Scientists Are Stacking Processor Cores on Top of Each Other
Future microprocessors could extend the idea of 3D transistors to entire 3D cores.
Scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) said they have developed a chip that can integrate three or more processors that are stacked on top of each other. Today's processing cores are aligned horizontally.
According to Yusuf Leblebici, director of the Microelectronics Systems Laboratory (LSM) at EPFL, the processors are vertically connected through "several hundreds" of "very thin copper microtubes", commonly referred to as Through-Silicon-Vias (TSVs). "It's the logical next step in electronics development, because it allows a large increase in terms of efficiency," Leblebici said. He noted that more than 900 TSVs are "functioning simultaneously".
"This superposition reduces the distance between circuits, and thus considerably improves the speed of data exchange," added Yuksel Temiz, a researcher at LSM.
While presented at the 2012 Interconnection Network Architectures Workshop in Paris, Leblebici did not reveal further features of the technology, but noted that it is not ready for mass-production. At this time, he wants to make his research available to "a number of academic research teams for further development, before being commercialized."
We already see that this approach has been a mixed success on our desktops. It is kind of exciting though. It is like the Terminator 2 brain chip.
Heat may no be a real problem, IBM some time ago design a new system to cool chips by creating nanotubes inside the cheap and running water throught it, creating a "true" watercooling system.
More info abouts this nanotubes in the following link
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/32049.wss
Or did I just solve the problem for them..?
I don't know.. eh
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A six layer stacked CPU could not possible vent enough heat to compete in the consumer space.
But with the same size... so twice the heat "density". The only real benefit is shorter conexion paths=higher speeds.
It is an useful development, but probably the tecnology will be adopted in an hybrid approach: only parts of the core will be layered while some structures will remain the same...