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News Release 14-096

Can computers continue to get smaller and more powerful?

University of Michigan computer scientist reviews frontier technologies to determine fundamental limits of computer scaling

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structured placement used to wring out optimizations in chip layout

Advanced techniques such as "structured placement," shown here and developed by Markov's group, are currently being used to wring out optimizations in chip layout. Different circuit modules on an integrated circuit are shown in different colors. Algorithms for placement optimize both the locations and the shapes of modules; some nearby modules can be blended when this reduces the length of the connecting wires.

Credit: Jin Hu, Myung-Chul Kim, Igor L. Markov; University of Michigan


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placement of a large integrated circuit, spacers and heat map of resource allocation

The image on the right shows the physical placement of a large, integrated circuit with logic gates in blue and "packing peanuts" (spacers) in red. The "heat maps" on the left show wiring congestion--green and yellow show sparse connectivity, but red and purple show insufficient routing resources. Routing congestion is one of the manifestations of physical limits to computation. The progression of images illustrates how computer-aided design tools address routing congestion by revising circuit placement.

Credit: Myung-Chul Kim, Jin Hu, Igor L. Markov; University of Michigan


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