Super
Computer
Asymmetric Multi-core Processor
 An asymmetric multi-core processor is one that has multiple
cores on a single chip, but those cores might be different
designs. For instance, there could be 2 general purpose cores
and 2 vector cores on a single chip.
▪ Example: Cell Processor:
▪ IBM's Cell processor, used in the Sony PlayStation 3 video game
console is an asymmetrical multi-core processor. The Cell has 9
processor cores on board, one general purpose processor, and 8 data-
processing cores.
▪ The one multipurpose core, known as the Power Processor Element
(PPE) controls the communication between the other cores, and
distributes computing tasks to the other cores for processing. The
other 8 cores are known as Synergistic Processor Elements (SPE),
and are specially designed to have high floating-point throughput,
especially with vector operations.
Asymmetric Multi-core Processor
▪ In an asymmetric multi-core processor, the chip
has multiple cores onboard, but the cores might be
different designs.
▪ Each core will have different capabilities.
 Example: IBM Cell Processor
 An example of an asymmetric multi-core processor is the IBM Cell
processor.
 The IBM Cell processor has 1 Power Processor Element (PPE)
that controls the chip, and 8 Synergistic Processor Elements
(SPEs) that are designed for high mathematical throughput. The
IBM Cell processor is designed as follows:

Notice how the SPE cores only connect to the PPE, and not to
each other. Notice also that the PPE core is much larger then the
individual SPE cores.
Asymmetric Multi-core Processor(ASMP)
– Cell Processor
• Applications
 Super Computing:
▪ IBM's latest
supercomputer, IBM
Roadrunner, is a hybrid
of General Purpose
CISC Opteron as well as
Cell processors.
Asymmetric Multi-core Processor(ASMP)
– Cell Processor
• Applications
 Home cinema
▪ Toshiba is considering
producing HDTVs using Cell.
They have already presented a
system to decode 48 standard
definition MPEG-2 streams.
This can enable a viewer to
choose a channel based on
dozens of thumbnail videos
displayed on the screen in the
same time.
Asymmetric Multi-core Processor(ASMP)
– Cell Processor
• Applications
 Video Processing Card
▪ Some companies, such as
Leadtek, have plans to
release a PCI-E card based
upon the Cell to allow for
"faster than real time"
transcoding of H.264,
MPEG-2 and MPEG-4
video.
Asymmetric Multi-core Processor(ASMP)
– Cell Processor
• Applications
 Console Video Games
▪ The first major commercial
application of Cell was in Sony's
PlayStation 3 game console.
▪ This video game console contains
the first production application of
the Cell processor, clocked at 3.2
GHz and containing seven out of
eight operational SPEs, to allow
Sony to increase the yield on the
processor manufacture. Only six
of the seven SPEs are accessible
to developers as one is reserved
by the OS.
 Challenges resulting from multi-core
 Relies on effective exploitation of multiple-thread parallelism
 Need for parallel computing model and parallel programming model
 Magnifies memory wall
 Memory bandwidth
▪ Way to get data out of memory banks
▪ Way to get data into multi-core processor array
 Memory latency
 Fragments L3 cache
 Pins become strangle point
▪ Rate of pin growth projected to slow and flatten
▪ Rate of bandwidth per pin (pair) projected to grow slowly
 Requires mechanisms for efficient inter-processor coordination
 Synchronization
 Mutual exclusion
 Context switching
 Advantages of Multi-core
Cache coherency circuitry can operate at a much
higher clock rate than is possible if the signals
have to travel off-chip.
Signals between different CPUs travel shorter
distances, those signals degrade less.
These higher quality signals allow more data to be
sent in a given time period since individual signals
can be shorter and do not need to be repeated as
often.
A dual-core processor uses slightly less power
than two coupled single-core processors.
 Disadvantages of Multi-core
Ability of multi-core processors to increase application
performance depends on the use of multiple threads within
applications.
Most Current video games will run faster on a 3 GHz
single-core processor than on a 2GHz dual-core processor
(of the same core architecture).
Two processing cores sharing the same system bus and
memory bandwidth limits the real-world performance
advantage.
If a single core is close to being memory bandwidth
limited, going to dual-core might only give 30% to 70%
improvement.
If memory bandwidth is not a problem, a 90%
improvement can be expected.
 Conclusion
 All computers are now parallel computers!
 Multi-core processors represent an important new trend in computer
architecture.
 Decreased power consumption and heat generation.
 Minimized wire lengths and interconnect latencies.
 They enable true thread-level parallelism with great energy efficiency and
scalability.
 To utilize their full potential, applications will need to move from a single
to a multi-threaded model.
 Parallel programming techniques likely to gain importance.
• the difficult problem is not building multi-core hardware, but programming it in a way
that lets mainstream applications benefit from the continued exponential growth in
CPU performance.
 the software industry needs to get back into the state where existing
applications run faster on new hardware.
 References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-core_(computing)
Olukotun, Kunle and Hammond, Lance. The future of
microprocessors.Queue, Volume 3, Issue 7, September
2005.
www.princeton.edu/~jdonald/research/hyperthreading/ga
rg_report.pdf
Zheltov, Sergey N. and Bratanov, Stanislav V. Multi-
threading for Experts: Synchronization. Technical
Report. Intel. 2005. (WWWdocument, referenced
17.11.2005). Available:
http://www.intel.com/cd/ids/developer/asmo-na/eng/183
321.htm